Zi'da 87, 719
"Land ho!"
Natalie's deep brown eyes opened up from where she was sitting, leaning back against a rail of the uppermost deck. She was on a large merchant ship, the Garrafut, three masted, with a bunch of people on it. She looked past the green tinted sails to see the beginning shape of an island. Scalvoris. Just where she wanted to go, the next port. She pulled herself up to standing, walking over to the front rail leaning forward to better view the island. It was still distant, would take a hot minute to get there, but it was nice to finally put a face to the name, a sly smile crawling on her face.
A hand gripped her backside tightly and she just laughed without even looking back. "I suppose this is where we part ways, eh?" She cocked her head to the left, just to let him see the corner of her eye, "You knew that I was just along for the ride, Feldor."
The man removed his hand and moved in next to her against the rail, "Well, I hate to see you go, but I like to watch you walk away. Hopefully we can sail together again sometime." She laughed, "What city are sailing into?"
"Gunvorton. Main port on the island, most trade goes through there. Run by the nicest of women, Shania. Though, you may wanna just mosey on through to another city. Gunvortians don't really care for outsiders. Join them or move on."
She nodded, taking in the information, "Thank you, Feldor. Look for me the next time you come to town. Maybe I'm still around and in need of a good ride."
With that, she left his side, climbing down to the lower decks and moving toward the front of the boat, where a small crowd was growing to watch as the island came in closer. She pushed through the people, looking to get a better view. She saw a couple near the front, man and woman. She remembered their names from the journey, Gerhan and Lenna, newlyweds. They were coming to Scalvoris from Rharne on vacation, a gift from Lenna's parents.
Natalie moved closer to the couple, pressing her chest against the man's back as she stood up on her tiptoes to see over her shoulder to look at the island. But she wasn't watching the island. Natalie kept a look of wonder and excitement upon her face, not hard to do since those were what she was genuinely feeling. She always got excited by a new place to visit. But she was watching Lenna with her peripherals. It didn't take long for the woman to see another rubbing up against her new husband. Jealousy flashed across her face. She glared first at Natalie, who pretended to not notice, then her glare moved to Gerhan.
Natalie had to stifle a smile, more so once Lenna moved closer, touching her husband's hand. He looked down at her, and saw her fierce gaze. Apology washed over his face, and it was in that moment that Natalie's left hand went to work. It slowly snaked around the man's waist, almost like that of a lover. She found the tie of his coin purse and slowly pulled at it, as she now turned to look at Lenna, smiling. The woman returned the glare at her, and Natalie put on a face of confusion, as Gerhan stared down at this strange situation. Having both of their attentions, two fingers slipped into the coin purse, grabbing a few nels between them, and returned to her. The coins were stashed into a pocket, and Natalie began a bumbling apology. Eventually Lenna's jealousy faded, realising she was dealing with an airhead. She brushed it off, accepting the apology.
Natalie smiled, nodded and left them, moving to another part of the bow, watching Gunvorton grow closer. She didn't bother to count the coins. She didn't need them after all. They were just for fun. And she made sure to never take too much, greed was an ugly look after all. And they were honeymooning. Just as the ship was beginning the maneuvers for docking, Natalie disappeared below deck, to go be with Prince Fredward and Princess Bitey, her faithful steeds, her belongings all crated up and waiting to be unloaded.
