by Monica Hahn
Catarina was pretty sure Mikel was, like her, torn between amusement and exasperation by this time. He was saved, however, by Tarik striding into the room, walking up to Mikel and saying, clearly, “If anyone disrespects Mikel’s wife in any fashion, they will walk the plank.”
Then Tarik bowed towards Catarina and didn’t even stay to see Mikel nimbly dismount from the chair, as he went to get a plate as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Throughout her meal, Catarina began to be interrupted by the crew members coming up to her and introducing themselves, very politely, under Mikel’s watchful eye. She was gracious with the introductions, even those that stumbled over apologizing for wanting to throw her overboard.
She wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or amused by this, and so maintained an air of solemn forgiveness. Every now and then, she felt Mikel’s approving gaze on her, and it made her feel tingly. She so seldom had felt approval in her life.
Teddy sat there through all of this, his eyes worshipfully on her face, his plate untouched. As it had been almost empty when she arrived, she didn’t worry that he might go hungry, but his gaze was a bit disconcerting. It wasn’t until she daintily patted her lips with a napkin for the last time, that Teddy, who had apparently been gathering up his courage this whole time said, “Mikel, could I show Catarina around the ship?”
Mikel looked from the boy’s eager face to Catarina’s, and nodded, feeling every bit of his years. He glanced at Joey.
“I’ll keep an eye on both of them,” Joey said, and the reassurance that they would be watched over relieved Mikel immensely.
He nodded at Joey, and Teddy broke out in a big smile and jumped up to offer Catarina his hand. Catarina was a little nervous about accepting this for Teddy’s sake, but Mikel’s indulgent expression reassured her that he didn’t consider Teddy a threat.
The reason for this became clear during the tour of the ship, where Teddy’s constant artless chatter revealed a much younger mental state than his teenage body would indicate. And she realized that Joey’s watchdog presence was as much for Teddy’s sake as her own. Although from what she saw, all of the gruff seamen interacted with Teddy in a good-natured teasing way, and without any indication that they found him wanting.
“You seem like a big help around here,” she said, as Teddy showed her another deck and explained in detail the best way to scrub it.
“I’m the best cabin boy that the Quest has ever had,” Teddy said proudly. “That’s what Tarik says.”
“It’s true,” said Joey, who wasn’t much of a talker. “Teddy works hard, and climbs the rigging like a monkey.”
“The rigging?”
Joey indicated the tall mast, up to the crow’s nest, and Catarina smiled.
“That looks dangerous, Teddy!”
“Oh, it’s easy,” Teddy said. “I could show you how.”
“I’m sure her ladyship wasn’t planning on learning to climb rigging,” Joey said.
“I am now,” Catarina said, and meant it.
Chapter Fourteen
Mikel was proud of how easily his wife had adapted to her changed circumstances. Although he knew it couldn’t have been easy transitioning from a sheltered background into the rough and ready life aboard a merchant ship, especially considering the trauma in-between, Catarina flourished. She bartered with one of the cabin boys that was about her size to obtain a set of boy’s clothes that she tailored to fit her better. She cajoled a couple of crusty old seamen into showing her how to tie knots, and Teddy into helping her learn to climb the rigging, and soon she was a regular sea monkey.
Mikel kept a watchful eye on her, but generally from a distance. The first time he saw her up in the crow’s nest, his heart leapt into his throat, and he had a hard time breathing until she was safely on deck again, but he did nothing to dissuade her antics. Occasionally she would join him in the captain’s room, to pore over maps with him, or at the helm when he had the wheel. She was becoming an adequate sailor and, he realized with amusement, the Quest’s mascot. She also seemed genuinely happy.
And Catarina wasn’t the only happy one. Mikel was happier than he ever had been before. Now he had not only the adventure of the sea, the comradeship with his men, and his close relationship with Tarik, but Catarina as his wife. If asked before, he probably would have revolted against the idea of such a responsibility, but Catarina was so truly delightful that he could no longer imagine his life being complete without her. He wondered if she would adapt as easily to being a queen.
