The King's Artist

Ch 77: The Ache of Seasickness

Sorry I'm a couple days behind schedule everyone. Hope you enjoy the chapter, though!

 XXX

Adelaide could taste the salt on the air. The ocean water lapped against the edge of the boat, and she watched it, transfixed. Her stomach churned and her head spun, and she tried to settle her sea sickness with deep, calming breaths. She was semi-successful, but her nauseous threatened to overtake her at any moment if she moved too quickly or moved away from the railing. 

The crew of the boat she occupied was specific to those closest to Henry and Jasper. She knew most of the individuals, had been familiar with their faces since she was a child, but Adelaide felt slightly guilty for only vaguely knowing their names and their history. 

"It's impossible to know everyone," Marcus yawned, leaning against the railing to Adelaide's right and running a hand over his face. Anthony stood to Adelaide's left and the two were doing their best to try and distract her. She'd been rambling for a good twenty minutes, her anxiety and illness manifesting as word vomit. They'd been considerate with her, though, talking to her patiently and doing their best to ease her. Adelaide partially wondered if they would be so affectionate if they didn't know she was a girl. But then she recalled several times that Marcus and Anthony had done something similar for new recruits or younger soldiers, and knew she was being ridiculous. The two of them were good men, and she had seen them treat men and women alike with kindness. 

"Sir Arthur!" With a face green and pale, Adelaide slowly shifted her head over her shoulder to see Roland running towards her. She hadn't been aware that her son was accompanying them on the journey until he and Charity had arrived at the port the day of their departure. Lewis had been angry, but any attempt to try and get his wife to stay had fallen on deaf ears. Charity was going, her baby Benjamin in her arms and little Roland's hand in hers. 

Adelaide forced a smile onto her face as she moved more fully around so that she could bend down and hug Roland. The little boy was smiling excitedly at the expanse of ocean around them, and hadn't been able to sit still since they left the port. After pulling away, Marcus scooped Roland into his arms, allowing him an even greater look at their surroundings. Adelaide couldn't help the smile that slipped onto her face. Charity took that moment to join their little group. Her cheeks were flushed from the wind, but she had a liveliness to her step. The absence of a baby in her arms had Adelaide raising an eyebrow. 

"Ben is with Lewis below," Charity answered, not needing Adelaide to voice her question. 

"He still angry with you?" Anthony asked, his tone a mixture of genuine concern and slight amusement. 

Charity rolled her eyes. "You won't believe how long he lectured me last night. But I know he's happy that I'm here. He can at least understand why I didn't want to be left behind. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be marching into battle with you guys."

As if she couldn't stop herself, Charity's eyes darted apprehensively towards Adelaide. Anthony noticed the gesture, too, and slipped an arm around Adelaide's shoulder with a reassuring smile. 

"She'll be fine," he said in a quiet voice to Charity. "Adelaide's one of the finest soldiers in the Tudor army. Not to mention, she's personally trained most of the recruits."

His confidence in her had Adelaide blushing. She brushed him aside, slapping him playfully in the stomach and laughing. The comment did seem to ease some of Charity's worry, but  it was evident that the young mother was still uneasy. After all, everyone that Charity cared for—aside from her mother and her children—were going to war. And despite the optimism of the people, the Lancastrians were still outnumbered. 

"How many more days will we be at sea?" Roland asked, turning to look down at Adelaide. 

"We should be arriving sometime tomorrow," she managed before another wave of nausea rolled over her. With a lurch, she dropped her head over the side of the boat and upturned her stomach. Everyone at least had the decency to look away as she vomited. 

"This reminds me of the first time we were on a boat together." 

At the sound the Henry's voice, Adelaide's entire spine stiffened. Her face flamed red with embarrassment as she threw up again. Despite her unfortunate state, though, Henry's expression remained neutral as he approached. Without another comment, he handed her some water and a drenched cloth so that she could wipe the sweat from her face.  She shot him a small smile of gratitude before taking a long drag of the offered drink and leaning her head against the railing, the cloth draped over the back of her neck. 

"I can also recall you threatening to kill me  on that trip," Adelaide muttered after her stomach settled a bit more. A smile pulled at her lips at the memory and only grew as Henry and the others laughed.

"You threatened to kill her?" Charity barked in astonishment. She and her family had arrived after them, but still Adelaide was surprised she hadn't heard the story of Henry's daring escape from England. 

"I did," Henry shook his head in amusement. "I told her that she could either join our crew or I was going to have to silence her."

No one batted an eye at Henry's word choice. After all, everyone present knew the truth, and the fact had a wave of unexpected relief and contentment washing over Adelaide. 

"As you can imagine they were best friends from that day onwards," Jasper noted, joining their group alongside Kayden and Theodore. They formed a small group, enclosing Adelaide as she fought down another uphill climb of her breakfast. 

"She ended up saving Kayden's pretty head, too, on that journey," stated Marcus as he repositioned Roland so that the child was seated on his shoulders. 

"You did?!" Roland exclaiming loudly, looking at Adelaide with child astonishment. He leaned forward so eagerly awaiting for confirmation that Marcus had to fight to keep himself from toppling forward at the sudden weight shift. 

"By accident," Adelaide said with a smirk as she peaked up at her son. 

"By accident?" Charity so through a laugh. "How do you save someone by accident?" 

"She tripped and barreled into me," Kayden reminisced with a shake of his head. "Her clumsiness managed to knock me out of the way of some bandit's arrow."

Again, their group laughed and Adelaide felt some of the anxiety in her chest uncoil. It was hard to believe that all happened fourteen years ago. 

With her head still on the railing, she glanced briefly up at Henry while the conversations and stories continued on around her. He had taken the space between her and Anthony, and as if sensing her gaze, looked down. Adelaide felt her heart rate accelerate at the same time that it fractured once their eyes met. She wanted him so desperately to touch her, but since their goodbye in the forest, he hadn't so much as brushed his hand against hers. 

The world faded into silence as they surveyed one another. Too many emotions pressed into the space between them. Words both said and unsaid echoed in her head, ringing like bells in her ears as she fought to swallow the pain and longing.

Unwarranted, her thoughts strayed to the long nights spent wrapped in his arms. She could recall the words whispered into her hair and muttered against her skin. How he would affectionately kiss and touch her while they laughed and talked about everything and anything. Some evenings were spent with him simply stretched out and reading while she painted him, their eyes occasionally glancing up to look at one another, small secretive smiles edging onto their lips in exchange. 

Their silent exchanges before early morning training, the freedom of afternoon rides and private portrait sessions, and nights spent quietly hidden away from the real world were all over. 

Tears stung Adelaide's eyes at the flood of memories and she broke eye-contact first. 

She tried to tell herself this was for the best. England needed Henry. And she had known from the very beginning that he had never been hers to keep. Adelaide just hadn't expected reality to hurt this much.