Klevon and I are making our way toward the ship when we encounter the Duran royalty returning from the port. The Duran King is not present. As per Klevon, it's only the oldest prince-which is really old–who is on the parade. If I estimate the prince's age, he's over sixty years old which makes the Duran King, probably, close to ninety years old.
We are about to climb the ship when Klevon abruptly stops. He places his arms in front of me to impede my advance. He sniffs and scours the area.
"Something is wrong," he says.
Without even asking for my permission, he wraps his arms around my waist and activates his wind magic. I hang unto him as we float over the ship, even without the help of a hover.
"Damn that King," he curses. "We are surrounded by ocean. How could he let himself be attacked again?"
"Attacked?" I ask.
"Look closely, Kaiya. There are shimmers in the air. That is why it's too quiet."
"And there's no one in the deck too," I notice. "Is this glamour?" I ask, remembering that night I get too drunk and turned Elroy's face into mine.
"Yes, some high-level glamour. This might be a powerful mage this time."
"Do you think the Duran royalty has something to do with this?"
"I don't think so. They are supposed to be neutral."
"Is that why Theo has no women from Duran?"
"Yes," he answers. "Now… how are we going to deactivate this and enter?" He looks at me and says, "You ready for some brute force breaking of magic?"
Instead of responding, I study the magic. Rather than glamour, it is more akin to a thick barrier, and somehow it feels familiar. Even the way the thickness of the barrier varies in different parts.
"Kaiya?"
I point at the edge of the ship–a few meters away from the ladder. "Klevon, can you bring me to that place?"
"Why?"
"I think I know how to use glamour and barriers."
"You think? I've only taught you the four elements. And you have mastered none of them."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but will you please just obey?"
Increasing his output, we hover closer to the area I pointed at. "Push me against the ship and support my weight."
"Okay, but you could have said 'please' "
"Klevon!" I scold him. My arms tighten around his neck to make him obey. He takes a deep breath and with no choice, he pushes me against the ship. With my feet balancing so I don't slide, and with Klevon behind me, I place my bare hands against the shimmering magic that Klevon pointed out earlier.
As I surmised, it is heavy with magic. This is not just a powerful mage, this is a skilled one too, probably someone as old as that Duran prince.
"What do you think?" Klevon interrupts.
"I think I can break it."
"You can?" he repeats, incredulous.
"Yes. I feel like I know this."
Is this because I was the Alpha Queen? Am I accessing some of her knowledge? Or… my previous knowledge–it doesn't matter since I have long forgotten it.
"Wrap your arms around my waist and support me. This will be hard and rough, and if you don't make a good job, we will be blasted off to who knows where."
"Do all she-wolves like to order humans around?" he teases. "Even if they are previously slaves?"
I groan. His jokes are still a little overboard. "We had an earlier understanding. I hope you haven't forgotten about that."
"I thought I signed up for friendship, not slavery."
"Shut up and just obey."
I activate my magic and place my hands on top of each other. I stare at the glimmering barrier. "I warned you that I will not lighten my words with you."
"As if you ever lighten anything for me."
"Klevon! Just do it!" I scold. "Before I forget it!"
I purse my lips and brace for impact. The instant Klevon increases his magic output and the instant, he tightens his arms around me; I press my palm against the barrier and push my magic point-black into in. It is magic so condensed that it takes the form of a needle–small but very sharp.
The barrier resists me and makes a weird puffing sound. The sheer magic pushes me away from it. But with Klevon behind me, I have no fear of being blown away. And then, there it is… small cracks that start from the area that I pierced with my condensed magic. The fissures continue until the entire barrier that surrounds the ship shatters.
The only problem is that the magic used on it is too powerful, that even with Klevon's strength, we are still pushed far away from the ship. We skid along the seawater, with Klevon underneath me. He is taking the brunt of the damage, while I activate my feeble magic to at least lessen his pain.
When we completely stop, the two of us sink into the water, and for the first time, I realized that Klevon has lost consciousness. As we continue to plunge into the water, and Klevon's arms loosen around me, I struggle to keep ourselves afloat with my feeble wind magic. It's hard. As what Klevon had said, I have the basic but I'm unable to master it. Additionally, he is heavy and my use of magic has already weakened me.
