Читать книгу Aqueous Passage - Krystyna Faroe - Страница 3

Fern shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare, its reflection from the concrete walls was heating her metal surroundings as she leaned upon the railing, looking ahead at the never ending channel. Wiping her brow she turned and made her way to the pagoda where she spent many hours sitting. Elm was already there snoozing in the shade his legs upon a stool, lazing as if he needed the rest. No one needed the rest.

Looking down at him in disgust she kicked the stool out from underneath his legs. She gave a snort of a laugh when she realized his legs hadn’t moved but continued to hover in the air. She looked at the one open eye and the small smirk on Elm’s face.

“Is something wrong Fern?” He asked in a voice that said he knew exactly what was wrong. The other eye remained shut as the slit of an eye took in her sullen appearance.

“How can you stand this? This sloth life we are bound into, doing nothing, day after day except look at these ghastly walls that trap us.”

She kicked the stool further away and glared at him in distaste.

Elm had lowered his feet and slowly sat upright from the lounging chair he was in. His smirk had become a placating smile, which annoyed her even more as it was paternal and patient.

“Don’t look at me as if I’m a toddler in a tantrum!” This time she kicked at the chair he was sat in but it barely moved, the loungers were made to be heavy and solid and the action hurt her toes causing her to cringe momentarily. She quickly hid her pain when she saw Elm’s smirk return.

Lunging at him she hit him on his chest pushing him back into the lounger. Elm’s arms caught her in the process and she was pulled down on top of him. She realized she was beaten yet again in her frustrated actions.

“You know I love those pouty lips of yours when you’re annoyed. They’re so inviting!” His eyes were bright and sensual as he moved closer toward her face.

Her hands had become fists as she pushed against his ribcage with all the force she could muster and he let out an involuntary “Ugh!”

He released her, allowing her to scramble back onto her feet, her face blazing red just like her hair in the sunlight. He let out a laugh and then quickly tried to cover it with a cough as the green eyes glared at him with want to cause injury.

“Look at you, pent up and cross because we’re travelling through the passage. This journey will take more days than have already gone by. We’ve only been travelling for two days and you’re acting as if we’ve been here longer, you’re ready to tear people apart. You know why don’t you?” The glaring eyes from the listener became questioning. “It’s because you’re bored. You need to find something to do, or some kind of entertainment.” Elm’s expression changed to mischievous. “In fact I know a way to entertain you!”

His eyes glittered as he raised his eyebrows in a suggestive way.

Elm quickly leapt out of the chair as Fern hurled her fists and body back at him, putting her weight into the action; she was unable to stop the sequence of events she had set in motion. She hit the back of the chair hard, fists first and then her face. Through the blow she had caused herself came a muffled “Ow!”

Elm was immediately beside her helping her get back up. His hands were on her face as he looked at her bleeding lips with concern. She pushed him away and stomped her foot, bringing back the smirk that seemed to be permanently marked upon his face in her presence.

“You are so annoying!” She spat at him, droplets of blood hitting his clothes.

He looked down at the splatters and wiped them off. Taking her hand he led her out of the pagoda. He stared ahead as he pulled her along like a toy on wheels.

“Fern, let’s get some ice on that lip before you start dalking like dis.”

The glittering eyes looked back at her, obvious in their amusement. She wrenched her hand away and stopped, her face wrinkled like a snarling dog.

“I don’t need your help!” She barked at him, blood staining her bared teeth. “I can do something about it by myself.”

She walked away with large angry strides not looking back at the grinning face of Elm.

She knew he was laughing, how much she knew about him and he her these days was disconcerting. It was something she tried to not think of; how she liked his company, how they would talk for hours, how even being close to him felt right. It couldn’t be right though, she had to think of Oak, he meant more to her, even if it was Elm that had saved her life. Oak had saved her life once too and he had helped her get through all the years that had followed, had always been there for her, until now. Why was she waiting for Oak when he’d already made his decision to be with someone else? She knew why, she hoped to change his mind.

She pushed the door wide lighting the corridor briefly until it closed itself as she walked along the metal hallway. As it shut it became darker once more and echoed with a metallic thunk along the path she was taking. Now lit only by the dim humming lights in its top corners it took Fern a little while to refocus. Only one light every ten feet emitted a spattering of clarity for her moving figure as she approached the steps and descended to the galley. Walking the metal corridor she once more went over her annoyed thoughts, to such an extent that she didn’t think of what she was doing as she burst through the culinary door with such a flourish, that everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing. Halting, she faltered as she looked at all the eyes that were upon her and her anger dropped and embarrassment took its place.

