by Marcy Lynn
“You haven’t suffered anything!”
“What!” She spat out. Her voice did sound hysterical now, but she didn’t care. “You pulled a sword out ready to cut me down! Don’t you dare say I haven’t suffered! I’ve suffered this whole trip! I just wanted to go North and find my sister!”
He took another step towards her.
She took one back.
“Don’t come near me Derek. I mean it.” She warned, she felt the energy building wildly inside her chest. If it expelled now, it would rock the ship. She didn’t know how but it would. Elanor had never felt her power build so much before.
“Then go back into the cabin until you’ve calmed down enough to talk reasonably.” He said as though she were a child. Her first thought was to yell at him some more, but instead turned on her heel sharply, slamming the door behind her.
He didn’t come and bother her the rest of the evening. Smartly done on his part since even the sight of him would have ignited her fury again. Elanor ignored the door when Steppe knocked later as well. When it got late enough, she changed out of the altered dress and into the vest. She didn’t want to argue with him when he did finally come in. Her anger had subsided to disappointment. A misery pressed down on her chest, threatening to squeeze her breath completely away. He’d pulled a sword out and meant to use it. How could he believe she would use a knife on Steppe or anyone for that matter.
Would he have stabbed her with the sword? It felt like such a betrayal. One that didn’t make sense and did at the same time. Torn in two over the concept of Derek being in her life again and the fact that he shouldn’t be. It made it worse to bear to think he honestly believed her to be his prisoner. It was then, that moment, she realized fully that it was real.
She was his prisoner.
Elanor didn’t want to sleep next to him. Didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Lying on the window seat, she watched the stars in the sky. Maybe her punishment had manifested finally. The loneliness and sorrow wrapped around her like a dark, suffocating blanket. It would be just for her to be tortured by the very thing that had kept her from being in the carriage that night. She’d set off from the protection of her Grandmother’s magically veiled country side village Sweetlace to look for Meagan; trying to make up for the wrong. It seemed fate found her too late in acting, thrusting her into this journey.
She didn’t know if she were strong enough to see it all through. To do what she needed to find her sister. But Elanor wouldn’t give up. She couldn’t. She vowed to find a way.
Chapter ten
Derek tried to be quiet when he opened the door to the cabin.
As he’d done the last time they were in a disagreement, he’d waited until it had gotten late enough before going to bed. He had listened to moaning of the men for the rest of the day. Some were worried about him making her angry, and her carrying through with her threat.
He promised them if anyone would pay for her anger- it would be himself.
Some took what he said as good enough, others did counter curse methods. The crew from all parts of the world had different belief systems. Some didn’t believe in anything. The worst of it wasn‘t his men though, it had been Caspin harassing him all night about being a coward and not facing her. Derek could only keep taking it on the shoulder that one. He didn’t know what to do about it. He really didn’t want to see that look on her face again. Seeing it the first time had knocked the air from his lungs.
Too late he realized he’d grabbed his sword on reflex seeing the knife.
Usually when a blade is drawn, you pulled yours or you could count yourself dead. He’d have explained it all to her when it happened, but he could see she wasn’t interested in listening. Derek didn’t blame her. They were on rocky terms as it were and a sword pointed at her didn’t help it smooth out. He just wished there was a way to explain all this so she’d understand.
He wasn’t surprised to see her on the window seat again. That had been a given that she’d defy him the only way she could. Though, he was surprised by the sight of the dress now neatly hanging off one of the chairs. He rubbed his face with a hand, sitting in the chair.
“I don’t want you near me. I’m staying right here.”
His hand lowered from his face, her back was turned to him, lying on her side. “Since you’re awake- we’ll talk about today.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Then I’ll do the talking. I wasn’t going to actually use the sword on you, Elanor. I wanted to know what was taking Steppe so long to come back and tell me why you hadn’t come out of the room yet. I come up decks, you’ve got a knife in your hand. When I see steel, it’s just… instinct. Even if you were desperate enough to use it and I’m not saying you would, I’d just taken the knife from you. I would never use a sword against you.”
She lay quiet for a long time. Maybe he would need to explain more about life at sea. That might make her understand.
“Did you punish Steppe?” She asked running her fingers over her moonstone pendant.
“Yes I did.” He answered.
She let her necklace go and flipped over to face him. “But he didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Elanor, Steppe’s a pup. He’s still learning how to be part of a sea crew. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t going to turn that knife on him or not. He should have come to me and made sure I knew you had the knife. That’s his duty on my ship.” He said. “It’s his duty to let me know what is going on.”
“But I asked him to trust me, as a friend. It was my fault he didn’t come to you. If I wasn’t considered your prisoner, this wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Are you? Are you changing your mind? Are you a willing passenger on my ship?”
“No.”
“Then he has to treat you as though you are looking for any way to escape. What if you did turn that knife on him? Do you honestly think I could live with myself if he died because I didn’t teach him right?” She started to talk but he cut her off again. “It doesn’t matter if you were or were not going to stab him.”
Her lips pressed thinly together.
“Do you understand any of this Elanor?”
