Heir to the Throne Page 3

  “I assume they have seen us?”

  “They appear to be changing direction to cut us off,” the Captain replied.

  Lord Dalby remained surprisingly calm, despite the news he had just been given. Whether Lord Elthan had placed the few boats that he possessed, to keep a watchful eye on passing ships, or this was just a chance meeting, Lord Dalby did not know. While he had half-expected this kind of thing to happen, Lord Dalby was hoping to avoid any contact with enemy vessels on their trip. However, with nearly one hundred soldiers crammed below deck, he was now torn as to whether he should use this to his advantage.

  His primary concern must be the safety of the young prince, of that he had no doubt. Yet the thought of perhaps removing one of Lord Elthan’s boats from the proceedings was too good of an opportunity to miss.

  “Have the archers ready, but keep them below deck for now. I want fire arrows to be ready to launch as soon as I give the order.”

  The Captain nodded his head and relayed the very same instructions to his own next in command while he remained at the nobleman’s side.

  “Pretend to steer as if we’re trying to avoid them,” Lord Dalby asked.

  The ship pulled hard over to one side as if trying to make a sharp turn to avoid making contact with Lord Elthan’s boat. Although much larger in size, Lord Dalby’s ship was still quite quick. However, those trying to cut him off probably just assumed it was being used to carry cargo and supplies from The Casillian Isle to Scarwood and was on its way back for more. In some degree that was of course true. The cargo being the young prince, although having so many soldiers on board was probably not what the enemy was expecting, and something Lord Dalby hoped to use to his advantage.

  With the wind giving the smaller enemy craft the advantage, enabling it to move much quicker across the water, the two craft meeting was now all but inevitable. As grand, a ship as Lord Dalby’s was, it was still no match for the speed and manoeuvrability of the smaller craft flying Lord Elthan’s colours. Spotting several archers already lining the deck of the enemy boat, Lord Dalby once more gave his order to keep his own men out of sight, at least for now. With both vessels being easily identifiable by the flags fluttering in the breeze, there was also no mistaking the intent of Lord Elthan’s boat. Openly having archers lining up on deck and deliberately intercepting his own ship, Lord Dalby knew that these men had been given orders to attack.

  As the two craft neared to with a few hundred paces of each other, the smaller of the two craft swung about once more, so it ran on a parallel course to the vessel it was pursuing.

  “I think they’ve misjudged a bit, and we have the wind in our favour,” the Captain said seemingly assessing the distance between them as too far for arrows to reach.

  “Move us in a little closer, would seem a great pity to disappoint them,” Lord Dalby replied, giving the signal for his own archers to prepare to move out of the hold and onto the deck.

  The Captain gave the signal, and the ship veered over slightly as it moved nearer the other boat. Just as the enemy archers raised their bows and released their first few arrows.

  As correctly presumed by his Captain even the furthest arrow dropped harmlessly into the water, although now the two vessels were edging closer the next would probably be in range. Lord Dalby knew that once these had scored a hit, it was likely that fire arrows would quickly follow. Little short of ramming each other, naval battles often involved burning the opponent's vessel before he burned yours. With sails making a large and flammable target, Lord Dalby called for them to be raised, before finally giving the order for his own archers to make their appearance.

  Whereas whoever was commanding the enemy craft seemed to be making all his moves by the book, Lord Dalby and his Captain were far wiser and knew that battles were often won and lost by doing something different. Forgoing firing arrows to get their range, Lord Dalby had his archers line up on deck preparing to launch fire arrows. As the sails were furled, the ship slowed, causing the enemy to move slightly ahead, and the next volley of arrows to be about as successful as their first. This time, however, a few did thump into the side of the ship, with a couple even making it as far as the upper deck, a short way from where he and his Captain was standing.

  The enemy vessel slowed so not to get too far ahead, veering off line slightly to try and slow down with a little more urgency. Lord Dalby ordered a sharp turn to port, showing his entire ship, side on to the enemy vessel, before giving the order to fire his own volley.

