Anne of Survivor

Chapitre Cinq: The Pen & The Sword

Anne woke with a start just as the sun was beginning to paint the sky beautiful. Not knowing what had caused her to waken so abruptly, she sat up on the deck and began to rub the haze from her eyes. Slowly, everything began to come into focus. She released a strained yawn and stood to find out what was happening.

As she approached the group of men standing less than ten feet away, she saw Lindsey at their center. "Morning, Lindsey." Her voice made a few of the men jump. She broke through a side of the masculine wall while rubbing the dull ache in the back of her neck. Sleeping above deck could be hard on your body.

"You know this boy!" Anne couldn't believe that even this early in the morning Kenward was such a grump.

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she decided to ignore the question all together. "Lindsey, please excuse my comrades. I fear they don't socialize outside the crew too often."

"What do you know of what we do and what we do not," Dyson fumed. "Less than a week on board and he thinks he knows everything about us!"

Looking to Dyson, Anne stretched making her voice sound a bit tense... thin. "I know all I wish to know about you, Dyson. Now," she was feeling her mind clearing of the last wisps of dreamy visions, "I employed this young lad to make a few deliveries last night. I told him to find me here when the job had been completed to receive the rest of his pay. I am truly sorry if his presence has alarmed you any way." To her relief, many of the men who'd gathered, took their leave. Kenward did not.

"What sort of delivery was so important that it could not wait until morning," suspicion in his voice.

"My personal affairs have nothing to do with this ship. And if you don't mind, I would like to keep my work and life separate."

"You just make sure they remain so, for if they do mingle, I'll be there to set you... I apologize... things right." He then turned and walked away.

Anne wasn't quite sure how or why Kenward believed he had so much say in what went on aboard the ship. However, unlike Dyson she knew he was not the type to make idle threats, but there was no time to think on it now. Looking at Lindsey, she could tell the young man had been frightened. "Are you all right?"

He nodded and then went into a low graceful bow. Driven by panic, Anne quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him upright. When his eyes shot up to hers, they were full of surprise and a great deal of confusion. Noticing him now, Anne realized his eyes were not dark as she had believed the night before. They were clear. She remembered she had thought of them as pools; she believed now that it had been a very good description. His eyes seemed to be made of liquid. She couldn't tell whether they were blue or green for they were so light in color, but there was a pale green halo about the irises. His hair was very fine and flax colored, and he was rather slim. Feeling anxious, as though she believed he were looking through her and not at her, she tore her eyes from his and looked over his shoulder as she spoke. "I'm sorry about that, but if you haven't noticed people here do not treat me that way." Then, looking at him once more she asked, "Do you have the signature sheet?"

He nodded and reached into his outer most jacket pocket to produce the paper. "Thank you." Anne looked over the sheet to see Laveda's scrawl and her sister's fair hand, then at the bottom the seal of the royal family with the viscount's name next to it. "You've done well."

Lindsey's eyes were trained on her face, silently questioning her. When Anne noticed the question, her breath caught in her throat. She looked away and busied herself with extracting his gold coin from her coat. However, before handing it to him, she forced herself to meet his eyes.