The Pond - Part 18

Izolda stood at the rail of the ship, the light wind teasing the hair she wore down to make herself look younger and more vulnerable. She was wearing one of Katrinka’s dresses – why should she not? They were much the same size and it took very little to alter it to fit properly. And after all, what was Katrinka’s was now hers.

She looked out over the ocean, as she did quite often, always looking forward, never behind. The seas had calmed almost immediately after Katrinka had been lost, much to the puzzlement of the captain and crew. They’d never seen a storm blow up and then dissipate so quickly.

With one last, deep breath of fresh sea air, she turned and reluctantly started back towards her cabin. It wouldn’t do to spend too much time out on deck. One of the matrons who’d been whispering in a little cluster near the salon might take it into her head to try and take Izolda under her wing, the poor, bereaved dear.

As she passed them, they murmured sympathetic nonsense. Izolda smiled sadly at them and kept going. One of them made as though to follow, but a gesture with her right hand had the woman halting in her tracks and then returning to her friends.

“I thought you were going to offer to sit with her, Claire,” one of the women said.

Claire had a slightly dazed look on her face. “I didn’t want to intrude,” she said slowly. “We must all deal with loss in our own way. Some do better on their own. We should leave her alone.”

Her friends looked at each other in confusion.

As Izolda disappeared from view, she could hear their loud whispers behind her and could barely suppress a smile. Really, those women were even easier to influence than Katrinka had been. Her smile faded. Hopefully Nikolai would be as well.

She closed the cabin door behind her and locked it. Going over to her own trunk, she pulled out her book of spells and unwrapped it. Settling down in the middle of the bed – the perfect size when one didn’t have to share – she opened it up and began leafing through it.

Though she knew it by heart, she went over the spell that would allow her to regain her control over Nikolai again. With any luck, the seeds she had already planted would still be there. She would just have to refresh the spell, rather than renew it.

The key would be to take things slowly. He must be given time to mourn, but as he did so she would make sure his thoughts of Katrinka would become less fond. And he would need comfort from someone who had known Katrinka. It would seem only natural that he turn to her. She would make it so.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a sharp rap on the door. Izolda frowned, but closed the book, wrapping it up again before placing it back in the trunk.

“Who is it?” she asked through the closed door.

“It’s Captain Jennings.”

Izolda cursed under her breath. “One moment please.”

Quickly, she went back to the chest and pulled out her box of herbs and a mortar and pestle. A pinch of this, a touch of that, a quick grind with the pestle, then she gathered up a pinch of the resulting powder and closed the chest again.

Unlocking the door, she pretended to stumble and when the captain stooped to help her, she blew the dust in his face. “Oh, pardon me for my clumsiness, Captain.”

“No harm done, my dear,” he said.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” she asked, although she knew perfectly well why he was here. “You will forgive me for not inviting you in,” she continued. “But it is unseemly for me to have a male visitor without a chaperone.”

“Forgive my intrusion,” he said, his face slightly flushed. “We should make landfall tomorrow and I have come to offer my services as an escort for when you meet your friend’s fiancé and must break the sad news to him.”

He had come to her with the same offer the previous day, but obviously the spell she cast then made him forget completely.

“I thank you for your kind offer,” she said. “But you need not concern yourself. Such news would be better coming from a friend.”

“You’re right, of course,” the captain said. “I will take my leave of you.”

Izolda’s breath came out in a huff as she locked the door again. If she were to look on the bright side, at least having to deal with all these people allowed her to hone her spells.