“I think I can understand some of what you’re saying.” She said begrudgingly. “But I don’t think there is any harm in him trusting me. I appreciated him letting me fix my dress. Punishing him for treating me decently- I take offense to.”
He slammed his hand down on the table.
“Damn it Elanor, why must you be so stubborn? I had to teach him a lesson in protocol of a ship. He knows he’s to report to me and didn’t. Whether he could or could not trust you is not the issue. I was teaching him. I am teaching him.” Derek barked. “I will not apologize for that.”
“Then don’t.” Her brown eyes stared unblinking before turning back over to put her back to him. After a moment, Derek got to his feet walking around his desk to sit down next to her. He didn’t speak or move for a long time. Just sat near her, thinking. Derek let his fingers touch her shoulder then trace a path down to her elbow. Her skin warm and soft. He could tell her feelings were hurt, could feel it physically. It brought out the old feelings of wanting to fix whatever he could to make it better for her.
He sighed. “I am sorry for scaring you with the sword.”
“I wasn’t scared.”
“Then I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I thought we’d finally found a truce today.” He admitted.
“So did I. But you didn’t truly believe we had. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have thought I was going to viciously gut your cabin boy for helping me.” He could hear the hurt in her voice now. Derek leaned to kiss where his fingers had traced. The bow of her shoulder down to her elbow, coaxing.
“I made a mistake.”
“People often make mistakes, Derek. It doesn‘t matter in any case. I‘m just your prisoner.”
He kissed her shoulder again, rubbing his face against her skin. “It‘s true that people do make mistakes. But when a
person makes a mistake, they try to make up for it somehow.”
She twisted to lie on her back again. The moon cast beams of light in through the window. It shadowed and highlighted her face. Brown hair framed ivory skin in waves of silk, she looked like a painting.
Today when they’d talked about old times, she’d laughed with him for the first time since they’d been on board. He wanted to get that back. He’d give her anything just to see her smile at him again. Anything she wanted, she could have. He’d rob and steal every Port nearby to give it to her.
“Stealing my Father’s ship was a mistake. Making my family believe I was lost to Barbary pirates… Derek, that isn’t right. You have to bring me back.”
He felt the disappointment deeply, making his tone sharp.
“You know I’m not going to do that.”
“I will not stop demanding it.”
“It’s not your place to demand.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a timed exhale; trying to regain his patience. “We have been over that. What is it going to take for us to call the truce again, Elanor?”
Her face stone, it seemed nothing would come to mind. He saw a flicker of motion and then she sighed too. “You could give me my trunk. I would feel better if my things were not in danger of being rifled through.”
“If I give you your trunk, you’ll forgive me for today?” He asked.
“I guess I must if it means my things returned to me- and I don’t have to walk about without clothes.”
Derek smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal then.” He felt his own smile grow at the sight of her reluctant smile of truce. They weren’t any further then they’d gotten this afternoon, but at least he didn’t feel like they were back to being miles apart either.
“It’s late.” Derek got up to shed his vest and pants off throwing them both into the corner on the chest. She hadn’t moved off the window seat.
He decided not to raise his voice at her again, instead tease her into action. “So, my darling, changed your mind after all? You fancy sleeping that close to me eh? Just as well. Your shout of hexes has everyone riled on the ship. I promised to watch you closely for any signs of truth.”
He watched her fine brows narrow in the moon beams. “I… what?”
“Well either you move to the bed or I sleep with you on the window seat. There isn’t much room there, so you and I will have to manage it.” He pretended to think about how they could do that. “Ah, I’ll lay down first and you can straddle my hips, lying on top. We’ll fit that way.” His double meaning didn’t go unnoticed. She flashed him a dirty look getting up off the window seat. He gave her a cheeky smile.
“It’s getting pretty warm at night. You should stop wearing my vest to bed.” He said after they got into bed. It had been an innocent observation. He didn’t intend for it to be included in his earlier teasing. But she pinned him with another look.
“I am serious Elanor. If you took it off we could cover up with the thin blanket I have. It will be more comfortable than sweating all night.” At first she ignored the conversation, lying down on the bed without taking off the vest. He shrugged, getting into the bed as well. He’d already told himself she’d be awake and willing the next time they kissed, so she had no fears of him taking advantage. She must have thought better of it when he pulled the blanket over them both because she sat up and pulled the vest off. He openly stared at her breasts until she lay back down.
“What? I didn’t say I wouldn’t enjoy the view. I just said you would be more comfortable.” He defended against the next dirty look. Slowly he eased next to her, curling around her body with his own. He was pleased that she didn’t push on him for room between them.
“This wasn’t part of the deal either.”
His right arm moved around her waist to hug her close to him. He murmured against her neck, “Next time, I’m making it part of the deal.” He didn’t have to say what part of it. His erection against her bottom told her exactly what.
“No you will not.” She said pulling away from him.
“Yes, I will.” He said pulling her back into place.
Soon sleep started to relax their bodies but for a moment Elanor tensed.
“I shouted.” He didn’t like how fear sounded from those two words.