Despite the strangeness of their wedding, they had settled into a peaceful routine in the first two and a half weeks. Then the Quest was attacked. At the sighting of another ship, Mikel’s first action was to find Catarina.
She was tossing dice with Mr. Freyer, and it looked like she was winning. She was in a dress for the occasion, and Mikel’s heart stopped with the sight of her, as it always did. He thought his wife was absolutely the most beautiful woman in the world. She laughed at something Mr. Freyer said, then looked up. When she saw Mikel, her eyes lit up.
“Mikel,” she said, and he grinned at her before remembering he had a mission.
“Catarina, I need you to go to your cabin, and stay there, please,” he said. “Immediately.”
All traces of amusement disappeared, then her eyes narrowed with speculation. “What’s happening?” she asked.
“Possible attack,” he said. “In which case the deck can be a dangerous place.”
“I have been training with a cutlass,” she teased, which made Mikel grimace.
She abandoned the teasing. “Very well,” she said. “You’ll let me know when it’s safe again?”
He nodded, and she turned to Mr. Freyer. “It appears we will have to postpone our game,” she said.
“A lucky move for me, perhaps,” he said. “Although of course I will miss you.”
Mikel moved in closer and helped her up. The bell clanged, and he stiffened.
“What’s that?” Catarina asked.
A cannon ball whistled, and Mikel gripped his wife’s hand and took off as quickly as he could towards their cabin. She held on tightly and ran with him, laughing as they dodged crew members in various stages of readiness.
“Lock the door,” Mikel said, once they reached their destination.
Catarina clung tightly to him for a moment, and then kissed his cheek. “Be safe,” she said, and shut the door between them.
Mikel stood there stunned for a second, before he grinned at himself and raced topside to see what Tarik’s plan was.
Tarik was surprisingly mellow about his first mate being nowhere at the first sign of trouble, but Mikel realized that was partly because the other ship, after launching a couple of shots, had apparently decided not to challenge them after all and was scurrying away.
“Well, that was easy,” Mikel said, not sounding nearly as disappointed by the outcome as he normally would have been.
Tarik quirked a brow at him. “You’re becoming tame, lad,” he said. “Housebroken by a slip of a girl.”
Mikel thought about denying it, but Tarik was probably correct. He’d never had that reaction to a possible fight before, pure terror at the thought of anything happening to his love. Before it had always thrilled him, the chance to test his mettle and beat another opponent. Fear was a new emotion, and a strange one, but surprisingly not unwelcome. It was somehow comforting to have someone to worry about. Although he did love Tarik, and there was an unbreakable bond there, worry was not something he ever felt for the older pirate.
“Maybe I’m just getting too old to enjoy the fighting,” Mikel said.
Tarik laughed. “I’d still blame Catarina,” he said. “Where is the little firebrand? I’m surprised she’s not up here waving around that cutlass of hers.”
“I sent her to the cabin,” Mikel said. “And I’d better go tell her it’s safe, or she’ll be waving that thing at me.”
He headed off to the cabin with Tarik’s laug
h roaring in his ears.
*****
Catarina wasn’t angry yet, but she was anxious. She was pacing when she heard Mikel’s knock at the door. She took a deep breath of relief. “Yes?” she called out.
“They chickened out,” Mikel said. “No danger.”
Catarina wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or disappointed at the news. She unlocked the door and opened it. Mikel grinned at her, and she felt the same urge she usually did to fling her arms around him and hold on tight. But she squelched it, like she always did. She was glad he was safe, though. As much as she loved the thought of adventure and excitement, she’d rather he didn’t get hurt, and she’d seen enough to know that he’d had plenty of close calls, considering the scars on his body.
“I should probably resume my dice game, then,” she said. “More gold to be won.”
