The Great War: Chapter 26
Idle hands make for lonely sailing
“Hi, Sam,” Ezra chimes, skipping up to the prince, who sits at the bow of the ship watching the waves roll them by. The prince turns his head to face Ezra, a small welcoming smile spreading across his lips.
“You look lonely,” Ezra comments, taking a seat on the wooden ledge next to him.
“Well, there’s not much to do when you’re at sea,” Samuel sighs, looking back out at the ocean blue that surrounds them.
Ezra nods. It was a little tough to stay entertained on the ship that brought him and his family to Korodon, though at least the friends and family eased some of it. But when all you have to do is talk to other beings all cycle long, even that wears away over time as well.
“But we’ve not even been sailing for a cycle yet,” Ezra replies. “How can you be complaining now?”
This elicits a small chuckle from the royal. “It’s just odd not having anything to really do for a little while.”
“What did you use to do?”
“Well, when I was younger I had magic classes. Recently… I was overseeing some of my father’s projects. Before the war, anyways. And then I had my own projects to focus on.”
“Sounds boring,” Ezra yawns.
“What did you do before the war?” Samuel asks him, more out of curiosity rather than a retort.
“Book keeping,” Ezra replies with a grin. “Actually, I kept the Guardians away from the history books. Ish and the others did most of the book keeping for me.”
Intrigued, Samuel shifts his position to face the Creationist fully. “Why were you doing that?”
“Protecting the history books? I’ll give you three guesses.”
The prince lets out another amused huff for whatever reason, but it puts a smile on Ezra’s face as well.
“They were burning books,” Ezra reveals.
“Ah.”
“If there wasn’t a librarian in the area, they’d just take books off the shelves and hold bonfires those same nights in their barracks. I didn’t actually see them burning the books, but I’m sure that’s what they were doing. We’d never see those books again, and replacements would be confiscated from the ships as soon as they docked.
“I did see them steal the books, though. We all knew what they were doing whenever they showed up. They weren’t too sneaky about it… Maybe because they knew a handful of librarians couldn’t do anything to stop them.”
Ezra laces his fingers together and stares down at the deck, his heart starting to ache of homesickness. He longs for the bright sun of Mirage to beam down on him from overhead, its warmth against his skin and small grains of sand between his toes. Korodon is too cold for his liking.
“Sounds like you were already fighting the Guardians long before now,” Samuel hums.
“You could say that,” Ezra nods. “They did what they pleased in Solari. With half the council taken up by the Guardians in the first place… it was hard sometimes.”
“I see…” the prince hums.
“Where’s Devin?” Ezra asks, wanting to switch subjects and noticing that the prince’s aid was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s with his own father,” Samuel replies. “They hardly get any time together, and it’s not like I can go anywhere anyways.”
“Ah.”
“I just came out here to watch the waves,” Samuel continues quietly.
Ezra purses his lips and side eyes the prince. “Are you not close with your father?”
Samuel turns back to the ocean and leans on the side of the ship, staring off into the distance. “No.”
There’s a part of Ezra that wants to ask for details. But from the prince’s forlorn expression, he decides it best to hold his tongue. At least for now.
“Have you seen Isaac and Anya?” Samuel eventually asks.
“Yeah. We all sleep pretty close to one another. But they’re in charge of cleaning the lower decks, so I don’t think they’ll come up top too often.”
Samuel lets out a hum and nods slowly, his expression unchanged.
Patting his hands on his knees, Ezra also turns the the water below them. The ship carves its way through the waves with ease, and following alongside the large wooden vessel is a collection of small fish, just barely visible below the water shimmering in the light of the cycle.
“Fish,” he comments aloud, staring at them swimming, easily keeping pace with the ship.
“What?” Samuel asks beside him.
“Fish. In the water.”
“Ah, those ones. They’ve been following us for a while now.”
“They’re cute.”
Samuel lets out a laugh, a proper laugh. With a slight eye roll, Ezra smiles back at him.
“Fish, cute?” the prince asks.
“Well, they’re small and shiny. I think that’s cute.”
Samuel just shakes his head. “You’re very amusing, Ezra.”
“Thanks. I try to be.”
