Chapter Text
“Almost home,” Captain Randy Nedley says as he claps a hand down on Nicole Haught’s shoulder. “Do you see it, girl?”
Nicole grabs a rope and jumps up onto the edge of the ship, pointing at a constellation straight in front of the bow. “Canis Major, Cap’n.”
Nedley chuckles and hands her a bronze spyglass. “I would think your sight by moonlight would be better than this after a decade at sea, Nicole.”
She leans against the rope, hooking her foot around one, and holds the spyglass up to her eye. There, in the distance, she sees it.
Peacemaker Light. Castle Earp. The faint outline of the rest of Purgatoria.
“I can see it! I can see it, Cap’n!” Nicole jumps back onto the deck, passing the spyglass to Nedley and beaming. “Home!”
“Good girl.” Nedley ruffles Nicole’s hair. “Go roust Shorty from his quarters, would you? He should be at the helm when we get closer to the port.”
“Aye, sir.”
Nicole pauses before heading inside, looking back up at the stars. “I am almost home, Waverly,” she whispers.
The port at Purgatoria is crowded with fishing vessels. Nicole climbs up to the crow’s nest and scans the docks until her gaze falls on a small group of royal guards. She scrambles back down and runs over to the helm.
“How is she steering, sir?”
Robert “Shorty” Simons turns the ship’s wheel and snorts. “She is as grumpy as ever. I tell you, girl, the waters of the Ghost River Triangle are never going to be good for sailing.”
“You really believe that superstition?”
He lifts his hand from the wheel long enough to flick her ear. “As long as I am standing on these decks, I am going to believe the superstitions, girl.” The ship gets closer, and he says, “Go to the captain. He will want you to help unload the crates with the rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
Waverly Earp, third-born princess of Purgatoria, paces anxiously between her group of guards, glancing out every so often at the approaching Calamity.
“Please,” she mumbles under her breath. “Please, my darling.”
She hovers around as the ship docks and begins to unload, the various seamen carrying crates of goods.
The moment she spots Nicole, sorting through barrels of wine, she pushes past the guard in front of her and rushes forward.
“Nicole!”
Nicole’s trousers, shirt, waistcoat, and jacket are all worn from salt and time, but she looks as good as Waverly remembers her as their gazes meet and Nicole grins.
“Your Highness,” Nicole breathes, giving the half-bow she had given since they were children. The guard to Waverly’s left grunts with disapproval, but Waverly waves him off and steps forward, hugging Nicole tightly.
“I was so afraid,” Waverly whispers in Nicole’s ear. “Your ship was overdue, and I believed…”
“Never, Your Highness,” Nicole whispers back. “Though perhaps we should discuss this someplace less visible?”
“You know where to meet me, my darling.”
Waverly leans out of the hug, brushing off her purple mantua dress with a faint disdain on her face. “I greet you as a friend as I have known you all my life, Miss Haught, but perhaps next time you should acquire clean clothing before you disembark your vessel.”
Nicole hides the smirk that teases at the edge of her lips. She bows again. “I shall bear that in mind, Your Highness.”
“Now. I have things my father wishes me to purchase for the castle. Would you be able to show me around the stock, so that I can set a few items aside for my men to pick up?”
“Of course, Your Highness. I am sure Captain Nedley would offer some of his men to deliver whatever you wish, as well.”
“I will keep that in mind.” Waverly glances over her shoulder at her guards. “Please stay here and keep an eye on the area. I will only be a few minutes, and I will be with an old friend.” She gestures at Nicole’s hips, framed with a cutlass on her left and a boarding ax on her right. “I am sure she would be more than capable of defending me if the situation were to arise.”
One of her guards frowned. “If you insist, Your Highness, however-”
“I do insist, Mister Dolls.”
Dolls grits his teeth and nods.
Waverly follows Nicole along the docks, arm in arm.
“Your new guard seems like a chipper fellow,” Nicole comments.
“Xavier is nice when you get to know him. He cares. He is, however, a bit stringent as far as the rules are concerned.”
“If it keeps you safe, I am alright with that.”
Waverly jabs Nicole with a soft elbow, barely visible by anyone around them. “You, Miss Haught, are lucky I am in love with you.”
“Oh, but Your Highness, I already know that.” Nicole lowers her voice as they pass a fisherman. “I thought about you daily when I was at sea.”
“I thought about you by the hour.” Waverly tightens her grip on Nicole’s arm. “I am so glad you are home.”
“Likely not for long, though,” Nicole says. “You know the captain. As much as he would like to stay, we have money to make.”
“I know. I only wish we had a little while longer.”
“So do I, my darling, so do I.”
“When can we meet at our place? Tonight? You know when dinner is at the castle. I can meet you there afterward.”
“I would meet you there gladly, Your Highness.”
“Wonderful. Now, we should probably get these purchases completed.” Waverly leans in, her voice barely above a whisper and her lips close to Nicole’s ear. “Soon enough, we will be somewhere you can freely call me ‘Waverly’ again.”
She swears she feels Nicole shiver as she gives a smile and opens up a crate for Waverly to look inside.