Lazlo let out a satisfied sigh and gave himself over to the sensation of the gentle, mildly warm breeze stroking his hair. You didn’t get that back in the North. There, the winds bit through flesh and bone, no matter how many thick pelts you wrapped around yourself. Skin not covered would suffer ice-burns in short order and teeth would never stop chattering. After all that, the climate of the southern seashores came as a most uplifting change.
He was leaning slump against the ship gunwale, chin resting on folded arms, his gaze lost in the sparkling blue of the sea. Gulls squawked and swooped from the air, splashing water as they hunted fish that carelessly rose too close to the surface. A sight far less disturbing than the howls and snarls of snow-wolves ripping their victims to shreds with bare teeth, Lazlo thought.
He was assured now that he had made the right decision, even if there had been much debate over it with his father. A thin smile appeared at the edge of his mouth.
Lazlo turned around and now rested his back against the gunwale, looking over the busy deck of the ship. Thick-set, scruffy workers hoarded luggage and crates of foodstuffs aboard, their brows glistening with sweat from the day’s tiresome labors. Hoarse-throated officers kept shouting at the crew to not slack off in preparing the ship for departure. Academy representatives attired in quaint uniforms tirelessly directed the seemingly neverending flow of passengers to their cabins. There were many arrivals, from all corners of Erah. The Academy ships were filled to the last each and every year, so esteemed the institution was. Any who could afford to arrange studies for their scions there, hesitated little to do so.
In the colorful haze of people, Lazlo noticed something. Or rather, he couldn’t help not to.
A lone girl wearing a plain but well-kept blue dress, her long, black hair loose in the breeze, stopped to look in the middle of the deck in mild confusion, a bundled, wrapped-up baggage as tall as she was in tow. She looked so lost she stood out of the crowd.
Lazlo straightened up, pulled and righted his clothes, and as confidently as he could, walked up to the girl.
’Excuse me miss, do you require assistance?’ he asked, a warm, amiable smile on his face. He hoped the pounding of his heart was not as clearly visible. Lazlo wasn’t an easy man to put off, but there was something about this girl that gave him a stir.
She looked at him. Dazzling blue eyes as clear as the purest azure.
’I...,’ she began to say but blinked in momentary bafflement. ’Thank you, I... can’t seem to find the way to my cabin.’
’No problem. Which cabin have you been assigned to?’
The girl showed him a scrap of paper with a numerical tag written on it. Lazlo thought for a moment.
’That should be... underdeck two, starboard compartment,’ he said.
She blinked again.
’How... do you know?’ she asked. From the fine clothes the man wore, it was obvious he was not of the ship’s crew.
’Well... this is the same type of ferry vessel my father’s coinmaster usually contracts for freight duties. When I was a little whelp, I used to run around and hide in them. So I know them inside and out.’
She just stood there, staring.
’Shall we go? I can escort you there and help bring your belongings,’ Lazlo offered and glanced at the towering baggage. ’It must be heavy...’
’Your father’s coinmaster...’ The girl said barely louder than a whisper, lost in thought for a moment. ’I thought you were familiar. At first I dismissed it as a striking resemblance, but... you really are Lazlo Kovach, aren’t you... Your Highness?’
The smile fell from Lazlo’s face. His brow creased. ’Yes... yes, that is me, indeed. But please, no such formality. It is uneeded.’
’I’m sorry,’ she said, her fingers shakily fidgeting about her hair. ’I’m merely unused to the graces of someone... as lofty as yourself...’
’Is it strange?’
’No... I mean, yes! I’m merely a... nobody, and this errand is surely beneath you... Your Highness.’ She looked away and kept stroking her hair.
Lazlo smiled nervously.
’If I have vexed you, my apologies...,’ he realized he didn’t know her name. ’How may I address you, miss?’
The girl stiffened. How discourteous of her to neglect proper introduction. To a true royalty, no less. Her father would be ashamed.
