The Pirate and the Princess

Chapter 5

As Melody closed the door, a faint voice called out to her. She stared down the direction her name echoed. The large man she had met earlier in the conference room. He was rotund, with the eyes of the sky. His fat cheeks glowed as though they were large polished strawberries. His hair was rays of wispy sunshine.
"Ah! Melody! There you are!" His accent was so thick she could barely understand him as he approached her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to tell you that you seem like a very fine specimen."
Right. Not a human, a specimen. She smiled up at him and curtsied to him.
"It was a pleasure to meet your acquaintance as well. When is the prince coming to visit, may I ask?" She didn't really care for the actual answer, though it was the polite, ladylike thing to do. The rotund man, named Adolf, responded cheerily.
"I'm glad to know you're so excited to meet him. Sadly he won't be here for another two weeks. His ship got off course and led him to Greece instead, the poor fellow," Adolf gave the young girl a toothy grin, continuing on. "But I'm sure he'll absolutely love you. You seem like a doll." He gently touched her nose. Melody thanked his compliment, doing her very best to not sound disgusted. He found himself caught up in business from his large butler, whom Melody was guessing, doubled as his body guard.
"Well, little mistress, I must be off. Brutus has informed me of some recent... how you say..."
"Adult business. Not for young girls." Brutus helped the older gentleman's sentence move along. His thick Russian accent didn't clash much with his looks.
"That's it, thank you. I must attend to that. I'll see you later, madam." The king said before he and his body guard walked off in whatever direction they were needed. Melody sighed, pressing her back to the wall. Her mind couldn't stop buzzing with everything they had said.
You're an object. A product on a shelf, to be sold at a certain price for a certain use, and then to be tossed out, she thought to herself. She was just a virgin. Intended to be fucked then thrown to the side when an heir to their throne was produced. Forgotten by all, respected by only the dust below her feet. She tried not to sink back into her own little dark hole. It was harder than she thought though. The dirt would crumble below her feet as she tried climbing out. She just fell deeper and the tears started rolling down her face shortly after she realized there was no absolute way to get out of this.
She sat in her hall, in fetal position, sending soft sobs into her red dress. Her green eyes became puffy and her crying diverged and became nothing more than a loop of hiccups and rosy cheeks stained with salty trails. The door beside her opened; Jim came out in his newly found fashion sense. Melody bolted up, rubbing her eyes and nose clean. She smiled at Jim, sweeping over the outfit.
"You look really handsome. Like a prince," Melody sniffled, making sure she didn't look like she was crying. Still, through her best efforts, Jim noticed the elephant in the room.
"Are you alright?" He leaned down slightly, noticing the dried trails of salt on her cheeks. Melody felt her chest tighten, choking back more sobs. But still she nodded.
"Really? Are you sure?" Jim tried meeting her gaze with his. Once she met with his blue eyes, she couldn't hold the floodgate of tears any longer. Her arms wrapped around his chest, her head buried below his chin. She couldn't let this hold her any longer, bawling into the fine clothes she had just given him.
Jim held her back tightly, the way she wished her dad did. She pressed her feelings into his body as he brushed her hair, hushing her, trying to soothe her.
She felt disgusting, her stomach bubbling, letting everything spill to the only person she could actually call her friend. He probably hated doing this for her, wanting nothing but to push her away. But he couldn't because he knew it'd ruin his chances of getting a piece of her. That's all boys thought about, from Melody's books. Just women, and their bodies. Their personalities didn't matter a lick to them.
Her weeping ceased, however slow it happened, she didn't know. Jim still stood with her in his arms, still hushing her, brushing her hair, trying to soothe her.
She pulled back and stared at Jim. Her red and puffy eyes must've looked horrible to him. She let go of him, pushing him away from her.
"Sorry..." she whispered under her breath to him. She found herself rushing to her bedroom shortly after uttering those words, with Jim attempting to come after her. He limped rather fast, though Melody made it to her room before him, allowing her to lock her door, adding extra defenses with her body. She sat there, wallowing in her shame as Jim banged on the door, begging her to come out and talk with him practically.
Yeah right... like he actually would care. You're just a silly little girl, a virgin to be violated and thrown away. Don't forget that. She couldn't shake away that little voice in the back of her head. It was nagging her now; she was but an object, a play thing, a fuck toy. There was nothing special about her other than her parents.
She felt a slump against the back of the door. Jim had given up banging and proceeded to realize everything.
"What is it saying?" Melody was surprised by the sudden question.
"What..?"
"The voice in your head. We all have one. What is yours telling you?"
"W-well..." Melody stammered, nervously snapping her fingers, "That... I'm wonderful, and I-"
"Not what you want me to hear. Obviously it's not kind to you. What is it saying?" He sternly proposed. Melody felt the tears tug out again.
"That... that I'm... an object. No one deserves me. I'm a... sex toy. That's all I'm good for." A large bout of silence passed over both of them. Melody hiccuped, her throat tight and the lump in her stomach grew harder.
"You know that's not true, right?" Jim finally spoke again, his voice so kind, understanding. Melody huffed a sarcastic laugh.
"How do I know you're not just saying this to get under my skirt?"
"Because not every guy is obsessed with fucking."
"You haven't met the guys I have, then."
"The guys you've met are total dick bags. Princes are just interested in benefitting themselves."