Derek rubbed her shoulder and patted it before letting it rest again. “They’re not all Seekers and even the ones who are… have open minds and a sense of humor. There will be no demands for you to hang or burn. I would never let that happen, ever.” The tension didn’t ease out of her body for a long time but when it finally did he had a spark of hope that she trusted her safety to him. That she felt safe. He could feel her even breaths of sleep and let himself start to drift as well.
“Someday, we won’t have to make deals anymore.” He vowed to himself.
Chapter eleven
An urgent knocking woke Derek up first, but Elanor wasn’t but a moment after him.
She watched sleepy eyed as he open the door just a crack to speak to whomever had woken them. Closing the door, he got dressed.
“Sail came loose, got to put it right or else we’ll lose a day.”
He yawned putting his leg in his pants before pulling them up.
“You can come out. Don’t pick on my crew while you’re out there though.” A teasing grin flashed before he kissed her temple and left.
Pick on his crew? They probably blamed her for the sail coming undone. She had actually fostered that thought by yelling in anger. She’d never hexed anyone before and certainly never openly yelled it as a threat to a whole crowd before either.
In theory, she could do very powerful spells as other fifth fold witches could do in their generation. But since the star seekers had attacked and tried to wipe out all casters and a possible witch hunter had targeted her family; she honestly didn’t dare to conjure up anything. What had she been thinking? Yelling such an absurd and dangerous thing to a crew of strangers? Would they try and act out of fear? Would Derek allow that to happen?
She sighed, since she was already awake, might as well get out of bed too. The dress tugged over her head, a running of fingers through her hair and out the door she went.
The sea air felt so wonderful. For a moment she forgot every trouble she ever had. The sun had just started to peak over the water, a beautiful mauve and blue flare painted the sky. Salt and moisture felt energizing.
Standing at the rail, she took in the horizon. Below came a chattering call from the waves, drawing her attention down. Dolphins skipped along the break water of the ship.
“Good morning!” She called down to them. It was answered with more chattering calls. A grin wide as her face formed. Freedom of being outside again almost made her giddy. She watched the dolphins pushing out of the water and diving in again until they disappeared from sight.
When she pulled herself back from leaning over the rail, she noticed the crew shouting things back and forth from the higher reign of the sails. The sun had come up enough now that she had to shield her eyes to look at them. The way they moved about intrigued her as much as the dolphins had. She didn’t see Derek among them though and after a while of searching realized that part of the mizzen sails blocked her view. They sagged, blowing in the breeze freely.
Taking a few steps forward, she tried to get a better look. It still not high enough though and made her way up as far as she dared before actually going to the stern deck. Her father had been very strict about her and her sisters staying off that deck.
That was where the wheel rested. The helmsman who steered the ship had to stay focused. As did the crewman whom watched the wind’s direction or the ship delayed in its pace.
She still didn’t see Derek. Disappointed she gave up and decided to go back the way she came.
“You can come up and watch them if you like.”
She stopped in mid-step. Elanor took the steps until eye level with the deck. She looked through the guard rail to see who had spoke, smiling. “Good day. You
don’t mind?” She asked recognizing Derek’s first mate, Caspin.
“Not at all. As long as you don’t stand to my right or in front of me, it won’t be a problem.” She minded the places he’d said to stay out of, standing to his left a little behind him.
“Thank you. As you know, I’m Elanor” She said formally introducing herself.
He nodded in response, keeping his eyes trained.
“Call me Caspin.”
The wind ravished on this deck. It whipped and whooped. Turned and tossed. The dress lay flat to her in one direction and then shifted with the change of the wind to plaster against her in another. The men working on the sails didn’t seem bothered at all by it. She admired their ability to do so. Her hair flew in her mouth, smacked her face painfully at times. The wind sometimes even made her teeter on her feet causing her to hang onto the guard rail.
It must take a lot of strength to be a sailor. Her gaze darted from man to man looking for Derek. Even from this height she couldn’t find him. Perhaps he had gone below decks. Elanor settled for watching the rest of them put the sail back into place.
The wind slowed and then suddenly gave a big burst of air. It nearly knocked her over. “You can stand in the corner there between the two rails, you won’t be in the way and the wind won’t knock you down.” Caspin offered. She moved into the left hand corner of the stern deck. The two rails connecting gave her support on each side, so when the wind gusted it only pressed her harder into the rail.
“Thank you, please let me know if I am in the way.”
“You’re welcome. We’re not at the tricky area yet, so you’re fine.” She didn’t know what he meant by tricky, but didn’t ask in respect of his concentration. Derek had climbed up on the mainmast, and now came into view. She watched his muscles flex with the effort to hold a rope while giving orders to a few men above him. If he heard her thoughts he’d be impossible to deal with, but he looked impressive up there.
His back and arms were well defined. His skin bronzed from being in the sun. She took advantage of the fact he was unaware of her watching to trace every single inch of him. No harm in taking advantage of his distraction. He would only misunderstand her interest. The wind did another burst of air, making her lean forward fearfully when Derek almost lost footing. One of the men above him did and had to be pulled back up by the other while he dangled by a rope he held onto.