My Treasure (Norman Reedus Pirate)

Sixteen: Teacher

Norman led me to his quarters, where a single, unlit lantern hung over the door. Inside, I glanced at the bed immediately. The sheets were cleaned, but a faint red stain was in the center of the bed. Feeling slightly nauseated at the sight, I turned my attention to a desk on the side of the wall. I had neglected to see it when I was here the first few times. I made my way over to it, and pulled out my book that I still held on to. I gestured for Norman to sit down, while I opened the book to page one. He sat down, and glanced at me.

"Ok, now the first letter you'll need to know is the letter 'A'." I stated.

"'A'. Ok. I got it." He said.

"Do you happen to have some paper and a feather?" I asked.

"Sure. Here," he reached into one of the drawers, taking out a piece of paper, ink, and a feather. He set them on the desk, and looked up at me expectantly.

"Ok, now an 'A' looks like this," I wrote the capital and lowercase version of 'A'. Norman stared at the letters, an absolute bewildered look on his face. "Now, write it like I did." I ordered, handing him the feather pen. He took it, and slowly traced an 'A'. When he wrote the capital 'A', he wrote it almost exactly like mine. I smiled, and watched as he made the lowercase 'a'. When he finished, he glanced up at me. "Great job so far!" I declared, giving his cheek a small kiss. I saw him smile, and glance down at his paper. "Ok, now onto 'B'." And so the night went. With Norman learning letter after letter, and by midnight, he knew the alphabet and was working on simple words. Such as 'apple' and 'banana'. But due to the lateness of the evening, Norman and I soon grew sleepy. I had changed back into my golden dress, just for comfort. I sometimes missed the silky fabric on my skin.

"What'd you say we settle down for the night, and we'll start again tomorrow?" I suggested, setting the papers away.

"Good." Norman yawned, standing up. He turned towards the bed, and I heard him removing his coat. While I was fixing paper, I felt Norman wrap his arms around my waist. I felt his strong muscle under neath me, making me certain that he was topless. "Thank you."

"It was no bother. I enjoyed this session." I declared. I was going to continue about how he was an excellent student, but then I felt his lips on my neck, while one of his hands rubbed over my stomach. "N-Norman," I mumbled, being pulled into a trance by his lips.

"I should repay you." He growled, very dominantly. I wanted to tell him yes, to give him permission to ravish my body. But I knew better.

I shook my head and stepped out of his grasp. "I'm ok. Let's just sleep." I murmured. Maybe the women in my town were correct, and all men just wanted to have sex. And all pirates liked ravishing women.

"Isabelle, I'm sorry." Norman apologized. I heard him follow me to the bed. "Isabelle, did I make you uncomfortable?"

"A little." I wasn't going to lie to him. Why would I?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way." He murmured, gently touching my shoulder. I turned to face him. He looked regretful, and ashamed at what he had done. Maybe the women are wrong.

"It's ok. I'm just not ready yet." I said. I wanted him, I knew that very well. I understood the feeling of want. It felt like gravity was pulling me closer to him. Even though I stayed in the exact same position.

"It's alright." He murmured, giving me a small peck on the lips. "C'mon. I wanna teach you something." He suddenly ordered, and I saw a flash of excitement in his eyes. Smiling lightly, I let him lead me outside. It was dark outside, and millions of stars were decorating the ink black sky. With no clouds or moon in the sky whatsoever, and the waves smooth, it felt like the ship was floating in space. Norman led me towards the steering wheel, and glanced up at the sky. "Do you know any of the constellations?"

"Sort of. I've heard of them, just never their stories." I murmured, looking up at the sky. I heard Norman chuckle, so I glanced at him. He was facing the sky, the stars swimming in his blue eyes. His sea blue eyes seemed to be full of knowledge, which was beautiful. Then, he pointed to one of the groups of stars.

"That one there is Andromeda. She was a princess, like you." He murmured. "Her parents, Cepheus and Cassiopeia, ordered her to be chained to a rock and be sacrificed to Poseidon's sea monster."

"What? That's horrible!" I exclaimed. "Why would anyone do that?"

Norman shrugged. "Her mother had a loud mouth, and declared that Andromeda was more beautiful than Poseidon's water nymphs. So, angering Poseidon, the king and queen had two options. Either die themselves and go to Hades. Or sacrifice their daughter. They decided to sacrifice Andromeda." He explained. "They weren't good parents."

"What happened to Andromeda?" I asked, being hooked into the story.

"Perseus, a Demi-God, came by flying on Pegasus after slaying Medusa. He saw Andromeda, and was so stunned by her beauty, that he went to speak to her. She told him how she was to be killed by a monster. After she said that, the water dragon came by, determined to eat Andromeda. Well, Perseus had kept the head of Medusa, and he used that to turn the dragon to stone." He said, a small smile on his face. "Then, he and Andromeda got married and were the ancestors of many. Including the strongman, Hercules." Norman finished his tale with a sigh. "That's one of the happier tales."

"You mean there are bad ones?" I asked.

"Yes. Like Medusa. Medusa was once a beautiful mortal woman, with gorgeous hair. Well, she worked for Athena, the goddess of war. One day, while Medusa was working, Poseidon came looking for Athena. Unfortunately, once he saw Medusa and her beautiful hair, he fell in love immediately. She didn't love him, sadly. And Poseidon, well, he raped her." Norman sighed, glancing at me.

"That's awful! What'd Athena do?" I asked. The goddess surely stood up for the poor mortal Medusa, right?

"Athena got mad at Medusa for letting Poseidon rape her. So she turned her hair to snakes, and banished her to a labyrinth. Where she later got killed by Perseus. Then, her blood and some sea foam birthed Pegasus, the great winged horse."

"That's horrible. I don't think I like Poseidon much anymore." I muttered. Norman chuckled, and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"I don't blame you." He mumbled, rubbing my arm.

"Norman, do you think I'm more beautiful than a nymph?" I asked, glancing at him. He smiled down at me.

"I don't want you to be chained to a rock waiting for a monster to eat you." He murmured.

"But then you'd slay Medusa and turn it to stone to save me." I joked, making him laugh.

"I could." He murmured. Then the night went silent, and I felt something light in the air, something that was drawing me closer to Norman. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "I have something for you." He stated, then reached into his coat pocket. What he pulled out was something I never suspected. It was a beautiful black pearl on a band of gold. It looked like the band could be fit around my finger, and it shone in the starlight.

"Norman, where did you get this?" I asked, my eyes a little wide with surprise.

"Those children do errands all the time. I had them get me some gold off the ship and a pearl. The small one, Talaria, found this pearl." He explained, slipping the ring onto my index finger. It fit expertly. "I figured you'd like it."

"I love it, Norman!" I gasped, shocked.

"And I love you." He murmured unexpected. I glanced up at him, shocked once again. He was looking away, a little nervous. This was the first time I'd seen him be nervous.

"I love you, too." I mumbled.

"I want you. Can I make love to you?" He murmured, tracing a finger on my stomach. I swallowed. Am I ready for this? I mean, I'm sure that I love him. But am I ready for children? I'm only nineteen! Well, I suppose other women have children when they're younger than me. I gazed up into Norman's expecting eyes, wanting an answer from me. If we have a child, I hope it has eyes as brilliant as Norman's. I bit my lip, contemplating. Our child would be in danger, but at the same time, Norman would protect me and the baby.

"Yes."