“I’m sorry!” She said softly knowing she would be heard now that the clatter of pans and utensils had all stopped to give her attention. “I hurt my lips and wondered if I could get some ice?”

The faces stared at her in disbelief, having been certain that something dramatic was occurring above deck from the energy that had been put into opening the door. Disappointed they all turned away and continued with what they were doing, except for Cook. He stood with his hands on his hips, staring at her as if she were a disgrace.

Fern dropped her eyes to the floor, unable to look into his judgemental eyes. She doubted he would ever forgive her for what had happened to Ensign Jones and her bleeding lips quivered at the thought of past memories and the nightmares she had had since that night.

She heard bustling and looked up to see Cook had moved away, he was breaking up ice and putting it into a towel for her. The huge body swung toward her, his large arm extended with the towel and ice, stopping just before it would have toppled her over by its arcing action. The cold eyes stared down at her but no words were said.

“Thank you.”

She received a cursory nod and the large body wrenched itself away from her and bounded toward the ovens. She watched him efficiently move between the other bodies, grabbing bottles of dried spices on his way and depositing their contents into a large pot that bubbled slowly. The plop plop sounds were barely audible above the other noises but she heard them, they were the only soothing sounds for her in the room.

Clutching the towel and ice she pressed it to her lips and quietly left. She almost wished she hadn’t gone there but she knew she had to face Cook and cope with how he felt about her. One day somehow, she would atone for the hurt that she had caused him. He held her responsible for what had happened to Ensign Jones, as did she.

As she walked through the corridor once more she felt short of breath and knew it was the lack of space that was bothering her, losing the freedom to go wherever she wanted. She had no doubt that all the Woodlanders on board felt the same, except Elm; she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t bothered by their entrapment. She scrambled up the steps suddenly unbalanced, no longer angry but forlorn; she wanted to cry and didn’t understand why. How pathetic was she? Why cry? What was wrong with her? The tears couldn’t be stopped; they flowed and unwanted subdued hiccups erupted hurting her chest from trying to suppress them. If only she could be like Oak and crush all of her emotions, everything would be so much clearer. No blinding anger, no foggy feelings, but most of all no misty tears. Her tears were her weakness.

As she pushed the door to the deck open the sunlight momentarily blinded her, spots flashed before her eyes as she stumbled out and turned away from its direct light. The sun was in the east and they were travelling west. She preferred to face away from it and knew she would have to move again later to get away from its overwhelming brightness.

With her hand full of the towel and ice still pressed to her lips she moved down the deck to her familiar railing. The spots that were a blotch to her sight where starting to fade as she looked at the sky ahead. She wiped away the tears, hoping to get rid of the occlusion to her senses with it. One particular blotch wouldn’t shift and she shook her head as if she could shake away the distortion to her sight. She looked back but it was still there. Squinting she tried to force it to shift but it didn’t. Opening her eyes wider she saw the reason why it wouldn’t shift, it was something in the sky, something familiar to her, something she knew carried someone special to her.

The smile that spread across her face was joy. He was up there ahead of them on the airship, they hadn’t lost them, they were travelling in the same direction as they were. She was ready to run to Elm and tell him of her discovery but stopped herself. Elm wouldn’t share in her joy, even though he was different to the Elm she originally knew, jealously would twist him and as annoying as he was to her, she liked the Elm that she was travelling with. He was an Elm that was no longer trying to compete with Oak, an Elm that was comfortable in his surroundings and most of all comfortable with her. His feelings for her were unabashed, even though she held him at arm’s length. She could sense he was content to wait for her to succumb in her own time, as if it were inevitable that she would love him. Strangely, she didn’t scoff at the thought and that disconcerted her.

It was better for her to close off all emotions to the other sex and concentrate on where they were and what was going on. What she needed to focus on was the question that everyone was trying to figure out; why had the Citans and Aviatilians kidnapped Oak and Blackthorn? What good was it going to do them? It made her head dizzy trying to figure it out because each time she thought about Oak and Blackthorn and the clans that had taken them there was never a logical conclusion. However, it excited her to think about where they were going and whom they may eventually be in conflict with.