  Forty arrows arced upwards, darts of flame moving swiftly across the water towards the opponent. Although a few missed, their fires immediately extinguished as the arrows dropped harmlessly into the waters of the sea, a few did score hits. Knowing most would likely burn out anyway, Lord Dalby asked his men to keep firing, hoping to get that one lucky blow that would see an arrow hit somewhere it might catch hold.

  The enemy reply was just as swift, and although with fewer archers on deck, it did not mean they could be any less successful. The cries of one of his men being struck by an arrow rang out across the deck of his ship, as several others thudded into the timbers. With both sides using fire as their weapon of choice, an exchange of burning arrow points soared from one vessel to the other. Each arrow that landed on deck needed to be extinguished just in case the flames it carried took hold, as sailors on both sides used buckets of water to dampen down the timbers to reduce any such risk.

  Tucked away inside the cabin, Luca was unsure as to exactly what was going on outside. He could her dozens of feet running about on the timber deck, sounding like a herd of wild animals stampeding. Edwards was trying his best to look at what was happening, as he was also unfamiliar with warfare at sea, by peering through a small gap between the door and its frame. Barely enough to see through, his line of vision was so poor he could only see a few shapes moving about outside. Both young men heard the screams of a man, and both were familiar that it was the last cry of a dying man. Feeling somewhat nervous and apprehensive, Luca sat on his narrow bunk with his hands clasped tightly together.

  As the two vessels jostled for position, the larger ship of Lord Dalby ultimately got the upper hand. Not only did they have the advantage of being able to fire down on their opponent, but they also had many more archers with which to do so. With one of the enemy’s furled sails being hit, the flames had soon caught, and with several of the crew also hit by arrows, the captain of Lord Elthan’s boat took the chance to retreat while he still could. Ordinarily, Lord Dalby might have given chase and finished his opponent off, but with such a precious cargo on board, thought it best to drop sails and move on as quickly as possible.

  The vessel belonging to Lord Elthan then limped away, the fires still burning on its deck sending a stream of black smoke up into the clear blue sky. Lord Dalby, happy that he had managed to repel the attack, quickly had his injured men seen to, and the two dead he had suffered removed from view. Knowing he needed to inform the young prince that all was well, Lord Dalby walked slowly down the wooden steps to the lower part of the deck towards the doors of the main cabin. Knowing his captain was more than capable of taking care of proceedings in his absence, he rapped on the door with his knuckles.

  Inside the cabin, Edward jumped backwards as he was still trying to see what was going on, the knocking catching him by surprise. Luca looked up with urgency as the door opened and was relieved to see his uncle standing in the opening. The shafts of sunlight immediately lit up the rather dull, dreary room, so much, so Luca had to shield his eyes. The figure of Lord Dalby was somewhat in contrast to the bright sunshine behind him.

  “All is well, Sire.” The man simply said before turning about and walking off.

  Edward turned to look at Luca, “Is that it? All is well! Hardly an update as to what just transpired is it?” The words were clearly edged with disappointment and probably meant as such, but Luca was just thankful it was over.

  As the door was left ajar by Lord Dalby after his brief message, Edwa
rd took it as a sign that he and Luca were able to return out on to the deck area of the ship. Although less so sure, Luca agreed for the pair of them to head out into the sunshine, if only to appease Edward’s urge to know what was happening. Shielding his eyes from the sun, Luca spotted Theo, and the others as they headed up from the hold beneath the deck. As a group, they looked out over the rippling sea waters to see the dark smoke clouds off in the distance. From the look of things, it seemed the flames had taken as the columns of smoke appeared to get thicker.

  “Will the survivors all drown?” Luca asked, unsure he could allow so many people to die in such a horrid way.

  “No, If they think their vessel is lost they’ll lower a smaller lifeboat and row back to shore,” Theo answered.

