I was feeling unsettled about Silver’s absence last night in our room. I didn’t know where he had gone and I wasn’t sure if he didn’t join us because he didn’t think he was wanted or if he didn’t feel comfortable. Besides asking to apply the cream to my face when I first arrived, he hasn’t said a single word to me. I’m nervous to say anything to him, afraid of getting my heart crushed, but every time I try to meet his eyes, he avoids eye contact with me. It feels like he’s pulling away from me.
Right now, with us being so close to the sea, I find myself desperate to see Ria again. I can’t believe how long I’ve been searching for her, not just in this world, but in my own. And I’m finally going to get to see her again with my own eyes. I know there’s a decent chance that they’re not docked at Black Rock Bay when we arrive, which is where we’re headed, but I’m still optimistic that she might be there. Silver said it could take months for them to get back to that port, but it was the best place to wait for them. If we started moving along the eastern shoreline, we could end up missing them. So, although I was hopeful that they would be there, I knew that we would most likely have to wait a while for them to arrive. Nevertheless, I was feeling super antsy and excited to see her.
Pulling myself back to our current situation, I realize thatIndy misunderstood my question. I wasn’t asking about the trail because I was afraid, I was just surprised. We hadn’t traveled down something so narrow before and it didn’t look like a proper road. I would have thought people would travel between these two villages often, but the others had explained that it’s the north and south passages that have the more common routes, not east to west.
I realize we’re all just standing at the entrance to this forest path, so I step forward to be the first through. Immediately, several hands grab me, halting my steps. I frown as I glance around at my men holding me back.
“You’re not going in there first, Sugar,” Indy tells me, shaking his head.
“I didn’t see any of you going in.” I cross my arms over my chest as I feel their protective nature kicking in, holding me back from this little adventure. I mean, I was going to have a chance to go in there, but I’d be sandwiched between them. I wouldn’t mind getting to be in the front of the line and having an unobstructed view. Did they not think I was brave enough? Or daring enough? “I want to see where we’re going.”
“All right then,” Brax says, moving to kneel in front of me, his back facing me. “Climb on.” I hesitate for just a moment before I get on his back, piggyback style. He stands up and we start walking forward. Now I have a clear view over his shoulder, and I smile as I hear the others walking behind us.
“Thanks, yeti.”
“Not a yeti.”
“My yeti,” I giggle, nuzzling his neck with my nose as he squeezes my legs. I turn my face to kiss him on the cheek.
It only takes about half an hour of this before I get bored and ask to be put down. There really is nothing to see but trees and bushes. The path is narrow, and the forest is so dense that you can’t get a glimpse of anything.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I ask, trying toremember if anybody had mentioned it before.
“Two days,” Silver replies. I glance over my shoulder to look at him, but he’s at the back of the line so I can’t see him.
We all make small talk as we move along through the forest, and when the foliage opens up a little, we make a stop for lunch. Indy pulls out some sort of dried meat and passes it around while Apollo uses his magic to fill a cup with water, letting each of us drink from it before refilling it and passing it to the next person. I have to admit, that’s a super handy trick since we don’t have to carry water with us everywhere anymore.
I smile at him as he passes the cup to Silver. “You know, Apollo, you’re amazing.“
“Angel, you’re the amazing one. Most people would not be impressed by me.”
“Well, most people are dumb.” He huffs out a laugh and I turn my gaze to the scenery around us.
The forest isn’t dissimilar to one I might find in the human world, and I find it so interesting that we have so many things in common but also so many differences, like why was it that humans look the same in both worlds but we seem to have different creatures? Although, I saw a lot of common creatures as well, like horses, camels, cows, squirrels and chipmunks.
When we start walking again after lunch, I decide to spend my time watching for little creatures or bugs and counting how many I recognized versus how many were unique to this world. After an hour, I realize it’s a hard task as I am definitely no bug expert. I saw a couple butterflies that I don’t think I’d seen before, but they also move so quickly I don’t have a good chance to look at them too much.
My mind wanders as I start to think about Ria. I trusted Silver when he said she’s safe and happy. But I can’t fully relax until I know that’s true. But then what? Where do I go from there? Five of these six men were my husband’s, so I assume that meansthey’ll be staying with me, they keep telling me that they’re not going to leave. But where would we go?
I love Ria like a sister, but I wasn’t about to live my life on a pirate ship. I would love to go on one adventure aboard the ship, but I’m not about to spend my life on it. Ria’s love for the water heavily outweighed mine. So where would we live? I’ve asked all of my men now, but none of them seems to have a particular place in mind. Maybe we should go back to Havenridge, where Silver’s tavern is. That way, he’ll be close by. But if I’m being honest, the only reason I want to go there is because Silver will be there, it didn’t really feel like a home to me. And based on what I’d seen and heard, it was rather rustic compared to some of the newer, larger villages.
But then what? It was great we had money, but what would we actually do with our time? If we weren’t constantly moving around, having adventures, would they grow bored of me? I need to make sure that they know they don’t have to take care of me 24/7, otherwise they’ll get tired of me quickly.
I’m not sure why I wasn’t asking them what we would do next, but none of them were bringing it up, either. I fear this being a honeymoon period, and once I reunited with Ria, it would all come crashing down. So when we finally find a spot to stop for the night, I find myself deep in thought as I stare at our fire.
“Penny, why are you so quiet? Is everything okay?” Ryker asks, sitting down beside me and putting his arm around my shoulders.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, while shrugging. “I guess I’m just thinking about Ria, what happens if she’s not there…”
What happens afterwards?
“Try not to worry about it. Silver said that she was fine when he last saw her and she has good people taking care of her. If she’s not there when we arrive, then we’ll just wait.” He shrugs as he smiles down at me.
“Just like that? You’re fine just waiting for an unknown amount of time? You have no problem with that?”
“Red,” he says with a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he turns to face me directly. “When are you going to get it through your pretty little head that I have no problem following you anywhere? We’ve been in this together from the beginning, haven’t we?” I nod at him and he continues. “And have I ever said or done anything that’s made you think there’s a timer on this relationship? Or that I need something more from you?”
“I guess not,” I tell him as I bite my lip and look at my hands nervously. Why did I feel so nervous all of a sudden? I felt like my emotions were heightened and any small problem was going to send me running. But I’m not sure why I feel like that, because he was right. None of them had ever done or said anything to make me think that they would leave, so why was I still in fear of that happening?
