Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 5

“Miss Evanora, Cap’n.”

The three word introduction that acted as Eric’s farewell left Evanora hovering uncertainly outside the door of the Captain’s cabin. From inside, she could hear the stomping of footsteps, and they definitely weren’t those of a peaceful man. No, these footsteps sounded furious, like the creature within these walls was pacing in torment. The sound was almost enough to freeze her where she stood. She didn't want to enter alone. But she had to be brave.

“Well, bring ‘er in then! What be takin’ ye’ so long?” a gravelly voice growled from the other side of the door.

Knowing better than to add fuel to the fire of a raging temper, Evanora stood to her full height, placed her hand on the door and pushed it open. Peering into the dimly lit space that lay before her, she attempted to locate the irate speaker but found nobody.

“Eric left.” she started, stepping further into the cabin. “But you sent for me and I am here.”

Still no answer.

As Evanora’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she began to take inventory of her surroundings. Though the walls and ceiling rivalled those in her room with regards to mould and barnacles, the rest of the room was surprisingly ornate. An elaborately carved table claimed the majority of the space in the corner of the room, spilling over with ink-stained papers and half-torn maps. An antique globe, imprinted with the countries of the world, leant over on its axis, worn from overuse. Windows lined the starboard side, giving an excellent view of the sea to the one who supposedly navigated these waters. And finally, there were two more doors leading from the far end, most likely to a bedchamber and a bathroom of some kind.

Well, at least one person on this cursed vessel knows what a bath is, Evanora thought.

Suddenly, one of the doors opposite her burst open and a man strode in with the kind of forced steps her drunken father knew so well.

“Eric left?” demanded the Captain. “Why, that good for nothin’ lousy excuse for a ship's rat, I'll-“

“I don’t think he wanted to disturb you.” Evanora interrupted before he reached the gruesome part of his little tantrum.

“Well, it be a good thing too, fer I’m feelin’ like shootin’ somethin’ and his bald head be a brilliant target.”

The Captain stepped out into the light. His movements were slight, deliberate, so that he could watch Evanora’s reaction to his appearance.

Firstly, she gasped.

Captain Silvestre watched as her eyes ran over his face and down his neck, following the dreadful lines of the scars that disfigured him. Above his jaw, the wounds made it appear as if his mouth was constantly open in an agonised scream. As more seconds came and went, she took in the  tattooed compass splayed across his heart in a deadly blend of reds and blacks.

So this was why people feared pirates.

In the captain’s mind, he did not replay the hundreds of bloodthirsty battles during which he had traded his beauty for his bounty. Instead, he smirked with pride at the way he could cause the innocent to tremble before him, despite all his own unspoken weaknesses.

“This be a pirate ship, little girl. Don’t be expectin’ to come off of it as pretty as ye’ be lookin’ right now.”

Evanora did not notice the captain’s game of intimidation as much as his patronising tone. She was eighteen years old, not a child anymore and determined to prove it. She would not tremble before this haunting creature. Terrian would not want her to cower. Instead, she stood her ground, shrugging her shoulders and trying not to gag at the scars that scared her so.