Zethel seems a bit amused, and I think flattered by my suspicion that she could be a direct member to Princess Rosaleen’s family, “No love, but I am a dear friend to her family and helped watch over Rosaleen when she was a baby.” I’m intrigued and want to understand. While Zethel explains, her mind is somewhere else, like she is re-living a moment in the past. She continues to mop away the blood, dipping it into the bucket and carefully soaking up the mess as though this is some sort of regular routine. “Taylan, I think it is time for a refill.” Her blue eyes glance from me to the bucket.


    Oh right, I’m distracted by my new companion. There is only a quarter of the water left in the bucket, but what is left is a deep dark red. I dispose of the soiled water over the side. The metallic smell as the dirty water leaves the bucket makes me queasy. I lower the bucket down the side of the ship by the rope and pull up more water. Zethel comes behind me and helps pull the bucket back up. I dip my mop into the water and continue with the cleanup. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Soolena and Ashlea. They are preparing the corpse for disposal. There is still a small crowd on deck, and the conversations seem to have died down when they notice that Soolena and Ashlea are ready to throw the body overboard.


    Without acknowledging, the crowd Soolena instructs Ashlea, “Take his legs at the knee, hold him firmly, and on the count of three we are going to lift and rest him on the ledge, okay?”


    Breathy, Ashlea responds, “Okay.”


    “One, two, three” with some grunts and force the two manage; the corpse is now balancing on the ledge of the railing with the two women supporting it.


    Soolena and Ashlea are both lightly panting; Soolena instructs, “Okay Ash, carefully move your hands from under his knee, you are going to rest your hands on top of him, I am going to do the same so that our hands are free from him when we are ready to drop him.” Ashlea does what she is told, and Soolena follows the same motion. The crowd has quieted, and everyone is watching.


    Soolena and Ashlea are now balancing the remains of my attacker. Soolena continues giving Ashlea guidance, “We are going to push on the count of three so that we force him as far away from the ship as we can so that he doesn’t hit the side on his descent. Put as much of your strength into it. Are you ready?” Ashlea nods.


    “Okay, one; two; three…” Just Like That, my attacker is gone. I stop moping for a second and look over the side of the ship. I know that he is dead, but I just want to see, and make sure that he is not trying to swim or get out of the ropes. His body sinks and bubbles surround the point of entry into the water. The bubbles slowly fade away. Oddly, a light warm shower starts as if it were on queue. The remaining crowd disperses and Soolena and Ashlea seem relieved that their work is done.


    Soolena and Ashlea walk over to me. Soolena wipes a bead of sweat from her head with the cuff of her sleeve and asks, “Do you want us to help you finish?”


    “No thank you, go ahead, this shouldn’t take much longer.” If Soolena where a more emotional person I think that a warm embrace would have occurred just now. Instead, Soolena gives me a good long, meaningful look as if she is telling me with the souls of her eyes to be strong; she grasps my shoulder as she decides that it is best to take my suggestion and leave me to finish. Ashlea’s hair is the first to change color, a reflection of the grey sky above, she is dripping wet as we all are, as the warm shower helps take away the blood from our skin. She retreats with Soolena into the ship. It is now only Zethel, and I left on deck.


    “You don’t have to stay with me, I got this.” I say to convince Zethel politely that I can manage on my own.


    “I want to help.” She assures me.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    We start using sponges and gently scrub the floor where the blood had started to get tacky. The two of us continue cleaning up in silence. The rain has done a thorough job rinsing away the last remains of the blood.


    Zethel calmly rises from her knees to her feet and squeezes out her sponge over the side of the ship. I don’t have to look, but I do anyways, that metallic smell of the blood is stronger when an effort is made to rinse and wring out the mops and sponges. Zethel in a calm casual tone says, “I see what Rosaleen sees in you and your sister.” She smiles, puts her sponge down. We are finished. She walks into the ship without giving me a chance to question her. What is that supposed to mean, is Zethel hinting at something specific, or is she just trying to be polite?