Melody realized how childish she must've sounded to him. She turned around, pulling herself up from her slumped position, unlocking the door, and pulled the door to her room open again, gazing down at Jim who seemed to be giving her a slight grin. She gave him a hand to pull him up with. She liked looking up at him. It felt so innocent to stare up at someone who actually cared about her feelings finally.
He was the friend she had longed to have for so many lonely years stuck inside her castle, learning business, trading, manner skills, dancing. Everything a princess needed to know. This restricted friendships to a tight schedule of 30 minutes of hanging out. Eventually all of her sea friends got bored of waiting just for 30 measly minutes to talk about nothing. They started going about what they wanted to do.
"You know that voice in your head is just a huge buzzkill, right? She is literally nothing." Jim smiled wider, tapping her forehead with his pointer finger. Melody laughed slightly, shrugging at his words. To her, that's all they really were. She wanted to believe them desperately.
"Yeah, I know." She lied to herself, but it made Jim smile at her. He looked so much better when he was happy.
"Good. I'm glad," his fingers drifted over Melody's ear as he pushed back the stray hairs to their spot. She felt her cheeks flush, and she remembered that Jim's leg was horribly burnt.
"Oh god, Jim your leg!" She brought his arm over her shoulder and led him to her bed again, laying him down.
Such stupidity... He must be in a lot of pain. All because of your selfishness~ The voice nagged her, but she couldn't be bothered with it at this point. Jim rolled his eyes, sitting up to stare at her. Melody rubbed it, hoping not to push too much pressure on it.
"Melody, I'm not a little boy, I can take care of myself." His voice edged on cooing.
"Still, you need your rest and I made you try to come after me."
"You made me do nothing I wouldn't have already done." She felt flush there, her fingers curling under the blankets.
"You're sweet," She responded finally. Jim turned her head to stare at him.
"I'm just a good friend. Something you obviously need." Jim smiled a bit wider, before letting go of her face. Melody stared at him, a small, but crucial question crossing her mind. She felt embarrassed asking, but it was something she needed to know.
"Jim, can I ask you something kinda awkward?" Her flush started fading from her cheeks, as she looked at her feet.
"What is it?" He folded his arms behind his head, staring at the drapes around the bed. Melody nervously played with her fingers.
"I don't think I ever asked how old you are." Something changed in Jim's posture, before he laughed, sitting forward again.
"I'm seventeen," he responded in a jovial tone.
"Seventeen." Melody repeated, a bit softer. He was around her age, which actually kinda surprised her. He looked a bit over twenty at least, but it was nice to know someone was close in age to her.
Ariel called out for Jim from the hall. Jim took in a deep breath before exhaling it from his lungs.
"That's my cue to leave. I'll talk to you later, okay Melody?" Jim rubbed the top of her head, giving Melody a pleased complexion.
"Okay. You will come back, right?"
"I promise." He held out his pinky, proposing a pinky promise. Melody took his pinky in hers, her smallest finger even smaller than his. Then he parted, his leg obviously not in the best shape. She so badly wanted to call him back in, but her mom wouldn't have approved of a worker taking a day off.
Melody stood from her bed, closing the door once more. It was time for her to change from her discomforting clothing. She pulled off her dress, relieved to be able to parade around in her underwear once more.
It crossed her mind though. She had seen a boy near naked for the first time today. She finally became red as that fact now dawned on her. She was so busy trying to make sure he was well, that his pain was numbed. She imagined him, recalling the nicely shaped body, the perfectly tinted skin.
His body was now tainting her mind, making her feel dirty. She couldn't help but remember it though, it was near perfection to her. She flopped onto her bed, sending short screams into her pillow.
What is this feeling? Why am I so interested in his... His body..? Her mind raced, showing only him to her. She felt so gross, so tainted by these feelings. As he raced through, she imagined him on top of her, kissing her, touching her. She began groaning more into her pillow even louder. She knew she wanted that but she couldn't have it. She was so desperate to feel that, but only from him.
He was out of her league, she thought. This helped her stop squealing, helped her remember that she was getting married. That she wouldn't ever experience kissing him. She put her pillow back, still red in the face. She pulled herself together, taking a deep breath. The image of Jim kissing her still stuck heavily in her mind.
She pulled her bag of shells to her chest, hoping to find something to take her mind off of his beautiful face. She rummaged through, pulling out a conch shell, pressing it to her ear. The sound of crashing waves, she could hear that outside too. It gave her a small grin. It reminded her of her grandfather who had died less than two years previously. He was a temperamental man, though he was always there for his family. Her grin faded from her face; she still missed her grandfather deeply. She hadn't even met him until she was twelve, so she used to spent whatever time she could with him.
She put the conch down, instead lifting up the locket her mother had given here. As it opened, a song so familiar to her pierced her ears. The hologram of Atlantica glowed, illuminating the room further. She laid back on her, staring into it, listening to the song it hummed into her ear. She watched the fabricated bubbles bind around the image. She attempted to pop one of them, but her finger just split through the image.
She closed the locket, putting it back in the bag. Every shell told a different story she could remember. Though that picture still pressed deep into her head. Their lips and bodies pressed together. It would not leave, it was nailed in there.
Melody laid back again, unsure what to do with these pent up feelings. She knew that these were gross and unnatural. She wallowed in her pool of self disgust, hoping these feelings would pass.