I regretted it almost the second my narrow sailing boat undocked from the wooden quay. The grand stone castle of Elderwyn faded into the distance as my ship sailed downstream back towards the ocean from which I had left six days prior. Every part of my body was urging me to turn around, to go back to the castle and fix my mistake. But I didn’t. That would have been too easy after all. Cobbled streets through which I had been meandering only a few hours ago lay in an orderly expanse behind me, the faint glow of the city still guiding my path forward. Elderwyn, despite being the capital city of Aeloria, was not a place I had ever visited before today, and it wouldn’t be somewhere I would ever visit again by choice, not after this. My cramped sailboat continued down the river Tirith, the harsh and cold northerly winds pushing me forward and back towards my father and our crew. At least I would be able to face him again now, without the constant arguments, the scrutiny that had followed my life for the past few months.

The forests that lay to my left hours later were dark and foreboding despite seeming so welcoming in the warmth of the afternoon sun that it had been bathed in a few hours prior. Now even the glow of the full moon couldn’t reach the woodland floor. I had visited the humble thicket village a few times as a child, then again as a teen once or twice. Some of the centaurs had become personal friends of mine as my father continued his trading at their small harbour. I continued sailing past their woodland town of Aldrath, my slightly shaky hands not allowing me even a second to think about changing my mind and turning back. I would greet my friends another time, I would have to for my own sanity. The narrow rickety craft swayed under my feet, only making me more uneasy and agitated. I had never gotten sea sickness before although it seemed like a real possibility now, it would be so much easier to just turn around and go back to land, but my decision was final now, in a way it had been since this started. But That didn’t make doing it any easier. Quite the contrary in practice.

The cracked skin that covered my fingers gripped the clammy wheel, manoeuvring the small vessel past the other boats on the waterway that seemed uncharacteristically hectic for this time of night. Wood splintered and jabbed into my palms as I continued to grip the steering equipment harder, drawing a meager amount of bloody dots that I could barely feel. I twisted the helm slightly, twisting my cramped ship down the curves in the river. I would be passing Aldrath by dawn in two days, then it would only be another four days or so before I was welcomed back onboard by my father.

The full moon cast a glow over the water, illuminating the fading silhouette of Elderwyn as I continued sailing south. It was a beautiful city, towered over by the stonework castle in the foothills of the Dreadspire mountain range that lay to the north of the city. Under different circumstances I would have enjoyed exploring the region. But that was under different circumstances.

A door is always harder to close once you know something magical is waiting for you on the other side.

“Kaiya!”

My fathers voice rang out in my ears and brought me out of my dream.

“Can someone wake my daughter up please”

I could faintly hear my father shouting to the crew, it was a running joke by now that I was grouchy when I woke up, therefore nobody ever wanted to be the unlucky one to have to pull me from my slumber. That day was almost four years ago now and I hadn’t spent a single night dreaming of anything but that memory since. At least it had replaced my former nightmare. I sat up slowly with a yawn, the memory fading from the forefront of my mind as it did every morning once I awoke. I hadn’t been back up the river Tirith since then, business hadn’t taken us there, but I wasn’t complaining, I didn’t need another reason to get any closer to the city of Elderwyn.

The slippery salt sprayed deck of the spacious ship swayed beneath me, not that I paid it much mind, I had grown up on this boat, sailing these waves on this ocean, I was used to the rocking by the time I was ten. the floors of the cabin creaked underfoot as I stepped out.

“Kaiya, lower the mainsail!”

The command came from my father, lofted across the main deck as I finished slipping on my boots. This ship had been in my father’s family for centuries, letting every member of my family learn each nook and cranny, fix every kink and notch the boat had. I slipped the leather boots over my somehow already damp socks, hobbling over to carry out my father’s orders as I had been doing for all twenty-four years of my life. And perhaps this wasn’t where I wanted to be the rest of my life. but it was safe and secure and that was enough for me.

The wind whipped me in the face, a few loose hairs freeing themselves from my bun and attacking my sky blue eyes with their needle ends. I made a mental note to fix my Coppery hair into a better style later in the day. My calloused hands pulled at the slightly worn ropes on the deck, winding it up into a tight coil and stowing it away in a far corner among a few barrels which looked spacious enough to support one singular extra rope.

“Hey Kaiya we’re preparing to dock in a few minutes”

One of the youngest crew members, Alec, called to me from a few metres away, poking his head around the wooden wall. After giving a swift nod and grabbing the rope once again, I headed to the bow in time to see the trading city of Oakenholt coming into view from the horizon. Oakenholt was the closest thing I had to a home town, bringing forth fond memories of running between various market stalls with other young children as our parents bought and sold various goods. I had almost perfectly memorised the street layouts by the time I became a teenager, spending late nights with new acquaintances and making my entire crew wait in the port until I returned, usually in the early hours of the morning. I hadn’t done that since I was nineteen though, that was how this whole thing started and I wasn’t going to let it happen twice; my father would never let me out of his sight again.

The bustling harbour came into view quite quickly as the boat sailed into our designated docking. I could smell the familiar melting pot of culinary traders in their marketplace as I clutched my purse of gold coins. Trading at any port of this size was always exciting for me, allowing me tastes of other kingdoms that I had never even visited. As much as I loved my life on the ship, food there was often bland and after a few months at sea started to become stale or rotten. Fish had been my main meal now for a few days or more so I was ecstatic to finally be able to buy some more good food. By the time our ship had been secured and docked in Oakenholt’s harbor, I along with many of the other crew members was already stepping off the boat, exploring today’s market stalls with our shimmering golden coins in hand, the wind now weaker than out at sea creating only a gentle cooling breeze over my face.

