Hydrangea ate her soup with little enjoyment. It was hot and tasted just fine, but her mind would give her no peace.
She felt stuck. She'd tried organizing and cleaning Bastian's room—despite her sore hand—but her thoughts still returned to it. Everything caused it to resurface in her mind and the horror and fear and anger all rushed back. She felt as though her skin had paled with panic and flushed with anger too many times to be healthy.
A knock jolted her from her cheerless reflections.
"Your majesty?" A female voice asked and Hydrangea stood from her seat and opened the door.
Her sea-legs were yet to join her so she supported herself against the frame.
Her eyes filled with confusion upon seeing the unfamiliar woman. She attempted to place her blue eyes and blonde hair but before she could the woman interrupted her, "Don't remember me?"
She walked in without an invitation and Hydrangea clenched her fists; feeling her anxiety rise.
The woman whistled, "Well, doesn't he have a nice cabin?" Her eyes returned from surveying the room and to Hydrangea, she laughed, "Oh, sorry. I completely forgot. I'm Aidana. We met back on the Sovereign's Island."
Hydrangea's blood once again fell from her cheeks and she felt cold wash over her. Shame crippled her features, "I-I'm sorry."
Aidana's features pinched with humoured confusion, "Why? What's there to be sorry for? You fought, and in self-defence, killed a soldier. He wasn't innocent in the least, I can assure you that. And, your majesty, no one will blame you." Her tone softened with the last sentence.
Hydrangea looked down. She crossed her arms, the cold lingering within her. How could she say it so cavalierly?
"Come on, I know what you need."
Hydrangea looked at her skeptically—unless she could erase the past, then she sincerely doubted it.
"Just follow me." Aidana grabbed her hand and Hydrangea hesitated for a moment before accepting it. If this woman had killed before, surely she knew the cure to the haunted feeling that hung in every breath.
"But I'm not dressed." She weakly stated. She had wrapped a sturdy piece of fabric around her bosom to keep it secure; she'd felt absolutely naked with them being free.
Aidana waved a hand and snorted, "You're covered. That's all you need."
Hydrangea's lips parted into a shy smile and she walked out the door with the interesting woman.
"Balta has got the good stuff aboard. It'll probably only be a few weeks till it's gone. Shame really, you can't find good rum these days."
Hydrangea's brows rose. Rum? She'd heard of it. It was sold at Crescent Port to the sailors and from the sailors, but she'd of course never tried it.
Her thoughts reflected back to what Bastian had said. That alcohol was only fleeting. At this point, she didn't care if the relief lasted for only a moment. If she could only catch it, maybe she could remember it.
Aidana led her down the long corridors and to a small room that ebbed with heat and smelled of savoury items.
"Balta!" She called in a carefree tone.
"Aidana!" A deep throaty voice called from somewhere hidden in the room. A large built man stepped from behind a stack of barrels, "Ah! And I see you've brought a friend."
Hydrangea smiled softly at the brash pair. They were rather engaging.
"I'll need two bottles of your best." She hung on the 's' and finished with a cheery smile.
Balta laughed, "Will do."
He turned around and Hydrangea heard the hollow clinking of glass. She took the time to observe the cozy room. Heat stemmed from a stove in the far back of the room. The ceiling was the same height as Bastian's room, but it felt lower from how many objects cluttered it. Two counters stretched along the right and left walls, one was littered with empty bowls and plates, the other was clean with polished pots and pans, ready to be cooked in.
Looking to her right she saw three large barrels.
"Here you are." Balta said as he reappeared from behind the counter, "Enjoy yourselves. I'll be calling lunch soon."
Aidana nodded, "Alright. See you, Balta."
"You will indeed." He replied as he went back to whatever task he'd been doing previously.
Aidana then led her down hallways and two sets of stairs and they arrived at a large open room with a few hammocks and bunks.
"This, is the berth." Aidana announced as she went to sit on a crate, "Where the crew sleeps. They'll be here any second now."
Hydrangea nodded as her eyes still roamed the confined space. It was just a hair larger than Bastian's room. The same wood planks formed the floor and walls.
She took a seat next to Aidana on a slightly lower crate and held the bottle of rum in her hand.
"So, you said a friend sent you?" Hydrangea started in an attempt to fill the silence.
"Yes." Aidana answered slowly and Hydrangea turned to look at her. She found wearing breeches was quite an adjustment. It was freeing and yet restricting at the same time.
"Well, I have only a few friends." She said.
Aidana smirked, "Alessandra sent me."
Hydrangea's brows rose, "Oh. How?"
Aidana shrugged, "She called for me and told me to shadow you."
Hydrangea's eyes narrowed slightly, "And how do you know her?" Her first thought was that the woman was an assassin of some sort, but she wasn't sure if Alessandra was that sort of woman.
Aidana rolled her head on her shoulders, her fingers uncorking the bottle in her hands.
"That's a long story." She laughed and took a swig of the dark brown liquid.
Hydrangea laughed though it was halfhearted, "We're not doing anything else." She was genuinely curious, but she was also stalling. She was still wary about drinking the liquid in her bottle.
Aidana chuckled, "I suppose you're right." She took another swig and then sighed, "Well," She glanced at her, "Before I met the Queen Mother I was in a… darker profession. I was hired to assassinate her, but she instead recruited me and I have since been a spy for her in the palace, and elsewhere."
Hydrangea nodded slowly. Her assumptions being proven correct. She didn't know how to reply to her and simply uncorked her bottle, wincing in pain at the soreness in her hand.
One sip of the sweet and earthy drink turned to two, then three, then four. And quickly multiplied. Hydrangea found the warmth and buzz that she'd felt at the Tzar's ball an almost familiar comfort. Her mind dulled and she lost herself in the strange elation that bubbled up inside of her.
She found herself laughing harder at Aidana's jokes, despite the fact that she didn't understand half of them. And her thin shirt and pants felt warmer. The pain in her hand was absolutely forgotten.
"Where's Bastian?" Was on her lips many times but she never remembered the answer.
At some point men arrived and began talking to her. She laughed with them and at them and when the music started, she found herself pulled to her feet and dancing with them.
Drinks were thrust into her hands and she drank them happily.
The world all rushed to a sudden stop when she felt a grip on both her shoulders that froze her spinning realm. Her eyes locked onto a pair of firm brown ones set in warm golden brown skin.
"Bastian!"