Gael

Life in Narrowheaven could have been worse. I was able to go to school when most girls couldn't. Also, my family had a nice house. It was made of wood and brick and had a nicely-sized living room. I had always dreamed of living in one of those castles that they have in the fairy tales my mom told me, though. My mom was very kind. She cooked for us and sewed my clothes and sang to me. Mom was also very beautiful; she had black hair that fell to her hip and green eyes like an olive. My father was just as good. He liked to lift me in his strong arms and take me to work sometimes. I often visited my aunt's house. She was not as nice as my mom and sometimes very strict, but she took me to the market with her, which not even my mom did. I had a lot of friends in my school, who sometimes played with me in my house because it was biggest. My best friend's name was Venus. She had red hair and green eyes, but not like my mother's, hers look like the sea. Venus as the prettiest girl in school.

The only thing that was awful about Narrowheaven was that there were slave traders. There was a whole slave market down in the plaza. There, people who were wondering about the city who look like they were from somewhere else were sold. Once a month, those awful traders would pick "tributes" to be sent into the ocean. There, they would be consumed by the Mist. None of the people who have gone there ever came back. It was every child's worst nightmare to get picked and taken there. Venus's uncle was chosen, I remember her crying for hours in school because of it. Most kids cry when their loved ones are taken. One of the boys in my class was taken last year.

He cried and his friends cried and his parents cried and his sister cried and the teacher cried and I cried, too. My worst fear was that they would take me or my family. Every night, Father assured me that will never happen, but I knew it could. Still, it calmed me. If I had a tough night and I can't calm down, Mom would sing to me. One day, I went to school to hear that my friend's grandfather had been taken. I knew the drill by than as it happened every month; you try to comfort them, they will let you, you give them hot chocolate, you assure them that it will be fine, and they calm down. That time, it was my friend Madge. She was a bit harder to comfort because she's the richest girl in school and she always gets her way, but that didn't mean she was arrogant. She was actually quite nice. When the school day was over, I went back to my house. As usual, Mom was cooking dinner so I sat down to do my homework. I didn't get many high marks in school but I'd never failed a class. I'd much rather bake some biscuits or play with my friends than study, though. I was thinking about that when I heard a knock on the door. How strange, Father is never this early. Mom opened the door and went pale, all the colour drained from her cheeks.

"Does Helene Desertrose live here?" a voice from outside asked.

"Y-yes, that's me." Mom replied.

"You have been picked as tribute, you leave in an hour." And with that, they closed the door. Tears were strolling down my cheeks in realization that I was going to lose my beloved mother. She was crying, too, and that made it worse because she hardly ever cries. Then, she ran outside to get a messenger to tell Father. He got there in fifteen minutes, very quick for a horse. He ran inside, hugged both of us and took Mom to their room to talk. Then, he started talking to me. He told me that I would be staying in Auntie Anne's house and Father would move there with us. Five minutes later, they came to take Mom away. They put her in a wagon with other people. Father tried to get her, but they pushed him back and he fell to the ground. There was nothing we could do.

Then, we started hearing shouts from the plaza. Father, Auntie, and I went to see what was going on. When we got there, it was a mess. Half the plaza was destroyed and men were fighting with whatever they could grab. Most of the people I recognized. However, there were several people I did not. Many of them looked like sailors, three of them looked like princes, and two ladies looked like the princesses from the stories Mom used to tell. One of them seemed to be using a bow and arrow, the other one fought with whatever she could and a small knife. One of the princes was using a crossbow and was swinging around the place, knocking people off balconies and kicking them. I didn't think he actually killed them. Another one was taking whatever he could find and using it against them. The last one was using his sword to knock people out or push them. Sometimes he would cut them, too. Some people did die, all of them slave traders. That was terrible, no one deserved to die. We all have bad inside of us, just as we have good, some people just choose the wrong side to act on.

Father took off from where we were hiding and joined the fray, Auntie holding me back before I could follow him. When the battle was over, the princesses and princes started going to the port. I finally spotted my father coming close to one of the princes and I ran after him, Auntie after me.

"Thank you, my King." Father said. "Gael, I'm going to sea to look for Mom, you be good. I'll be back. If I'm not, behave, you are staying with Auntie Anne, all right?" All I could do was nod and hug him one last time. Then, Auntie took me away.

When we got to her house, she told me where I would be sleeping. My room was actually not that bad; the walls were, as usual, made of brick and painted a peach colour. My bed was similar to the one back home, only smaller. There was one closet where I could put my stuff when we moved it here. There was a thick wool carpet on the floor to cover the dirt. There was a painting on the wall of Auntie, Mom, Father, and me. That's when I decided I couldn't stay. I had to find Father. Luckily, I knew where the King's ship was. All I had to do was get there. First, I wrote a note, thanking Auntie for everything she had ever done for me:

Dear Auntie Ann,

You have been the best aunt I could have wished for, like the fairy godmother from the fairy tales. You have let me stay in your house and offered support when Mom left. Sadly, I must leave you. Don't bother looking for me, because I left. I snuck into the King's ship to be with Father.

Love,

Gael

Then, I snuck out the window and snuck past the streets. They were cold and empty, but there was a party in the plaza, celebrating the defeat of the traders. I could see the port now. How am I supposed to get in? Think, Gael, think. The men were carrying boxes and sacks of food on the ship. That's when I had an idea: I'd sneak into one of them and a sailor would put me on the ship! I spotted a sack nearby, which was concealed by a pair of large boxes. Perfect! I emptied it into a well nearby and climbed in. In a few minutes, I felt like everything was turning. I was being picked up and put into the ship. Sometime afterwards, I couldn't tell how much because of my position, I heard a boy shouting. Then, a squeaky voice came around. I could hear swords clashing and people laughing and maybe those two were having a fight. Then I felt something bumping into me, knocking me to the ground and opening my sack.

"Gael?" My father asked. I saw him and ran to hug him. A really scary-looking man holding an orange came, looking straight at me. When he finally got to where Father was standing, he said:

"Looks like we have an extra crew member!" and he smiled, and suddenly, he didn't seem scary at all. One of the princesses came; I knew it was proper to bow.

"Your Majesty."

"Call me Lucy." She said, and like that, we were friends. She showed me to her room and said I would sleep with her. Then, she dress me and herself up in more comfortable ship clothes and she presented me to her sister, who by now had changed.

"Land ho!