Isle of the Damned

Arrival

We'd all gathered together and scoffed as much food as we could. I'm pretty sure I was emotionally eating but at this point in time, I was ready for whatever comfort I could get. These next few days and possible weeks were almost certainly going to be difficult and we had no idea of what troubles to expect. We all knew that if King Seth heard of us too soon we'd all be in danger. 

"That was a nice breakfast. Hopefully, the rest of our trip follows suit," Myla said. She was resting her head against the table with a happy smile on her face, undoubtedly from the food she'd just consumed. 

"I want it to go well too but you know what some people on the mainland are like. We've all heard the stories," Evander said with a hint of sadness. It wasn't uncommon for horror stories to be passed around by kids on the isle about the atrocities that some had committed over on the mainland. How true they are I do not know and I'm not certain I want to.

"At least the first place we go to is likely to be okay. Queen Helana and the peope of Brilanthi have always been friendly with us and her kingdom is the reason why we have so many supplies back at home," James added. "I'm sure they'll welcome us. Though, other than that, there's no telling how the others will respond to us."

"Regardless of how kind Queen Helena is we will have to still be cautious, we have no idea where King Seth's spies are. We can't afford to make mistakes," Ava firmly insisted.

"You're right. So until we arrive in Brilanthi I suggest we all rest up so that we aren't tired when we arrive," James said, standing up. "We all need to be in the right frame of minds. I'll see you all later."

James headed off and as I looked over everyone I knew he was right. The excitement of the morning had worn off and we were all starting to look like zombies. 

"Alright then, I'm heading off to find somewhere suitable to sleep. We've still got plenty of time before we arrive in Queen Helena's land so resting up is probably the best thing to do. So I guess good night?" I said before standing to leave the room. Goodnights were said back to me and so I happily headed off in search of a bed.

I headed down the hallway of the ship to find a room situated on the left of me. It had a small cabinet and a good-sized bed. I figured it'd be as good a place as any. I'd dragged the stuff I packed into the room with me and climbed into the bed. The duvet was well-weighted and the mattress soft. It was extremely comfy and I hoped all the others found beds just like this one. 

The ship rocked side to side in a calming motion, like a mother rocking a child. My eyelids grew heavy and as I shut them I knew it wouldn't be long before I drifted off.

I must have slept heavily for hours because the next thing I was aware of was the jolt from the boat stopping. I assumed that must be us arriving and so I got up and dragged what luggage I did have in search of the exit and the others. 

The others had already gathered at the door to go out and so I walked towards them with pleasure. They were a piece of home and that made me feel safe. I don't think that I'd be able to do this without them. Though I was aware that the safety I felt may very well be a delusion given what we were about to walk into.

They were grilling James about what he'd discovered in the past from living in these lands. 

"They all dress very differently to us and so we're going to have to find somewhere to buy clothes from as soon as possible. We'll stick out way too much otherwise," James finished explaining before registering my appearance. "Hey, Arabella. I told everyone to let you sleep until you were ready to go. A queen needs her rest after all but it seems you're awake now."

"Hey, I can't believe I slept so long. I overheard the end of your conversation and you're right, we will need to find clothes that will camouflage with everyone else. Luckily for us, Helena's castle is on the coast and so is the village. If we're smart about it I reckon we can pick up some clothes from there. we would've made clothes back home but we don't have the correct materials to make outfits that live up to their standards."

"Is their fashion sense bad?" Myla questioned randomly with a grimace, undoubtedly at the thought of having to wear ugly clothes for the duration of our visit.  

"It's not our typical style but there are a few good pieces out there," James commented looking at her with a bemused look in his eye.

"And anyway, you can obviously pull anything off Myla," I said with a large smile. I meant it too, that girl had a figure to kill for. 

"You could probably give all the woman on this island a run for their money with all the training you do and skills you have," Evander added. "Not that we'd ever admit that of course." 

"Never ever," declared Alvaro. 

Myla seemed brighter after all the compliments and I couldn't help but smile out of amusement. We'd have to go soon, I would guess that Myla's shopping would take longer than necessary and I wanted to reach the castle early enough that we'd be able to speak to Queen Helena tonight.

"Let's go then, it won't be long before it turns dark. Myla will want to look through everything," Ava said stealing the words right out of my mouth.

"Right, let's go then. We'll also have to acquire some horses at the village if we don't want to carry our luggage around," James said opening the door. 

We all stopped conversing as we headed out the door and laid eyes on the village. It was only a minute walk from where we landed and it was so beautiful. Unlike, many of the dull grey brick/stone houses that were common, this village had walls that were made to be all white and had flowers hanging down in baskets. The area, from what we could see was extremely clean and appeared to have a cobblestone walkway. It looked fairytale-like and I was glad that on our journey we would at least get to see here. 

I'd been here a few times when I was younger but it must have been done up with great standards in mind as it looked run down and old in the past. I wish my parents could've seen it.

Myla, Alvaro, Evander, Ava and I all gaped. James was the exception since he was so often over here that I doubted little would surprise him now. He'd probably seen this style of housing in a few different places by now.

"Well, if the clothes are as good as this village looks, Myla has nothing to worry about," Ava said, still in awe of the surroundings. 

"mmmm, I don't want to get my hopes up too soon. So let's get going before I have too higher expectations," Myla responded. 

And so upon these words, we all headed off into the village in search of clothes.