Chapter Six
~ Light ~

Ahra’s body has slightly adjusted to being in a ship surrounded by water so, by the fifth day, she had managed to haul herself out of her room to check what’s happening on the outside world. The crew nodded at her cheerfully as she made her way to the captain of the ship. She had paused in her walk to stop herself from puking her guts out only once, and she was proud of that.

“Captain Sentinel!” the captain greeted. Sometimes Ahra thinks he’s the source of cheerfulness around here. “Got used to the sea, eh?”

“Yes,” she smiled a little. “I think my mind has picked up that we’re getting out of Cruor.”

“Ah, a trauma?” he shook his head in pity. “Good thing that we have been sailing so smoothly that by the morning after tomorrow, I think we’ll be able to reach Lacrimae. We’ve covered so much distance already.”

“Really?” her eyes were wide in surprise.

“Really,” the captain grinned, showing her some yellowed teeth. “Thank Azrin for that.”

She smiled fully then. “I thought it would take us two weeks to be able to leave Cruor.”

“That’s the estimate for this caravel.” The captain nodded. “But since we don’t have any record of how many days it would take to get to the blue waters, it’s not a good estimate. You should smile more, by the way. It makes your eyes sparkle like lights.”

She shook her head, her smile already reverting to her normal smile, a barely detectable curve of the lips. “You spend too much time courting the ladies at the tavern, Captain Pram.”

“Ah, I call them as I see them, young girl.” The captain winked. “And if I call your smile pretty, then damn right it’s pretty.”

“Sure, captain, as if you haven’t told countless barmaids the same pickup line.” she teased.

A member of the crew interjected. “He always use that exact line to escape payment days!”

The ones who heard got a good laugh at that. The captain joined the laughter. Ahra just chuckled quietly.

~~~

Qiang had been nursing a high fever for days. And he can’t go out to earn easy gold because a neighbor, a kind lady who always tries to help even if they’re in the same sad state of life, had informed him about a man trying to seek him out. He fears that the man will arrest him, and he can’t ha