Dragon Prince

Chapter 4: It's Just Standard Protocol

CHAPTER 4

IT’S JUST STANDARD PROTOCOL

Callie studied the nautical charts and maps that had been handed to her by her navigator and subconsciously fiddled with her feather earring dangling from her left ear. Besides looking forward to the adventure ahead, she still needed to figure out why most of the pirates were after her. The man named Phillip – if that was even his real name – that she’d met at Grain Harbour only stated that someone who had once hated her father to the point of betrayal was trying to find where Henry Morgan hid his riches and he believed Callie knew where the treasure was. Apparently the smaller ships that had attacked her in the past were only a part of his own fleet that he would send to do his dirty work.

The problem was, Phillip didn’t tell her who “he” was.

Callie groaned and straightened from her hunched posture, staring straight at the specific route she’d be taking on the map pinned to the wall. She really wished she knew why she was risking the lives of her crew members for a mere weapon, but it was made clear that such information was classified.

After the storm the previous night, she didn’t think Isaac and his knights would be up to ship maintenance but she liked to humour herself with the fact that she’d get to boss around a prince. Such an opportunity could not be passed up.

And truth be told, she was looking forward to when they made port on the coast of Phitumari, one of her favourite destinations.

The sandy beaches, the exotic crops, the dome-shaped building structures, the people who always seemed to be in a partying mood… Just the thought of it put a smile on her face. If worst came to the worst, she could always retire and start a new life there. The heavens know she needed to settle down soon, after all, when you’ve travelled the world your entire life without settling down in one place for longer than a month or two, you start to get a feeling of longing.

A longing for a home.

Callie shook those thoughts out of her head. She’d started to have such fantasies more often and it didn’t sit well with her. The Ocean’s Doom was her home. It wasn’t guaranteed but besides Arty and Gunter, it has been with her the longest time.

Besides, what could she possibly do to earn a living if she indeed gave up sailing?

Dressmaking? Baking? Teaching?

She quite enjoyed telling people what to do and those jobs didn’t sit well with her. Especially since they required the women to be kind and gentle all the while.

Kind and gentle were only for special occasions for the female captain.

A knock on her cabin door snapped her out of her thoughts and she answered with an “enter”.

The prince let himself in and took in the design of her room from the mahogany wardrobe to the bear-skinned rug by the four-poster bed and finally settling on her.