Chapter 3
Another Type of Society, Same Problems
Kerensa felt guilty a little about Chadwick because he was only trying to look out for her. However, she knew that she was going to have to remain firm so that he did not do anything that would let anyone know who she was or how she had grown up. He was a great friend, but his hesitance to keep her secret had already caused her to distance herself from him over the last few months. If Chadwick continued to have trouble with their new dynamic, Kerensa would have to put more distance between them.
As soon as he was gone, she pulled open a book that her father had bought for the trip. While she wasn’t quite as enamored on dragons as she had been a few years ago, Kerensa still had a fascination for them, both as a researcher and as a human. Something with that much power could do pretty much whatever it wanted, but unlike people, dragons tended to prefer to live far away where they would not be disturbed. There was the occasional dragon attack, but as far as Kerensa could tell, they were far less frequent over the last 300 years in her country. In fact, the last time a dragon had attacked the capital, Ciampino, was nearly 500 years ago. There hadn’t been a dragon attack in Volsci for nearly a decade. Of course, the country had been at war for the majority of those 10 years, and Kerensa had a feeling that dragons were much smarter than people. When people were killing each other, there was no reason to give them a common cause.
Kerensa and her family lived in Marcellina, which was near the largest city in the country, Licenza. The young woman had seen dragons fly over on a few occasions, but they had never come very close, so they appeared as huge birds a long way off. Every few years, her father would get her a new book that the young woman would devour as she tried to learn more about the magnificent and dangerous creatures. This year a completely new book had come out written by the foremost scholar on dragons, and it was this book that she was reading now, even though it had nothing to do with her current research. Kerensa liked to think of herself as a dragon enthusiast, not that anyone would take her seriously. The only people who were ever considered qualified to discuss dragons were people who had encountered them. That was an incredibly small circle of people, and only dragon hunters had seen the creatures in their natural habitat. As Kerensa had already experienced, there were a host of problems with trying to talk to a dragon hunter about their primary prey. She had grown to hate people who killed dragons because all of the hunters she had met were crass, crude, and unkind. Of course, there was no question that they were necessary for dragons who enjoyed killing people, but the way some of them bragged about the final moments of the magnificent creatures made her feel sick. The young woman had heard that not all dragon hunters were that way, but the three she had met certainly were. They seemed to be in in it for the fame and fun. There had been a few dragon hunters who had passed through the city over the years, but most of them liked to keep to themselves, and as soon as they realized that people knew who they were, those dragon hunters left. It had certainly been the case several years ago when her father had told her about the female dragon hunter. The woman had left almost as soon as word got out that she was in town.
She had been lost in the book for a few hours when there was a knock on her door. Kerensa’s head turned toward the door but out of the corner of her eye there appeared to be some sort of distortion. Putting her glasses on, the young woman looked again, but there was nothing there. The knock was repeated, pulling her back to the reason she had stopped reading. Quickly rising from the bed, she headed toward the door.
As she passed by the mirror, Kerensa stopped and straightened her clothing, making them look just as they had when Heath had shown her what to do. It only took a moment, but the knock came again.
When she opened the door, Kerensa was surprised to see the captain standing outside of her door. “Good evening Velius. I was wondering if you would like to join me for a stroll around the deck. We are passing by the Liskamm Mountains, and I don’t think a young man of your intellect will fail to miss the beauty of it.
“Oh, thank you sir. I had not realized that we had taken off yet. Such is the magic of books. Let me grab my coat and I will be with you directly.” Kerensa stepped away from the door and pulled her coat off the chair near her bed. As she walked back to the captain, the young woman remembered Heath’s warning about her walk. Suddenly more conscious of her gait, Kerensa tried to remember what the men in her life looked like when they walked. Trying to emulate their swagger, she swung her arms a little more and tried to move her body a little less.
