Peter's Lily (Sequel to Pan's Tiger)

Chapter 8: Forgiveness

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Thanks for reading. Sorry this chapter is quite short.
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Annabelle_the_reader
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I had a dream again that night. I dreamt of the first time I met Killian Jones and Oliver. I believe it was my subconsciousness telling me to remember him...

'Oi, what are ye doin' 'ere?' Came a masculine, boyish voice. It sent shivers down my spine as the blankets covering the crate I was hiding in were removed, leaving me open to the air and definitely visible to the sailors on board the vessel I was sailing on.

I squealed helplessly as I was forcefully dragged from out of the box. I kicked and screamed, trying to run away from my captor, who was completely justified to be angry at a small girl like myself who had hidden in a crate in his ship for the past three days.

'Let go of me!' I shrieked shrilly, not bothering to hide the femininity of my voice as I struggled. My hands flew to the man's hands, who was tightly gripping my hair.

'Calm down, Love, I ain't gonna hurt ye,' He reassured me soothingly, but his voice wasn't kind. Like a hysterical child, I struggled against his hold with all my might as he stood there, dumbfounded, watching my petty attempts to get away.

Still struggling, I took the opportunity to inspect my surroundings, which had changed dramatically since I had been captured. The once very lonely space, with just me and more recently the sailor inside of it, had been populated by more sailors. It would seem that my struggles and the volume of my complaints was so loud that it had collected a large number of sailors to come running. Now, instead of panicking, they stood there either surprised or amused by the spectacle.

'Li'l help 'ere,' the sailor hinted and more large, muscular sailors came forwards, prising me away from the other man. They all chuckled at one another, grinning with amusement at my reaction.

'What is going on down here, Oliver?' Came a large, booming voice of authority. The men froze and, realising this was one of their leaders (or whatever they called them), I stopped struggling and turned my head to see who it was.

A very pristine lieutenant was stood in the doorway, watching the men coldly. He looked furious that they were distracted by something as trivial as actions in the hold, until his eyes settled on me. They widened briefly, clearly shocked beyond compare. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned at me, before stepping forwards.

'What, sailors, is a woman doing on this vessel exactly?' He demanded and the men not holding me parted, so he could make his way towards me. Grinning to himself, he looked me up and down and added, 'Especially a woman in such a state.'

'I found 'er 'ere, Sir, she was hidden in one of dem crates,' The first sailor gestured vaguely to he crates around me, my once perfect sanctuary that he had ruined. 'I pulled 'er out but she was strugglin' and shoutin'.'

'I see...' The man said carefully, making his way towards me. He held out his hand in a very traditional greeting, while saying, 'I promise I won't hurt you. I am Lieutenant Killian Jones and this boy who found you is Oliver. Who might you be, lass?'

I held my head up high, trying to not remain meek. Before I spoke, I quickly realised that what Malcolm had said was true, it would be best to not announce such an unusual name and I most certainly couldn't reveal my surname, so I stuck with the shortened version, 'Tiger. Miss Lily Tiger, Lieutenant Jones.'