The quest for adventure meant more to her than being pathetic in a relationship. She couldn’t help but still think the sappy kisses and longing looks were ridiculous. She’d leave all that to the flouncy, flippy, floppy girls that giggled their way through the camp. Listening to them chop and change their minds about which defender they liked best annoyed her, there was more to life than romance.

She pulled herself up as she noted it was only a few days ago that she’d wished she had stayed at the camp and been more like one of those girls and not got into all the trouble she had. What was the saying? It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. She’d had to look the word up when she read it in one of the magazines and it had made her laugh, but now, she fancied that being changeable meant you would never be dull. She’d talked with Elm on the subject and Elm had stated that she, herself, would most certainly never be dull. At first she’d felt offended but a little later she liked the air of mystery it gave her. No one ever knowing how she would be or what she would do, now that was exciting, but it was also silly.

Someone clearing their throat took her attention away from her thoughts.

“How are you Miss Fern?”

She recognized the voice of Captain Rostin and slowly turned to the now formal Rostin. He was looking down at her but his head shot back at the sight of the blood stained towel of ice she held to her face.

“What has happened?” His voice was soft with concern and she warmed at the sound of it for a moment, until he continued in a more priggish manner. “Miss Fern what have you been up to now?”

She was affronted by his accusation but held back her retort and gave a simple statement instead.

“I lost my balance and hit my lips, it’s nothing.”

She couldn’t see his face clearly as the sun behind him was too bright and she brought her hand up to shade her eyes.

He continued politely, “I hope it doesn’t inconvenience you too much.”

She felt a pang of sadness at the platitude given to her, they’d been close, she deserved better than this. He’d protected her and she had confided in him, he was her confidant. She felt shunned by his new behaviour, now he was the captain and no longer lieutenant. What they once were to each other was gone and it made her grieve for the friendship they had lost.

“I’m fine.” She said trying to be formal too.

“I’m glad.” His eyes quickly scanned her. “You have recovered well from your ordeal.” He halted waiting for a reply but she said nothing, only continued to try to look into the eyes that were overshadowed by the blazing sun.

“I just wanted to warn you that Mr. Laroche will be walking upon the deck this morning. He hasn’t been well and needs some fresh air.”

Fern’s eyebrows locked together into a deep furrow which didn’t go unmissed by the observant captain.

“He will be escorted. There’s no reason for you to be uncomfortable, you’ll be safe.”

“I have no doubts I’ll be okay, I can’t say the same for Mr. Laroche if he comes anywhere near me.” She retorted in a lowered tone. She saw a slight curl to the corner of Captain Rostin’s mouth as he nodded his head.

“Duly noted Miss Fern.”

He bent his head down toward her as if he wanted to add something more personal but stopped.

“Have a good day.”

Giving a nod of his head he turned away without waiting for a response. Her sad eyes followed him as he walked away; he was so much more rigid than he was before. Is that what power did to you? It changed your personality, stomping out the kinder person that you used to be. Even Oak had changed but his differences had been more gradual over the years. She had thought it was just that he was maturing and that was why Oak wasn’t the same person, but seeing how Captain Rostin was behaving made her think otherwise. Leadership changed you and not always for the better.

Her eyes were caught by movement elsewhere; three bodies were walking on the opposite side of the deck to where Captain Rostin had left. She knew who two of them were and the sight of one of them made her stomach roll.

Gisburn was aiding Laroche as he walked or rather stumbled, as his legs seemed to give way at times and Gisburn had to grab him around the waist to stop him from falling. His right arm supported Laroche’s right arm by holding it underneath from the elbow to his hand, meanwhile his left arm was placed around his back. It looked uncomfortable for Gisburn; it also left him openly weak should Laroche decide to attempt something. To all appearances Laroche looked frail and ill but Fern doubted it. She knew how manipulative and conniving Laroche was and felt certain this was all a ploy, he had some plan in mind and it wouldn’t be a pleasant one.

The Lakeller on Laroche’s opposite side held a less sympathetic attitude toward him. He gave no attempt at assistance and looked at Laroche in disdain. Fern noticed Laroche give him a quick look to assess the guard. She couldn’t tell if his face was displeased because of the distance and bright light but she knew it was and she was glad that at least one guard was not drawn into his deceit. She let out a “huh!” without realizing the sound had been emitted, it was enough to get the attention of the three.