Mikel laughed and formally extended his arm to her. She tucked her hand inside it and leaned just a little against him as they traversed the narrow corridor. “You weren’t supposed to come warn me,” Catarina said, as they emerged onto the deck. She’d been thinking about this as she waited in her cabin. “You had other duties to attend to, more important things to do.”
Mikel took the hand she’d given him and raised it to his lips with that effortless courtly grace that should seem so out of place with him and never did. He had style. “Attending to you is my most important duty,” he said, his entire face serious for once. “You’re my wife and mine to protect.”
Catarina melted at his words. Their eyes locked, and Catarina’s breath caught at the emotion that she read in Mikel’s. She opened her mouth to say something, although she had no idea what, but Mr. Freyer came bustling up right then, and Mikel let go of her and stepped back.
“Catarina, my dear, so happy to see you unharmed,” Mr. Freyer blustered.
Catarina curved her lips upward, although it would have been a reach to call it a smile. “I don’t know as I was in any real danger,” she said. “And of course, if I was, my husband is a very capable protector.”
Mr. Freyer cast a look at Mikel, who was looking mildly amused. “Naturally, naturally,” he said. “We all feel safer with Mikel around. And Tarik, of course.”
“Why you trusted your cargo to them, I would imagine,” Catarina said, demurely. “Now, were you ready to lose some more?”
Mr. Freyer wiped his brow. “Not immediately, my dear. I find I’m rather upset by recent events and would like to lie down for a bit. You understand, of course?”
Catarina’s lips twitched, but she nodded and wished him a restful nap. He lumbered below. Catarina turned to Mikel. “Am I supposed to need to lie down because we were almost in danger?” she asked him, teasingly. “I would hate to think that a merchant is more full of feminine vapors than me!”
Mikel laughed. “I thank Neptune that you’re more sensible than that!” he said. “You never would have survived this far if you were anywhere near as missish as Mr. Freyer has proven himself to be. I admire your fortitude, my charming wife.”
Catarina dimpled at him. “Since I’m now out a partner, would you care to toss dice with me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, but are you feeling up to a game of cards?”
She practically danced with glee. He had never played with her, even though she’d often asked him to. “Yes!” she said.
They played the rest of the afternoon, with jeweled hairpins to keep score. Mikel was definitely the more experienced player, and he was calculating and smart, but Catarina won a few rounds by relying on luck. When Mikel pointed out that she shouldn’t have counted on the odds, she just fingered her stack of hairpins and grinned at him. He conceded that occasionally it paid off to gamble.
Dinner that night was a bit more boisterous than usual. There was a lot of disappointment expressed about the craven cowardice of the ship that had turned tail. These were men that liked to fight, and appreciated that the spoils were divided up between them all. But, even though they would have been rich by now had they not squandered all their earnings at each port they docked at, none of them would trade this life. It was the call of the sea, and the excitement and danger that kept them all addicted to sailing with Tarik.
*****
Bedtime had also become a routine, of sorts, and this night was no different. Mikel waited for Catarina to get ready and slip into the bunk, then he came in to undress in the dark and settle in on the hard floor. It was then that they would talk, usually for hours, filling the intimacy of darkness with more heartfelt conversations than they ever could have managed elsewhere. Mikel generally let Catarina start their conversations, but he was still feeling unsettled by the near miss of earlier.
“Were you scared?” he asked, abruptly.
“When?” Catarina asked, her light tone suggesting that she had already forgotten the incident.
Mikel grinned at this. “Today,” he said, “when I told you we were under attack.”
“Not very,” she said. “I trust you to protect me.” He could hear her shift around on the bunk, and then her hand came off the edge and patted around his face until he reached up and held it. “Besides,” she said, “I doubt that Tarik is planning on breaking his winning streak anytime soon.”
Mikel squeezed her hand slightly. “Are you always so brave?” he asked.
