Might be a double upload today, we shall see what the work day brings me;)
I'll also update the playlist later today with a few new songs to catch us up
Enjoy, lovelies!
xoxo

Caspian

It took everything in me to will my body to move.

One foot in front of the other, Caspian.

Regardless of the cool breeze that flowed between the dense trees branches. The fresh smell of the land broken through the middle of the sea. The well walked path that brought us deeper onto the island as this mysterious women guided us through it. I kept my eyes to the floor of the forest, not wanting to draw anymore attention to myself than I already inevitably had.

This woman... the one who met us on the shore. The ones who's feet I watched as they kept the pace of Alistair's thick leather boots in front of me. The one who's eyes weren't right when they first found mine.

Rather, nothing about her was right.

Her bare feet moved against the rough terrain with grace, as did her people's who were following closely behind myself, Cael, Alistair, and the rest of his men.

There was tension still drifting off both Alistair and Gaia, however his men and her people were heard amongst themselves behind us, laughing as they each spoke of their own experiences these last few years. The women that joined us, the ones who favoured Gaia's features who I presumed were her daughters, they all stuck particularly close to some of the pirates, walking with their arms linked around the men who had taken a bit more care than usual with their appearance tonight.

I did what Snips had recommended, however. I kept to myself, following silently behind Cael who also seemed to be a bit... different.

Granted I didn't see much of him during the days at sea, with both him and Alistair taking their leave to do only the gods knew what. I could tell though, that something had shifted. Something had changed once our feet hit soil, and somehow it had the complete opposite affect on the other men than it had me.

There wasn't a second since we trudged ashore where I felt any sort of comfort, and when I gazed into the eyes that should've held warmth but really felt like a hallowed out pit, that uncertainty quickly turned to that of horror.

There was no way she could've recognized me. I wasn't even sure how she could, Gatvia was far from Azultia. It was a self ruled island, something that to my understanding they fought through flesh and blood for. To my knowledge, my family and the old ways of Azultia shouldn't have reached these waters.

I needed to remind myself to call that place what it had come to be known as now.

Azul.

It was no longer the beautiful, rich with magic land it once was. It wasn't my home anymore. It was now a barren, soulless, wasteland... and that was attributed to the rise of The Holy Men, and their imposed beliefs. Their lack of understanding hidden behind unjustified brutality that they so humbly concealed behind a word they called Purification.

Azul had the largest militant units of all surrounding territory spanning months and months of travel. It was the region with the highest trades due to its convenient location. Though this Purification had kept its reach around Azul's boarders only, I knew some tensions were rising in other neighboring areas like Diaris, the region who had both fair trade and a prominent militant force, yet nothing to the tune of Azul's and their power. These other surrounding nations knew that it could only be a matter of time before The Holy Men wanted more land to spread their lies. Before more innocent families are slaughtered, much like mine had been.

I wondered what nations would survive if any, when that fateful day eventually came. I didn't plan to stay alive for it, I'd already drained all the fight I had left in me. Paid the ultimate price by the hands of the people my family once protected.

Every soul that still walked this disgusting earth could now burn for all eternity, and it wouldn't trouble my sleep in the slightest.

The sound of laughter and music grew louder, yanking me from my own self destructive thoughts, yet it wasn't coming from the pirates and Gatvians enjoying themselves a few short strides behind us, it came from what was ahead of us.

What this forest would eventually open up to... which was an entire, fully structured city.

With the darkness of the night, I couldn't tell where off in the distance the town ended, and the forest started again, but I could see burning torches and oil lamps hung on each building. The graveled roads weaving in and out of different corners of the town, connecting it all together. I watched as people still busied themselves, even at this late an hour. They all had the soles of their feet exposed to the ground under them, which riddled me with questions but I forced myself to remain silent.

I wasn't sure what it was, but something told me to avoid another gaze into that woman's eyes. She'd somehow seen more than she was supposed to on that beach, I was growing more sure of it with each moment that passed.

"Well, your men must be hung..." My head whipped over from Gaia's voice, to Alistair and Gaia, almost forgetting that they were still standing at the entrance besides us looking out to the town much like I had been. As I turned even further around, I noticed that most of the men where already walking down into the city.

Or rather, they were being dragged down by the admittedly beautiful Gatvian women who had met us at the shore. The smiles they bore stretched ear to ear, mirroring the gold filled teethy grins of the pirates who seemed more than happy to be whisked away.

"I think my men have an appetite for something else." Alistair replied, the edges of his lips twitching up into a grin at Gaia, who's tight lips of her own made him suddenly straighten his.

"First you seduce my son, then your men seduce my daughters. Those women have no business getting tangled in your piracy."

"But they are women, are they not? Of age and mind, aye? From where I stand, I do not think it's clear on who exactly seduced who."

Gaia only looked further irritated with the Captain.

"Then its off to each respective quarters. We'll take our first meal together come sunrise." Gaia spoke as she walked us the remainder of the way towards the first building in this town. "Cael, I assume you'll join me in my chambers for the duration of this stay?"

