Isle of the Damned

Preparation

I spent a few hours talking to people at my party, consciously aware of how little time I have to prepare but I couldn't have just abandoned all the hard work my people put in for me. I showed my gratitude before giving in to my stress. 

I opened presents, spoke to everyone possible and ate a tonne of food. It was an amazing day and I managed to keep my calm. Now, however, I had to stop relaxing and start doing. First, by picking a selection of people to accompany me on the journey. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided upon James, Ava and three of my greatest warriors, Alvaro, Evander and Myla. 

I called upon one of the palace helpers and asked them to deliver the message that they were needed as of tomorrow for a journey to the mainland and to pack well. If they had any questions they were to direct them at James or me. 

Packing was easy enough. I chose a few weather suitable outfits as well as a few dresses for more formal meetings. I knew that we'd have to get more clothes on the mainland to fit in but it wouldn't hurt to have some of my own clothes with me. I packed furry boots, shoes and plenty of weapons. I threw in my crown, a few pieces of jewellery, hygiene-related products and the good luck charm my mother used to keep with her. The charm was a small sculpted raven with a four-leaf clover in its beak, it was a bizarre trinket but my mother loved it and therefore by default so did I. Taking it with me made it feel like I was taking a part of her and that gave me a little comfort. 

There was a knock on the door just as I finished packing. "Come in," I yelled as I moved my luggage for tomorrow onto one side of the room.

Alvaro and Evander came in. The pair were twins and inseparable. They were also amazing in fight practice. So much so that they often came out on top of everyone else. However, there was only one person that seemed to be able to hold a fight with them other than me and that was Myla. It seemed to frustrate them but also give them the motivation to train harder.

"We got the message, your highness. We thought we'd make sure that we understand what's happening. We're leaving tomorrow for the mainlands but we haven't been told of our purpose yet and we couldn't find James," Alvaro said in a deep, smooth voice. 

"We're not quite sure what to pack," added Evander in the mirror image of his brother's voice. 

"Of course, I forgot to mention we're going to try and convince the other kingdoms that we're not monsters and deserve to live freely. King Seth is spreading his poisonous words throughout the mainlands and I'm afraid we won't have much longer before they decide to take action and so pack plenty of clothes and plenty of weapons. I have no idea what will happen there"

"King Seth is truly despicable. Him and his son that is. I can't believe that we're up against this," Evander said upset. "We'll be ready for tomorrow, We'll do our best to make sure that this doesn't turn into a war."

His son?" I questioned

"Prince Tyson, He's 24 now. He's kind of been forgotten about but he's just started getting involved in the politics properly. Unfortunately, I have heard a few rumours that he does share quite a few worlds views with his father," Alvaro explained. 

"We'll have to be careful not to get mixed up with them. Now go pack, we must be ready for the morning, time is precious. On your way back could you explain all this to Myla and Ava for me?" I asked.

"Of course we can. see you in the morning," Alvaro replied

"Good night, your highness," Evander said to me and then to his bother said, "Let's go, it looks like we'll need the sleep."

his brother nodded and they turned to leave the room. I shouted a good night after them and began to prepare to go to sleep. 

I took a long hot bath, going over everything in my head. I hoped to the heavens that everything goes smoothly but you never know what could go wrong. I would never be able to forgive myself if this went south, landing my kingdom in danger. I prayed for guidance from my parents before I hopped out of the water and got ready for bed. 

I awakened feeling alive and nervous. This could be the end of everything that I or my parents have ever worked for but there was no way to avoid it. I took a deep breath, got dressed and took my luggage straight to the boat. We'd be having breakfast on there so there was no need to worry about that. All I would need to do now is wait for my five companions to arrive so we could go. 

"Good morning!" A chirpy voice yelled out. I looked over and saw Myla, a gorgeous female with tanned skin and brown eyes. She was petite but she was also one hell of a fighter. Sometimes I thought that she too would make a good ruler of a country.

"Good morning" I replied happily, "We're just waiting for the others to arrive now."

"Alright then, I'm just going to put my stuff onto the boat, see you soon for breakfast". Myla raced into the boat, almost certainly in search of food. Due to all the fighting practice, she participated in, she always seemed to have a good appetite on her. 

After a few minutes, I saw two muscley figures walk towards me. That would almost certainly be the twins. "Go straight onto the ship, Myla's already on there searching for food," I yelled at them.

They got significantly closer before Alvaro replied. "Of course she's already looking for food, she never seems not to be." The twins laughed and so did I. Myla always seemed to be super close to them, It was almost like they formed a triplet. 

As they headed into the boat in search of Myla and food I saw James and Ava heading towards me. They too seemed to have a good companionship. 

"Good morning, the other three have headed onto the ship. Let's get on there too. I'm starving," I said, anxious to get food and anxious to get this over and done with.

"Morning, Arabella. We're starving too. Let's go," James said to me, he was the only person that seemed comfortable enough to drop the formalities of queen/your highness. This was most likely due to the fact he had been like a brother to me growing up. When my parents were too busy he'd often spend hours playing with me. I was glad he'd be with me on this trip. 

"It's going to be weird leaving this isle," Ava remarked as we headed onto the ship.

"Yes, yes it is. Maybe some good will come of it though and that's all that matters," I said

"Hopefully, your right," James said, "Now let's find the others"

We headed off in search of Myla and the twins. It appeared that as we walked down the hallway, that this would be the start of our journey. I wasn't sure what I felt about that but at least I was surrounded by good people that I loved dearly.