Although his tone had been teasing, he could feel Catarina’s hand stiffen a moment in his, and she took a moment before replying. When he thought about what he’d asked, he felt like banging his head against the bunk. She had been abducted and chained up in the bowels of a filthy ship, with no hope of anything but a future as a sex slave. Which he didn’t think about a lot, partly because she seemed so unaffected by it all, and partly because the thought of it made him quite murderous.
“Not always,” she said. “Before, when you saved me? I was planning on killing myself as soon as I had the chance.”
The absolute sincerity in her voice left no doubt of her veracity. Mikel closed his eyes, and felt an unexpected wetness there. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had even come close to tears, but the thought of what Catarina must have endured affected him. He cleared his throat. “You’re safe now,” he said, not sure what else to say.
“I know.” There was silence in the cabin, and then she started talking, almost in a monotone, but the words tumbled out of her quickly, as if she had to let them go. She told him of being taken from the market, and then of her short stay in the little hovel. She explained about her brief moment of freedom and then described her utter despair when she was on the other ship. She glossed over most of the incident where she bit a man’s ear off, but said enough that Mikel had a pretty clear picture, and spoke of her relief when Johan and Seb had returned just in time.
“I was either too cold or hot,” she said. “And filthy and tired and uncomfortable. Every part of me ached. When that ship was being boarded, I thought it might be scuttled, and I was wishing that I would be on it when it was. Drowning seemed so peaceful compared to facing any more ill-intentioned men. But then you came. And when you looked at me you just saw another human being in trouble, and you were so upset about my treatment. I knew I’d be safe with you.”
She finally relaxed her grip on Mikel’s hand, and slowly the circulation returned. He barely noticed that, though, still thinking about her story. She had come so close to irreparable harm, and his throat was tight and his chest ached. He turned and sat up, to release her hand and find her face unerringly in the dark. She was lying on her stomach, her face turned towards him, and he cradled her cheek with his hand, then trailed slowly down her neck to stroke her upper back comfortingly.
“Can you see in the dark?” she asked, her voice suspiciously too bright.
He chuckled, respecting her change of mood. “Pretty well,” he said.
He used his large hand around the back of her neck to massage out some of the tension. “Do you think about it often?” he asked, his tone serious again.
S
he sighed, though whether it was from the question or the light massage, he didn’t know. “No,” she said. “Mostly at night, when there’s nothing else to distract me, and then it all comes back. But, you’re here then, and that helps.”
Mikel suddenly understood why Catarina was so talkative at night. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’m here,” he said. “Get some sleep, my lady.”
Catarina yawned. “Yes, Your Highness,” she said, and he could tell from her change of breathing that she really had just fallen asleep.
He sat there, the sound of the title he hadn’t heard in years ringing in his ears. Of course, she didn’t know that he really was a prince. She was just teasing because of his autocratic tone. But it made him think about some of the things that he’d been repressing. When he had first left home, he hadn’t really considered the practicalities of returning someday. He’d always intended to, somehow, but only when he had become some sort of hero. He’d never really had a plan besides sailing into the harbor as the captain of his own big ship, and grandly offering his mother the opportunity to sail away with him. From what he’d been hearing about Tibercon lately, though, and especially with what Catarina had so succinctly stated, it was in a bad state. And he hadn’t forgotten all the lessons of duty to kingdom that his grandfather had drilled into his head during his childhood. Maybe when he took Catarina back, she wouldn’t have to leave him because he wouldn’t leave her. It might be time to stop running and confront his destiny. He wondered how Catarina would react to suddenly being his princess. He smiled at the thought. She would make a wonderful queen. But, he couldn’t say anything yet, not until he had a real plan in place—and he needed to know if his grandfather would still recognize his claim to the throne. He fell asleep, scheming.
*****
“Do you think our mothers miss us?” Catarina asked the next night, after she had been quiet for long enough that Mikel had thought she was asleep.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“If we miss them, then they should miss us,” Catarina said.