Sea

The Eagle cut through the waves as it sped away from Sunsport. Now, the jagged cliffs of southern Goldisle to the east were the only land to give them company; to the west, only ocean. The city had long since gone over the horizon. The winds blew strong from the north, tugging against the sails and pushing the ship forward so fast it almost leapt off the waves.

Cross stood at the bow of the ship, holding onto the railing. She was quite full of excitement; it'd been years since she'd set out to sea, and never for much longer than a day or two. Her hair blew gallantly in the breeze as she watched the sun reflect off the rippling water whenever it peeked through the grey clouds. Occasionally, she'd catch a facefull of spray, but she considered it a small price to pay for such an experience. She took in the smell of the salty sea air, the singing of the crewmen as they deftly worked the yards, the sight of the ocean, the taste of drops of brine that splashed into her mouth - and she felt truly, wonderfully, free.

Twilight, on the other hand, sat in the cabin with Somerset. The two of them looked over nautical charts; Somerset explaining things to her while Twilight simply watched.

"Why don't we just go north?" Twilight asked. "Isn't swinging around the southern side of the island going to take much longer? I mean, you said it'd take a day just to get into the open ocean," she said.

"If we go north, we'd have to sail twice the distance around Goldisle," Somerset said as he directed her attention to the chart. "Look. It's a bit long if we go this way, but it's almost five times as much going northward. And there's no ports to stop and resupply around the north of Goldisle, either; were we to hit a supply shortage or take damage, we'd have to either sail from the northern point of Goldisle southwest to Royale or continue on to Archangel and pray we survive. I'd rather go south around Goldisle and follow the coastline north than head straight northward and sail for a week and a half through a section of completely open ocean famous for its storms."

Twilight nodded. "So, in other words, you want to go around the south of Goldisle and head east from there because it's safer?"

"And faster, but yes."

Twilight nodded. "I think I'm understanding it now. Wouldn't it be faster, though, if we were to sail all the way south to Southsed? Is that even the name on the map there?"

Somerset nodded. "It would. But, if we did that, we'd run into all sorts of corsairs between Iron Refuge and Point Firebrand, as well as potentially find ourselves in a fleet engagement with ships from Eriwick. Neither of those are good. And besides, the order called for heading north to Archangel."

"I suppose. Plus, if we had the freedom to stop anywhere, it would make more sense to make port either at Red Rock or Royale, right?"

Somerset nodded again. "Now you're getting it." He leaned back. "Well, that's pretty much it for now," he said. "Feel free to go wherever."

Twilight nodded and stood, stretching her limbs, before heading to the door.