That night we slept in the closest barn on the property once the fire finally put itself out and I cried until I could stay awake any longer. At least from what I can piece together. I think Rascal slipped me a tainted drink to help quiet me. I know he and the others were drinking their worries away for the time being. It’s bright out now though, I should probably see where everyone is at.

“Up you go,” Rascal hollers as he blind-sides me and plops me on a saedir. She was already packed with what few of my belongings could be salvaged.

“What the hell, Rascal?” I yell in confusion. “What happened to all that being all we have left talk from last night!?”

“I did a lot of thinking last night and until the homestead is rebuilt this is no place for someone your age,” he says with a fake grin.

“You were a drunken wreck last night!” I rip back.

“True as that may be,” he says, “Sutel always talked about you staying with Jagan should anything happen. I already sent a carrier to secure your transport and it should be ready when you arrive at Claude.”

“Uncle Jagan!?” I complain. “He lives like four thousand miles away!” He stared at me a bit confused. “Like, six and a half thousand kilometers. You know how far he lives!”

“Don’t worry, kid,” Rascal says calmly, “I’ll still be here when you get back. As soon as you have a room again I’ll send for you. You’ll always know where home is. Now get out of here!”

Without giving me a chance to respond or say good-bye, he whips the back of the saedir and it takes off gliding down the road all on its own. I could turn this old gal around, but part of me doesn’t want to. I really don’t want to see my Uncle Jagan. It’s not even really the dealing with the death in the family part that worries me as he’s lost more siblings than he has left at this point. Every time I see him, Jagan makes me study more than my dad ever did. I don’t like school. Never have. I can read languages I’m never going to need when I could have spent that time in more rodeos. But this might be what I need. Something more than just the regular trip to town. Something to break this familiar rut.

I guess it was due to the recent events, but there was something about today that I couldn’t appreciate the front gate like I normally do. I’ll just grab my single bag off Klea and hoof it from here. If I send her back before the town’s commotion startles her, she can find her way to the ranch without any problems.

I’ve actually never been to the end of town where the port was. My father always warned me against it since it is always crawling with vermin and unsavory folks. Everything we ever needed was in the town square at the bazaar anyway. The docks have a specific stench to them. Not just fishy, as the open market has that smell as well, but grimy. There is filth to the air that rolls in with the eroding salt water against the unkept boardwalk and the dirty people leaving their ships for the first time in weeks or even months. Rascal didn’t even tell me anything about who I’m traveling with. How on Earth am I going to find my ship?

“Ahahahahahahahahaaaaa!” Suddenly I’m jolted into the air by a bear hug with the feeling of gelatinous pillows pressed against my back. I already know exactly who it is. “I’ve got you, runt! How long has it been?” she asks still squeezing the air out of my lungs.

“Just about two years, sis,” I struggle to wheeze out. I didn’t even know Anna was in the area, but with how quickly that carrier reached her Rascal had to know. I wonder how many other times he knew she was in town and never told me. Actually, he did volunteer to pick up the essentials just about every three months or so. That sleazeball has been sneaking around and hanging out with my sister without even telling me. He’s dead when I get back. But in the meantime, “Anna… can you please let go of me?”

“Oh no, runt. I’m not letting you go until we’re in my quarters,” she says maniacally.

“Wait… what!?” I utter in worry.

“I’ve got so many dresses and accessories and I’ve missed my dolls so much,” Anna plays out in a forcefully innocent tone that implies quite the opposite reality, “I guess just one will have to do.”

“Noooooooooo!” is all I can muster yet no amount of screaming can help me now. My sister is not healthy in the head. The signs of her sadism were evident early on in life and once Mak and I were old enough that we could understand what was happening she began torturing us in various ways. Nothing physically harmful, at least I don’t think anything was lasting. No, she preferred psychological scarring because it’s a connection between just you and her. Her most favorite activity was to play dress-up and make pretty little girls out of her dirty younger brothers. It’s emasculating, to say the least, and because it never ends with just dressing up I think I’m just going to run through this next few hours on auto-pilot if it’s all the same.

I’ve been on this boat for a fortnight now and it hasn’t been all torment from wake to slumber. It’s odd getting used to not have steady land beneath your feet all the time, but the chores are a fun change of pace from the same old things I did at the ranch every single day. The first mate even let me have his bed because he was grateful to finally have someone light enough to tie up and hoist down the side of the ship to wax it without assembling their hanging scaffold. Turns out the ship actually belonged to Anna, who as captain gave it her middle name of Maris. I can’t be certain, but I’m fairly certain my sister is a pirate queen. I know that sounds crazy since this ship seems like any other merchant vessel and I’ve seen her trading papers, yet at the same time we keep meeting up with other ships, crates bearing other companies’ logos are constantly boarded on and off, and even the captains of these other ships act as if they work for her. She could just be a very effective merchant, but I never see any money being exchanged. Either way, all the detours have added two days onto a normally efficient overseas route.

