On the High Seas
One and a half weeks after that night, Ruby and Jet stood side by side at the stern of the ship as they watched Castle Candy disappear down the river. They're pinkies were linked and Ruby could feel the contented hum of the locked on her chest.
They only stepped back when the tallest tip of Castle had faded into the background.
Theo and Lapin were both waiting for them on the deck, though they were both eyeing each other with barely concealed glares. They were so distracted that Ruby and Jet could have slipped away if they were so inclined. But, they stood there in front of them, waiting to be noticed.
Theo straightened when he saw them, his head whipping around to stare at them.
"Oh, princesses, good."
He cleared his throat before he launched into his lecture, "Now your mother has given firm instructions about your education. She has created a strict timetable for you both to follow on your journey."
Both Jet and Ruby nodded at this.
"Sure Theo."
"Yes, Sir Theo."
Theo immediately frowned at them. "Truly? You're not missing with me?"
Ruby and Jet glanced at each other before they looked forward.
"Well, you and Mum are always talking about responsibility and how we need to take our lessons more seriously, especially since we're almost adults now," Jet explained. "We want to be able to help our sister when she takes the throne."
"Besides, there's not really anywhere for us to escape to on this ship," Ruby cut in. "Not many places for us to hide."
"Not that we would dare," Jet interjected. "I know I need to take lessons if I'm going to be the best general in Calorum. And Ruby needs to learn to be the… uh…"
"A good advisor," Ruby finished. "And a faithful Bublian."
Lapin nodded. "Of course, Princess, and I will guide you through your spiritual journey."
Ruby inclined her head at him respectfully.
Theo cleared his throat again. "Yes, well, whilst your mother has mandated eight hours of lessons for each of you, she has also given her permission for an additional two hour lesson in combat before dinner should you choose to accept it."
Jet perked up and Ruby couldn't stop the giddy grin from splitting across her face as her sister's hand found hers and they locked pinkies.
"Yes!" Jet burst out before she cleared her throat. "We will accept, Theo."
Theo smiled at them as he gave a nod. "Good. Why don't you both settle into your room? You will be having a busy journey."
Jet and Ruby gave a synchronised nod and walked off to unpack their things.
----
Later that night, Ruby found herself leaning against the railing of the Starboard side of the deck.
Jet had managed to wheedle Theo into showing her the weapons he had brought for them to use
Ruby took one of the small knives from Sapphria's set of daggers and fiddled with it, not scared of dropping over board, as she had discovered that it would just be summoned back to her hand if she wanted it to be.
Her father glanced down and froze at the sight of the black sugarsteel. The larger had a light blue blade but the same ornate black hilt forged in the shape of a dragon with glittering multicoloured candy stones peppered across its back, shining blue and purple and silver and gold when the light hit them.
"Is that what I think it is."
Ruby nodded, still twirling the dagger through her fingers.
"Where did you get it?"
"I found the set hidden in the Castle."
Her dad nodded. "Another vision?"
Ruby grimaced. "Not exactly."
She hadn't fully explained her shadows to anyone but Lapin. Her father didn't understand the technicalities and philosophies of magic anyway and Ruby didn't want to force her mother to speak of a secret that she carefully guarded, she'd manipulated her mother enough just to get her to organise this trip.
"You could be a great ruler," Ruby murmured, looking out at the sea. "I have seen it."
She had. Her father had been a great Emperor, when he had finally started working with his wife, they had presented a formidable and terrifyingly efficient unit.
Her father looked down, his shoulders slumping. "I was never meant to rule."
"You may not have ever expected it," Ruby conceded. "But you… Candia cannot live in the shadows of our aunts forever."
King Amethar bowed his head, sighing deeply. "I never asked for this responsibility."
"It’s not fair," Ruby whispered and her father went rigid, obviously remembering the exchange he had had with his father long ago, where Kind Jedain had said similar things. Her father had told her of the interaction, and the night before, she had seen it in her dreams, right before she saw a vision of her father standing at the throne, her mother and sisters standing at his side, strong and proud and good.
Ruby slipped the dagger back beneath her sleeve, putting one of her hands on his arm. Her father turned to look at her.
