The Butterfly Crown

Fire and Blood - Keeva

The heart of a man of a man is very much like the sea,

it has its storms,

its tides and its depths;

it has its pearls too. - Vincent Van Gough

Keeva

The reek was what had teared my out of my dreamless sleep. It was so prominent that my whole surrounding was contaminated by it. I tried to look trough my deadlight, but I wasn't able to see the port of Teliassen. I was sure we would arrive any minute. I had the bubbling explosions of excitement in my bones.

I felt the jolt, when the ship stopped moving. I wondered how long the pirate would make me wait in the pantry before he would get me out. All the time on board I had tried to figure out what to do next when I arrived, what I could do with my freedom. The possibilities were endless, though first I wanted to get an impression of Teliassen and it's people. I was aware of the danger, but hey I survived a whole trip with pirates, wasn't I practically invincible now?

The steps of the pirate, were my most familiar sound and I could help but smile, when he entered the pantry. He wore mismatched clothing as usual, his dark hair was messy and he also seemed like he was ready to leave this ship and stay a couple days in Teliassen, before hitting the sea again. Somehow I was going to miss the pirate, I started to consider him as a friend.

"We have dropped the anchor, I need to smuggle you out as hitch-free as possible or we both are going to feed the fishes. Please step into this straw sack, I'm going to pretend you are my delivery to a tavern.", his voice was serious, still I felt the elation that his words carried.

I nodded agitated.

.

The thought of getting carried in a straw sack at first felt insane, but actually getting carried in a straw sack wasn't just insane it was also incredibly uncomfortable. I was crawled up in fetal position, thrown over his board shoulders, feeling every bump on the streets. At the beginning getting smuggled out of the ship had been fun, but now the pirate had been walking for some time now and I had started to feel my own weight. It was dark and stuffy inside and I let you a silent prayer that the tavern wasn't far away.

Abruptly I felt the hard surface. The fall of his shoulder was unexpected and left bruises. When I finally started to see the blue of the sky, I realized that the air inside my straw sack might have been better. The alleyway I had landed on smelled like fire and blood. The stupid grin on the young pirates face I only could reciprocate. We had done it, I was in Teliassen, he was a rich man and had kept his promise. It almost felt to good to be true.

"So I am giving a run down of the city. We are now standing in the center of Teliassen. There is a tavern near by and some washing salons, in case you want to something about your hair. Around the city there is the forrest of Apricity, a very dangerous place, if I wear you I would avoid that place entirely. People travel with ships and boats around the coast to not walk through the forest.", he told me everything with ease.

For a moment I was lost in the color of his eyes, knowing that saying goodbye to them, meant saying goodbye to my life on the sea. It had been inconvenient, but it had been a home. Freedom sometimes meant rootlessness.

I wanted to say so many things. I wanted to ask for his name, wanted to thank him for being truthful and a man of honor. But he didn't let me say any of it.

His eyes rested on me, grinning triumphant. "Out of the ashes and good luck, princess"

Then he left me standing speechless were he had thrown me to the ground.