Allologue 7

As he rode the tram to the riverside docks, Julien marveled at all the technological wonders of Wolis. The passenger tram carried the throng of people without the need of oxen or horses. He had spent many a long evening working with Adrienne on treaties and trade agreements by flameless lamplight. He had a box of clicky pens stowed away for his use in his office at home. Though travel by airship would be more expedient, Julien preferred traveling by water and would be boarding the river barge that would be taking him to Sunholme and beyond. He regretted things said between himself and Renn Worthing and regretted more the things that were left unsaid. More than anything, he was disappointed in himself for his part in everything that had happened. He regretted bringing Cecily into it, though he was grateful for her help and her company. He hoped that the young author would one day grow beyond her dependence on Renn.
 Julien found himself oddly at ease with his first footfalls on the deck of the barge. Though it was not a proper seafaring vessel, it was good to feel the gentle sway of the water beneath the vessel. He greeted the captain and stowed his belongings in the room that had been provided, then returned above decks to observe the launch and to get one last look at the city he was uncertain he would ever return to. As he looked at the gathered crowd saying their farewells to the sailors and the other passengers, a bobbing braid of red-brown hair caught his eye as Cecily Cardew ran down the dock alongside the ship as it began to pull away. She was clearly running and shouting, though over the roar of the river and the din of the crowd, he was unable to make out what she was saying. The only thing that was apparent to him was that she would run out of dock long before they ran out of river. His eyes went wide as she sprinted ahead of the vessel and clambered up onto a post. He leaped for the edge of the ship as she leaped from the peer, not quite clearing the distance necessary to land on the deck of the vessel. He nearly dove overboard himself, clasping his hand around her wrist and, with the help of many burlier sailors than he, pulled the young woman aboard.
“What are you doing here?” Julien said.
Cecily seemed uncertain in her answer, but she finally said, “There seemed more reasons to go than to say. I wanted to see the world after all, and the way I figure it, you owe me a favor or three. So I figured I’d tag along with you, if that’s okay.”
Julien smiled and patted her shoulder. “It may not be as much of an adventure as you would expect. But there is nothing that improves a long sea voyage like good company, and I’d be happy to have you along.”
“Great!” Cecily said. “When do we leave?”
“We in fact left before you arrived.”
Cecily grinned and punched him in the arm playfully. They went together to smooth things over with the captain, who would no doubt be unamused by the presence of a stowaway on his ship.
 Having paid the captain an appropriate fee for the additional passenger and having seen Cecily stowed in her own cabin, Julien returned to his room, oddly excited about the journey ahead. He was eager to show his beloved Oceanside to his friend and probably talk entirely too much about the different ships in his fleet. He hoped that seeing the world unfiltered way from Wolis would be inspiring in ways that speculative fanfiction could not. For the moment he had forgotten everything about the pressure placed upon him as the heir to his family’s empire and was just a young man facing adventure across the high seas.