The Belladonna

Chapter 19

"When life changes to be harder, change yourself to be stronger." - Bella

Isabella's POV:

Everyone looked so defeated. I just had no idea why. I understand that being called out by a pirate was no good, but they can just act like they've already given up. Not without trying first.

I take in a deep breath before walking up to the table, slapping my good hand down on it hard, making everyone jump slightly, looking at me startled. 

"Don't you dare give up on me." I say harshly and Harry's eyes widen. "I didn't say-" he starts but I hold my hand up, cutting him off. "You didn't have to. Your attitude says it all. You don't need to give up before we even try." I say and he closes his mouth, not saying anything back to me. 

"So this Captain Bradwr challenged us. So now what? We make our next move, we stay away from the places he's around. Try to put this off until we can find a better way to fight him." I say and King Edward gives me a small smile.

"It won't be that easy, Isabella." he says and I let out a sigh. "I know it won't be that easy, but we at least have to try. Anything is better than giving up or thinking we're done for." I say and Niall laughs.

"I guess you're taking over, huh?" he teases and I grin. "If it's to keep this sorry lot alive, yes." I joke and Harry chuckles, shaking his head. "I won't give up Bella." he says, walking over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder, making me look up at him, a small smile on his face.

"I never do." he says and the smile he has grows contagious, making me smile as well. "Good." I say and he nods before looking over at his brother.

"I guess we'll be making preparations to leave." he says and Ed shakes his head. "At least stay for the rest of the week. Isabella still needs to rest up before she travels again." he says and I frown, looking down at my arm. This was going to be a real nuisance.

"Oi, Bella. Can I have a word?" Shayla asks, waving me over and I nod, feeling a little confused as to why she wanted to talk to me privately. I see Harry raise an eyebrow confused, but I walked past everyone, following Shayla as we walked out of the room and into another one.

I closed the door behind us, seeing her walk over to the window, gazing out of it while she crossed her arms over her stomach. 

"What's wrong?" I ask and she lets out a sigh. "I don't get you Bella. Just ten minutes ago you looked scared out of your mind, yet you're trying to tell us not to give up, that it'll be alright? How can you act so brave whenever you're not?" she asks me, her voice sounding a little harsher than she probably intended, because she looked down, shaking her head.

"I'm not being brave for myself. I'm just trying to keep everyone else hopeful." I say sternly and she raises an eyebrow at me. "I don't know if this is a fight we can win or not, but even if it doesn't look good, I never want us to lose hope." I say, walking over to her, leaning against the window.

I could see the ocean from here, the vast blue waters going out for miles and miles, no end in sight. I yearned to be back on the waves, living my life. 

Shayla stayed quiet for a moment and I glanced over at her, seeing a downcast look upon her face, which shocked me. She was never like this.

"You're not telling me something." I say and she raises her eyebrows before scoffing, rolling her eyes as she turned around, sitting on the windowsill as she faced me. "I wish you weren't so observant sometimes, it's a real pain." she grumbles and I giggle, looking at her as she frowns.

"You know how we said a pirate only gets called out once every few decades?" she asks and I nod my head. She pushes her red hair away from her face before taking in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"The last pirate who had the guts to call someone out was Blackbeard. I'm sure you've heard of him." she says and my eyes widen. My mother used to tell me stories about how he ravaged every single town he came upon, pillaging villages and murdering countless people. He was ruthless and unstoppable.

"I have." I murmur and Shayla clicks her tongue. "It's not fun whenever you're called out." she says and I look at her confused, seeing the small smile she gave me.

"My parents were called out twenty-five years ago." she says and my eyes widen. "They were famous pirates, but they were fun-loving. Only raided if they absolutely had to, and lived life to the fullest. Kind of reminds me of you and Harry. Anyways, apparently Blackbeard thought the way they lived as pirates was a disgrace for the rest of them, so he made it his goal to destroy them." she says and I stare at her in shock.

"I was only a little girl. My mother pleaded with a couple in town to keep me safe, to keep me away from Blackbeard's fury. I hardly remember it, but my foster mother told me everything. Blackbeard destroyed them, just as he promised he would...I was only three at the time." she whispers and I feel tears come to my eyes as I stare at Shayla.

"It was only whenever I turned ten that I discovered the truth about my parents. From that point on I became determined to be a pirate, to live like my parents had. I thought about revenge, but by the time I was old enough to go out on my own, Blackbeard was gone. Dead or in hiding, I had no clue. But no one had heard a word from him for four years. So I never got my revenge...but I did get to live like my parents." she says, turning towards me and grinning.

"Don't go crying on me, Bella. I told you for two reasons. One, I trust you with this. Two, because I want you to understand how hard this will be. It will be no easy task. There hasn't been a single pirate that's been called out who has lived. That's why they're taking this so hard. They've heard the stories, they know how dim of a future it could be for them." she says and I frown, wiping my eyes free of tears before nodding to her.

"I'm really glad you've shared this with me. I do understand." I say, a small smile coming to my face. "Your parents would be proud of you, Shayla. I'm sure of it." I say and for a moment I swear I saw tears mist her eyes, but they were gone a split second later. "Thanks." she says and I smile.

"But I do think we should fight." I say and she looks at me surprised. "Really?" she asks and I nod. "If we had to go down, I'd rather go down fighting than trying to run and hide. Besides, we're a strong group. All of us are fighters, so why shouldn't we have a chance?" I ask and Shayla laughs, holding her stomach as she does, before wiping her eyes and jumping up, her hands on her hips.

"There really is no dampening your optimistic spirit, is there?" she teases and I grin. "Not at all." I reply and she chuckles. "Good. Because if we are going to fight," she pauses, putting a hand on my shoulder and smirking at me. "We'll need it." she finishes and I smile, happy that she's willing to do this with us.

"Thank you Shayla." I say and she shrugs. "Well, why not? Might as well do something interesting with my life." she jokes, beginning to walk back to the other room and I smile, following her before a thought came to my head. What was Shayla's life really like, if she had a beginning such as that? Was it good, or was it bad?

I stared at the back of her head, her red hair tied in a ponytail swinging as she walked, and I frown. I really hope she didn't have too hard of a life. I'll have to ask her about that someday.

Once we join the others, I see Harry give me a curious look but I just shake my head, knowing I wasn't going to spill Shayla's secret. She trusted me and I wasn't going to ruin that. 

"Edward had an idea." Harry bursts out suddenly and I stare at him confused, my eyebrow raised. His face was slightly red and I had no idea why, or what Edward's suggestion was that could make him like that. "What?" I ask and Harry swallows.

"H-he said that w-we could, or should, umm..." he stammers and I chuckle, patting his cheek gently and he looks at me with wide eyes. "Just say it Harry." I say and he nods, taking in a deep breath.

"Ed's offered to have us married here tomorrow."

Cliffhanger!! Haha, you guys know I love those!! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! I know it isn't very long and I apologize for that, but I'm just trying to update so you guys have something to read! It's pretty busy here in college and I'm doing my best :D I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh, I also hope you like Shayla's character a little more after this as well!!