Anna adjusted her pack as they walked away from the inn. It was just before dawn, and the soft glow of the sun was just becoming visible to her eyes on the horizon.

“How are you all doing?” she asked.

“I’d be better if you kept your mouth shut!” Lyreen snapped.

“Don’t start with me. I was being nice,” Anna said.

“Please stop. Your voice is squeaky, and it’s making my headache worse!” Lyreen replied.

“I’m not squeaky!” Anna said.

Lyreen groaned.

“You are, child,” Barika replied.

“Really?” Anna asked.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me before?” Anna asked.

“It’s just your voice. It’s not like you can do anything about it,” Elaine replied.

Anna made an offended sound and started to walk faster, ignoring her friends’ pleas to slow down.

By the time they reached the dock, the others were sweating profusely and breathing heavily. She decided to relent and walked at an easy pace to the ship’s gangway. She handed the man standing next to it her boarding pass, he looked it over and then handed it back.

“Head up to the deck. The first mate will show you your berth,” he said.

She walked up the thick wooden platform onto the ship and then turned to watch her friends as they came aboard one by one.

Lyreen’s totally going to hurl.

“You must be our passengers,” a man said.

“We are,” Voekeer replied.

“Well, come with me. I’ll show you to your berths,” the man said.

They followed him to the fo'c's'le where he opened a door and led them inside.

“Pick which one you want, and I’ll mark it in the log,” the man said.

She walked to the first one on the starboard side of the ship and went inside. The room was barely more than a few arm spans across and simply contained a bed that was mounted to the hull of the ship with a single porthole to look out. She set her pack on the bed and walked back out of the room, joining the man in the passageway.

“When will we get underway?” Anna asked.

“First light, miss,” he replied.

They must mean for humans ‘cause it’s already past first light.

“Are we allowed on deck?” Anna asked.

“I’m sure the captain wouldn’t mind so long as you don’t get in the way and stay on the quarterdeck with him,” he replied.

“Thanks,” Anna said.

“Don’t mention it, miss,” he replied.

Once all her friends picked their rooms and dropped their things off, they left the fo'c's'le, heading towards the back of the ship to the quarterdeck where the captain stood beside the ship’s wheel.

The captain nodded at them and then went back to looking out at the horizon. All hands were on deck and at their posts, making the deck rather crowded.

“What’s going to happen?” Lyreen asked quietly.

“When the sun comes up, the captain will give the order to unmoor the ship. Then the long boats will pull us out to the edge of the harbor and spin us around. After that, they will unfurl the sails, and we’ll get going,” Anna replied.

“Unmoor means untie, right?” Lyreen asked.

“Yeah,” Anna replied.

Lyreen nodded and then looked back towards the rising sun. After a few minutes, the first streams of orange light peaked over the horizon, and the captain gave the order.

Men on the dock untied the thick mooring lines. Men on the ship pulled them on board and laid them out on the deck. She felt the ship lurch away from the dock as the lines attached to the long boats pulled tight. They slid away from the dock at a steady pace, and when they passed by the edge, she noticed that the ship was rocking more than it had been when they started.

Unexpectedly, the men untied the longboats and walked from the stern of the ship to the bow where they tied back off. The men on the boats started to row again. The ship started to turn towards the horizon, and when the bow was pointed towards it, the boats started pulling them out to the sea.

Once they reached the edge of the harbor, the men untied the boats and tossed the lines to their crews. The captain shouted an order, and the sails began to unfurl. She watched as the large cross timbers dropped down on the masts, pulling the huge canvas sails open. They seemed to catch the wind immediately, and the ship surged forward. The captain turned the wheel of the ship, causing the bow to glide to the northeast before straightening it out.

After sailing for a few minutes, a loud whistle blared, and men started to stream off the deck, leaving only a handful at their stations. Her friends wandered away from the quarterdeck, heading for the bow of the ship while she remained behind, watching the sailors as they went about their business.

“I don’t allow passengers on the quarterdeck while underway, miss,” Captain Edward said.

She looked over at him and nodded before joining her friends who were standing near the bow looking out at the sea.

“Kicked you out, did he?” Thokri asked.

“Yeah,” Anna replied.

“Some Captains are like that, lass,” he said.

“I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Anna replied.

Thokri patted her on the back and then went back to looking at the horizon. She gazed out across the water as well and noticed that they were surrounded by hundreds of ships coming and going from Eagle’s Bay.

