The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus (4 page)

A sigh welled up from within Annalicia and she closed her eyes for a moment enjoying the feel of the warm water. Opening her almond shaped, green eyes once again, the girl looked at her dark haired cousin standing on the lower floor unsure of where to sit or stand.

"You know this will likely be the last time we will get the chance to enjoy a warm bath, at least with a civilized tub to relax in. The ship is one of father's better ones, but even the captain's quarters won't be as nice as one of our houses," Anna said baiting the other young woman more than she meant.

Xerese slipped out of her heeled shoes and walked up the steps to look down on her cousin. Hiking up her skirt above the knees, the lady proceeded to sit before sticking her legs and feet into the water.

"Don't splash too much or I will have to change for dinner," Xerese warned.

A smile played at the little blonde's lips and she shook her head. "If you want to soak, then take off the dress and join me. We used to share baths as children all the time."

"We're a little old for play dates now, don't you think, Anna?" the dark haired woman said with a shake of her head, though her smile proved the idea amused her also.

Mumbling a little spell, the wizard twisted her fingers under the bubbles creating a small water spout. It spun near the center of the tub making Xerese's eyes widen slightly. She was used to her cousin's ability to use magic, but the woman knew the threat implied also.

"Anna, no, don't even think about it."

The spout recessed into the pool of suds even as the wizard frowned slightly. She stood from her seat moving closer to her cousin.

"Oh, just join me, so we can talk easily. You know that somewhere along the line you'll get wet. Then you'll be mad at me, which will start our trip off on a sour note."

Sighing, Xerese stood up and with a little assistance from Anna managed to slip free of her dress and remaining clothing to join her sitting on the opposite side of the large tub. A content sigh escaped her lips as the girl closed her eyes. Her hair twisted into a bun on her head, Xerese sat quietly for a moment.

"It will be about a month until we get to Hala, right?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"About that," Anna agreed with a nod as the girl sat leaning her head back enjoying the warmth of the water and the flowery scent in the air.

"Maybe I should reconsider," Xerese said smiling as she watched her cousin sit forward with a crinkled brow looking slightly worried. "I'm not sure that I can live so long without a proper bath."

Giggling, Annalicia took a moment to reply before saying, "Well, it is too late. Even if you change your mind, I am kidnapping you and taking you with me. There is no way that I can live with just those male wizards and sailors for company for a month."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Xerese answered before laughing wickedly.

They both knew that her audacious talk was just that. Xerese was as prim and proper a lady in public as one could find. She spoke brazenly in private to her cousin, but Anna had watched her shrink back even at court when male dancers went looking for a lady to lead.

"Hmm, you say that now, but it will be worse than you think," the blonde woman replied closing her eyes as she settled back to continue enjoying her bath.

The two girls would remain soaking in the bath until the water grew cool and their fingers began to wrinkle. The cousins dressed, ate dinner with her family and retired early to Anna's room.

Like when they had been children staying over at one another's house, the two young women shared the bed large enough to give them plenty of space between them. Sleep came easily to Annalicia; though Xerese worried enough about tomorrow's voyage to remain awake long enough to hear her cousin's deep breathing.

Morning would come soon though and their voyage would begin.

Sounds of movement could be heard throughout the large house. Annalicia stood inside the kitchen where a cook and her assistants would usually work to serve the family of Marquess Serafene. Her hand deftly separated a long, curved fruit from its bunch resting in a large bowl on the counter. A rough, brown skin covered the fruit. Diamond shapes ran the length and, if one was too quick to handle the fruit, they could scrape or even cut fingers.

Annalicia knew the tropical growing fruit well. It was one of her favorites. Pinching the end opposite the stem which had held it to the bunch, the girl's fingernails found the soft end. The pressure caused the end to split and the lady pulled the outer shell away in four pieces running the length of the fruit. Called a pinana, it was sweet and juicy as well as filled with vitamins to help get her body started for the day.

Taking a big bite, Anna was unable to respond as a voice cleared behind her.

"You might want to eat more than just a single piece of fruit before leaving on such a long journey," a man's voice stated drawing her attention to him in a start.

Swallowing quickly, she looked at the man with brown hair and eyes which were almond shaped like her own. "The ship has food on it, father. I hardly think that I will starve if I eat lightly here, but I was considering eating more than just one pinana. Do you know if they have them in Southwall at all?"

"Southwall is too cold for the trees to survive the winter. A few towns on the south end might raise them, but not up in Hala," her father answered. For those who didn't know of his ancestry, they would have thought him to be barely older than the girl who he spoke to so casually. "If it was more popular there, we would ship them; but I would guess that you won't see another until you return home."

Taking another bite, Annalicia continued to stand, but moved towards the cupboard to gather a glass. Her father opened the metal door of a large, wardrobe sized, vertical box. A pitcher of light yellow liquid was drawn out before he closed the cooler.

Anna could feel the change of temperature in the room just from the brief opening of the door. Her weather and air senses could pick up the changes, but her skin was sensitive enough to feel the invested cold air as it escaped also.

He placed the pitcher on the counter beside his daughter and said, "You weren't planning on just slipping out to the ship without saying goodbye to the family were you?"

"Of course not, father, I wouldn't dream of trying to avoid mother going on and on about her baby leaving for danger on the sea," the girl replied wrinkling her face with the thought. "Xerese is still getting dressed anyway, but I thought that I would get some breakfast while I waited. The servants are already hauling the suitcases down for the Sea Dragon."

Footsteps close by carried to her ears as another man appeared entering the kitchen. He looked sort of like her father. Both looked young, though her father was now in his eighties. For an elf, that was barely more than a child; her mother was now in her mid forties, but looked like she had robbed the cradle marrying her father.