  Luca just nodded glad that it was all over, or at least until they arrived in Port Exley. For now, he was allowed to roam around the ship as he pleased, even foregoing Edward’s company if he so wished to do so. Lord Dalby was happy that his ship was a safe place, at least when it wasn’t being attacked by others.

  Although they wouldn’t get to the Casillian Isle until morning, which meant yet more time to sleep in a bunk barely big enough for a small child, Luca felt he could cope. Now his sickness had eased, he allowed the cool sea breeze to blow on his fair skin. Blocking out the voices and noises from the ship, he instead, attempted to focus on the sound of the water and the noise it made as the ship cut through it. The wind hitting into the sails which were unfurled almost boomed as the vessel was suddenly propelled forward once more.

  Chapter 4.Not As Explained.

  Luca had spent the evening meal with the two noble families, in an area below deck that was reserved for their purpose. While having more room than he did in the cabin in which to move about, below deck was much darker and gloomier. The meal had consisted of fish stew, and chunks of dry bread which Luca thought must have been stale. While not wanting to complain, just in case, he had watched how the others had eaten theirs. Apparently, it needed to be soaked in the stew before eating, something he emulated when realising he would likely have broken a tooth had he continued to try otherwise.

  While the stew wasn’t actually as bad as he thought it might have been, he did think it was probably one of the worst meals he’d had since his escape from the palace. However, keeping up his new persona of a more carefree person, he kept any opinion to himself, even forcing himself to eat it all. The only problem with that was Lady Dalby thought he was hungry and insisted he should eat some more. After much persuading and assuring her that was not the case, the woman finally relented and let it drop, much to his relief.

  Only when the meal was finished did Luca venture back up on to the deck and watch the moonlight reflecting on the water. The sea was calm, which meant he was likely to keep his supper down, and created a view that carried a certain kind of beauty. Like a glimmering silver blanket, the waters glistened and held Luca’s gaze for quite some time.

  “It’s nice when it’s like this,” Clarissa said stepping up beside him.

  “It is,” he said keeping his sight firmly fixed outwards. “I’m not so sure I’d think the same if the seas were choppy,” he added.

  Clarissa just gave a small chuckle, “You’d get used to it after a few journeys. It’s when the waves are lapping over the sides of the ship that things really start getting scary.”

  Luca was sure he didn’t like the sound of that and was quite glad that the current conditions were as they were. While he thought that sea travel was better than it might have been, he wasn’t so certain that it was something he wanted to do on a regular basis. Perhaps when, or if, he ever got to be king he might have to do a little more, but until that time one trip was enough for now.

  After wishing them all a good night, Luca wandered over to the cabin, and although he didn’t need to, Edward did likewise. In truth, his bodyguard was still suffering a little from seasickness, even though he wouldn’t admit it to the others. Having managed to keep most of his supper down, Edward thought it best to sleep the remainder of the journey and hope when the sun rose they would be ready to dock. Not bothering to undress, being as the cool breeze kept the temperature somewhat cooler than either of them were used to when sleeping, the pair clambered into the bunks. Both complained although neither listened to the other, as they struggled to get comfortable.

  Luca yawned loudly, feeling as tired as he had felt for a very long time, and despite the un-natural shape he was forced to lie in, soon found himself asleep. The bad dreams had seemed less frequent of late, although they did still happen. However, now he had experienced them so many times, the initial shock he had felt when first encountering them had long since gone. As usual, he knew he was asleep yet felt awake, as if he could control what his body was doing in this slumbered state of mind. It seemed that the darkness that haunted him was again present in his thoughts, although the shield of light that protected him was also there. No matter how hard the darkness tried to get to him, the small glow of light that illuminated from his body, as he strolled aimlessly around his world of dreams, kept him from harm. As to what either of them was, he had no idea, but in a moment of deep thought, he had once wondered if he perhaps had some magical skill in his sleep that kept dark powers at bay. Of course, he would never speak these things to anybody, especially as they would all think him completely bonkers for suggesting such a ridiculous thing. Whatever it was that protected him, he was thankful for its presence nonetheless.

