Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Chapter 82

The journey through the western sea was a strangely quiet one, the skies were clear and the weather was good, a stroke of luck at the height of spring.

Dulce’s quarters on the ship remained empty, meal times the main reason they gathered on the deck, otherwise everyone seemed content to stay in their quarters.

A week passed without event and after ten days into the journey, a terrible storm crashed into the ship. It turned the clear skies a gloomy gray, storm clouds filling up the skies with lightning in their bellies.

The passengers were hastily sent below deck, the shiphands dashing around to prepare for the oncoming storm.

Dulce had been seated on his favorite barrel when the storm started rolling in, they didn’t need to eat so often, usually only going for dinner so they hadn’t been on the deck with the other passengers milling around after lunch.

The gray skies were the first sign, next the waters started to get rougher, the barrel he was seated on sliding across the ship floor.

It was fun to slide around his quarters on a barrel, until the seas got even rougher, the quarters plunged into an unexpected night.

"Come to the bed," Caedos invited, already seated on it. He had been watching Dulce the entire time, noticing right away when the barrel he was seated on rolled out from underneath him due to the rocking ship.

Dulce made his way over and sat on the bed as well, it didn’t make him feel like the ship was no longer rocking but at least it was stable and kept him in one spot despite the maelstrom.

The storm went on for several hours, lasting through the night. By the next morning, the deck was still wet but the ship was no worse for the wear and still enroute to the far east.

After a few more days, they were in the waters of the bustling port city of Boussiney. There had been no more storms, just a some pleasant rains, some light enough for passengers to remain on the deck.

It had been a pleasant, mostly peaceful journey but by the time it approached its end, the impatience of the passengers was palpable. Eager to get back to dry land, a lot chose to remain on the deck for the last stretch of the journey.

Dulce was amongst the crowd, not because he had grown seasick, used to time passing by monotonously, but rather because he wanted to show Caedos the view of the east from the sea.

It had mostly been the two of them spending most of the time together on the journey. The Hellhound barely stepped into his own quarters, the ship having a bathhouse meant that even that wasn’t a reason to return to his quarters.

"The last time I was here, Boussiney had been infiltrated by a neighboring country and armed guards patrolled the streets..." Dulce rambled, leaning on the banister. "It looks more lively now..."

Caedos no longer asked questions like he did on the first day he was summoned, instead, he quietly observed, absorbing information from the world around him at an astonishing rate.

As the blob of the houses and establishments on the harbor drew closer and clearer, a third person joined their one sided conversation.

"Hello," A sallow-faced young woman approached. She wore an embroidered coat over her dress, dark shadows under her eyes. "Could I be presumptuous and ask if you still remember me?"

Dulce looked over at the guest, his expression becoming sheepish. "I apologize for our last meeting, Miss Rose."

"You don’t need to apologize," Rose said tiredly, looking to have had a terrible fare on the journey. "I see you don’t have your... partners with you." She said after a short pause.

Dulce glanced at Caedos who had gone back to watching the fast approaching port city. "I suppose," He muttered, looking past her to one of the points that led below deck.

"It is not my place to say but I hope you do all get along." Rose said politely, keeping a distance this time. "I was passing by when I came across a familiar face and I felt compelled to say something." She took a step back, intending to leave. "If you’re ever in need of anything in Boussiney, simply ask for the house of Woller." She said hesitantly, reaching into her purse.

She took out a signet from her purse and held it out to Dulce. "Just show anyone this and you’ll find me..."

Her impassioned and generous offer was cut off by Caedos paying finally attention to the conversation. He had been uninterested until the human started offering her capabilities, his displeasure obvious in his eyes.

Dulce was already incredibly capable, if more people like this human lady kept approaching him, then wouldn’t he only become more useless?

Without thinking, he grabbed the signet from her open palm while Dulce was thinking of a polite way to turn the lady down, tossing it in his mouth.

"Don’t swallow it," Dulce reacted immediately, reaching for the Hellhound. "Spit it back out, its not food."

Rose watched slackjawed at this sight, slowly backing away. Perhaps fate was simply against her and the gentle-looking passenger.

"I apologize for this," Dulce said in earnest to her, standing on his toes in an effort to grab Caedos’ jaw and pry the detailed piece of metal from his tightly clamped lips.

Rose didn’t linger long after that, darting off and disappearing into the milling crowd, so she missed Dulce’s nervous explanations that the tall man who had eaten had her fob signet was a dog. And it was good that she missed it, she had already been through enough on the voyage.

Dulce’s problems didn’t end because the noble lady left, still dealing with an obstinate Hellhound with a mouth full of metal.

"Spit it right on my palm," Dulce kept trying to coerce, lifting his hand to offer it.

Caedos glanced at the small, pale hand and looked away. Uninterested in giving it back to Dulce, that was the reason he had taken it for himself.

Dulce never cared about the signet to begin with so it was easy for him to let it go. "Spit it into the sea then, I’ll buy you all the meat you want in Boussiney."

Caedos didn’t hesitate this time, the little gold fob signet plopping into the endless sea and disappearing forever.

"Did it hurt your teeth?" Dulce asked in concern, relieved that the signet was no longer a danger.

Caedos lifted a brow, he could easily crush the signet with his teeth, eating it wouldn’t even disagree with him. But he indulged Dulce anyway, "No. We’re at the harbor." He tagged on.

The noise from the port washed over the ship, it came from the harbor and the hundred of other ships big and small that entered into and left the harbor. It was a contrast that showed how silent it had been out at sea, with nothing but the roaring waters and endless skies for company.

The ship lurched and groaned as it was anchored, the sails long tied up in order to slow down the ship so it didn’t crash into the harbor. The bustle on the ship reached a new height as passengers gathered up their things and scrambled to get down.

It wasn’t just the passengers deserting the ship, even the shiphands made preparations to leave the ship. They would spend a few days in Boussiney to restock and recover and then fill up the ship for another return trip to Hurwell.

It wasn’t a massive ship so the passengers were only so many. It meant that disembarking was a short affair, and in half an hour, they were walking down the busy harbor, to a station right next to the harbor.

"Do you have houses here?" Ruoxi asked curiously. His dark hair was bound back today, his color scheme of creams and brows complimenting his gold eyes.

"I can’t remember," Dulce admitted easily, looking around for the biggest carriage he could find. How disappointing they couldn’t bring the carriage they rode to Hurwell with them.

It was incredibly difficult to find one as most of carriages at the station provided commercial rides for the passengers at the harbor. He fortunately did find a sizeable one, able to confidently walk up to one of the station masters because he now had more than enough money.

They needed to get to an inn first to rest from their sea voyage and also make arrangements for their journey going forward. They essentially had to travel through the wide swathe of the east and when they got to the desert, they would travel even further.

After a carriage was hired and their luggage placed in the trunk compartment, Dulce watched closely as the first Demon got in. It barely fit Kath’tan but the Demon didn’t protest, sitting by the window seat.

He ended up seated between Kath’tan and Caedos, frowning up at the Hellhound whose ears were mashed up against the roof of the carriage.

Dulce knelt on the carriage seat to reach out and smoothen down Caedos’ ears, pulling his hands back in surprise when the ears vanished in front of his eyes.