"Is father giving you a hard time, little sister?" the young man asked with a smile for her. Where her father Philip had brown hair, Alexander was a darker blonde. His eyes were blue like their mother's and rounder than the other two taking after the marquess in general.

"I was merely giving her a little fatherly advice. If she doesn't eat well now, I have a feeling that she will regret it."

Annalicia looked at her brother and rolled her eyes.

"I think the Sea Dragon will have food for her. I hardly think that Captain Delfren expects the daughter of the owner of his ship to starve along the way. Not only would he have to face Anna's ire, it is bad for business," Alexander replied with a chuckle.

Frowning slightly as she took another bite of the sweet fruit, Annalicia spoke after swallowing. "If Xerese doesn't hurry, she will be the one regretting not being able to eat a little before getting on the ship."

"Your cousin has never really sailed on the ocean before," Philip mused and glanced to his daughter, "neither of you have actually. Maybe eating less would be safer. You don't know if you will have a sensitive stomach thanks to the movement of the water."

"I am pretty sure that I will be fine," the girl replied. "You know that I am not completely new to life on a ship. I've never gotten seasick aboard a boat on the shorter trips to the islands."

Alexander shook his head and said, "Taking a trip to Terelia or Redil will rarely find the waves as big as you'll find on the actual ocean away from land. If there is a storm riling up the waves besides, the ship will be tossed about even more."

Waving her hand at her brother, Annalicia turned her eyes to a second pinana. "Stop trying to worry me. It isn't like it will change the fact that I need to go to Southwall for the tournament."

"Would you all stop trying to worry, Annalicia?" a feminine voice called from the doorway. Unlike the heavier footfalls of the men, the steps of the marquess had gone unnoticed until she spoke for her daughter.

With dark blonde hair, only slightly darker than Alexander's, and blue eyes; it was easy to see where her brother's traits had come from through their heredity. Marquess Serafene was middle aged by number, but still had an aura of youthfulness that had only been tempered slightly as a mother to three children already grown to adulthood.

"They aren't worrying me," Annalicia responded to her mother, though she smiled slightly as she was glad to have someone in her corner. "Besides, unlike most people, I know remedies to seasickness that most don't."

"Ah, my magical sister has all the answers to life's maladies! We forgot that in our worrying, father," Alexander finished with a laugh. They had been doing little more than teasing her, though the wizard had a feeling that some of their words weren't completely jokes at her expense.

"Yes, my daughter is an elite wizard," Serafene stated with a nod to her husband. The woman had stepped into the room to stand beside her husband. Her fingers played up his arm before she rested both hands on his shoulder to lean her cheek on the backs of her hands looking at two of her children.

"Will Alicia be coming to see me off?" the youngest of the three siblings asked curiously. There was six years between her and her brother; but with less than two years between Anna and her sister, the two girls were also close enough in age to be friends.

Philip's eyes wandered towards the ceiling as if he could look through stone to find his middle child. "She should be down soon I would think. Alicia knows that you will be leaving for the ship early today."

"Perhaps entertaining all her suitors has worn her out?" Alexander questioned with a chuckle.

"Teasing Alicia about all the men flocking to our yard only works when she is here, Alex," Anna chided her brother. He was just old enough to stand apart from his sisters and was the only son of the Marquess as well. Malaiy didn't stand on a system requiring males of a family to come first in its hierarchy, though some nations were based on a strictly patriarchal society; but there was still a certain pride associated with a firstborn son. The girl knew that her parents loved them all, but Alexander had been put through more to become a ruler, even if his rule never extended beyond a city state within his uncle's lands.

His eyes joined his father's in looking up and the young man said with a smile, "Oh, you would think so, but she can feel me talking about her, I am certain."

Another woman came to the door. She smiled and tilted her head slightly before acknowledging the eyes suddenly looking her way. "Am I interrupting a family moment?" the dark haired young lady in her dark red dress questioned.

Alexander offered her a hand from afar beckoning her into the room as he said, "Well, you are family now also, Heralin. You don't need to stand outside looking in, especially since we are only picking on Annalicia to get it out of our systems while she is gone."

Rolling her eyes, Annalicia stated, "Thanks a lot, Alex."

Heralin had married Alexander almost three years ago as part of him being raised to the position of a count of Malaiy. His city, Patris, was east of the extended towns belonging to the king's city. He had made the trip into Yalan just to see Anna off for her trip and competition to the north. While Annalicia tried to play down the importance of the first tournament to ever call upon countries from around the entire world, it was still important enough to her family to encourage her before she left.

The countess by marriage was a bit tentative, but also seemed to gather strength standing by her husband. It was a marriage to strengthen Malaiy's ties to Rhearden, a large and powerful country farther east, but the two had found love despite the politics of the arrangement, the wizard thought. If she was forced to marry, Anna could only hope to be as lucky.

"Are you ready for your trip then?" her mother questioned a bit too late, her daughter thought.

"I had better be," she answered with a smile that managed to avoid condescension despite the timing. "My luggage will leave without me, if I'm not. Of course, that would only give me an excuse to buy some new clothes; so maybe I should leave them to their travels and stay here after all?"

After gathering a little laughter, Philip shook his head. "I think that we had better let her go to Hala then. I'm not sure we can afford to let her stay."

Serafene moved to her youngest child and placed her arm around her shoulders. Her other hand rested on Anna's near shoulder completing a hug as her mother added, "Just be safe, little one. This is your first major trip into the dangerous world beyond Malaiy. You are a brave girl, but it can still prove challenging."