’Forgive my manners, Your Highness. I am Shannah Bishop.’ She hastily gave him a curtsey, which Lazlo returned with a respectful bow. When he straightened up, she was still keeping her head lowered, unwilling to look at him.
’Please, Shannah, make no ceremony... it does not become you,’ he said and sighed. His eyebrows narrowed. ’You see, that is why I do not rejoice in being recognized for the title I hold. Unceasing protocols and pleasantries people believe they owe me because of it are tiring and pointless. I simply wish to be known for the man I am. And to be treated with honesty, not groveling.’
Shannah finally dared raise her gaze. She had never met a man so regal in bearing, yet so saddled by melancholy for it. In her eyes, descendants of royal bloodlines were selfish and reveled in abusing the privileges their origin brought them. Her father had more than a fair share of disputes with their lot.
But as Lazlo stood before her now, she realized some may be different than others. In a good way.
’I understand, Your Highness. And I thank you for your generosity.’ She bit into her lip. ’If... if it will not upset Your Highness... may I ask you to show me the way to my cabin?’
Lazlo’s expression softened.
’The pleasure would be mine,’ he said. ’But please, call me Lazlo. We’re bound to be classmates, after all.’
She smiled.
’As you wish, You... I mean, Lazlo.’
He offered a curt nod of affirmation, then crouched down and began to try and get a hold on Shannah’s baggage to heft it up, but he had to admit he may have underestimated the effort the task required. How this frail-looking girl managed to drag such a huge burden of personal effects this far all by herself was beyond him.
’There’s no need,’ Shannah said, leaning down and gently touching his shoulder. She reached down and pressed the corner of a delicately crafted, glimmering metal frame that formed a casing around the lower side of the entire bundle.
A deep, humming noise followed, then the frame lit up like a glittering crystal and blew gusts of vapor around Lazlo’s boots. He started and backed away a step.
’What is this...?’ he asked and watched incredulously as the wrapped bundle lifted up on its own, a shin’s length above the deck. Shannah covered her mouth with a hand to veil her chuckles.
’Don’t worry, it’s just a machine. A plock machine. I’m guessing you haven’t ever seen one?’ she asked, gesturing at the now drifting device.
Lazlo was looking at the phenomenon tensely, his eyes very much alert. His knowledge of machinery reached only as far as cannons, rock lobber towers, windmills and the like. Apparently, that was not everything, not even remotely.
’No. I’ve only heard of it... as little more than rumors. I never would have guessed it was something like... this,’ he admitted.
Shannah grabbed her baggage by the side and gently pulled, effortlessly moving it around. It glided as easily as a cloud would across the sky. Lazlo shook his head, still dumbfounded but clearly taking a liking to what he was seeing.
’Showing off another one of your meaningless contraptions?’ came a voice from behind them. A whiny, mean, ill-tempered voice laced with venom.
They both turned. Lazlo’s eyebrows rose. Shannah frowned and sighed.
’Lilith,’ she said.
They were stared at by a young woman, her arms crossed over her chest. The ostentatiously ornate turquoise gown she wore, the curling fringes of her coiffure, the finely wrought, gemstone-inlaid jewelry around her neck and the gaggle of sheepish, whispering servant maids bustling behind her marked her out as one of nobility. One that came much closer than Lazlo did to the picture Shannah had in mind of the sort.
’Cannot afford menials? Replacing them with graceless scrap like this is so gross..,’ Lilith scoffed and inclined his head at the plock device. She paced closer, glaring. The floorboard creaked under her every step as if in pain to suffer her presence.
Her eyes found Lazlo. She offered him a measuredly appreciative nod. ’Trying to make your way by endearing yourself to ruling classes?’ she jabbed at Shannah again.
’We just met this minute,’ the girl replied.
’You are in a haste, then, to establish yourself, I see,’ Lilith circled around Shannah, puffing like an angry peacock. ’You pitiful little creature, what you wouldn’t do for a little recognition.’
