The sound of exhausted hoofbeats stopped just as the dawn light touched the horizon of the Indian Ocean. Julian and Adrian dismounted with bodies trembling from sheer exhaustion. Their clothes were tattered, their faces dull with dust and sweat, but their eyes ignited when they saw a woman standing in front of an old wooden shack.
Raden Ajeng Sekartaji (Ibu Siti) ran to embrace both her sons. No words were spoken, only tears of gratitude breaking amidst the roar of the waves. Anne Marie followed behind, hugging her brother and looking at Julian with a gaze now filled with respect.
"You are alive..." Siti whispered, touching Julian's and Adrian's faces in turn. "The ancient prayers were finally heard."
However, the emotional moment was interrupted when a shadow emerged from behind the mangrove thickets. Julian immediately grew alert, his hand reaching for the machete handle at his waist. But he froze when he saw who stepped out.
Kartika stood there, still wearing her lurik kebaya, now stained with mud. Beside her, a woman in practical sailor's clothes and a sharp gaze stood calmly—Elena, the smuggler who had been serving as a spy in the harbor.
"Don't attack, Julian. It was Elena who brought us through Friedrich's naval blockade," Kartika said, her voice raspy from lack of sleep.
Elena took a step forward, looking at Julian and Adrian with a thin smile. "Van de Berg blood is indeed stubborn. I have prepared a fast ship behind those reefs. We don't have much time before the Dutch steam patrols reach this coast."
Inside the cramped shack, the six souls gathered around a single dim oil lamp. Julian looked at Kartika, realizing her sacrifice. "You risked everything at the palace, Kartika. Why did you come here?"
"Because that palace is dead to me, Young Master," Kartika answered firmly. "The future is not in Batavia. The future lies in what we will build after this."
Adrian stared at the sea chart Elena spread across the weathered wooden table. "Where do we go? Friedrich will not stop searching for us."
"To the east, toward lands not yet fully touched by the company," Elena replied. "Or perhaps across the ocean. As long as we are together, Friedrich is only chasing ghosts."
That night, at the edge of the vast ocean, they were no longer frightened fugitives. They were a new family—a Dutch prince, a leader of the people, an exiled royal princess, a brave girl, a loyal spy, and a free sea captain.
The sunrise at Pelabuhan Ratu was not an end, but the dawn of a resistance that had only just begun.
Culture & Language Notes
Samudra Hindia: The Indian Ocean, often seen as a symbol of the infinite and the unknown, contrasting with the controlled environment of Batavia.