Cursed | Armando Salazar x OC

THIRTEEN

 I step back to admire my handiwork.

The once charred and broken bed in the Great cabin now has a new mattress, the one that used to be in the pirate captain's cabin, to be precise. It has sheets, blankets, pillows, and everything. Although they smell of rum and pipe smoke, I'm looking forward to sleeping on something soft for once and not waking up cold and sore.

To add some character to the cabin, a hammock hangs from the ceiling which I thought is perfect for reading or just relaxing in after another thrilling training session with Magda. I've never had a hammock before, so this is by far the best thing in the room.

To list the other things I found on the pirate ship, there are another ten large barrels of rum, fortunately, some barrels of water, fresh fruit and vegetables, and... actual food that aren't wet or moldy or suspicious. For a bunch of pirates, they certainly know how to dine in style. It makes me wonder how they came to acquire all this food. Bread, cheese - the dry kind - chicken, beef, sausages, jams, milk, cream, biscuits, and even some tiny cakes with cherries on top.

This will last me for weeks and considering how cold it already is here in the Triangle, I'd say it will probably stay fresh longer than it would have on the pirate ship.

But food isn't the only thing I found.

There were books - dry ones - stashed underneath the captain's bed. It doesn't seem as if he read any of them, more like he stole them because he can and then kicked them underneath his bed afterward. There are books on astrology, books on history, books about countries all over the world, books with myths and legends, books about poetry, and books about true love. I cannot wait to read them, all of them.

Besides the books, there were more dresses hidden in a drawer of the captain's room - no doubt stolen, of course. Some are fancy, others are modest, and I certainly found two in my size that fit each category. The modest one looks much like the one I'm currently wearing, except it's a light beige color with a leather corset with floral shapes carved into it. The fancy one is a dark blue color, so dark it almost appears black. The riffles at the bottom of the sleeves are the same shade as seafoam, and the skirt is adorned with sewn-in white beads that remind me of pearls.

I'm slowly starting to wonder if the pirates got all of this from a merchant's ship perhaps.

However, keeping my training with Magda in mind and recalling all the times this dress caused me to slip and fall, I had to find an alternative attire for those lessons. And that's when I came upon the dead pirate. He was slightly on the short and scrawny side, not nearly as brutish as his crewmates, and he wore a pair of leather trousers and a loose white shirt. Luckily, nothing was blood stained and I deemed the outfit suitable for sword practice.

And let's not forget the boots - I found boots that fit! Adiós, heels and aching feet!

My admiring of the new objects gets interrupted once three knocks sound at the door. Knowing that thumping is the Capitán's signal, I cross the room to answer the door myself.

"Lesaro," my mood brightens even more, "this is a surprise. Please, come in." Only when he steps past me, do I notice the bucket of salt water in his hand, "And this?"

"As ordered by the Capitán, señorita," he says and places the bucket on the table, "He said it's for the cut on your neck. May I see it perhaps?"

"Oh..." By now, it shouldn't come as a surprise when a bucket of water is delivered to the cabin for me to heal myself with. However, usually, it's Magda who sends it. Hearing that the Capitán ordered it this time, I dare to say made my heart beat slightly faster. Remembering his question, I say, "Oh, yes, of course."