"If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we've solved it."
--Arthur Kasspe
Jess handed the looking glass to Cruz and frowned at the speck on the horizon. The ship had begun to follow them two days ago, though kept its distance. It was too far away to see what colors they were flying, but the possibility of pirates was on everyone's mind. Jess and Cruz had taken to wearing swords while on deck. The Captain of the Royal Guard, a middle-aged bear of a man named Talos, had begun to teach them how to use the swords—something that fascinated them and repulsed them at the same time. In fact, they were supposed to be practicing the strikes Talos had shown them during their morning lesson.
"Still too far," Cruz said handing the glass back to Jess. Jess sighed and slipped the instrument back into his belt loop. The platform atop the main mast was only big enough for the two of them and Matt and Tom waited far below them on deck. They were talking with the Princess and her handmaidens. The crow's nest, as it was called, had been deemed off-limits to the Princess by both the ship's Captain and Talos. No doubt she was arguing about going up to see the ship. They were glad she stayed below—the first day the Princess had gone up with Jess and Matt to look around. It was crowded with her there and they were not really comfortable being so close to a beautiful girl. Or, at least it was to Jess—he had to pay attention constantly to not elbow her by accident. It probably had less to do with her being a pretty girl than it had to do with her being a princess. Although he had been brought up to question authority, he had also been taught to give respect where it was due. Thusly, he treated the Princess like a princess.
Oddly, Matt did too. As rude and loud as he was, his entire personality changed whenever the Princess came around. He was clearly interested in her though it was hard to say if any feelings were reciprocated. The Princess acted as if she was on some grand adventure and treated them all the same way. Still, Matt never stopped trying to gain favor in the Princess' eyes. No doubt he was ingratiating himself to her below them now.
"Do you think they could be pirates?" Cruz asked him.
"I don't know," he admitted. "If they are, why haven't they attacked?" One reason could have been the colors they were flying—the lions of Berelain. That meant a heavy guard and it was doubtful that anyone would attack without incurring heavy losses.
"What do you think the end of the world looks like?" Cruz asked looking in the other direction.
"Marya said we couldn't miss it—so it must look like something," he replied. Cruz raised an eyebrow, wondering when he had talked to Marya about it. He wasn't about to mention the note the girl had slipped him before they departed. He was slightly embarrassed at being singled out. The girl had admired his bravery back in the forest and felt responsible in warning him about potential danger. That, and to beg him to look after the Princess. He was just surprised he had attracted the older girl's interest. He hadn't been trying to be brave back in the forest—he was just looking for Aiden.
"Here comes Tom," Cruz said peering over the edge. Jess looked down to find Tom scrambling up the ladder rope, hand over hand. Normally there were only two people allowed in the crow's nest at any one time, but Tom being small, he had joined them on occasion. It was a full five minutes before he reached a hand over the parapet and they pulled him in.
"The Princess wants to know what you see," he said glancing down.
"Nothing new. Ship's too far away," Jess told him offering him the looking glass. He took it and peered at the ship for a while. "You doing everything she says now?"
"Matt sent me," he frowned. "He's bossy around the Princess, have you noticed?"
"Why do you think we're up here?" Cruz said with a laugh.
"The Princess would have come up but both Talos and the Captain are on deck."
"Good. I don't think I could handle the Princess up here," Cruz grinned. "I'm always worried I'll cut a fart in front of her or something."
"Yeah. I never met a Princess before," Tom agreed. "Seems okay, though. She's not bossy—at least not to me. She's nice, not, you know, stuck up. Even if she's got servants." Tom had made friends with one of the Princess handmaidens, Galina, and her life of servitude to the Princess galled him. The idea of servitude seemed uncomfortably close to slavery to him. The lives of Galina and the other handmaiden, Carlinya, were far from slavery, however. In fact, they were actually nobles—born to noble families in Berelain. They considered it an honor to serve as handmaidens to the High Princess.
"Galina is not a slave," Jess told him.
"I wasn't thinking about Galina," Tom said blushing. "Well… maybe I was. She's pretty, isn't she?" He handed the glass back to Jess and sighed. "Do you think we'll get home?"
"That's what we're trying to do here. If we don't, or can't, Aiden is screwed. Even if he finds Jason, he's only got a month's worth of insulin in there. We've got to find a way home."
"What do you think Aiden is doing right now?"
"Chilling with Annie if he's smart," Cruz grinned. Jess grinned at the thought of his brother chilling out with a girl—with Annie, no less. "The lucky dog."
"You think he's kissed her yet?" Tom wondered.
"He doesn't have the nerve," Jess snorted. "If there's any kissing going on, it'll have to come from her."
"It might," Cruz reasoned. "She seemed to like him." They all grinned goofily at the thought. They all wished he was well and felt his missing presence strongly. To their group he had always been the voice of reason, steering them without being bossy. Matt did not fall into his role very well—in fact, his leadership was shaky. Jess listened to him, but Matt held no leadership over him. Because of their association, he held no sway over Cruz either. Of course, it ran both ways. Aiden could not lead Matt, but in their group, three to two was clearly the majority vote. Now, there could be no majority unless Tom agreed with Jess and Cruz, which was doubtful given Matt's propensity for bullying his younger brother. Nothing had come up where they had to butt heads, but the possibility was there. As a result, Aiden was definitely missed. And not just for that—his bizarre sense of humor and sharp mind, for instance, were noticeably absent.
"Do you miss Marya?" Tom asked Jess with a grin.
