Land Ahoy! by Raiyana

Land ahoy

Read Land ahoy

Sea-salt spray bathes her face as she laughs, leaning over the side of the ship's prow.

The ocean is a playful friend today, the waves small and plentiful as they bounce across, the sails billowing like great green wings above their heads. 

Beneath the water, the sails echo in the long-stranded seagrass that covers these outer banks; Uinen's hair stretching from the Deep Waters to the near-shore where her lover plays, moving gently with the current of the waves and the darting of the small creatures that inhabit it. 

Breathing deeply, Earwen fills her lungs with the salty air, making the ocean part of herself if only for as long as she hold her breath, whopping out the joy of their speed to the gulls above and laughing at the piercing cry of their response. 

It is a beautiful day on the water, their ship moving as swiftly as any could ask for, carrying fishermen and their catch alike home to Alqualonde. Earwen looks back over her shoulder, her grin softening for the green tinge to Ara's cheeks; his smile is stiff, pained even, a grimace that shows how firmly he needs to hold on to himself. 

Pride is in him, this she knows, like it is in his father and brothers, and it would not do for the youngest Prince Finweon to lose his morning meal to the waves where her brothers will see. 

“It won't be long now,” Earwen calls to him, receiving a pale stretch of lips in return as she gestures towards the mouth of the harbour. Not long now, indeed, and soon enough, perhaps, she thinks. The day had gone well, had shown her family that Ara was not so ill-suited to her temperament or heart as some might have said, and if they could simply get back to solid ground... 

Perhaps this will be the day she asks him to be hers in all ways, to tie a strand of Uinen's hair around her wrist and his, promising to hold together through all their days. 

Earwen smiles brightly, abandoning her post to run across the planks and take his arm in hers. 

“Soon we shall be home, my love.”

Beside her, Ara loses some of the stiffness, his proud posture melting into a softer comfort as he leans against her for a moment, pressing his cheek against her temple; not quite a kiss, yet, but as close as he can get beneath watchful eyes. 

Earwen grins at him, mouthing the word as the cry of the harbour-watch goes up for the return of the royal family. 

Soon.