A thunderous clap sounded above them, and the ship rolled again, tossing Sol against her. This time he was prepared, and caught himself with his hands on the wall before his body slammed into hers.
“We’re in the middle of a storm.”
“So it wasn’t a dream,” Meena murmured. She looked up at the low roof of the small cabin, expecting to see rain leaking through it, or lightning burning it off. But all she could see was darkness, and the outline of Sol’s head close to hers.
“I’m going to see if I can help,” Sol said, standing despite the ship’s motion. He reached down to help her to her feet as well.
She leaned against him as she frantically reached for the wall to stabilize herself.
Rain pelted their faces as Sol opened the door.
“Stay here,” Sol yelled over the noise as he slipped outside.
Meena stepped out after him, holding both sides of the door frame to keep herself standing. Rolling around the tiny cabin by herself did not sound appealing.
The ship pitched again and Meena found herself tipping forward. Her arms strained against the door frame as she attempted to keep herself from falling face forward. Water sloshed over the rail in front of her as the ship righted itself, pitching in the other direction.
Meena swung back inside the room and fumbled for the door.
On second thought, rolling around inside the tiny cabin sounded far preferable to rolling over the side of the ship into the raging sea.
Jumping onto the bed, she curled herself in the blanket and wound her arm through a tall post which was attached to the wall. Huddled into a ball, the makeshift handle and walled corner of the tiny room kept her fairly stable against the constant motion of the ship.
This was decidedly less pleasant than watching the sunny coast of Iseldis drift by.
She closed her eyes. It didn’t make much of a difference since the cabin was dark, anyway.
Her stomach churned as the ship rose and fell, landing back in the water with a breath-defying jolt.
It felt like an eternity before the door swung open, letting in rain and seawater, as well as a very wet Sol.
“It’s bad,” he said, forcing the door shut behind him.
“I can feel that,” Meena responded, her arm already bruising from how hard she clutched the perpendicular post of wood. “How bad? Sinking bad?”
“The storm was unexpected,” Sol replied. “We’ve been traveling close to the shore for speediest passage. That was a mistake. We are now too close.”
“So yes, sinking bad.” Meena’s stomach churned again.
“More like crashing into rocks bad.”
“You really didn’t soften the blow,” Meena muttered.
“I didn’t hear that,” Sol yelled, still bracing himself against the wall.
“Nothing!” she responded. It felt good to yell. Her stomach stopped rolling when she yelled.”So we just wait it out?”
“That’s one option,” Sol replied.
“Can’t we use the sails or something to go in the other direction?” She knew it was probably a foolish suggestion as she knew nothing about ships or sails or navigation in stormy weather, but talking was better than silence. Or listening to thunder and waves.
“I don’t know about sailing, but the wind is pushing us into the shore, so I don’t think that would work.”
“What other option is there?” Meena’s throat felt hoarse. And her stomach started to churn again despite the yelling.
“There is one last resort I’d rather avoid,” Sol responded.
“You can get us out of this with your magic?” Meena didn’t dare yell the secret out loud, so Sol didn’t hear her question.
