Midnight (DISCONTINUED, INCOMPLETE)

10 || Willow

For as long as Ash could remember, pirates had been one of the main adversaries of port kingdoms such as Volant. Her father had told tales of when he had been a knight and the army had battled against multiple raids from pirates. After being continually unsuccessful, the pirates no longer attacked the mainland, but there were still many ships that reported skirmishes with them. Others never returned.

And unless the stress of past few days had somehow affected her hearing, a pirate had just implied that she was a new member of their crew.

"Excuse me?" She could only gape.

Caspian chuckled, which only made her face hotter. The only comfort was the exasperated sigh from Lorica that seemed to suggest Caspian was acting foolish, even to her.

"I sincerely apologize for Caspian's behavior. I will explain to you what he means." Lorica paused, her eyes narrowing slightly as she peered at Ash. "As long as you explain what is going on with you, that is."

Ash bit her lip. There wasn't about her situation she could explain.

Apparently misunderstanding why she had paused, Lorica said, "We are not your enemy here. We are more familiar with your situation than I am sure you realize, and we can help."

A mental battle raged within Ash. The instant fear of pirates ran rampant, pleading with her to get as far away from them as possible. The other side actually rolled over what they had been saying. The pirates had saved her...

Looking between the two pirates and the lursium, Ash hesitantly took a breath – her shoulders drooped when it still didn't burn – and said, "I'll try."

With a nod and a quick glance at Ash's tail, Lorica turned to Caspian. "I will lead Garman back to the ship. Please carry Miss-"

She paused, turning an upraised brow toward Ash. She gulped, her throat suddenly very dry. It crossed her mind to tell them the false name Sabin had given her, but she mere thought of the name Ella made her stomach roll.

"Ash," she croaked out as she tried to get her nerves to settle. "My name is Ash Crest..." It only occurred to her as she was finishing what name she had given them. It tasted so odd on her lips now, yet delightful at the same time. How had she gone so long without using it?

Lorica nodded her thanks. "Caspian, please carry Miss Crest upstairs. We only have so much longer that she can remain out of water."

What she said took a moment to sink in. Ash had still been relishing in her name, and then her mouth fell open. "Carry me?" she repeated.

With a grin on his face, Caspian knelt beside her. "Don't worry. I'm stronger than I look. I won't drop you," he assured, though that hadn't been what was on her mind. She wasn't thrilled by the idea of being in the arms of a pirate.

Then please proceed. I would love to see you reach the upper deck. Ash's jaw twitched at the point her inner thoughts admittedly had. Warily, she inspected Caspian's figure. The arms of his shirt were loose, but his shoulders were not very broad like a knight's, and even Gareth had not been able to carry her himself.

Her thoughts on the matter did not seem to matter, though, because without waiting for a word from her, Caspian slid his arms under her. Ash's own arms instinctively slid around his neck as he brought her up against his chest. To her surprise, he wasn't even trembling under her new weight.

"See? You're safe in my arms," he said. "I would understand if you did not want to leave them." His eyes glinted mischievously as he spoke. This close, Ash could see the dark shade she had thought they were had been caused by shadows. They were actually a rather pretty shade of amber.