The captain led her toward the cabin where the other scholars and Chadwick were staying, and soon the six of them set off to walk the deck. The other researchers knew who she was, so they let the captain monopolize her ear as he discussed what they were seeing. Kerensa could not help but notice how well Chadwick was getting along with the researchers. His devotion and apparent lack of understanding of her purpose on the voyage made her uneasy, but seeing him with the other men, the young woman felt that there was not much need to worry. The man was completely at home with a crowd, something that she had always tried to avoid. Making a mental note of his apparent happiness, Kerensa felt that she could focus on the words and information that the captain offered her. While Kerensa did learn a good deal, she found that her focus was divided – she tried to listen, but her mind kept wondering to her gait. Just as much of the time was spent with her trying to move in a way that was more masculine.
After they had been walking for nearly an hour, one of the researchers asked the captain a question. While they talked one of the other researchers whispered to Kerensa, “Are you alright, my lady?”
Kerensa flashed him a look that indicated she was not pleased with the way he addressed her. “I was just fine until you decide to address me as a woman.”
“But you are-”
Cutting him off, the young woman announced to the others, “I am tired.” She bowed to the captain, “Thank you very much for the lovely scenery and explanations. I will make sure to add them to my journal. Good night gentlemen.” With that she turned and began walking to her cabin.
The young woman was heading past a few deck chairs for the few passengers when she heard a couple of sailors talking nearby. At first she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. As she drew nearer, one of them said just loud enough for her to hear, “Yep, that’s the boy. If the way he looked didn’t give him away, all you have to do is look at the way he walks, and you can tell that he is the lover of that wealthy foreigner bastard. You know how they are. Think that their money and brains mean they can do anything they want.”
Kerensa slowly turned to look at the two men, her mind trying to process the information. “Excuse me?”
The second moved a little closer, “I’ve never been with another man before, but I dare say you are pretty enough that given a few weeks out to sea, I might find you attractive enough to…” His eyes looked Kerensa up and down, a leer on his face.
The young woman had been harassed on a few occasions, but never had the men been so open about what they wanted. They had always said it in ways that were flowery and masked what they meant so that they could say that she had misunderstood what they meant. This experience was completely new and not at all something she had expected. A look of loathing and fear crossed her face as she turned to run from them. Her foot caught on one of the chairs pitching her forward. As her knee smacked into the hardwood, the sailors howled with laugher.
Suddenly she felt cool hands under her arms and knees, lifting her up. A beautiful, melodic voice spoke as she was lifted off the ground, “Surely you two gentlemen have better things to do than to terrify a young man. Just as you are here to work, so is he.”
The sailors gave the man a look, then to her surprise, they bowed, “We are sorry sir. It will not happen again.”
“It is not me that you should be apologizing to.”
The sailors nodded at him, then looked at Kerensa. “We are sorry sir. We meant nothing by it.” With that the pair were gone.
As soon as they were out of sight, Kerensa buried her face in Heath’s chest.
The rumble of his voice was soothing as he asked, “Are you alright?”
“I’m alright, just a bit shaken up.” She pulled her face away, realizing that what she was doing was not going to quiet whatever rumors were circulating about her. “I should be alright to walk, so you can put me down. I don’t think it will do for either of us to be seen like this now.”
The man turned and moved toward her cabin, “I don’t think that I could do that. Based on the way you fell, I need to make sure nothing is sprained or broken.”
“I am fine really.”
His beautiful blue eyes looked down on her as the sun was setting. Kerensa could feel his heart beating through his chest, and it made her incredibly aware of just how handsome and alive the man was. The way the light played off of Heath’s hair was like his hair was on fire. It was beautiful as it swayed in the breeze like a dancing flame at night. He leaned forward so that his mouth was almost touching her ear. Kerensa felt her heart flutter as his breath gently pressed against her neck. “The more you argue, the more attention you are going to draw to us.” For a moment, her mind went blank and all she could manage was a slight nod and to look away from him.
