It's A Pirates Life For Me

Chapter Five - Carladam

Raven dragged her fingers down the jagged nail marks in the ship's railing. The ruff surface brought back memories she rather not relive, but there were several living reminders of that night with Adam Callas. And the three scratches on her railing were the worst of them.

"Captain?"

She turned to greet one of her crew members. One of the navigators. She had a ghost of a smile on her face that she had to question. "What is it, Tara?" Raven asked, leaning back on the railing.

"I have two thing actually. One, we'll be reaching Carladam within the hour, and two, uh... How do I say this? That lookout of yours is having a rather heated conversation with your new recruit."

Raven couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, I'll take care of it. Thank you." Tara nodded went back to her duties. Given it was Tara who had notified her about the argument, it was a fair guess that they were down in the navigation room.

The main navigation room was by far one of her favorites. The ceiling was painted a dark blue, with small white stars decorating it. The walls were lined with maps. So many maps and sketches of islands and landscape, that Raven could spend hours looking at it. The large round table in the center of the room was littered with pens, charcoal, and scrolls of paper.

The largest map in the entire space, was the table itself. Shapes of the continents and islands of the world were edged into the stone, later to be replaced by precious jewels, signifying what kingdom they belonged to.

Sitting at the far end of the table, was a girl, who appeared to be around Raven's age. She wore thick rimmed glasses over her chocolate brown eyes. Her dark brown hair laced with gold was braided back from her face in an attempt to tame it. Her medium dark skin and small form made her almost blend into her surroundings.

"I'm not disagreeing with you," the lookout and navigator said, and it that moment Raven realized that there was someone else in the room. "I'm just saying that you present a horrible argument. Didn't all those years with those aristocrats teach you anything?"

Johnny scoffed, not looking back at her from where he was standing facing the wall, looking at a map of the Iravon kingdom. But, he obviously didn't have a counter remark. Raven's lookout was a tough nut to crack.

"And here I was, expecting to find the table split in half and a chair embedded in a wall. What a disappointment," Raven said, leaning in the doorway. Johnny visible froze on the spot.

"Hello, Captain. What brings you here?" Hannah said from the table, not looking up from the maps in front of her.

"I just heard from Tara you two were tearing each other's throats out down here. I suppose she was wrong."

Johnny glanced at the small girl at the table. "I was tempted," he said.

A smile twitched at the lookout's lips, before she finally looked up. "I have some information for you. Regarding... Someone of interest," Hannah said, keeping her words vague because of the male in the room.

"Johnny, go occupy yourself elsewhere," Raven demanded, her voice somewhat strangled. She knew it, she knew this would happen.

Johnny thought better than to object, and wandered out of the room. When he was out of earshot, Hannah spoke.

"He's in Carladam, alright. Been the talk of Mistvale since he returned to claim his crown," she explained.

Carladam was the capital of one of the largest kingdoms their world, Mistvale. Wealth, argriculture and art all await people there. Raven hadn't dared set foot there. For two reasons actually. One, she was wanted just about everywhere, especially places like Carladam. Two, Adam Callas was the eldest Prince of Mistvale. And one year ago, he had run away from her crew, in order to see to his sick mother.

Raven's fist curled into tight balls. "Is he to be crowned King after his father's passing?" she almost hissed, sitting across from the brunette at the table.

Hannah adjusted the glasses on her face. "I believe so. He appears to be on probation right now. To see if he is loyal enough to not run again."

Raven's eyes flicked to the sketch before Hannah. She was a little odd sometimes. She always seemed like she wasn't quite there. In some other place. Being technically, she was usually in a different time. "How is your head doing today?" Raven asked.

"Decent, I suppose. Wearing the glasses help... bring everything into focus." Hannah was a purebred Seer. Born and raised in the Iravon Palace, born just for the purpose of being their prophet. And that's why she came to Raven.

Raven continued to stare at the charcoal sketch. It was a male sitting at a desk, surrounded by papers and books. He was hunched over, the goal of proving himself obvious. The window behind him gave view to a castle courtyard. The drawing was so realistic that she could almost hear the sound of a ticking grandfather clock and the scratch of a pen. Raven shook her head. "Thank you, Hannah."

The lookout nodded and remained sitting as her Captain stood. "A storm is coming," she said so quietly that Raven almost didn't hear her. "It shouldn't hit us before we dock in Carladam."

The Captain thanked Hannah one more time before leaving, tipping her hat to her. She made her way to above deck. The sky was grey, covering the sun. There were more people one deck now, prepping to dock the ship in Carladam.

"Miss Kingston, I really think we should speak," Johnny said from behind her before walking up beside her.

"What is it, Johnathan?" she asked just to annoy him.

"What exactly are you planning to do in Carladam?"

Raven stooped just at the front most part of the ship before turning to him. "A lot of things. A lot of not too good things." She looked out onto the water where a large landmass was coming into view, followed by the magnificent landscape of Carladam. "But first, I'm searching for an old friend."

§

Adam Callas sat silently in his study. The document before him, something about the fountain in the center of town, was just about putting him to sleep. His eyes flicked to the sword safely in its scabbard, leaning against the wall. He would much rather be downstairs in the courtyard, sparring with some of the guard. Actually, there was a lot of places he would rather be.

A melodic taunting laugh popped into his head. The faint smell of citrus coming off of ebony hair. 'What a fool you are,' she would have said. 'Thinking about someone you haven't seen in years.' Someone who every time he looked at the stars, they reminded him of her.

He sighed, stretching his long muscular arms over his head. Maybe he would take a break. It looked like it was going to rain. Maybe he would actually go down to that dinner party. There were supposed to be some suitable ladies for him to meet, according to his father.

Standing up, he headed to his quarters. He ran a hand through his thicket of charcoal hair. Raven was alive, he knew that much. But he had no idea what kind of person she was now. If the were rumors were all he had, she wasn't looked too good. Then why was he thinking about her at a time like this. Raven Black was probably at least five seas away.