Strange Waters

The feast: A toast to the Emperor's Speech

 .....Standing tall above every other as all heads bowed in respect, The Emperor in his might, with a Golden crown on his head and a staff in his hand took a glance through the room in recognition of the brave warriors that were gathered, Elders and also top tier personalities that were present as he raised his cup in solidarity before giving his words. Sandy watched in admiration. The first time ever Sandy saw him with a crown was at the feast since her 'Travel to this realm. The totality of his Royalty was displayed that night. Sandy wondered if there was a Prince then where was the Queen?. Probably deceased because she was least spoken of. Sandy kept pondering but answers were yet to reach her. At the exact moment she was keeping an eye for the Prince but it met with the Emperor's, immediately she cleared her head and listened to the him as he spoke.

"Let's all drink and make merry for our time has been cut short. Be it time for death we shall dance with our swords and Spears, be it time to take charge of the seas then we shall do it vehemently. 

We all know the prince has been out of sight for days. He was sent by the council to take charge of the borders that led to the Pacific and bring back coordinates to further our territory and attacks. It is sad to say his supposed time of return is Two days late. We are worried and as it has been so far, we do not want to bother sending out a whole army to search for him and his men for we believe in the Prince and his ability to survive even the hardest storms. So tomorrow as the sun takes it's place in the sky so shall a selected few of you be set to sail out in search for answers as to the prince's whereabouts. For some of you, it would be your first Sail and for some of you it would be a chance to perfect your coordinates and experience the waters outside this realm. Be careful out there as you all know the scroll has arrived and the enemy snares and lurks amongst the waters waiting for the right spot to hit but we strong, we will win. The Empire's Most powerful Guard, Ibinabo will take charge of this sail and she would bring you all back safely. I trust you all are in safe hands"... They Emperor turned to Ibinabo and they both Exchange a stare..... "These grievances that befall us in this times will be celebrated soon. I employ you all to drink, dance and make Merry. Drink and eat tonight, Tomorrow might not come but you shall prepare for it. Cheers to the new moon". The king rose his cup again and sat as the crowd cheered and clapped to his praiseworthy speech.

The Emperor's words brought goosebumps to the warriors and left some of them speechless but it surely did drive some morales to the warriors as some could be seen cheering loudly, hitting hands on their chest and pledging to the Throne. 

Sandy turned to take a steak off her plate and drink ale that was served on her table as she watches the ladies with rings on their ears, noses and almost every part of their body come out to dance to the slow tune of the music made from harps and tambourines. After two gulp of the ale, moments later the atmosphere became a bit dull, the king had left and Sandy spilled her drink too many times, Ibinabo took her by the hands and walked her through the crowd back up to her chambers in the castle. " You drank too much, you need to rest that's Ale not Tea. You need to rest your head. You'll be joining us to Sea tomorrow".... "Oh, and please take your potions it's meant to complete the healing process. I saw you try to conceal it. Mildred might not be too happy to mix a potion for it just to be disregarded... I'll be here tomorrow to take a few sword practice before we move incase you need it"... She walked out and the door closed behind her and the lock clicked from the inside securing Sandy in the room. The feeling of b*****e floated through Sandy's head and she wished she could help herself.

The castle was a bit too tall for Sandy to survive a fall from where she laid if she ever thought about escaping through the window. The bright blue moonlight rays came in from the window and caught Sandy's attention. From where she sat she could see the moon, so big and so bright illuminating the sky that she could still see strange birds soar through the dark sky. She dragged her bed forward to the wall where the window was and climbed to take a proper look outside, she really wanted to watch the sea and wait for the cold breeze to smear her face till the feeling of sleep comes. She stared through down to the ground and she could see the castle guards walking to and fro searching for the unknown terror and keeping vigil to keep the castle safe. she dropped a piece of Rock she craved out from the cracked window wall all the way from the top but she couldn't see it drop to the ground, she waited patiently and saw one of the guards at alert in response to the impact of the stone hitting the floor, she smiled at her petty ways. She looked up wishing to see a star but there was none. Grandpa Mardock taught her how to read stars and constellations to predict the future. She was still lost on what her purpose in this realm was and she hoped someone could give her some answers. She was already exhausted from living a fantasy, everything was so perfect but she knew her life was at stake because the pain was also real. In a bid to sleep she took her potion, drank it and returned back to rest on the window to stare at the sea below one more time before the sleep kicks in. The more she looked the more it kept looking like the night was getting brighter. The light became too bright and eventually all she saw was the light that looks like colors from a kaleidoscope. She fell from the bed down to the ground in a bit to enter another deep sleep. She kept struggling to keep her eyes open, each time she flapped her eye she couldn't see a thing till she lost consciousness and finally gave in to the powers of the witches sleep potion.