  Luca was awoken by the sound of Edward tumbling from his narrow bunk, hitting the wooden flooring with a thud that must have hurt. Once realisation had occurred as to what had happened, Luca did enquire as to the other man’s wellbeing, although in truth he felt like laughing. Edward just grumbled a reply, evidently not finding it funny, before climbing back into his bunk. The two remained silent for a few minutes, but with any hope of getting back to sleep out of the question, Luca thought to start a conversation.

  “Do you still like Clarissa? I’ve not seen you talking to her much lately.”

  Edward made a strange noise as if he was coughing up a furball.

  “I’ll take that as a yes then,” Luca chuckled. “Don’t worry I won't tell her,” he quickly added just to set the young man’s mind at ease.

  “You better not or I’ll tell Nerina how you feel about her.”

  Luca chuckled, “I think we both know the girl absolutely hates me. If we were the only two people left in the world, she would still ignore me.”

  After chatting for a while, Edward thought to get up, “Wanna see the sun rising?” He asked peering through the small crack at the door.

  “Sure,” Luca replied stretching his arms up and yawning loudly.

  Making a loud thud as his feet hit the floor, he quickly put his boots on and followed Edward out on to the deck outside.

  “Don’t get too close to the edge!” Came a rather deep, gruff sounding voice.

  Luca turned to see the Captain looking in their direction, and simply nodded his understanding.

  “Does that man ever sleep?” Edward said as Luca stepped back up alongside him, although he kept his voice low so as not to be overheard.

  “It would seem not,” Luca added with a smile as the pair stopped a few feet away from the edge, just as requested.

  The light was kind of strange. That short period of time when it was neither night nor day. A kind of half-light that made the water appear dark, as there was no light reflecting from it. The sea was a little choppier than the previous evening, and Luca could feel the ship moving that little bit more, although thankfully he didn’t feel any sickness as a result of it. The air carried a slight chill and although cool was not uncomfortably so. Sailors were moving about on deck, and Luca presumed that some of them would have had to have worked through the night to keep the ship sailing on its course.

  Edward pointed to the orange glow on the horizon as the pair of them watched the sun very slowly making its appearance.

  “It’s act
ually quite beautiful to watch,” Luca said although neither of them took their eyes off the spectacle. The area of sky around the sun glowed, radiating a plethora of different shades of orange.

  “Land-ahoy!” Came a shout from somewhere above them, causing both Luca and Edward to divert their attention elsewhere. After glancing upwards towards the man sat up at the top of the mast, it took a few minutes more before either of them actually spotted any land.

  “I assume that’s where we are going?” Luca said.

  Edward just shrugged and admitted he wasn’t really sure but presumed that was the matter of fact.

  The appearance of Lord Dalby confirmed to both what that they had just thought, as the man tried to point out which bit of the land ahead was Port Exley.

  “You can just make out the taller buildings,” he told them, placing an arm around Luca and guiding his line of sight to where he was referring.

  “Ah, Yes. Thank you,” Luca replied before having to do the same to Edward so he could see where it was they were looking.

  Edward grumbled under his breath, something about it still so far away. While it was clear he didn’t intend the remark to be heard, Lord Dalby evidently did.

  “Get below deck and get some breakfast, and before you know it, we’ll be ready to dock.”

  After watching for a little while longer, the pair of them eventually did as had been suggested and headed for the opening in the deck that led below. They were somewhat surprised to see both Lady Oakley and Lady Dalby already up and about, though none of their respective children had seen fit to do so. Unlike the small cabin Edward and Luca were using, the area the two families were sharing had a much larger table, although it was also bolted to the floor. Stradling the table were two long wooden benches, again fixed in place, like much of the furniture on the ship.