As soon as they reached her cabin, Heath opened the door and closed it from the other side. Like before, he locked it to ensure they would not be interrupted. Placing her gently on the bed, he began to examine her legs, starting with the knee that had hit the deck. Kerensa had experienced similar examinations before from her father when she was young and several doctors as she grew. Usually she spent the entire examination asking the person to explain what he was doing and why. This was the first time where she could not even think of a question.
After a few minutes, he looked up at her, “I think you will be alright, but if I may, I want to make sure. Does this hurt?” He bent her leg. Kerensa was so focused on the feel of his cool hands on her leg that she wouldn’t have felt pain ten times greater. As it was, his cool hands seemed to draw the pain so that even when she thought about it, the young woman could not feel anything wrong.
Shaking her head, she murmured, “No, it feels fine. Thank you. I really do appreciate your help.”
“You do not need to keep thanking me. Sailors can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but if you are willing to stand up to them, they are rarely a problem. Just be more cautious in the future. As I said earlier, it would have been best for you to stay inside your cabin.”
Kerensa frowned, “The captain invited me out to see the surroundings. I didn’t want to miss it since I have never been so far from home.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.
Heath did not push, “I can understand that.” He stood up, “If your leg truly does not hurt, we can spend some time working on your walk. That way you will be able to get out and see more without having to worry about being discovered.” The man smiled at her.
“Thank you. I appreciate everything you have done, although I am at a bit of a loss as to why you are so willing to help me. You know next to nothing about me.”
“Do you have to know someone to want to help?” The man looked at her like the idea of not helping someone in need was backward.
“In my experience, people don’t do things for others without something in return.”
Heath shook his head, “That is not the way my people do things.”
“You are from the frozen continent, are you not?”
“Yes, but that is not what we call it.”
“That isn’t what we call it either, but I seriously doubt that we have the same name as you. Not after the abysmal defeat. My country did not take that very well at all.”
The man looked at her with a smile, “I don’t know many countries that take defeat well, but honestly all we had to do was wait a few more months and the weather would have taken care of the Volsci soldiers without us having to lift a finger. We don’t even call it a war, to us it is simply the Samnite Sundown.”
Kerensa laughed. “There was a rumor that the fighting only lasted a day. Are your people declaring that to be true?”
“No, that is really a misnomer as that is being far too generous. The fighting did not last two hours.”
“That’s impossible! Our soldiers had the latest weapons and protection for our time. It is impossible that they were overcome so quickly.”
“You don’t have to believe me. Just consider that your people decided to act like the whole thing never happened, whereas mine cataloged the entire encounter, beginning to very quick end.”
“That does make sense, although it still seems impossible.”
“Your people were not prepared for our harsh winters. Just watching them try to fight was almost enough to make our leader take pity on them and send them back unharmed.”
Kerensa shook her head, “They would never have willingly left.” Something in the corner of the room caught her eye for a moment, but Heath’s warm voice pulled her eyes back to him before she could fully figure out what she had seen.
The man actually smirked, “No one said that they would be leaving voluntarily. Anyway, in the end it was a question of cold. We used it to our advantage, and your people had no way to counter it.”
“From the way you talk, it almost sounds like you were there.”
“I was there. Mind you I was still pretty young at the time, but I did my part.”
Kerensa’s eyes opened wide, then she began to laugh, “Now I know you are lying to me about it.” She shook her head, “You almost had me there. I do wish that I could learn exactly what happened that day.”
“If you can’t believe I was there, you are hardly likely to believe what happened.”
“It is impossible that you were in that war. It was over a hundred years ago. That would make you close to 130, and there is no way that is the case.”
“156 actually, but that does not change the fact that I was there.”
Kerensa looked at the man and saw that his expression was in earnest. “How is it possible for you to have lived for so long and still look like…well…” her words fumbled when she realized that she could not say a god.
“Oh, I’m not human.”
Kerensa blinked and looked away for a second, wondering if the not-so-young man actually was a god. Turning her eyes back to the man, she asked, “What do you mean you aren’t human?”
“I'm a shifter.”
For a moment the two stared at each other.
Heath cocked his head, “I’m sorry, were you not able to tell?”