"You're the king, Pops," Ruby murmured. "So you gotta be the king."
Her father closed his eyes. "I was always more of a war guy."
Ruby gave a small smile. "You can be more than one thing, Dad."
Her father reached out and grasped Ruby's shoulder. "I think you might be right… Those visions have changed haven't they."
Ruby shrugged, and whispered, "It's better this way."
Her dad's hand tightened. "Just… don't get lost in them, okay? In those last days, Laz could barely recognise us. She couldn't keep track of what was real. Don't forget to live in the present."
Ruby swallowed and nodded. "But I… we cannot forget what we must do."
"We must not trust Cruller," she said into his head.
Her father nodded. After much discussing, Ruby, Jet and her parents had decided to take the cake with them. It would be best if they could keep an eye on him, and he could be cut off from all but the two men he had taken with him. Back at Castle Candy, Ruby's mother could quietly spread the Muffinfield soldiers throughout the realm, and Ruby's small network of spies, which she'd quickly built in both Dulcington and the castle, about half of them sleeper agents that Sapphria had left, though the other half were those she had recruited through her own skills and persuasion.
She had spent the most experienced them off the Muffinfield to try and find any evidence they could against the Marquiesse.
"I will keep an eye on him," her father sent back.
"We can trust Theo. All the knights are loyal to Candia above all else."
"What of Lapin?" her father asked out loud.
Ruby frowned, thinking for a few seconds before she answered, "He is a good man."
Her father looked at her for a few seconds, and then nodded. He leant forward and enveloped her in a hug. "We won't… I won't forget my purpose, Ruby."
He pulled away and took a step back towards the cabins. "You have given me a lot to think of… about my place and my actions."
Ruby nodded. "Right, good. I'm glad."
Her father smiled sweetly at her. "I love you, Ruby. Don't go to bed too late."
"Night, Pops."
As the ship changed to the night shift, Ruby settled onto one of the steps between the stern and the main deck, her personal copy of the Book of Leaves resting on her lap, and a small notepad in her palm as she skimmed through the religious tome. She had started rereading it, noting passages for her to memorise. It was interesting that nothing in the Book was actually really incorrect. It never personified the Bulb, and it never stated that the Bulb wanted its followers to act a certain way, only that it was a power of creation. Whatever group had written it had included the tenets, against murder, against ceaseless violence and destruction, as suggestions on how to stay faithful to its nature.
Everything else that was accepted and 'known' about the Bulb was just bureaucracy and invention.
Her mind wandered to the conversation she had had with Citrina a few nights ago.
"My faith was never strained by the presence of my sisters," the yellow woman had proclaimed. "Despite the Church's rulings, nothing in the Book says that the Bulb is the only thing one can worship. In fact, the Book of Leaves preaches acceptance in all aspects of life."
The woman had sighed.
"The Church has strayed from its roots, from the faith. It has been tainted by betrayal and politics and greed," she spat the last word.
Citrina broke off, taking a breath before she continued, "I thought I could fix the Church from the inside. I truly believed I could…"
Ruby had waited for a few moments before she murmured, "For the record, I agree. The faith, at its core, is largely good. Like the Sweetening Path and the Great Beasts, but I do not see a way to fix it peacefully. The corruption is too deep."
Citrina smiled sadly. "Very insightful, my child. I regret the pain you had to go through to learn those lessons, and I regret that I did not learn that lesson when I was alive."
Cruller broke Ruby from her thoughts when he sat beside her. It took all of Ruby's skills in acting to not tense.
"Princess," the man greeted.
"Calroy," Ruby said, carving a smile onto her face.
"What? No Lord Cruller from the next saint."
Ruby barked a laugh. "I think we're past formalities, Calroy. And I don't intend to be as devoted as my aunt. The Bulbb has willed me to watch over Candia and guard its purity. The Church has enough Primogens."
Cruller grinned. "That is a relief to here, Ruby. I would sorely miss you if you whisked away to Comida and Brightgarden."
"You won't have to worry about that, Calroy," Ruby replied, feeling her skin crawl. "I intend to keep an eye on Candia for a long while."
Calroy nodded. "And Candia will be all the better for it."
