Dancing in the Legendary Sea - Chapter 10 Part 2

Orion kept rowing, estimating his direction by the inclination of the sun. He was not afraid of the Aegean Sea, although the waves were a little more violent and the small boat could be swallowed up by it.

“We’re going to Naxos! There are so many boats coming and going over there, and so many people that it’s easy to blend in. We’ll restock at the harbour and then sail down for another day or two, and soon after we’ll be at Atlantis where we can sleep right through an entire night.”

“Is that Naxos I see over there?”

“That‘s just a rock, girl.”

Naxos. It took Lokira a while to gain the knowledge that lay beyond. Having known only Delos, she was completely ignorant of the fact that Naxos was the largest island in the vicinity. She was told that the stone lions that adorned the front of the temple were also an offering from Naxos. Then she naturally thought of Roxias, who had made the “stone lions” stand with just his hand gestures. Recalling his beautiful face, Lokira felt anxiety and confusion intertwine again. Roxias had told her not to do anything outrageous, but instead to be careful. Could it really be a coincidence that such trouble had occurred while her brother was not at his residence? If they had been discovered since the beginning that she had gone in and out of the window secretly, why didn’t they do anything earlier? She wondered how it was that the priests had held the evidence that night. It was impeccable timing, as if they had been instructed to take care of it just during this occasion. It was ominous, so she tried desperately to console herself.

‘No way, it must be a coincidence. If Rox knew about it, he would have said something.’

Roxias was always a sweet, sometimes tender, boy. Rather, he might be surprised and saddened by now. As she thought more about it, she became doubtful.

‘Maybe Rox already knew what had transpired and is looking from far away using his power, and has discovered that I’m on my way to Naxos with this man…’

Alas, if she reunited with Roxias, she shall have a serious and profound talk with him. After all, she hated being confined, and was afraid of being punished. She wanted to stop living like that now. The high priest said that contact with an outside man would cause great trouble, but nothing happened. So she wanted to change that. She wanted to find a compromise. Maybe, as Orion had, everyone would get used to her, they might accept a woman with horns with no big deal. And she wished that people knew Orion was not a bad person.

Loxias would listen to her. Lokira decided to trust the brother who had always been so kind to her. She made up her mind that if she saw him again she would definitely tell him what she was thinking. The more she did so, the more the shadows on the other side flickered up and enveloped her. Loxias was friendly, but the rest of the sanctuary did not like her at all. They had taken care of her until now. But their purpose was to control her and do what they wanted with her. They were the only people in her world, so she tried to please them somehow. She tried hard not to listen to their sarcasm and not to get beaten up. To no avail, as soon as they realised that she had shown some minor resistance, they were horribly transformed. Without the slightest hesitation, they had tried to kill her.

After all, to them she was completely unlovable. She was nothing but a ” fiery horned beast“. She had tried so hard, but from the very beginning they hadn’t even thought of her as worthy of love. A winter sea breeze tickled her nose, and Lokira, who was stimulated, sobbed a little. As she sat there, she felt a little cold. On her knees was Orion’s cloak. She pulled it up and covered her shoulders; it blocked the wind and wrapped her in its warmth. It was a feeling she had never felt before in Delos. As soon as she became aware of this fact, her throat began to ache. Large water droplets dripped from her eyes. She pulled up her knees and buried her face in them. She had a habit of muffling her cries so as not to create attention, and her sobs were soon buried by the sound of the waves. The tears were absorbed by the wool, leaving only blotches on it, thinking the man on the prow of the boat must not have heard her cry. However, he did, and he suddenly raised his voice.

“Stop crying.”

Lokira looked up at him while making a noise that sounded like a hiccup, but he just looked ahead, and continued to talk as he paddled his oar.

“If you cry, the water will drain out of you. Don’t cry while out at sea.”

It was an unfortunate statement that seemed very reasonable, so she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sighed. Then she felt strangely refreshed, for she had overcome some grief.

****

The lesson on not crying while at sea quickly turned out to be very correct. As she crossed the waves, Lokira realized that she was in a bad state. The horizon kept fluctuating, and then her insides turned upside down. Fortunately, she could get her face out of the boat just in time and didn’t soil her clothes. But the vomiting continued even after she had thrown up all the food she had eaten earlier. It subsided a little after she had vomited up some bile, but she couldn’t help feeling dizzy. Finally, she lay down in silence – her body had no strength left. She wished her stomach would stop churning, but it was impossible unless the sea froze.

“Come on,” Orion said, “bite into a fig. They say you’ll feel a little better if you bite into a dry one. I’m not seasick by nature, so I’m not sure if it’ll work,” he said, clicking his tongue and tearing apart a few dried figs. She lay on her side and ate a piece. It didn’t give her a queasy feeling in her stomach, and the sour taste refreshed her mouth.

“You’ve used your magical powers before, and if you’re as capable as your brother, then what can you do with it? “

She felt the same way. How nice it would be to be able to float a ship and make it fly. However, It was not in her power. It was hard enough to float the man from a short way to the cave, she thought she was going to die. Orion let out a bitter laugh. He left the water pouch near her and stood up.

“Go to sleep, for God’s sake. When you wake up you will see Naxos.”

She didn’t say anything as sleep was pouring into her tired body. She thought while enduring the unpleasant turmoil in her stomach, ‘How could that man not be tired? How could he have a fight in the temple and row all day long and still be okay?’