Knock! Knock! Knock! The large ornate door to my sister's room is decorated with a mixture of flowers, skulls, and the words “Annacelia Maris Riknia, Queen of the High Seas” carved into it. Today’s the day we make shore and not once has Anna spoken of dad. She obviously knows if she is taking me to Jagan’s. Even if Rascal didn’t include it in the letter, I’ve never gone to visit him without dad before. I knock again. “Anna!” I shout loud enough that the deck crew stops to look up for a second before going back to work, “Anna, are you awake!?”

“Yuh, yuh,” she replies through the door while clearly still half-asleep, “C’mon in!”

“Ah, for the love of Bob,” I cry out while covering my eyes. It wasn’t the first time in my life I’ve walked in on my sister while she was completely naked and it won’t be my last, I’m sure. She’s just sitting there swaying around and rubbing her eye with a drunken look to her face. She wasn’t awake at all!. “Please, put some clothes on!”

“Fine, fine,” Anna groans out in judgementally, “who are you, my dad?” And she finally mentioned him. Looking at all the empty wine bottles lying around her chambers, I’d guess she is handling this worse than I am. If I want to be fair, even though she split when she was only ten that still means she spent one more year with him than I did. And she knew what he was like when mom was still around. I bet he was a different person back then, but I wouldn’t know since she left when Mak and I were two. I should bring it up now that my sister’s bare breasts aren’t staring at me eye-to-eye.

I take a deep breath and say, “Anna, we haven’t talked about his death.”

CRASH! A bottle flies into the wall mere feet from my head. She angrily grits out almost gutturally, “What’s there to talk about?” Anna scares me like no other person can, especially as she opens up another bottle of wine.

“I know it was rough between you guys before you left, but don’t you…” She slams her brush down on the vanity dresser and I quickly drop my question.

“Listen up, Nanoson!” she barked firmly using my given name. “It wasn’t like that with us, okay. I wasn’t ever close to him like you or Rascal. I don’t care that I’ll never see him again, got it!?” She faced away from me, but her mistake was doing so in front of a mirror so I can see the tears roll down her face. She struggles to wipe it down as best as she can so she may start over with her make-up. “Woo! Today is the day, isn’t it?” she asked forcing on a grin. “Why don’t you wait up on the deck and I’ll be out there when I’m done.”

“Whahahahaaaaaaaa! What are you doing?” Not but two seconds past the door and several deckhands tackle me to the ground begin tying me up. Across from us, the first mate is pouring what appears to be red salt on the deck in a big circle. This smelly ape of a man sets me square in the center of the odd looking pattern of salt facing the shore off the port side of the ship. Blam! Anna’s door bursts open and she wasn’t wearing her normal black and white vest and blouse combo. She is wearing mage dress with the fur-lined, strapless top and the front open at the bottom to show off her knee-high boots with the skulls and her fishnet stockings. Though more intimidating are the witch’s hat and the six and a half foot tall battle scythe she is swinging around. That’s why she was facing the mirror! Whether the tears were faux or genuine, she used them so I’d let my guard down.

“This isn’t funny, sis!” I shout while squirming about panicking, “You’re supposed to take me to Jagan’s.”

“No, I only said I’d get you to shore,” she retorts.

“This is why you can’t keep a boyfriend!” I scream back, but all she does shrug as if she doesn’t entirely disagree.

“Taqeph!” she shouts before snapping her fingers in the open hand. In a flash, the salt ignites into a bright red flame making the arcane symbol spread on the floor clearer to see. This is what she loved the most. Since she was a young child, before anything I can recall, Anna had studied magic. Apparently, our parents tried to get her into healthy subjects, but she had a fancy for the Arcane Arts and promising to teach her spells was the only way to get her to do anything. This one, in particular, is an overpower enchantment. It amplifies the force carried out by whoever is under its effects. Normally, you’d apply the symbol to just the user with paint or blood, but judging by the size of this circle she doesn’t plan are getting any closer to shore.

“Tell Uncle Jagan I said hi,” she says playfully as she winds up for a slapshot, “Or don’t. I couldn’t really care less.” And with that, I am off like a cannonball soaring through the sky. The force of the wind feels like sharp claws trying to pull off all of my skin from behind. The ground is coming up on my faster than I expected, though I’ve been in the air for but 6 seconds. As I descend, I crash into all sorts of trees before finally coming to a stop in the basin of a waterfall. I’m now in the rainforests of Carnashka.