He opened his mouth to ask a question, and Ruby knew he would begin interrogating her about her father. Jet and her dad had done admirable jobs but hadn't quite hidden their changed attitudes well enough to fool Cruller. Ruby would need to move quickly.
However, before he could speak, the door that lead to the cabins banged open and Jet's voice floated over the side of the staircase.
"Ruby! Theo wants us to go to bed. Come on, I don't want to annoy him. I really want him to teach us combat tomorrow."
Ruby stood, smiling apologetically at Calroy. "I should get going. Dad and Jet have been super on edge lately about me. I think they're worried cause Aunt Citrina died so mysteriously. They don't want anything to happen to me."
When the door to the cabins closed, Ruby slipped one of the two hand mirrors she carried on her at all times to one of her shadows.
----
Theo looked around for Ruby. With ten minutes until the start of their first combat lesson, Jet was already hovering around the rack of weapons that Theo had dragged onto the deck, but the younger one was nowhere to be seen.
Theo had seen Ruby stride out of the cabins half an hour ago and toss Lapin a book, telling him something in Bulbosi that Theo hadn’t understood before she had disappeared.
Theo couldn't say what had possessed him to look up, but when he did, what he saw had his heart skipping a beat.
"Princess Ruby get down from there!" he yelled at the girl who was doing cartwheels along the top of one of the sails.
The girl paused and looked down at him, smiling brightly. For a few seconds, she looked like the girl that Theo had known a week ago, not the stranger that had replaced her.
"Why, of course, Sir Theo," she proclaimed, and then jumped off the sail.
Theo's stomach dropped as the girl fell before she caught a rope, swinging down in a graceful ark before she landed gently next to Theo, only stumbling slightly.
Theo clutched at his heart. "Princess, never do that again! You could get hurt!"
Ruby straightened her closed and raised her chin imperiously, even as she failed to smooth the giddy smile from her face.
"The Bulb has blessed me with miracles that will help me if I slip, but I won't."
Theo's eyes widened and he glanced at the Chancellor, who had taken over the Princess's private lessons whilst Theo gave Jet extra lessons in courtly manners and politics for two hours on top of the one and a half hours that Queen Caramelinda had allotted to both the girls every day, classes that were also overseen by Theo.
The fucking chocolate bunny didn't do anything but shrug.
"I'm sure that would be a grievous misuse of your blessings," Theo lectured.
Ruby glanced to the bunny. "Chancellor, what do you think as a fellow miracle worker?"
The bunny inclined his head. "I would advise humility with your miracles, Princess. However, the Bulb has blessed you and thus I trust that you know when it is appropriate to make use of those gifts."
Ruby's smile was more restrained and respectful as she nodded. "Of course, Chancellor Lapin."
Theo shot a glare at the bunny before he turned to both girls, clapping his hands together.
"Okay, why don't we get going with this lesson."
To be honest, Theo had thought that the King would be leading this class. However, he had allowed Theo to carry out this duty, wearing glasses of all things as he hunched over a book, some documents beside him. Theo had always thought that the King was illiterate.
Teaching the princesses combat was honestly a pleasure. They were both naturals and applied themselves more stringently to these lessons than any other.
As Theo had suspected, Jet was razor fast and brutally strong, the magic of Candia manifesting within her as unnatural reflexes similar to those of the eldest Rocks sister and Jet's own father. Ruby, however, surprised Theo. She had always been the more gentle of the two. Where Jet was loud and scrappy, Ruby was quick and light-footed. Those differences were still reflected in their fighting styles but there was a deadly edge to Ruby's movements, an efficiency and accuracy to her attacks that one so young should not have.
It was perplexing to say the least, and Theo got his chance to address it later that very day, when he saw Ruby sitting on the deck, reading under torchlight as the day crew got ready for bed and the night crew began to work.
Her head jerked up as he approached, snapping the book shit and tucking it into her chest, underneath the thick cloak she wore to take the bite off the cool sea breeze.
"Sir Theo," she greeted and something inside Theo, that had been straining for the last few weeks, snapped.
"What did I do to earn that title?"
Ruby frowned. "Excuse me?"
