The Blue Kingdom

Ivy pushed through the spilling waves to reach the shore of a sandbar. The only place on that side of the world where to walk, or in that case; rest. As she turned towards the shallows where she had left Em, a tiny thought of comfort caressed her. It’s what he would have wanted. As a sailor, a burial at sea was the norm, and the pile of rock and coral resting over him was what his religion demanded for an eternal rest amongst their ancestors.

The pile of white sand barely stood out from the sea and when the tide, already on the rise, reached its summit, it would be covered by an ocean already engulfing everything around it. There was no vegetation to hide in, and the small boat slowly approaching from the distance piled over unease over a bunch of already desolated feelings. To the northeast of Male, the Maze was a desert of dangers no large ship could cross. A place no one in their right mind would think of rowing across. Still, some idiots tried. The vessel was far, and if for her they were just an insignificant dot on the horizon, difficult to spot, they’d most likely miss her even with a spyglass. If not, it mattered little. Before they’d reach shooting distance, she’d submerge and disappear again.

Knowing she was safe for a long way, Ivy collapsed on the sand to catch a breath and watch the clouds go by. A time to rest and to mourn her loss. She’d cry if she had tears left to shed. Of all the self-destructive thoughts ravaging her mind, regret was the most painful. Why did she leave the Luxury to follow Em’s stupid plan? He wanted her to join the Male team, who’d wait for the prisoners to reach the gallows and then rescue them. She knew Em had the chance to be sent somewhere else. Vega wanted to be an example of him. She knew he’d most probably not step on Male, nevertheless; she followed that stupid plan. If she had refused to abandon the ship, to listen to the plan, perhaps he’d still be alive.

Why did she decide to hide in the ship’s galley instead of acting immediately? The idea of following Em and rescuing him at the right moment seemed so good before, and so idiotic now. How could she not have foreseen Vega would do what he did? He hated uncle, after all. Em had assured her hundreds of times that couldn’t happen. It wasn’t the way the squids treated his peers. Why did she, for once, believe he was right?

It was all her fault. Her incompetence at sea put the Ballerina into a storm. Off their course, they ended up in Tampra, and Parnis pushed Em to buy low grade coal which broke the steam engine. In Ujan, her immaturity brought capture. In the plantation, her weakness brought the need for rescue. Everything leading to the destruction of the Blue Kingdom. The dead of Pablo, Ced, Em and many others.

With the weight of guilt, sitting up became an unwilling task. The boat, which was strangely much closer than she had estimated, had changed course towards her, and seemed to carry only one man. A bald head giving answers to why the vessel was so fast, and its oarsman so stubbornly restless. She didn’t like Riko. He was not an enemy perhaps, but not being a foe didn’t put him in the basket of friends. She’d leave, but not before telling him how much she despised him.

She stood only when Riko’s boat reached, almost when the sun was touching the horizon. He was panting heavily, something strange in him. He jumped and dragged his boat to the shore as no other man could do. Then he dusted his hands, dragged his feet, and collapsed on the ground next to her. His chest moved up and down under a soaked shirt with a noisy breathing.

Ivy talked with her hands, but he didn’t reply. When the panting subsided and his eyes half-opened, she repeated the signs with resentful strokes. “What do you want? Don’t you tire of ruining my life?”

“You are pretty good at doing that by yourself, girl.” Riko said, raising to a seat. “If you had listened-”

Ivy kicked sand into Riko’s face and waved her arms in hasty anger. “Don’t dare to say it!”

“I was going to say you have put Vega on your tail now. If you plan to hide, he’ll destroy your home and its people to find you. On the other hand, if you plan to avenge your old man, Vega will wait with an entire army at the ready. And when he catches you, which he will, he’ll unleash his wrath over you. You stabbed him: He will never forgive or forget.”

Ivy lowered to hug her legs and bury her face. She wanted to punish Vega for what she did more than anything in the world. And just as firmly, she wanted to escape, to return to her old life. Find Macha, Lim. Even Rob. Sail together again. Forget everything and put an end to the feeling she was to blame for everything.

Her hands released the hug to signal without motivation. “I don’t know what to do.”

Riko took a big breath, but only to exhale slowly. His response, delayed for long, and only after they shared the beauty of a colourful sunset and the coolness of a tide reaching their waists, he returned. During that strange silence only broken by the swishing of the sea, Ivy barely had a single thought. A moment as unwanted as uncomfortable, which brought a peace of mind she very well appreciated.

“I can tell what I’ll do,” Riko raised and dragged through a watery ground towards his boat. “I am going to find all my brothers who are willing to return to the brotherhood of Admiral Hafiz. And when I do, I will bring down Vega. I’m gonna make him pay. And when he’s done and the old Kraken is back again, I’ll free Ujan and all the others. And most important of all, I will save the Blue.”

Riko’s boat scratched with the push. “You may think I’m an idiot, or I’m not worthy. Fair enough. You can leave if you want. But if you hope in and join me north, you’ll have my loyalty and my alliance. I’ll keep you safe until you can fight for yourself and I’ll give you the knowledge and experience to do it for the win.”

Not very convinced, but exhausted to do anything else, Ivy stood up to say a last goodbye over the waters where her uncle rested. No cries came out, nor tears fell. An unpleasant instant of nothing. A void only stained by the embarrassment to find herself emptied of any more grief or anger. As if Em's passing didn’t matter anymore. Or as if his killing had never really happened.

After rubbing her arm over sniffing nose, she signed for a last time before jumping on Riko’s boat. “Where do we go first?”