Cael nodded besides me, taking a few steps forward towards Gaia and separating himself from Alistair and myself. "Your slave is more than welcome to join." She added with her gaze finally falling on myself again. "My bed is more than spacious." My eyes quickly cast back to the ground in hopes to avoid her eyes, but it was Alistair's sudden response that pulled my attention from the gravel and grass, to him.

"He's to stay in my quarters with me."

Gaia's eyebrows raised slightly at that. Hell, even my own had. If Alistair planned to keep his eyes set this closely on me, the possibilities of escaping were dire at best. But as I dared my gaze to fall on Gaia's, even for a moment, I found myself doing something I thought I'd never be pushed to do.

I decided on Alistair as the safer option, regardless of how both that man and the word safe should never be associated together.

At least with him, I knew more. However little that most likely was.

"So you've taken him as both a slave, and a servicer?" Gaia continued. "That's very... unlike you."

"It isn't like that," Alistair insisted immediately, but there was something there in his voice that was awfully unlike the Alistair I was used to hearing. It sounded almost like a child being teased by his mother.

"Well all our available quarters have one bed. We've been blessed by the gods with many fruitful women these last few seasons, the rooms that can hold two or more have all been since occupied by the new mothers."

"Caspian would be more than grateful to take the floor." Alistair replied with zero hesitancy. I almost didn't stop myself from the look I was about to give him, but still being in the company of Gaia made me hold my tongue. This arrogant, pompous, blood thirsty pirate was still somehow the safer option.

So to this, I found myself nodding when Gaia turned from Alistair to me. The way she looked at me then, only confirmed I had made the right decision. The look she gave me somehow questioned whether I were to truly, willingly take the floor. And that wasn't a question she would have unless she believed it was somehow below me.

She'd seen more than she should have on that shore.

"Well... then that settles it, I suppose. I prepared your usual room down at the old stead. Nalia now runs the small Inn, she'll serve you but she may have since taken to her own chambers for the night, so do your best not to disturb her until she wakes come sunrise."

Alistair nodded at Gaia's words, already starting to walk ahead in a direction he clearly knew. I wasted no time following closely behind him, yet turned back only to catch the last glimpse of Gaia and Cael as they disappeared into a small cottage home towards the entrance of the city.

I wanted to ask Alistair about Cael and Gaia, but I held my tongue. It wasn't any business of mine what their relationship was, regardless of how odd the pairing was. Alistair didn't seem to care at all, so I forced myself not to.

We walked in silence as we went further into town. The building he brought us to was another large brick built establishment, with an Inn sign hanging above the front doors. Alistair pushed past the unlocked door first with me following closely behind. Once we entered, I was surprised to see how spacious it was inside. The oil burning lanterns were still on in the main dining hall, but not a soul was around. The smell from the remnants of dinner made my stomach growl.

I felt my feet slow as I took in the old yet fashionable design of the place. One of the walls held a beautiful painted mural of a forest that mirrored the one we had walked through to get here.

Alistair was the one who forced me to keep moving, his own pace not bothering to slow as he approached a door near the back of the large room. This opened to a tight wounding staircase that curved up towards a different story. This then led us down another hall, one with only three doors. Alistair chose the farthest door at the end of the corridor. This door, like the others we'd walked through, was also unlocked.

And the inside was yet another stunning display.

There was a large framed bed in the middle of the room, with an amour to the furthest right of it with the wood color matching the color of the bedframe. The sheets looked soft to touch, like that of cotton. It was different than the common linen material found on ships, and used for cheap merchant clothing.

Alistair didn't wait a moment before he slid that massive sword out from his fitted waist strap, and removed his large black leathered trench coat. The sword was then rested against a small table next to the bed, before he started removing his other weapons.

I watched on in complete disbelief still near the entrance of the room, watching as daggers, anchors, and knifes were all pulled from places damn near invisible to the eye. There was never a situation one could find themselves in where this many weapons were needed to win, and if there was, I'd think it best to just accept death at that point.

He then pulled a sheet and a pillow from the ready-made bed, tossing them onto the floor opposite the side he looked to be adjusting for himself. I closed the door to room, before slowly making my way towards the tossed sheet. Alistair looked ready for sleep to find him.

At least he had spared a pillow, I thought. It was my last piss poor last attempt at making light of the situation I was now in.

Only hours earlier, I had thought this place to be my refuge. My escape. I had been thinking, conjuring ways I could slip out of the iron clutches of this mad pirate. From how Snips had spoke of this place, It didn't seem like a bad island to disappear on...

That was until I met that women. Until her eyes found mine.

She was all I could think about now as I spread the clean sheet over the cement floors, placing the soft pillow above it.

The men agreed they're bring the cargo needed off the boat, come sunrise. Once they caught sight of the women on shore, many chose to abandon the remaining tasks of offloading. This had meant that I had only the clothes on my back to sleep in. As did Alistair, who chose to rest in his white inner shirt, and black cargo pants.

Now, upon meeting Gaia, I wanted off this island completely. I wished for nothing more than to feel the floorboards of Alistair's ship beneath my boots again. To breathe and witness that sun touched salty sea as the only thing on the horizon.

This was how I knew that something seriously wasn't right here.

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