The night was once again cold, wet, and cloudy. Since they had sailed from Lastrel, the tides had been restless, and the travel between storms was slow.

Since noon, the deck was only for the sailors. As secret passengers and, in the words of some sailors, they were "inferiors," and they weren't allowed to be there while they worked.

As the sailors climbed up and down the ropes, the sails had to be constantly raised and lowered by the abrupt changes of the wind to prevent them from breaking. Leaving the ship adrift at times while the captain or the boatswain guided the boat with a rudder was almost impossible to contain.

From the space where they were to shelter, Fynn and Yue tried to stay together. Yue was tired of being cooped up, and so were the rest of those marked in that makeshift cabin.

Fynn, for his part, was the only one who didn't seem distressed by traveling this way since at least he was on a ship. However, his only wish at that moment was to find a time when the sea was calm, with a clear sky and a radiant sun, so he could admire it.

"You're crazy if you want to be here," Ranier said to Fynn.

Moments later, that marked warrior in fine clothes and vibrant colors was running to one end of the room, to the door, and finally, to a barrel where he was going to vomit.

"Are you okay?" asked Fynn loudly.

"Not as much as you are," exclaimed Yue, weaving back and forth to go against the motion of the tides to avoid getting dizzier.

The dark-skinned boy, smiling and sitting on one of the piles of bale the captain was offering them to sleep on along with hammocks, didn't seem to be affected by the situation.

Then, Ranier angrily walked back into the room, slamming the door behind him, "Locked in a room like prisoners. Even worse, like vermin..."

"Must be your first time without freedom," exclaimed one of the marked boys who had been left on a boat during the attack on Lastrel.

"Excuse me for wishing to travel with decency," replied the tall boy with a dashing bearing.

"Whatever you say, your majesty," exclaimed the boy, who soon turned to turn his back on his companions.

Ranier, angry, was ready to pounce on that boy to start a fight. Soon, however, Fynn and Pollard stopped him.

The stout boy stopped his companion in his tracks, blocking his way and shaking his head.

"The journey is still long," the boy exclaimed.

Fynn confirmed Pollard's words, "We can't be fighting over these things now."

The marked warrior looked at his counterpart and then at his friend and soon wiped his mouth with his hand as he felt the taste of vomit still in it and took a seat on his bed.

The dark-skinned boy then leaned his back against the wood of the boat, and Yue soon mimicked him.

The silence was the worst enemy at the moment. With no record of the time of day, they couldn't discern how much time was left. They knew at what times lunch or dinner was due, for the captain delivered food to them once they were free to leave their shelter. But, when the sailors had to go on deck or move about the ship, they went back inside that room and lost all contact with the world again.

Fynn was the one who brought up the subject of conversation to her friend, who, with an aggressive look, seemed to be about to take up her weapons and leave that room to start a mutiny of her own. The idea was unhinged, but coming from her friend, she thought it possible.

"What do you think Ronan is doing now?" asked Fynn.

"I don't know," her friend replied, jaded and grumpy. "Maybe he's stealing something somewhere..."

"And then he'll say it's an archaeology discovery," Fynn continued, "But I don't know what kind of discovery is the money from someone else's pocket..."

The akajsi girl's jaded face soon had a smile.

Then, she continued the story they imagined together, "Maybe once he was cured, he fled by jumping out a window or something to avoid paying."

Fynn let out a hoarse laugh, and the girl watched him.

Then, the boy composed himself, "I wonder if he misses us..."

Yue watched his friend and then asked, "What do you think Erna and Samson are doing?"

"Farm stuff, I guess," Fynn indicated, shrugging gently. "Erna must be yelling at him because he brought other weird travelers into the barn."

Yue sketched a wide smile with tired eyes, "I'll buy that."

"I wonder how Idda is doing too..." the boy exclaimed softly, remembering that woman, sooner he remembered another character from his travels. "Do you remember the giant cat?"

Yue closed his eyes in frustration, "I had forgotten him. He talked a lot, made me want to pull his whiskers every time he answered me while I was locked up with him."

"A giant cat?" exclaimed Pollard, sitting cross-legged in front of them. He was soon ashamed that he had been listening to them.

Fynn, still, answered, "It was a cat in the shape of a human, it could talk, and it helped us get out of a prison."