    I spot a bit of mess that is left on the railing, wipe it clean, and do one last check for missed spots. All I see is a clean ship floor and clean railing. If someone were to set eyes on this deck, they would have never thought of the possibility of the brutality that took place just a brief time before. I squeeze my sponge out, place it next to Zethel’s and dump the remaining water from the bucket. I untie the rope from the bucket and the railing and neatly twist it back up and place the sponges in the bucket along with the rope and put it all away. Just when I have put everything away the rain stops, and the sunshine pierces the clouds. It already feels like I have lived through an entire day. However, it is still morning; this day is going to be long. Instead of taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun peeking through the clouds, I go inside to wash up for breakfast.


    It is not long after I have washed and dressed that I meet Rosaleen, Izavelle, Soolena and my sister in the dining room. Everyone is washed up and wearing light flowing dresses, their hair all done up as is mine. I have tied my hair back into a simple bun. My bandage in clear sight, but I don’t care, it is not like it is a secret.


    Rosaleen looks to be in better spirits from when I last saw her. “Taylan, you are looking much better, come and sit.” Rosaleen no longer seems angered or phased by everything that had happened. She is sitting at the end of the table, and to her right is an empty chair, which I take. My plate is full. It is double the amount I would take. There is fresh fruit, meats, and bread.


    Izavelle is sitting to my right, “Taylan, I put some medication in your juice, it is going to taste a little off, but I need you to finish it.” I nod, understanding. I know the serving on my plate is large; they are trying to help me regain my strength.


    Rosaleen starts, “Soolena tells me that you have met an old friend of mine?”


    I look up at her, “Yes, Zethel.”


    “What do you think of her?” Rosaleen asks.


    I fidget with the food on my plate while saying, “She is a really kind person and tells me that she wasn’t called upon to serve, but instead came on her own account?”


    Rosaleen nods, “Yes I met her recently, after being separated from her for many years; we reunited about a few months ago just on the mainland that we are going to be visiting after breakfast.”


    “She said that she cared for you when you were very young.” I volunteer the information in hopes that Rosaleen will elaborate.


    Rosaleen smiles: taking the bait, “Yes, she was my mother’s personal maid. As I understand she would keep my mother company and care for me in my mother’s absence.”


    “She says that she loves you.” I murmur and then quickly take a sip of my weird tasting, medicine-filled juice.


    “She is a sweet woman.” Rosaleen confides and changes the subject.


    “After breakfast we are going to have a bit of an adventurous day.” She pauses as she glances at the reactions of all of us. “I will make sure that we will keep everyone’s levels of strength in mind as we go about the day.” Everyone at the table seems to be satisfied with the thought of getting off this ship even though the evident sign of fatigue is on everyone’s faces.


    Izavelle concerns herself with me, “How does your throat feel?”


    I chew the food that is in my mouth and reflect for a second on all the points of my body before I answer, “It doesn’t hurt, it feels a little hot, and it also feels like the skin is a little tight, but there isn’t any pain.”


    Izavelle nods, “Okay that is good, the heat and the tightness mean that it is swelling a bit, the medication in your juice will help bring the swelling down.”


    I go to touch my bandage but notice that my pearl pendent is missing. I glance around and then across the table to Ashlea and calm my nerves; Ashlea is holding onto it for me, it is placed around her neck. Over the past two days, I have watched Ash turn into someone who is still fun and loving, but showing a new side of her, that of bravery, and someone who I know will always be there for me. She saved my life last night, and she took on the strength this morning of helping rid of my attacker. I am starting to see why Rosaleen has placed her with Soolena for instruction. This is only the second day on this ship with my mother and Saydira gone, and in the last couple of days, I have observed so much. I gather that Soolena is that of a solder, a protector, and my sister is opening her eyes to that world and really shining through as being someone who is brave, and then there is me being placed with Izavelle. I am not sure what the intention is quite yet. Izavelle is obviously a healer, but her comments that she advised me of the day before, with telling me that not everything is as you see, leads me to wonder. Is this what Rosaleen wants me to become? Another Izavelle?


    Ashlea who is clearly starting to become more confident and surer of herself. I don’t mean to say she was ever timid or a shy person because she never was. This place is transforming her into a more serious person and giving her direction.


    Ash has always had spunk and whether we see the silly or serious side to her, both those sides, she doesn’t hold back and thankfully she goes for it and asks the obvious question that has been on my mind all morning, “Why was Taylan attacked?”