Voyage from Dys

Tseng Haya was still somewhat nervous; he’d been born inland and never traveled by ship in his life. Mind you, that was sure to change when he is posted to an officer ranking in the next several years. He may as well get used to emissary missions.



Shaking his head he walks up the gang plank again, listening to it echo under his heels. Moving to the upper aft of the ship in order to stay out of the sailors’ way and get a final look back over the port city of Dys. He is a little surprised to see his aunt standing at the railing looking back over the docks, after having complained for two days that she hates the port.



“Lady Yin?” Stepping closer to her, Haya is feeling suddenly younger than his thirteen cycles, looking at his father’s half-sister with her stiff posture and perfectly upswept hair. The woman is the very image of placid water, outwardly without a ripple or emotion. The prince casts a glance toward Nuo, his aunt’s hand maid, born a cycle after him; she is like his aunt’s shadow… and the reason that Yin He’s silvery blue hair has stayed so neat after days of travel. Not to mention despite how the noblewoman’s moods are as volatile as a winter storm these days.



Yin He turns slightly, looking down at Haya over her right shoulder where her robes fall open over them, trying to continue looking cold and aloof but after traveling together for days the youth knows better. “I’m sure things will be fine, aunt. Lord Jagu Buqa, cannot be too bad if he is willing to discuss peace and marriage.”



Her fine nose creases then, betraying that she is only five cycles older than he. She turns her back on him in annoyance, “Easy for you to say, Haya. You don’t have to marry him!” Her tone is like a verbal foot stomp, the youngest sister of an emperor throwing a temper tantrum before they embark for her new home.



Haya is quiet for a moment, letting his copper coloured eyes drift over the buildings stacked up like toys on the shore, “Arranged marriages are something we all face, Yin He.”



“You are not the one being traded like cattle!”



The prince is soft spoken in his reply, “One day.” Yin’s only response is a skeptical noise, and not without cause. Even though Haya has an elder brother between himself and the throne… he is a nine-tail and will be kept close to the family as insurance against his brother’s death. He would never be married out of country, unless his brother takes the throne before their father chooses brides for his youngest son.



The three of them are silent, not unusual for Nuo but Yin He has complained every mile of their travels thus far. Her being this quiet as she watches the shore troubles Tseng Haya deeply, and he wonders what she is looking for out there where the fishermen and sailors scurry across the docks. Though much younger than her he cannot help but feel that in her pale golden eyes is a deep hurt that she dares not voice.



Eventually the captain is calling out ready to his men, and the lines are cast away from the ship. Lady Yin pushes away from the railing, toward Nuo then back toward the steps that will take them to their quarters below deck. She doesn’t look at him as she leaves, leaving Haya to wonder if those were tears he saw at the last moment.