The Fallen Stars

Chapter 17 Esme

I awoke from someone yelling.
I open my eyes slowly.
And they take a while to adjust.
As I look against the wall, it's a wooden wall.
I can smell the ocean. And I can hear the waves crashing.
I turn on my back slowly, and the roof is also wooden planks.
Someone walks above me, mumbled voices from above.
My bed is quite comfortable and has a dark wooden canopy.
I turn to my right side. Wooden planks are the floor, the walls, the ceiling.

I'm on the pirate ship.

I shot up too quickly that my head gets an instant headache.
Big blury windows cover the other side of the wall. Showing the dark blue ocean. A big wooden wardrobe on the left side of the window.
And a table full of old papers and scrolls.
I look behind me. There is a lifted floor with railings and a king-sized bed, with a desk and a chair.
And behind me is shelving with nooks and cranies.

I'm alone in the room.

I rip the blankit off of me, my leg has a plank on each side, tied with rope, it's rapped with an off-white fabric... but it has a blood stain where my knee is. I pull the blankit back over me.

What should I do?
Run... my leg is broken.
I fall back in bed.
I'm in deep...
Why hasn't Ainsley come and save me yet?
Has he come?
As I asked these questions silently, the door suddenly opened, and I immediately closed my eyes.
Pretending to sleep.
Foot steps come next to me, then stops for a brief moment.
Then he walks on.

I'm in the Captain's courters.

I can hear him near his desk.
He starts a vaguely familiar tune.
"Maid on the shore." He sings softly.
I slowly try to turn to my side, but the bed gives me away with a crack.
He stays quiet for a few seconds.
"You have a tell, you know? You are a terrible fake sleeper." He states.
I stay quiet, clenching my jaw.
"Ah! Acting as if you're still asleep when you are already caught." He chuckles.

I start to get annoyed by him.

"And what is my tell?" I ask angrely, sitting up and looking at him.

He's wearing black pants, with a loose red long sleeve shirt. He has a thick dark brown leather belt. With a pistol on each side and a dagger on his left and a sword on his right. His hair is in a small man bun, but a few loose pieces his dangling on the sides.
He stares at me from where he is standing.
And that stare goes right into a person's soul.
"For two days, you have been laying in one position... and your eyes move too fast for sleeping ones. Your breathing was a bit quick as well. So you're a terrible actress." He explains.
I sit in my bed or his bed, I don't know, dumbfoundedly.
"See, I'm right." He says, looking back at his desk.
"I didn't say anything." I protest.
"Silence can also be an answer." He says, not looking at me.

"Has Ainsley come for me?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yes. But you have a broken leg... so for that, you must stay with us pirates." He amswers nonchalantly.
"Was it some kind of sick test? What if i couldn't escape you? Then I'm not worthy to be a part of the Forest Village?" I ask angrely.
"No, it was not a test, you must rest, and Ainsley's fish can only catch the Moon Squid on the full moon." He explains, sitting down on his chair.
"What does a Squid have to do with anything?" I ask, annoyed.
"It's ink with a little bit of pixie dust... is a healing potion." He says, looking at me through the shelving.

I stay quiet.

He smirks at me.
"Ah! The silent sentence." He says, chuckling.
"Agh! I was just thinking things through!" I retort.
"If you say so, then." He stands up he walks down the two steps and stands in front of me.
We stare at each other souls.
His dark eyes are mysterious... yet it looks like it has seen a lot of horrors... but will mask it well.
"You saw the Forest Village side... now I'm showing you the ocean side." He says lowly.
"What if I don't want to see the ocean side?" I say as low as I can.
He bents down so that his face is inches away from me.
"Trust me, you'll love it." He whispers.
"You don't know a single thing about me." I sneer.
He stands up straight, chuckling lowly.
"Oh, love. I think I know more about you than you do yourself." He says, looking at me with a smirk.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask, fear creeping in.
"You'll find out soon." He says, walking out the room.
"What?" I ask no one.

And I'm alone again.

                                ***

"Wait,'til I give you the go." Gwen scolds.
"Alright." I say.
Gwen came in a while ago to check on my leg, and she brought me makeshift wooden crutches. With wool that goes under my armpits.
I'm sitting on my bed, well, the Captain's bed. My broken leg is straightened, while the other one is bent to support on the ground.
She hands me the crutches, and I put hold one in each hand.
Then I push myself up, with Gwen helping me.
I wince at the pain of my leg.
I potion the crutches under my arms, so I'm comfortable.

And I'm standing.

"There you go." Says Gwen.
"Thanks... umm... for helping me." I say awkwardly.
"I only did it because the Cap'n said so." She says snarkly.
I shut my mouth.
Okay, she's scary.

"Don't put too much pressure on the leg... otherwise, it'll heal like a weird lookin tree." She explians nonchalantly.
"Okay." Is all I say.
I frown at her example of my leg healing wrong.
She opens the door for me.... and my...  the ship is big and beautiful.
The ship is covered with soft dark brown colored wood.
The sails are rolled up and tied to their polls.
The crew is cleaning the deck and is bringing up wooden barrels and boxes up from the beach.
The captain is counting the things down and then writing it on a piece of paper in his hand.
I move the crutches forward and take a step forward.
"And the sleeping girl is finally awake." Says the boy who carried me to the ship when they captured me. He walks towards me and Gwen.
He has blue pants, a white and wet shirt on... that is now see-through from the wetness.

It's getting a bit hot out here... the sun is cruel today.
DANG IT ESME GET IT TOGETHER!
He's a bloody pirate! Your enemy! He might be handsome... but no.
Just no!

"And I wish this was a nightmare." I say under my breath.
"Why?" He asks, confused.
"I want to go back to the Forest Village." I say softly.
I watch the Captain. He's still focused on counting.
"I can't understand why... the life of a pirate is the best." He says it enthusiasticly.
But I could see doubt in his face for a second. Like the life of a pirate is not at all the greatest.
"I can't understand it. Why can't Ainsley take me back so that I can heal there." I ask the two.
"Because... the Forest Village does not have a physician like me." Gwen answers.
"But I'm getting the healing potion, aren't I?"
"Still for three weeks, you're going to heal. You're healing right now. And I can't have my work messed up by some stupid accident that might happen." She explains angrely.
"But if I promise to stay in bed? I will barely walk on it. Trust me." I ask hopefully.
"Ha! There is no way in hell I'm trusting  you! I'm a pirate... pirates don't trust. Now, enough of this nonsense... go slowly, I have to leave." She says, walking off.
I just stare at her
"Okay... she's um.... intense." I say with wide eyes.
"Don't mind that lass... she's just stubborn, but when you get to know her.... you'll see she ain't that bad." The guy explains.
"What is your name?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Theo. Theo Vela." He says with an accent, he smiles at me.
"Are you spanish?" I ask.
"Sì. My mother was spanish. I didn't know my father... only my uncle, his father." He nods to the Captain's direction.
I frown...
"You're cousins?" I ask... even though I know the answer.
"Sì." He says, chuckling softly.
"Ah... I would never have guessed that." I whisper.
"Theo, come here." The captain calls not looking at us.
Theo nods his head at me and walks towards his cousin.
They talk a few things out when someone interrupts my staring.

"If you make one wrong move, you're dead." Hae says, standing next to me.
I look at her.
"I have a broken leg... I can't move much." I say sarcasticly.
She looks me dead in the eyes.
"Then watch yourself... you don't want me to break your other leg as well... do you?" She threatens lowly.
"No ma'am..." I say despite myself.
She nods once and then walks away.

What is it with these pirates? I'll be dead at the end of the three weeks.