A Hidden Queen

Chapter 26

Joe covers her mouth, as a sob rakes through her body. She lifts her tear-stained face enough to see that her uncle was no longer in sight. She drops her head back against the pillow, allowing her tears to run freely. My Queen. That was what her father called her. The use of the simple nickname claws at Joe's heart. She was home; she could feel that deep within her bones. This was her family! And yet she was trying to run from them! Joe rolls over to her back, staring up at the ceiling.

She has been treated better here than she has the last three years with her grandfather. The Governor was not an overly affected man to begin with, and with Joe fighting him at every turn, it did not make their relationship the most lovable. And then there was James. Charlie, a man she cannot even pretend to know, has shown more affection for her in a simple smile than James has for the past year they have been together. Her faces twists angrily as she thinks about how he treated her on the ship. Why was she giving her heart to him and risking everything to get back to him? She thinks bitterly.

Joe huffs, turning back over onto her side. She glares angrily at the rolled-up maps sitting by the desk. Was she so loyal that she could not bring herself to walk away from that relationship? Or. Joe pauses, sighing heavily. Or was it that she could not bring herself to tear down walls she had so expertly built over the years to allow her uncle and his crew to reach her?

"What if he leaves me again and never returns?" Joe whispers sadly.

She fists the pillow, burying her face into the fabric. Now she was really in a tug of war. She felt she owed it to her grandfather and James to get back to them. Despite neither of them deserving such loyalty from her. But her heart yearned to be here, amongst her uncle's crew. She longs to be on the ocean and a ship. It felt right, felt like she finally belonged. Joe groans as her tears increase. How is she to choose which family to stay with?