When she turned to look back at the city, she was stunned to see that there was a whole other port on the other side of the river’s mouth, as well as piers stretching from the banks of the river itself.

Oh, wow! I didn’t know it was that big! I’m going to have to explore the whole city when we get back.

The memory of her last night there floated into her mind, causing her to feel a little guilty.

Maybe not by myself though.

The sun slowly rose in the sky, and they drifted away from land until it was nothing more than a strip in the distance. Her friends left the bow one by one until she found herself alone on the bow of the ship.

“Begging your pardon, miss, but are you alright?” a man asked.

“Huh?” she asked, turning to find an older man looking at her.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I just always wanted to sail ever since I was young, and I’ve wanted to see the sea, and now that I’m out here looking at it I, I just don’t have the words, that’s all,” she added.

He nodded and then walked next to her, looking out at the sea.

“It was the same way for me the first time I went to sea. I spent my whole life looking out at the water from the docks, but it’s just not the same as standing on a bow, is it?” he said.

“No, it isn’t,” Anna replied.

“How long has it been?” he asked.

“How long has what been?” she asked.

“Since you’ve been home?” he asked.

She turned to look at him.

That’s right. Sailors gossip worse than old ladies. Well, I better just tell him so weird rumors don’t start or something.

“Five years,” she replied.

“Five years! How old were you when you left?” he asked.

“Young, very young. I have magic, so I went to learn how to use it,” Anna replied.

“Did you?” he asked.

“Yes, and I a lot of other things along the way,” she replied.

He nodded.

“It won’t be the same, you know?” he asked.

“I know,” she replied.

He looked out at the sea for a while longer before sighing and then turning way.

“Well, I better get back to work,” he said.

Anna turned and held out her hand.

“Anna,” she said.

“Jacob,” the man replied, taking her hand and giving it a shake.

He walked away, heading back to whatever task he had been shirking. She turned back to the sea and just stared off, blanking, thinking about everything that had happened to her in the last five years of her life. The smell of food filled the air, though it wasn’t enough to break her away from her musing.

“Didn’t expect to find you up here brooding,” Voekeer said.

“I’m not brooding. I’m just thinking,” Anna replied.

“Is there a difference?” he asked.

“Uh, I think so,” she replied.

“So, what were you thinking about that had you skip a meal?” he asked.

“What if I never left,” she replied.

He grew quiet and looked out over the water, the wind blowing his long brown hair back, revealing his pointed ears.

“I’ve thought the same thing, about myself though,” he said.

“So, what did you decide?” Anna asked.

“That I made a horrible mistake and what I took from my mother I can never give back,” he replied.

“What did you take?” Anna asked.

“The last of my childhood,” he replied.

“But it was your childhood. How could you take it from her?” Anna asked.

“Because she’s my mother. She deserved to see me grow into a man, and I just ran away,” he replied.

“Your father was forcing you to do something you didn’t want to do. What else could you have done?” Anna asked.

Voekeer touched his chest where the arrow had nearly killed him at the siege of the crossroads and then smiled faintly.

“I had no idea what a life of adventure really meant back then. Honestly, I don’t think my father was trying to control me when he told me that I shouldn’t go running off looking for a fight anymore,” he replied.

“So, are you still mad at him?” Anna asked.

Voekeer sighed and looked back to the sea.

“No, not anymore,” he replied.

“Would you still be mad at him if you had stayed?” Anna asked.

He turned to look at her with a shocked expression on his face.

“I, well, yes, probably,” he replied.

“Then it wasn’t a mistake to run away,” Anna said.

 He looked down into her eyes, studying them with a serious look on his face.

I still can’t believe how green they are. Like Lyreen’s, but darker. So different from human eyes.

“I wish I had just listened to them. It would have saved me a lot of pain,” he replied.

“Maybe, but you would have missed out on so many wonderful things if you’d just done what you were told,” Anna said.

He smiled.

“You have a way of looking on the bright side of things. You know that, right?” he asked.

“And you have a way of looking at the dark side of things,” Anna replied.

He laughed.

“Lyreen says the same thing,” he said.

“You should listen to her. She knows you pretty well,” Anna replied.

“Sometimes,” he said.

They looked out at the water again, watching another ship off in the distance.

“I’m glad I left,” she said.

“Why is that?” Voekeer asked.

“I wouldn’t be me if I stayed, and I like who I am,” Anna replied.

Voekeer laughed and patted her on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go and get some food,” he said.

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Anna replied.

They walked away from the bow and headed to the smell of food wafting from somewhere midships.