It was quiet. There wasn't a word spoken. It was just the little things here and there and made the journey peaceful. The water lapping at the side of the boat. The sails billowing in the wind. The occasional creak in the floorboard from Walter pacing. He took turns with Ben keeping the wheel steady. Although it was not necessary. The wind was not blowing very hard, as much as Walter wished it would. Paranoia had kicked in and every chance he had, he was looking north. The lights of Bowerstone had long vanished and all there was to see was the black of night dotted by the stars above. Even if someone had been following them, they wouldn't see or hear them until they were upon the crew.
As the two men of the group did their best to keep watch and man the sails, Eleanor sat quietly on the railing. She watched the waves as they slowly made their way across the sea. It was almost hypnotizing, but not enough to make her sick. She was quite satisfied that the rocking boat did not make her nauseous. Rather, it made her tired. On the other hand, Ben's attitude had made a complete turnaround. He was energetic and excited. Walter had to tell him several times to stop shouting sea songs. But he could not help it. When he decided he had enough scolding from Walter, he made his way down the steps to join Eleanor. She would make much better company.
"What did I tell you, hmm?" he said and then took a deep breath of salty air.
"About what?" Eleanor narrowed her eyes at him.
"The sea! My drunken ramblings weren't coming from nowhere, you know."
"I'm surprised you even remember telling me."
"I often remember things better with a little push from the bottle. It's a shame we don't have one now."
"We can celebrate when this is all said and done," she smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Never better," he smiled back. "Listen, Elle… I wanted to apologize for-"
"Don't worry about it," she turned her head to save herself the embarrassment.
"No," he said touching her arm to gain her attention. "I need to tell you I'm sorry for what I said. I feel terrible. And I didn't mean to undermine you."
"I know you didn't.
"It's hard for me to remember he is brother."
"You and me both," she slid of the banister. "You have three brothers, don't you?"
"Had," he corrected her. "I had three brothers."
"Oh, sorry. Did you ever doubt them? With all the cruel or stupid things they did, did you ever hate them for what they did?"
Ben thought briefly, but not too hard. It was something he hadn't thought about in a long time. And it was most certainly something he didn't want to think about at all. "No. They were still my brothers."
Eleanor nodded, agreeing somewhat to his statement. "I never knew what Logan was capable of. I sat aside letting horrible things go on around me without really knowing. And he always came home to take care of me, like nothing ever happened. Until I got older, that is. Then I was pretty much his prisoner. But I always thought he had a good reason, even if he was a little overprotective."
"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I was completely out of line."
"And I was blind. Part of me thought staying in that castle would help him. Like I could change him or prevent further damage."
"You know," he said next to her. "I'm starting to think you and I are a lot more alike than I thought."
Eleanor's faced flushed with red and she was thankful the only light was a lantern hanging on the mast. She slowly took her hand away from him, although she really did not want to. It was too much right now. And she couldn't even begin to imagine how to describe that side of her feelings at the moment. She looked awkwardly off to the north, wondering just how far they had gone. It was hard for her eyes to adjust, but she swore she could make out a shape in the distance.
"Elle, I wanted to tell you something."
"It will have to wait," she said sternly. "It looks like we've been followed."