Kerensa looked at him for a moment longer, “How would I have-”
Suddenly, the boat tipped to the side, throwing Kerensa off the bed. Heath reached out an arm and caught her just before she struck the ground.
“That’s the Aeolians,” Heath’s face was serious as he looked at the windows.
“What are Aeolians?” Kerensa looked from the man to the window.
“Nasty.” He offered no further explanation. “Please stay in here. This could become a much more difficult journey than we had anticipated.” Placing her gently back on the bed, the man began heading toward the door. Another sudden shift and both he and Kerensa were thrown about the room. Heath hit his head on the desk as he tumbled to the ground. Kerensa looked up from here place beside the bed and noticed that he wasn’t moving. Trying to stand, she stumbled her way over to the man who had helped her.
There was no way she could lift him, so the young woman looked around. The room was steady enough at the moment that she ran over and grabbed a couple of pillows and blankets from the bed. The room pitched again as she was heading back to Heath, who was now moaning. Crawling on her hands and needs, she reached him. The young woman placed the pillow under his head and drew the blankets around him. Gently she wrapped him up.
The room shifted again and Kerensa threw her body over his as the desk shifted and moved in their direction. The books and writing tools hit her back, arms, and head, but she did not move. Shrugging them off, Kerensa looked around the room. Noticing that there was nothing against the wall just opposite them, she tried to pull the blanket with the semiconscious Heath on it. Though it was tough, she managed to get them both across the room before the next shift. She rested his body up flat against the wall, then lay her own body against his in case anything in the room moved toward them.
As soon as she thought they were likely out of harm’s way, Kerensa began to check the place where Heath had struck his head. There was blood, but not too much. Without thinking, she tore a part of her shirt and began to stem the light trickle of blood. When she felt certain that there was nothing more she could do for the knock on the head, Kerensa moved to check for other potential issues.
Her thin fingers went to his eyes and she looked into them. Momentarily she forgot that she was checking for a concussion as his amazing eyes looked back at her through a haze. She had thought they were an interesting blue, but from this close she could see that they had other colors in them, almost like ice when hit by light. A moan from the man caused the young woman to remember what she was doing. Fighting to get her mind back under control, she made sure that his eyes weren’t dilated. Once she was certain that he would be fine, she gave a little sigh and began to relax.
Another sudden shift threw several items to their side of the room. Kerensa pulled Heath’s head to her chest and tried to protect him as much as she could with her slim frame. Though she was taller than average for a woman, the man was still several inches taller than her, and his body was a good bit wider. A large object struck her back, knocking the glasses from her face.
“Uhhh,” she moaned, then tried to ignore the pain now shooting through her body. Too afraid to see what had hit her, Kerensa kept her focus on protecting the semi-conscious man.
It felt like forever as she kept her body pressed against his. Several more items struck her, but nothing with the same amount of force as the last item. Almost as soon as it had started, the violent tremors stopped.
Finally lifting her head up to look around, Kerensa hoped that the whole ordeal was over just as Heath began to stir.
Pulling away from him a little, Kerensa looked into his face. “Are you alright?”
Heath looked at her and blinked a few times, “I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember something important, I can’t even remember what it was related to. Ow, my head hurts!” His hand went to where he had struck the desk.
Kerensa frowned, fighting back the pain that was threatening to drag her down, “Do you know who you are?” She needed to find out how badly the man had been hurt. It would be bad if he forgot who she was and ended up finding out she was a woman after taking her to one of the medical staff on the vessel.
“Heath. And you want to be Velius. Well, I am fairly certain that is not your birth name, but it is the one you chose, and it suites you well.” He gave her a sad smile before continuing, “We left Berenice just this afternoon. All of the details are there, but I can’t remember something important.”
“It seems like all of the important information is there.”
“Do you think so?”
Kerensa closed her eyes for a moment and tried to ask another question, “What do you mean by I want to be Velius?”
Heath looked up at her and his colorful eyes went wide as Kerensa blacked out.