“No! I don’t want to marry him!” Cordelia whined. Her tangled red hair was all over the place, the smell of sea salt still lingering. “But ma’am, Your father says-” “To hell with what father says! Father says I should stay home all day and take care of this man while he goes out to sea. Father says I need to learn and be more ‘lady-like.’ Well, father, I say I should go out to sea too. And I should choose who I marry! Is that really so unfair Freya?” Freya, the family’s maid (though Cordelia hated that word) was put in a tough position.
“Well, of course that’s fair ma’am. But shouldn’t we at least…Oh I don’t know, settle down? Start planning your life a bit?” It came out more pleading then Freya wanted, but Cordelia was stubborn.
“You’re right. I should settle.” Or was she?
“Well then. That wasn’t so hard.” Freya breathed out a small laugh of relief and sat beside Cordelia on her bed. “I’ll leave this dress here for you to try on, and I’ll help you with the rest in the morning. Fair?” Cordelia sighed and spared a small smile. “Fair.” Freya smiled widely and rubbed the girl's back. “Atta girl! I’ll see you in the morning.” Cordelia nodded as Freya got up and walked to the door. “Good night ma’am.” Freya said with a slight nod of her head.
“Good night.”
Cordelia flopped down onto the bed as the door shut. This wasn’t fair. None of it. She hated being stuck in one place. She hated the man she was betrothed to. He was smelly and old. She rolled over and looked at her dress. It was long, white, and silky. It flowed in the wind nicely and hugged her body in all the right places. “Oh to wear that out at sea” she sighed.
As if on cue, the window broke open and blew a gust of salty sea air into her room. “I wasn’t serious.” She rolled her eyes as she stood to close the window. It was a beautiful clear night. Starry, open sky and seas, that sweet salty air that always stained her hair. Cordelia leaned against the window and smiled dreamily, taking in a deep breath. She looked around at the harbor as all the ships came into shore. All but one.
One of the ships wasn’t cargo, but in fact a pirate. “No!” She gasped, jumping up and giggling. “Oh how exciting! Pirates. In our harbor? Oh it’d be so splendid to be a pirate out at sea…” She glanced over at her dress and gasped again. An evil grin crossed her lips. “Oh I have a terrible idea.”
“Everyone on?” A tall, scruffy looking pirate said. “Wait! Wait, please wait!” He turned to see Cordelia, red hair a tangled mess, her silky dress flowing behind her as she ran. “Please, sir. I want to join you on the sea” Cordelia huffed proudly. She smiled up at the tall man before her, pleading with her eyes that he let her join.
“You?!” He laughed. “Boys, it looks like Little Red here wants to join us. Sorry princess, we won’t be needing that.” He let out another insulting laugh and turned away. Cordelia's face screwed up in disgust at him but she refused to be turned away.
“Listen here you scruffy man.” she said. “I am not going back to marry that disgusting man. I am not a princess either. And you will let me on with you.” The man stopped and turned to face her. He looked annoyed, but slightly impressed.
“Why should we? You ain’t nothin but a girl.” Ugh. Of course he’d go there. Cordelia rolled her eyes and looked around the dock. She noticed they had some old knives and what looked like swords in a crate besides the man.
“Fine.” She sighed.
She kicked the crate, causing the blades to fly into the air leading her to catch one without breaking a sweat. She then held it up to the man and looked him in the eye. “One week with me then you can throw me to the sharks, deal?” The man chuckled and smiled.
