Royal Rebel

C H A P T E R 4 — Marcel.

I honestly had no idea how much time I spent looking for her, how much time I spent searching the ship, going from one place to the other, repetitively. The ship had already docked a long time ago and the crew were moving about from place to place, unloading what they were supposed to have done when they would have initially got back here, ignoring me as if I wasn’t even on the boat. 

I knew that I needed to find Hera and I needed to do so soon, or else it would be likely that Hades and everyone else would have to go off of the boat without having me or her by her side to support them, to explain the situation. But I got the impression that Aurora would be waiting for us to go to her, that she wouldn’t be waiting outside of the boat for us. 

I hoped that I was teaching the end of my search, because I was in a much more isolated part of the boat when I compared it to the rest of it, and I hoped that it was a sign that I was on the right track. 

Aurora would have been bound to have been informed by the fact that the boat had reached the docks, which meant that she would be expecting us. I didn’t think that it would be wise for me to let anyone do anything alone at this stage, because as much as I hated the fact, I was caught in the middle. 

I was the one who knew Hades, who knew what he was and the history of his family. I was the one who was responsible for allowing them onto the boat without getting prior consent from Aurora or the Continental government. It was a big mess, one that I had no idea how to fix. I wasn’t even sure what Aurora was going to say about this new development, about these new citizens. 

I knew that it wasn’t an easy process to get anyone into the Kingdom, and it was the same situation with the Continent. People couldn’t come and go as they pleased, because people simply weren’t supposed to be coming and going. The less contact and interaction that there was between the two places, the better it was for everyone who was involved. Or else there was simply too much tension and conflict—and what happened now, would just prove all of that. 

I had become so distracted with my thoughts that I realised that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings, that I hadn’t really been paying as much attention to looking for and finding Hera as I should have. I almost couldn’t believe that I had allowed myself to get so distracted. I needed to focus, and not worry about the possibility of everything that could go wrong and everything that couldn’t. 

This was a difficult situation but I needed to keep my eye on the prize, to remember that I had been down here to find her, to tell her that she needed to show her face to the people who loved her, to the people who literally threw away their entire lives in order to make sure that she would be alright after everything that had happened. 

I knew a lot of people, but I would be lying if I said that I had ever met anyone else who was willing to do such a thing, who would have been willing to go to such lengths for the people that they loved. Hera was luckier than she knew that she was, and even with the truth staring her in the face, she would still believe that she wasn’t. 

For some strange reason, my nose picked up on the distinct smell of urine. It was so strong, so noticeable, that I had to stop walking for a minute, that I had to try and figure out how I hadn’t picked up on the smell beforehand. It was sour, smelling like it could have been there for weeks—but in most likelihood it couldn’t have been there for more than a few days. But that didn’t change the fact that it smelt awful, that it was truly one of the most horrid smelling things that I had ever had to endure invading my senses. 

It took me a moment, a moment for my mind to make the connection, that that specific scent of urine, meant that there had been someone down here who didn’t have access to a bathroom, who didn’t have the facilities to make sure that the smell like this didn’t remain. And the only person on this boat who wouldn’t have had access to such facilities, would have been Hera. The thought that she would have allowed herself to create a mess like this didn’t seem possible to me, but I also knew that if she had had the determination to stay down here for so long, to survive without food or water—and considering the fact that she had shifted, she should have been starving at this point—she would have definitely urinated somewhere down here instead of going to the bathroom. 

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to work up the motivation that I needed, the courage that I would require to make it past all of this, to look past the nauseating smell and find my mate. It didn’t take a genius to know that the smell would be worse wherever she was, which meant that it would have pulled into her fur, that it would be sticking to her like muck. Chances were that that was the reason why I wasn’t able to pick up on her scent here. 

A lot of little things were starting to make sense now, little pieces of a puzzle that I hadn’t really thought to be significant—but there was still the possibility that they weren’t significant at all and that I was simply reading too deeply into the situation, and hoping for something that simply wasn’t going to happen. But I was going to find her, regardless of whether or not this was where it was. 

I would search every nook and cranny of this boat until I found her. I swore that on my life. And perhaps I was only so determined to find her because I didn’t believe that I had the confidence to face the consequences by myself, but that didn’t matter. Perhaps I was doing it purely because I missed sharing her company, because I missed being in her presence. It could have been any one of these possibilities, or it could have been all of them. There was no right or wrong answer at this point in time. 

I started to pay more attention to the stench, to the nauseating smell of the urine, taking small steps to make sure that every step that I took was indeed a step closer to it, and not a step off of path. I needed to get closer and not go further, especially since I was trying to find her and not go away from her. The stench only seemed to get worse, but I took it as best as I could. It meant that I had a slightly better chance of finding her soon. 

I took a deep breath, just as I came across a large stain on the floor, and I knew, without a doubt that it had been the scent that I had been smelling. It was foul, and I knew that it would only get worse when I got close. But what else could I do? I needed to find her and I had no other choice than to continue with my search, no other choice than to follow through with this new development. It was a step closer to her than I had been before, and that was simply what I needed to continue reminding myself of. 

     “Hera?” 

I wasn’t entirely sure what it was that had prompted me into speaking after such a long period of silence, and I was on the verge of regretting it when my ears picked up on a noise, one that was dangerously close by. I knew that it was her, without a doubt. If it hadn’t been her, then the chances that she would have moved when I had called her name, would have been slim to none. 

But now she knew that I was here, that it was only a matter of time before I found her. 

There was a part of me that was expecting her to jump out of her hiding place and to take off running. And even though the odds of that happening hadn’t yet been ruled out, it hadn’t yet been confirmed either. I needed to stay on my guard, because if she managed get away from me now, she had a lot more than just a boat to hide in. 

     “Hera… I just want to help you…” 

I didn’t even know whether or not it was her yet, but I still chose to speak out loud, to try and reassure her about what was happening, about how the situation would be dealt with. I couldn’t even begin to think about what she was thinking, because she wasn’t dumb. She knew that there were consequences to what had just happened, and I couldn’t blame her if she was fearful of facing them, because I felt the exact same way. But that didn’t mean that I was going to be able to run away from it. Hera was the Heir to the throne. 

And the moment that she discovered that information, the moment that she found out what all of that meant for her, she wouldn’t react nearly like this. She would react much worse. And although I had no idea how I would be able to handle that situation, how I would be able to make it better, I was prepared to try. 

I heard something c***k in the air—it sounded like a bone, like one that cracked due to the pure effort that it took to move it. I was no genius, but I guessed that it had been brought on by a lack of movement.

Hope flared up within me. 

Because the only person on this boat is who I knew of who was likely to not have been moving, was Hera. 

I prayed that it was her, that she was coming out here… 

Because the more time we spent down here, was more time added onto the time that Hades and his family stood up there alone, waiting for me to go and help them, guide them… 

And who knew what would happen if I left them alone for too long?