Lazlo’s face contorted in anger for a moment. He composed himself and cleared his throat. Loudly, to make certain he had the attention he desired.
’I was the one to greet her,’ he said and stood in Lilith’s path, blocking her way. ’A courtesy I surely would not extend to...’ he looked the noblegirl over, his expression dismayed, ’...anyone so foul of tongue and manner.’
Lilith bristled. Her face went red and for a moment she looked she would faint.
’Bold at insulting girls, prince boy?’ A man appeared before Lazlo, as if he stepped out of thin air. Lazlo had not noticed him and had no idea where he had come from. He was sharp of face and alert in the eyes. The air thickened around him and his rasping voice made ears hurt. ’Why don’t you act like a man, instead, huh? I’ll teach you proper manners. That pretty face of yours needs a little muss-up and your powder-softened arse some kicking. You motherless bastard of the North.’
A grave offense. Wars had been fought over less.
Lazlo’s hand went for the hilt of the short sword strapped to his belt and partially covered by his coat. The man did the same, his fingers closing around the handle of his sabre that hung loose by his side. His glare never left Lazlo, challenging him, goading him.
’Don’t,’ Shannah said and grabbed Lazlo by the arm. She didn’t raise her voice. Lazlo immediately felt her words dissolve the ire that arose in him at the man’s careless bluster. Gone in an instant, like a spell broken. ’He’s trying to bait you. He has a knack for that.’
Lazlo looked back at the man. He was still sneering at him, his gait slightly hunched, his shoulders tense. A wild, unbridled animal ready to pounce. Understanding dawned in Lazlo’s eyes. There was nothing to gain from this conflict. His hand slowly, carefully released his sword.
The man snorted his disdain at him, but seeing Lazlo would not rise to the bait, threw his hands up and backed away, snarling at Lilith’s servants.
’Lilith,’ Shannah spoke up. ’I don’t know why you insist on pursuing this quarrel of yours with me, but if you won’t leave me be, let’s settle it here and now.’
The girl in the turqouise gown burst out laughing.
’Did you just challenge me? Why don’t you just leave and hide back under your mother’s skirt like you always do? Spare yourself the humiliation... you are nothing to me. Nothing!’
Lazlo watched the exchange. This Lilith obviously had an agenda, she was seething with a grudge. Lazlo had no way of knowing the reason for it, but he understood that a rivalry was brewing between the two girls, one that may have lasted several years.
Shannah was frighteningly calm. She was shrugging off all the bespattering talk without the slightest crack in her self-control. Like a fire that burned cold. Perhaps, that was the quality that had made Lazlo notice her in the first place. There was much more to her than met the eye, the prince decided.
Their attention drawn by the unfolding debate, people halted in their tracks and gathered around in a wide circle, whispering, pointing, chattering. Lazlo could briefly make out Theo standing there watching, with a girl at his side who was explaining something to him.
’Settle it,’ Shannah repeated. ’Or are you afraid?’
’Afraid? Of you? You’re just a lost little child, all alone in a big, scary world,’ Lilith spat.
’She’s not alone,’ Lazlo said as he took up a firm, unflinching stance by Shannah’s side. A curious mix of puzzlement and gratitude crossed Shannah’s face. She was obviously not used to people coming to her aid.
’I thank you Lazlo, but,’ she said, ’this is something I have to do for my own sake. Alone.’
Lazlo’s posture slackened. ’Are you sure?’
’Yes,’ Shannah said. Her eyes, those beautiful azure eyes, flickered intensely. Doubt and determination vied in them, without pause, without relent. And Lazlo understood the the girl’s struggle.
’As you wish,’ he bowed and retreated. ’I’ll here for you, if you need me.’
’Thank you,’ Shannah replied but her gaze was already fixed on her rival.
A smirk sat on Lilith’s face and a heartbeat later, the deck was filled with light.
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