Her stomach reeled as the eyes of Laroche fell upon her, she wished she could see them clearer but even without the clarity to view them she knew what they held. She was shocked by the overwhelming fear that ran through her and dropped back to feel the stability of the rail behind her. Momentarily it supported her until the memories ran through her mind, a movie so lucid, so real that she felt sick, her stomach lurched and with it her whole body. What breakfast she had had was no longer there as it left her and splattered in pieces upon the deck before her. She looked up as the sun slid behind a cloud and saw the jubilation in Laroche’s eyes at his control over her. The foul taste in her mouth was not just from her vomit but the sight of Laroche. Her attention was pulled away from the despicable eyes as a voice came from elsewhere.

“Take him to the back of the ship. He shouldn’t be anywhere near this girl.”

The voice was Elm; he was striding across the deck between her and the three bodies that were moving toward her. His back was as rigid and hard as his voice.

“But…” came Gisburn’s voice.

“No buts’! Take him to the pagoda where he can sit, it may alleviate the discomfort he shows us and he may continue with the performance there if he wishes.”

“Now who…”

“Mr. Gisburn please grant this request for Miss Fern. You of all people should be ingratiating yourself to her.”

There was no reply from Gisburn but she noticed the smirk upon the other Lakeller’s face as he turned on his heel. He stopped so Gisburn could help Laroche to turn but again the guard offered no assistance. The three slowly moved away, she noticed the step of Laroche was not quite as heavy and the leaning body had taken an almost ramrod position. She waited for Elm to come to her. He looked down at the pebbled deck of fruit and vegetables and quickly skirted around them.

He didn’t say anything, only pulled her into his arms and she went willingly. She didn’t cry, although she could have, easily. Resting her head on his shoulder she let herself go into the safety he offered to her. After a while he moved his head away and looked at the expression on her face, scanning it as if it held a code to what was going on. Funnily enough it did, it held all the signs to her feelings at that moment and Elm knew how afraid she was.

“He can’t hurt you anymore. There are too many of us for him to be able to do anything.” He scanned her face for acknowledgement, saw none and continued. “By the looks of him he can barely move anyway.”

Her eyes hardened, he knew just as well as she did that it wasn’t true, Laroche was lying, it was what he did best.

“Don’t try to pacify me. You know as well as I do that he isn’t in ill health. I’m sure you noticed how his back straightened with the anger he felt toward you. How his step no longer dragged but became purposeful. He has a purpose, he is planning, and he will do harm, it is in his nature and he will never stop.”

Elm’s eyes dropped to the floor and rose to hers again as his thoughts of agreement passed and moved on to easing her worry.

“Even if he has a plan, he is watched day and night and will not be able to enforce it.”

“How do the beasts of the night prey on others?” She held his attention as his eyebrows raised at the question, he knew it was rhetorical and waited for her answer. “They wait, they wait quietly in the shadows, they wait for the weak, always patient, never making a move...until they leap. Their prey is clueless that they were even there, that the power of destruction was merely feet away, that their lives could be taken so easily and with little force from the beast. Surprise is their downfall. Laroche will use it against his guards; he will take them down without them knowing what has happened.”

Elm’s eyes were wide in surprise at the dark thoughts that had come from Fern’s head. He looked shocked that she felt that way and probably wondered how she knew so much about the beasts of the night and their hunting habits. He must have surmised that Oak had been quite brutal in his quest to keep Fern safe, even to the extent of giving her frightening scenarios. Little did he know that she had actually experienced it.

“I will warn Captain Rostin of the threat you see in Laroche. Don’t wander alone too much Fern. Try to stay within some distance of me.”

She gave him a smile.

“You are determined to be my bodyguard. Do you really want to be my saviour again? Perhaps it is someone else’s turn?”

Elm laughed and hugged her; he pushed her to arm’s length once more. “It seems I am bound to be your bodyguard here. I have taken on the role and no one else seems to want it, so…”

He fell backwards at the hefty push she gave him and continued to chuckle, whilst she smiled at him. Luckily he missed the nasty deposits and they both looked down thankful that in their jesting they hadn’t slipped upon them.

“I think it is time to get that cleaned up before you slip and fall and have to ask Cook for ice to put on your rear end!”

He was pushed backward again until he put his hands up in defeat. “No more please! You are too much of a brute and I’m afraid of becoming injured.”

Elm’s face gave a comical look of fear and submission; he slumped his shoulders for further effect and was rewarded with Fern’s free spirited giggles.

Fern’s laughter pealed across the deck toward three shadows that were underneath the pagoda. One smiled but the other two did not.