Suddenly, I feel myself being lifted. Not by wind or any magic, but by the ocean water itself. I shift my attention to Klevon, and like me, he is lying in a bed of pure ocean water-if that is even possible.
I track where the magic is coming from and realize that it is Theo. His left arm is keeping us afloat and pulling us closer to him, while his right arm is keeping an unfamiliar mage at bay. This time, the deck is full of people-Pitchford soldiers and scruffy-looking men, like the ones who hunt us before on the hunting park, the ones who can't use magic. I even see Ami, Nadif, and Elroy fighting against them.
When we are over the ship, I jump to the deck, and Klevon drops close to me. Theo approaches. This time, all of his magic is focused on the unfamiliar mage at the edge of the ship.
"Is that you? Or Klevon?"
"What?"
"The barrier, who broke it?!"
"I did, but the magic is too much that we are whisked away from the ship."
He glances at Klevon and says, "He's been hit hard by pure magic. That's bad. General Lorant should look at him."
I look around and notice Princess Kissa writing some symbols on the ground, then she starts to murmur something.
"What is she doing?" I ask.
"Some kind of prison for these intruders." He brings one of his arms down and takes a hold of mine. "Now, that you are here with me, there's no need to hold back."
The moment the last word left his mouth, ocean water rises around us. "You better hold Klevon or he'll be washed away," he warns.
I take Klevon's hands. And then, I notice that everyone else is also holding each other's hand as if they need to have some connection to Theo. Even Princess Kissa is holding hands with another Pitchford warrior.
"Here we go," he whispers.
And then everything swells around us. The ocean water becomes violent as if a massive storm is sizzling underneath. In a split second, it hits the deck and washed away everyone else in it. That is, except those that are connected to Theo. We are like invisible beings, or rather, we look like we are illusions or mirages. As if we are as aqueous as the ocean water. Everything passes through us-enemies, solid things, and ocean water. It washes everything away.
And when the turmoil dies down, Princess Kissa stands up and a pink box erupts from the ground and traps the unfamiliar mage who is tightly holding at the side of the ship–his magic barely protecting him from the onslaught of Theo's magic.
There is a moment of silence, then it's followed by screams of victory. Even Theo pulls me by the waist and kisses me. But it was a short kiss. He pulls back just as fast and frowns at me.
"You taste different," he comments.
"Probably the ice cream? I had some earlier," I say. "Or the saltwater that comes into my mouth as we skid through the ocean earlier?"
His frown deepens. "What-"
"Kaiya!" Princess Kissa exclaims and I wonder if she saw when Theo kissed me a minute ago. "It is you, right? The one who shattered that annoying barrier?"
I nod, uncertain why she is still enthusiastic around me. She is already aware of who I am in Theo's life, or am I that unimportant to her? For them?
"If that is the case, thank you! If not for you, Theo won't be able to use his ocean magic and I won't be able to activate my barrier prison. That was great thinking of you."
"I didn't know the barrier restricted your magic," I admit. "I just need to enter because-" Because what? Am I worried for Theo? "Because I am Theo's personal guard, I am supposed to be beside him the moment you return from the castle."
"Supposed to be beside me?" he asks and I can sense anger in his tone again. "I think you are enjoying your time too much. It's been over half an hour when they left." He grabs my arm and whispers, "What were you doing with Klevon alone? Without Ami and the others?"
I cock my head at him and Princess Kissa pulls him away from me and interlaces her arms in his. "We got some damage, my King. Let's postpone our day of departure and take care of the damage."
Suddenly, Theo pulls Kissa to him and kisses her. I balk, especially at the way he stares at me as I watch him kiss her. The sudden action petrifies me and I can't look away.
When their lips separate, leaving Kissa breathless, Theo says, "I apologize, Princess. We haven't arrived at Pitchford yet and an attack already happened against me."
Princess Kissa smiles sweetly at him. "Don't… worry about… it. My older brother already warned… me of the repercussions of being your lover. And I accept all of them."
This time, I look away and hug myself. To distract myself, I scour the area and hope that the man approaching us is a healer who can take a look at Klevon's injuries.
The instant Theo walks away from us, Princess Kissa moves closer to me and whispers, "If I were you, I'd answer the captain's affections instead," she says while glancing at Klevon who is sprawled on the wet deck. "That's better for the two of us," she adds before running towards Theo.