170: Ada's POV
170: Ada's POV
Phoenix and the Lennox brothers had to work together to man the ship. I didn’t have any sailing experience, and neither did Alpha Bryant. As for Blade and Dagger, everyone insisted they were more comfortable having them stay with me and keep me guarded. Why I was the one everyone deemed needed bodyguards, I didn’t know. Technically, with the amount of fae blood I seemed to have, I was most likely more protected than any of them.
I stopped complaining, though, when Dagger and Blade agreed to fill the hours of the day with more training. The two of them trained me in tandem, with one focusing on magickal attacks and the other physical. They’d shed their armor, but continued to keep their weapons close.
The Lennox brothers, Alpha Bryant, and Phoenix all took turns watching the training— even providing some helpful feedback— whenever it was their rotation to take a break.
Ultimately, the largest issue was that we were severely slowed down. We had to anchor every night so that some semblance of rest could occur. Four men were not enough to smoothly navigate this ship along open waters, and by nightfall, all of them were beyond exhausted. I did what I could to help and made Blade and Dagger assist me in making sure meals were ready between trainings.
Still, everyone’s moods had seemed to shift from optimistic to dire. Heath, after explaining exactly what a ‘reaper’ was, continued to be haunted by the souls of his crew members, refusing to move on. He was losing a large amount of weight and hadn’t slept for days. All of this combined made him short-tempered and a bit of a loose cannon. Paul and Felix were just quiet. They barely participated in conversations. Alpha Bryant tried to stay positive, and he helped wherever he could.
And Phoenix was someone I almost didn’t recognize. He had taken a pair of scissors to his long, fiery hair on the third day of having to help man the ship. It was now cut short and shaggy, bearing the sweat of a hard day’s work anytime I saw him. Where his body had always been muscular but remained lean and slender, he was now filling out from manning the sails. His shirts all had to be cut to fit his arms as they seemed to be growing exponentially day by day, and his abs were more defined than ever.
All of them were, of course, more exhausted than usual without their wolves. The things that used to be easy to handle on the ship now took twice as much effort because they had only human strength. I felt lucky not to be in that boat.
However, I was beginning to feel like if we stayed here much longer, we would crumble apart entirely. We still had weeks to months left on this ship to get where we were going. Deep in my bones, I knew we wouldn’t make it if we had to keep on like this. Something they told me they could feel it too.
I set a bowl of soup in front of Phoenix, sliding into the chair beside him. We’d all taken to sharing the same quarters, running through shifts of keeping watch. The others were all already halfway through their bowls, eyes downcast.
Blade and Dagger were watching over the group as they chewed on pieces of jerky. The three of us had several conversations over the last few days about the state of things. They knew tonight was the night for me to approach it.
As if reading my thoughts, Blade hopped to his feet and clapped Dagger on the back with his hand. “Alright. Dagger and I are going to give all of you royals—” he cleared his throat with a glance at Bryant,” And the Alpha, a chance to talk.”
Paul’s chewing slowed, and he looked up at me expectantly. His two brothers kept eating, eyes locked on their bowls. I sighed, “I think we need to rethink our strategy here.”
A hefty sigh came from Phoenix’s lips. “Heath and I were talking about that today. I wonder if we’re all on the same page.”
Our eyes met, and he reached for my hand. I nodded, turning to Bryant. “It’s time that we use your portals and get back to the Kingdom.”
Felix sputtered, spitting out a bite of soup, “Velentaria will sense the magic. She’ll come for us.”
“We’re no good to anyone if we die before we get there,” I countered firmly. “We can portal in, find whatever allies we can, and hide while we recoup.”
Heath snorted, finishing what was in his bowl. All of us looked at him, and as if he felt our stares, he slowly lifted his head. He shrugged, “I don’t even know why we’re discussing this. She’s right.”
His brothers looked at him like he was someone they didn’t recognize. Before either of them could say anything, I continued softly, “We have to get Heath off of this ship. We need all of us as strong and healthy as we can be. Running this ship is taking the life from each of you.” I squeezed Phoenix’s hand. “Heath won’t last much longer with the souls here.”
When Heath didn’t argue, Paul sighed. His hand connected with the bowl in front of him, sending it flying across the cabin. “Dammit!” he turned to his brothers, “None of this has gone to plan. We have been after this Kingdom for as long as I can remember. Is a throne really worth this?”
Phoenix and I remained silent. Felix sighed, looking toward the door that Dagger and Blade had disappeared through. Heath ran a hand through his dark brown hair, which was stringy and thinning with each passing day. “It isn’t about a throne at this point, brother. It’s about the people. They deserve protection.”
“There probably aren’t any people left,” Paul snapped.
“I hope that isn’t true,” he froze as I glared at him. Paul’s gnarled scars had a sheen to them in the candlelight. “For all of our sakes.”
Heath smacked his hand down on the table when his brother’s mouth opened again. I flinched as the bowls skittered around. His voice was low, almost a growl. “Gather all of the things you can: food, water, weapons.” he turned to Bryant. “Can you portal us?”
“I’ve never done it that far,” Bryant admitted, shrugging. “But I’ve done a lot more for a shorter distance. We can give it a try.”
Phoenix chuckled, running his free hand through his new shaggy hair. “Maybe we should all load up onto the longboat just in case.”