Read Online The Princess and the Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux - Free Book Online

well your protector has fixed everything.’
    That night Malva slept soundly. She dreamed of Elgolia, Lake Barath-Thor, the thousand-year-old tree growing on top ofMount Ur-Tha, and the Bay of Dao-Boa. But the next morning a terrifying noise woke her abruptly from her dreams. She sat up in her bunk with a start.
    Philomena was snoring beside her. Malva felt anxious and nudged her, but however hard she shook her, Philomena stayed fast asleep. There was a second crash. Malva put her hands over her ears: it was as if the ship were screaming with pain.
    She raced out of the cabin and went on deck. She stopped, staring: the
Estafador
was making straight for a line of rocks, their skeletal white heads sticking up above the water. The sea was bristling with them, and the crashing noise she had heard was the sound of the ship’s bows already scraping on the rocks in the shallows.
    Malva felt like screaming, but she didn’t have the strength. She stayed there on deck, spellbound by the sight of the waves breaking on the reefs. The bows of the ship were close to disaster, yet nothing suggested that she was about to turn!
    The Princess raised her head. Above the horizon, the sky was cloudless. The mainsail, mizzen, foresail, forestaysail and jib topsail were all hoisted, but there didn’t seem to be anyone in charge of them. The deck was deserted – there was no sign of the crew.
    â€˜Vincenzo?’ she managed to call. She went to the poop deck. It was then she realised that the two lifeboats which usually rested in solid oak cradles amidships were gone too.
    â€˜Vincenzo!’ she cried, louder this time.
    The only answer came from the wind in the rigging, and the vast backwash of the waves on the jagged rocks further away. Malva felt as if a gulf were opening up beneath her feet. She let out a terrified yell.
    â€˜Philomena! Philomena!’ she shouted, racing back down to the cabins at desperate speed. ‘They’ve abandoned us! We’re going aground on the reefs! Philomena!’
    Malva ran into the cabin, took hold of her chambermaid and shook her with all her might.
    â€˜Wake up!’ she yelled. ‘We’re sinking!’
    Philomena opened one dull eye. Its pupil seemed extraordinarily dilated.
    â€˜They drugged you!’ Malva suddenly understood. ‘The traitors! They put poison in your wine!’
    Tugging at her chambermaid’s arms, she managed to haul her out of her bunk. The shock of falling on the floor seemed to bring Philomena back to her senses.
    â€˜What are you doing up at this hour?’ she asked in a thick voice.
    Malva took Philomena’s face in her hands. ‘We must get off this ship, Philomena, do you hear? If we don’t we have no chance!’
    â€˜Get off … the ship?’ repeated the young woman. ‘But I … I don’t want to … I can’t swim!’
    Malva slapped her twice, briskly. ‘Wake up! We’re going to die!’
    This time the mist veiling Philomena’s eyes abruptly cleared. A spasm shook her chest. She crawled to the back of the cabin, turned and vomited on the floor. When she had finished she got to her feet, staggering.
    â€˜Hurry, hurry!’ Malva urged. ‘Follow me!’
    Still groggy, Philomena set off after her mistress. The
Estafador
was grinding and creaking now, on the point of breaking up. When they came out on deck the rocks were alarmingly close.
    â€˜Help me!’ Malva ordered. ‘We can float on this!’
    She was trying to lift the open-work wooden grating that covered the central hatch. Philomena lent her a hand, and between them they managed to free the panel of wood. They started the same operation on another hatch cover.
    â€˜And now we must jump!’ said Malva, making for the stern of the ship. Where they stood they were at least ten metres above the waves. The water was boiling against the hull. Pale as death, Philomena clutched her panel of wood to