Esmeralda Screws Up
That night, Mia couldn’t fall asleep. The walls of her makeshift tent kept rustling in the wind. Leaves would sometimes scrape against it, making a sound like claws dragging across the fabric. She could almost hear something in the wind’s whistling, like a low rumble or a ghostly moan. It gave her a bad case of overactive imagination.
She kept having scary thoughts, and it took her about an hour of tossing and turning in her sleeping bag before she finally fell into a restless sleep. That, plus the fact that she went to bed an hour earlier than usual because she was tired from the day’s activities, meant that she went to sleep around the same time she always did.
Anyway, she had a hard night and woke up the next morning to the shrill sound of even stronger winds. When the tent poles squeaked loudly, she jumped to her feet, her eyes wide and alert.
“What in the dark moons is going on?!”
She looked around quickly and saw that Esmeralda and Nina were nowhere to be seen. Anne was the only one who was still there.
For more information, it’s important to note that the winds had picked up long before Mia started to move. In other words, the noise quickly woke everyone up except Mia, who kept sleeping through the windy rustling because no one wanted to wake her up.
“Good morning, milady. Sorry to wake you up so early in the morning, but something doesn’t look right. We should get you changed quickly so you can join the other people.”
“Thank you Anne. I’ll take your help then.”
With Anne’s help, she quickly put on her clothes and stepped out of the tent, but a gust of wind knocked her off her feet. Anne stopped her from falling and hurting herself just in time, and it took some work to get back on her feet.
“This is quite a wind…”
They set up camp on a high spot of land ways from the shore. A number of big trees that grew around the perimeter were used to hold down their tents, but the wind was so strong that even the strong branches—some of which were as thick as the pillars in a castle—were groaning loudly.
Overhead, thick grey clouds moved at a dizzying rate. Even though it didn’t rain, there were blinding white streaks in the distance that went from the sea to the sky. It made me feel like the whole world was falling apart.
“Ms. Mia! We have a problem! Oh no, we’re in trouble!” Esmeralda ran up to her with the look of someone who had just seen a ghost.
Mia asked her pale-faced friend, “What’s got you so worked up?” as she raised an eyebrow.
She was calm for exactly three seconds, until she heard what Esmeralda said next.
“It’s gone… The Emerald Star is gone!”
“…Eh?”
Mia just stood there with her mouth open, trying to figure out what that meant.
Esmeralda showed the way to the water’s edge. Mia followed behind her, gaping at a beach that was completely different from the one she had seen the day before.
Now, the shore was much closer, and the waves were crashing hard against it. Less than a third of the beach’s sand was still above water.
Worst of all, the Emerald Star wasn’t where she remembered it being, floating off the coast. Instead, it was nowhere to be found.
Esmeralda said in a scared whisper, “It… It couldn’t have been pirates, could it?”
“I doubt it. The crew of the Star probably looked for a place to hide from this storm.”
Keithwood walked up and spoke in a calm, collected way. He squinted at the sky, where dark clouds were starting to move around.
“Yesterday, I had my doubts, and it looks like I was right. There’s going to be a storm.”
“It is dangerous for us to stay here, no matter what happens.” Sion said, “We should start looking for a place to hide from the storm.”
Keithwood and Abel both agreed with the idea by nodding.
“Miss Esmeralda, do you know of any places on this island that are safe? Even a cave would help right now.”
“I, um… No, I’m only familiar with this beach.”
Sion’s mouth made a line.
“I see. So none of us know what’s on the other side of the island’s shore.”
“Milord, I suggest putting together a reconnaissance party. We might be able to get some of their guards if we ask Princess Mia or Lady Esmeralda. Or I can go myself.”
“No, now is not the time to break up the group. We should stay together.” Sion said while frowning. “On that note, where are the guards? Where have you sent your people, Mia?”
Then Mia realised that the two members of the Princess Guard who were supposed to protect her all the time were nowhere to be found. Esmeralda’s retinue, likewise, were also gone.
That left only seven people in their group: the two princes, Keithwood, Mia, Esmeralda, and their servants, Anne and Nina. All of their guards had mysteriously vanished into thin air.
What in the moons is going on right now?
Mia thought about Esmeralda’s scary story again. She remembered how, after talking about the ghosts that roamed the island, she had moved on with joy to talk about other scary things.
…like a ship that was found to be empty at sea, people just vanished into thin air…
She shivered as a chill ran down her spine.
As she shook, her eyes moved just enough for her to see that Esmeralda was moving her hands. She made a sad face and looked her up and down. She had an odd feeling of unease about her. Mia’s eyes lit up when she finally got it after a moment.
“…Esmeralda, you made this happen, didn’t you?”
She looked at her in a strange way.
“M-My doing? Wh-What are you talking about? She said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” which was a clear lie.
Mia moved toward her menacingly. Esmeralda backed away sheepishly.
“Don’t try to fool me. Last night, you sent your guards back to the boat, right? And you were even able to convince my guards to follow them.”
“No, no, no, that’s not true! Why would I do something like that?”
Mia didn’t answer. She just stared. And was angry. And glared.
Eventually, Esmeralda broke.
“Hnnngh, well, I thought you might want some privacy so you could have private conversations that you wouldn’t want the guards to hear. And if you don’t like it, maybe one of the princes would. It makes sense to do that. I was just being nice.”
In short, she kept Nina and Anne around to help with personal needs, but she sent the guards away because she thought they would get in the way if Mia and Abel wanted to “take things to the next level.”
Esmeralda had nothing to do with what was going on, but she decided to get involved anyway.
Mia thought as she looked at Esmeralda’s face, “And that’s not all.”
It’s also about her. She probably thought, “If I do this, Prince Sion might be tempted to come talk to me, too.” I swore to God, this girl…
She gave a head shake.
When will she stop living in her own world? Sion? Getting close to her? Please.
She laughed at Esmeralda’s silly ideas of love.
Not that she was one to talk, given how she acted in the previous timeline, but again, something about memory horizons, something about a stone’s throw away.
“Shelter first, talk later. Keithwood, you’re in charge.”
Sion told the group to move, so they did.