"Really?" exclaimed Ranier, watching them intently from his hammock.

"I knew the one who helped us, Ronan," added Yue.

"It was great to meet him," said the dark-skinned boy with a broad cheerful smile. "It was one of the best things we experienced on our trip,"

The girl nodded silently, her gaze cast to the ground, before replying, "After that, we rescued some prisoners from a group in white robes."

"The White Flame?" asked Ranier.

"You know them?" she asked.

"Because of them, I ran into Pollard," explained the finely dressed boy rocking gently on his cloth bed.

"We crossed paths a few months before we came to port," the boy explained with a shy but cheerful smile, "He helped me escape from them, and I, in return, treated his wounds."

"Since then, the order hunted us and a couple of others who accompanied us through four cities," Ranier explained as he frowned, "There were eight of us when we escaped, but by the sixth city, we were on our own..."

"A tale that never ends," Yue said, watching his friend.

Fynn let out a sigh and rubbed his hands together; the damp chill of that place soon made him shiver with cold.

Then, Fynn tried to lift his spirits, "Well, at least when we get to Adhaz, everything will get better..."

A derisive chuckle was heard in the makeshift cabin. Then, just like that, all rolled their eyes at the marked, cynical, ragged boy who had been listening to them.

"Do you think things will be fine when we get there, please?"

Ranier spat, "At least he's trying to raise our morale..."

"Whatever you say, your majesty," sneered that boy, who turned his back on them again, "There's still trouble over there..."

"You've got me tired..."

Quickly, Fynn took Ranier by his arm. The finely clothed boy was ready to strike him but was soon dissuaded with a glance from the marked warrior and his friend, the marked wizard.

Reluctantly, the tall boy settled back into his bed and repressed his anger by attempting to sleep.

Silence filled the place again, and then Fynn noticed how the tide had become calmer; they were no longer rocking back and forth, hearing barrels and objects going back and forth.

All that caused a twinkle in the boy's eyes.

"Do you want to see the sky?" asked Fynn, encouraging.

Yue watched his friend intently, "Fynn, there must still be clouds..."

"We don't know that; maybe there's just wind and a starry sky," the boy argued without losing his excitement.

Yue rolled her eyes and closed them, trying not to look at her friend to convince her.

Finally, he convinced her.

"Fine, but only because I want to get out of that hole," exclaimed the pointy-eared girl.

"I can only do this with you and your talent for hiding," Fynn said with a wide grin.

Yue stood up from her place and watched her friend annoyingly, "Oh, shut your mouth and don't try to flatter me."

Fynn and Yue left their place to try to get up on deck. By this time, the sailors must have been eating dinner; the music coming from that floor of the ship, the singing and bantering indicated that they must be resting.

Stripped of their armor and wearing the simple but torn clothes they had after combat, the pair of marked children managed to climb on deck through one of the cargo hatches. Outside, the movement was almost nil, and even as the sea continued to convulse, the moon finally bathed the damp woods of the ship.

Therefore, the pair of children rounded the first mast and then the second, where upon reaching its end, they soon had to hide from one of the sailors whose turn it was to stand watch.

Fynn and Yue waited for him to leave before finally encountering what he was looking for.

The marked pair settled in at the bow to look up at the starry sky. Then, as if the clouds were curtains, they were drawn back to display the glittering jewelry of the stars; the moon was shining so brightly that they could see each other without needing the lantern the guard was holding.

For some reason, once the starry sky soothed them, and it wasn't the first time it had happened; when they slept at the foot of Ronan's camp once they saved Samson's son, the two slept under a starry sky that made Fynn forget what he had done. Again, when they camped outside the woods once they had left Idda with the caravan, the pair of children took advantage of each night to glimpse the starry sky while the marked trickster slept.

The pair just needed to make themselves comfortable with the blankets they carried in their saddlebags and lay on the ground to watch the stars and the colors that could be perceived in the sky.

The two huddled next to each other and let the moonlight wash over them until whoever was standing guard on the deck would approach where they were. At that time, they would disappear through the hatches into the hole where they were to hide. But, this time, they would return more cheerful than before, for Fynn came into the room full of excitement while Yue looked as if she would not lose her smile so quickly.

The journey was still long, but with that small gesture, they would feel it would become very short.