The marketplace, like it was every few months when our ship docked here, was bustling with hungry customers and tourists from foreign nations. I could see some Orcs from Stronereach up in the north buying mining tools from the Hobbits of Vesperfell. Occasionally the sweet song of mermaids could be heard while cutting between stalls. Oakenholt was the main harbour in Aeloria and therefore attracted many different kinds to trade and barter together. My teeth sank down onto an iced pastry, a few of the crumbs falling under foot. The seller, a gnome who I had been buying from for over a decade, readily accepted my gold for the heavenly dessert.

We hadn’t actually been to a port for almost two months, longer than what was usual for our ship, so any pastries that we had onboard had long since been eaten. Sugaryness exploded over my taste buds, my eyes closing slightly to fully experience the confectionery. It was probably only around five in the morning by now but it seemed like the entire town was awake; it was one of the many things I loved so much about Oakenholt.

My leather boots brushed over the cobbled pathing, the rectangular stones concealing barely standing plants and a layer of creeping ivy that seemed to stretch for miles down the main road. Wisteria snaked in vines up the front face of the town hall which sat in front of me.

A thicket of woodland which I could just see behind the town, concealed the long dirt road leading to Elderwyn from sight. A few leaves were falling from the trees, it was early Conould now, much of the warm Thollic weather already in the past. Fairsun, despite being my favourite season because of the cool weather, always meant less stops at port, longer stretches out at sea with nothing but each other and our ship for survival. I wandered through the winding streets until I made it slightly outside the town, my worn leather boots on the grassy hill by my side. A small fishing boat was leaving the port below me, its sail catching the wind and taking it further out to sea. If it continued west it would make it to Oxcrest, the forested island of Elves around fifty miles overseas. I plucked a cornflower from the soil next to me, stowing it safely into my satchel for pressing later. The walls of my cabin on the lower deck were strewn with various cork boards covered in a selection of wildflowers I collected throughout my travels. Although my father would never allow it, my dream had always been to become a florist and sell my exotic and rare flowers to people across the world.

But my father would be so disappointed. So I was still sailing, still tying ropes and letting down sails. I looked down the hill to the town, thatched straw roofs covering my sight. Chimney smoke invaded my nose, mixing with the smells of sea air and early fairsun pollen. Long strands of my rust coloured hair straddled my shoulders and fell down my back, the tips resting softly against the mossy grass of the wildflower field.

The sound of birds chirping from the trees behind me relaxed me as I lay my head onto the grassy terrain. It was the most peace I had felt for months at sea; wondering when the next storm would be, if our ship would be the next in a string of pirate attacks or if we would end up as the latest shipwreck.

By the time I made it back into the main town, the entire crew was already back onto our ship, the sail lowered and my father at the helm ready to steer us out of the hustling harbour.

I didn’t hear the shouts until it was too late.

Until they were already starting to corner the exits to the boat.

I turned my head to the noise in time to see almost a dozen palace guards were running in synchronicity towards our ship. Each one of the battalion of mostly orc guards was clad in the same blue cotton top and adorned with tall hats bearing the symbol for the royal guard. I could do nothing but watch as the group stormed my ship, carelessly tossing boxes and barrels around the deck and overboard in their search. I didn't even know what or who they were looking for on the vessel. My feet were frozen to the ground, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and confusion.

It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes later when the entire crew that had become my family were escorted off the vessel in chains, shackles tied around their wrists and ankles.

Darkness started to creep into my periphery before I forced myself to take in a shaky breath. This was all a dream. This was all a messed up, disturbing, nightmarish dream. I pinched my arm. My breathing didn’t slow down. Maybe this wasn’t a dream. The spectacle of my father and crew getting arrested had clearly drawn a crowd as now I was pressed shoulder to elbow with a centaur who seemed to have taken up temporary residence in the space directly beside me. A hobbit was on my right, his head pressed into my side. I looked around at the once moving and bustling market area. No one seemed to be moving, eyes all transfixed on the shackles that were now binding the wrists of all those I held dear. The second the doors of the carriage shut the whispers started; Piracy they said.

My breathing was ragged with panic and bewilderment, everything I had ever known had been taken out of my life in chains and with no prospect of when or even if they would return.

My father’s eyes locked with mine, only for a second but it was enough to make me want to scream and cry and fight and shout and question my entire life all at once. He seemed defeated; as if he just wanted to promise me that everything would be ok but he knew he couldn’t. Because he knew it might not be true. My heart shattered into a million shards of pain. My knuckles were white, spots of blood appearing on my palms as my fingernails dug deeper. I needed to hold on to reality. Was I going to be jailed as well? This must all be some horrible misunderstanding. We’re all good, law-abiding citizens. right?

I couldn't save him. I wasn’t strong enough. If I was just back here faster, maybe I would have seen them, could have gotten the crew of the ship to safety. If I was just a minute faster, if I hadn't gone off to do my stupid hobby. They would still be on the boat, not sitting in a jail cell. It was all my fault. All of this was my fault. I would just have to fix it.

Whatever it took.