"Since when do you call me Sir Theo? You have not used my title since you were six years old, Princess."
Ruby's eyes widened. "I thought that you would appreciate the respect. You deserve it."
Theo stared down at the little girl that he had known all her life. He could no longer read her.
"We both know you are lying to me, Princess," Theo said. "Please tell me what crime I have committed against you and I will do my best to make amends."
Ruby shook her head, blinking rapidly. "No, The-Sir Theo. You've been great."
"Then what is it?"
Ruby dropped her eyes, her lips twitching downwards.
"You will love Saccharina," she whispered.
Theo furrowed his eyebrows. "Pardon?"
"Saccharina," Ruby clarified, her voice a little stronger. "She will be everything you dreamed of serving. You will love her more than you could my father. You will be happy serving her."
Theo jerked his head back. "Princess, I have devoted my life to your family. I serve your family."
"But you wanted to serve Lazuli," Ruby countered. "Saccharina will be the one to bring about my aunt's vision and so much more. You won't need to resent us any longer."
Theo gaped. "I don't-"
"I know you love Jet. She's the bravest warrior and the most noble fighter you will ever find. But how can you not look at the rest of us and feel all you have lost every time? I do not blame you. I know that the Rocks family can trust you."
Theo stammered for a few seconds, his mind not quite able to fathom everything that Ruby had just said. "I love you as well, princess."
Ruby quirked her lips up and gave a nod. "Of course you do, Theo. I don't doubt that."
"With respect, it sounds like you do, Princess."
Ruby smiled that winning, perfect smile she had started wearing like armour and stood up. "Whatever hope for Candia's future you think you see in me, Saccharina will surpass it tenfold. She is truly someone worthy of being loyal to."
She dropped her hands, causing the book to fall into the light, and Theo instantly recognised it as one of Lazuli's. He was very familiar with that particular lavender cover. A few dozen things clicked into place in that second and he banished the hurt at Ruby not telling him of the truth of her gifts. He had never shown her that it would be safe to tell him of her magic.
Theo called for his familiar to jump into his hand through the bond.
"I summoned Sprinkle to me with a spell. I could teach it to you, if you want?"
Ruby hesitated, blinking rapidly as she quickly tucked the book back beneath her cloak.
Finally, she whispered, "Yes."
-----
Ruby swallowed nervously as she stood on the prow of the ship, Theo beside her. He had pointed out the techniques and words she would need to use to her the night before, and then had woken her just before dawn so that he could help her cast the spell. Ruby had liked pretending to learn it from him.
She had delayed recasting the spell until now, afraid what it would do to her when Yak didn't come back to her. For she knew she was too changed now to summon her beloved butterscotch falcon.
However, with Theo's warm urging from beside her, and Jet's quiet cheering from a few paces behind them, she reached inside her drawing a strand of her won magic and throwing it out into the universe as she cast the spell. She waited as she felt the magic shift around her, roiling in a storm before it split into three distinct parts. She felt them solidify rapidly and stepped back in shock at the sight that materialised before her.
Flying out of the distance, the rising sun at his back, was Yak, his feathers a more rich gold than they had had been in the future, but his presence still undeniable. However, at the same time, a black snake slithered out of the shadows behind her and a sleek violet cat materialised right beside her, slinking around her in a sort of dance.
As the three approached her, they all melded, Yak swooping low as the snake and the cat jumped at him, all of them mixing, the image before her shifting between all three bodies before the cat leapt into her arms, quickly shifting to Yak a moment later as he jumped up to her shoulders before Ruby felt it change again and slither down her arms.
Ruby blinked, lost for words.
"What that supposed to happen?" Jet asked.
Theo stared at the familiar as it shifted back to a cat, snuggling itself into Ruby's chest as she hugged it - no her, this form was a girl - closer.
"I do not know," Theo murmured. "But it seems to have been successful."
Ruby grinned, feeling something fill a hole in her chest that she hadn't even known was there.
"I love them."
She turned around and hugged Theo, the knight going stiff under her arms.
"Thank you, Theo."
Slowly, the gummy bear reached up to return the embrace. "You're welcome, Ruby."