Forsaking God to kiss someone you hate might not be a smart decision, but damn does it hurt good.
✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*✧.*
Judith was never supposed to fall in love- but she was never supposed to become a vampire either. It's her duty as a nu...
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I had never been on a ship before.
Of course I knew that they were large, but actually walking up the railing to one was a different experience. The mere size of the thing was intimidating enough without thinking about the fact that I would be stuck on board the creaking wooden thing for the next month or so.
Stuck on it without being able to talk to Greta.
Ayla walked ahead of me, not seeming at all nervous or uncomfortable. I assumed this was something she had done many times before. I followed behind her, pulling up the hem of my skirts with one hand and balancing on the railing with the other.
There was a man waiting for us at the top- a human man. He had a fairly unkempt appearance, with uncut hair and an untrimmed beard, but the clothes he wore were nice, no holes or stains. The quartermaster stood beside him, the man I had seen in the tavern hours earlier.
When the human man saw us, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Ah, you must be the two ladies that Hugo told me about." He said, sticking his hand out for me to grab. "I'm Lu. I’m the captain."
I nervously looked up at Ayla before I took it and shook it.
"I hope whatever he told you wasn't bad." Ayla said. "I tried to pay him, and he gave the money back to me."
"No, no!" The man laughed. "I'm happy to have her here."
I blinked up at him and pointed to myself.
"Me?" I said. When he nodded, I added "Why?"
"Having a holy woman on board is good luck." He said, “It's always a pleasure to have one blessed by the Sun Goddess in my presence."
"Ah, well thank you." I said.
"Would you mind giving me a blessing of luck?"
"Of course not." I said, though I was actually quite nervous about doing such a thing.
What if the goddess had turned her back on me for my sins? I still had my blessing, sure, but for all I knew she wasn't listening to my prayers any longer.
And why would she? I had slept with Greta. I had openly said I was thinking of becoming a vampire. I should want to die instead.
Still, I had to at least try.
I said a small prayer, and stood on my tip toes so that I could press my thumb against his forehead.
"May the goddess keep you in her thoughts."
To my immense relief, a small sun appeared below my finger, shimmering brightly. I guess I wasn’t so separated from the religious life after all.
"Thank you." He said with a warm smile. “Hugo, would you mind showing them to their quarters?”