"I don't know her that well," Jess said quickly.
"We saw her slip you a note," Cruz said. "What did it say?" Jess frowned at him.
"None of your business," he told them. The letter was folded up in his pocket. They thought it was a love letter! It really was none of their business—they would misinterpret her praise for his bravery as something else. Although, he did wish she were here—she was smart and helpful, a real asset. Though there was something strange about her, too. Something he couldn't put his finger on.
"Jess's got a girlfriend," Tom sang, laughing. Jess's scowl deepened.
"What about Galina?" he growled. "Tommy's got a girlfriend," he sang. Tom stopped laughing and scowled at him.
"I better go tell the Princess nothing's changed," he said and climbed over the parapet onto the rope ladder. Jess waved as he started the long climb down.
"Everybody's got a girl," Cruz sighed. "Maybe I should talk to Carlinya." Jess looked at him levelly.
"That girl looks at you like you're a pile of crap," he pointed out.
"She looks at all of us like that," he grinned. "Maybe I'll talk to her tonight. It's a full moon."
Jess just shook his head.
Jess heard the Princess scream from the deck as the moon rose like a giant balloon on the sea's horizon. He put down the spyglass and bent to look below. Cruz had left an hour ago to look for the prim handmaiden Carlinya and he could see the two of them near the front of the ship. Deck hands were halting their chores and wandering toward the back of the boat. Jess squinted to see better, thought better of it, and picked up the spyglass once more, focusing on the scene below.
He focused on the Princess, backed up against the wheelhouse. He could still hear her shrill screaming. He swung the glass to see what the Princess was screaming about and drew in a sharp breath. Standing before the screaming girl was something that looked like a scaly man. It was green—the color of a gecko—completely hairless and nearly seven feet fell. A long tail thrashed back and forth on the deck. He watched it hiss at the Princess, revealing a long red tongue and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
He swept the glass back and forth across the desk. Where was Matt? Hadn't he been talking with the Princess near the back of the boat? Deckhands began moving toward the creature, swords and axes in their hands, trying to surround it. His eyes were drawn to something at the creature's feet, almost lost in the gloom of the deepening night. Whatever it was reflected the moonlight and he focused the glass as best he could. They looked like… they looked like Matt's glasses. Had the creature knocked him overboard? Where had it come from? Did it climb on board from the sea? No—there was no puddle beneath it, just the glasses and what looked like scraps of torn cloth. Where was Matt?
He shoved the spyglass into his belt and vaulted over the parapet, starting down the rope ladder. Hand over hand, he started down, an impossible thought coming to mind. What if the creature was Matt? No, it couldn't be… could it? The cloth could have been his clothes, and his glasses—he wouldn't have gone anywhere without his glasses. But if it were Matt, the deckhands were going to kill it! He moved faster, descending.
He hit the deck at a full run. The deckhands were still trying to surround the hissing creature. "Wait!" he yelled, pushing past the men. Behind him, the Royal Guard were unsheathing their own swords, gathering. "Wait!" He pushed his way to the front to get a clear look at the creature. Definitely a lizard.
The Princess edged sideways toward him, eyes never leaving the creature. The creature followed her with its slitted yellow eyes and hissed again. The Princess grabbed his arm and squeezed tightly.
"The creature is Matt," she said breathlessly. "We were watching the moon rise and he went quiet. I thought he was sick—but he turned into... into THAT." Some of the deckhands looked at one another. Behind the creature, three deckhands raised their blades and charged. The creature immediately turned to face them, hissing ferociously. With a lightning-quick movement, it lashed out at the men and sent them hurtling to the deck.
"Don't kill it!" Jess screamed, waving his arms. The Captain pushed his way through his men, sword drawn. His stony face regarded the creature impassively.
"We must stop it," he barked. The deck hands shouted agreement.
"Don't kill it," Jess said grabbing his arm. "It's Matt—something happened to him!" He saw Cruz and Tom pushing their way forward. "It's Matt!"
"A net," the Captain said. Jess nodded eagerly. "A net!" he called out to the deckhands. The creature hissed and swords and axes were lowered. Some of them scurried to grab one of the large fishing nets and pull it forward. Netting rippled throughout the throng, surrounding the creature. Jess put himself between the creature and the Princess.
Behind the creature, the deckhands surged forward, hurling the net. It landed atop the creature and it struggled beneath the weight, tail thrashing. Not missing a beat, another net followed, and another. The creature hissed its rage and fell to the deck angrily. Deckhands rushed in to tighten the open ends of the net. The Captain nodded.
"We'll secure it in the brig until we can figure out what to do with it," he said in his gravelly voice. He looked at Jess and Jess nodded. The Captain sheathed his sword and strode forward to direct his men. The Royal Guard rushed forward to draw the Princess back to safety. Carlinya and Galina led her below decks to her room. The deckhands were dragging the imprisoned creature to the opening on the far deck that led to the brig below. Jess sighed and wandered over to pick up Matt's glasses.
"What happened?" Tom asked him, looking at his brother's glasses.
"I don't know," Jess admitted. "Matt turned into that thing."
"How?"
"Something must have happened in the forest." Jess looked up. "It's a full moon—maybe he turned into a were-lizard?"
"Can that even happen?"
"God, they almost killed him." His face paled. "Oh, no—what about Aiden and Annie? Is the same thing happening to them? What if someone kills them?" They all looked up at the full moon, hoping that wherever they were it would turn out for the best.