Sorceress

THE SHIP (Ruby P.O.V)

We arrive to the port with plenty of time before the next high tide and, even it is past midnight, I persuade my girl to go into the inn and eat something before we leave taking advantage of the empty main dining room; just in case I'll erase the memories of the innkeeper and the chef anyway, Nandi will be the only one who can remember us in this kingdom. Iselen chews unwillingly but she manages to eat half of her spiced dish while I'm just picking some fruit and Lucifer nibbles a piece of chicken. I look at her out of the corner of my eye... she's been very quiet for the last two hours and I'm starting to worry about her...

- If you've changed your mind there's still time for me to go and...

- No, this is the right thing to do – she answers abruptly so I decide not to insist anymore.

We finally get on the ship and Iselen's mood improves a little while she looks around with curiosity since we've never seen before a boat like this one. To begin with, it's painted in black and red and sails are square, the shape is longer than the ships we're used to see in the West but the hold isn't that deep and, besides having a little aftercastle where the captain and the officers sleep, on the main deck there're three little buildings made entirely of wood that look like three little houses with gable roof and lattice windows. Koji greets us with a big smile on his face and points at the biggest house quickly.

- Your cabin.

He opens the sliding door carefully and steps aside to let us look at the interior of the rectangular room, it's bigger than it seemed from outside. The floor is covered by a thick woven straw carpet, there's a little bathroom behind a dark green lacquered screen with little colourful flowers and some trunks are lined up along the walls, some of them are our luggage. The décor is quite plain, based on straight lines, but stylish at the same time, and nothing seems too fancy except for the screen. There's also a low table surrounded by cushions to sit down on the floor and someone has left several bottles of water, juices and fruits. It looks like they've thought of everything but...

- Where's the bed? – My girl asks before I can do it. Koji smiles amused and points at a trunk.

- It's in there – He answers before opening it. With expert hands that show how many times he's done the same thing, he takes a thin rolled mattress with a white cotton cover and he unfolds it in the middle of the room. Then, he takes from the trunk a duvet also with a cotton cover and two pillows. We have the bed ready in less than two minutes and Lucifer is already making himself comfortable at the foot – You can take everything back to the trunk tomorrow and this way the room can be used in a variety of ways.

- Very practical... - Iselen mumbles amazed while I nod behind her.

- Thank you – Koji answers – You have clean water behind the screen. I'm going to monitor the manoeuvres so we can leave the harbour as soon as possible. It'll be dawn in a few hours and you should try to catch some sleep. My cabin is next door, I avoid being out during the central hours of the day, when the heat is intense. I know Ruby can bear the direct sun but I'm afraid that my family has nocturnal habits...

- Don't worry about that, we'll adjust to your lives – I answer smiling while he says goodbye and closes the door. When I turn around I realize that my girl is standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her chest – Is something wrong?

- Actually... I don't know where to sit down...

- I think that you're supposed to sit down on the floor – She looks around hesitant so I decide to help her a little. I get rid of my clothes with vampire speed, I wash my hands and face behind the green screen and I lie on our bed tugging at the soft duvet under Lucifer. The cat gets up and jumps to my back where he snuggles enjoying my body heat – It's more comfortable than I expected, I thought it's be harder...