CAPTIVE - A Prison of Gold

Chapter 1

I don't know how long we were at sea but I was certain I was going to die. The dress I wore hung loosely over my protruding bones. It had been so long since I'd been able to keep solid food down I barely remembered the satisfaction of a full belly. I lay staring at the damp wooden panels of the Captain's berth, an ever present towel plastered to my forehead, coherent thoughts had long since crept from my mind to be replaced with nothingness. A shadow moved back and forth in front of me but my eyes stayed fixed on the dark panels that seemed to be splitting wider with each passing day; a soft light beginning to peek through the darkness. It seemed warm and inviting, calling the cells of my body towards it and I found I was ready, ready to go to it; to let the light embrace me once more, if only, I could walk. The corner of my mouth tipped upwards as the light spoke softly in my ear, "You can walk. Raise yourself and come to me. Let me wrap you in the warmth of my light. Let me show you the child that lies within." Yes. Yes I want to feel your warmth. I want to hold my child. I felt my body grow light as the damp panels fell away; the soft light flowing into the cabin like fog through the forest to carry me away.

~

The soft light of the candle at the table beside my head burned my eyes as they blinked slowly open then shut. Something within me perched them open long enough to see the blur of shadow that spoke towards me, "Ah, there you are Madam. Yes, there you are. Splendid to have you back. Everyone has just been sick with worry, especially your Husband, he will be most pleased." My eyes dropped again, my mind succumbing to the peaceful nothingness in which I had so recently resided as the hint of a kick pressed against my womb.

The candle was snuffed as my eyes again drew open, the light bursting through the glass blinding me, I winced away and tugged the covers farther up my neck as the scuffing of shoes against a hard floor rang through my ears, the baritone of a voice echoing off the walls, the room suddenly spilled into darkness.

A weight sank down onto the covers at my shoulder. I again attempted to open my eyes. This time there was no light to burn them and I willed them to stay open as they struggled to focus. I moved them around, searching out my location until they fell across the body sitting at the edge of the bed. The large breath caught in my dry throat and burst from my lungs in a great coughing fit that drew up my legs and spasmed my back. The pressure on the cover moved to my back and rubbed softly as the voice began to make sense in my mind, "Darling...Darling it is alright. Do not try to do too much too quickly. You have been gravely ill my love and you must heal slowly...for our child's sake." I blinked slowly towards the figure as he came into full focus. His chestnut hair was tied loosely behind his back, his dark eyes hung low, bags stood prominently beneath them, his thin lips turned up slightly in sympathy as he gently rubbed my back. He was dressed informally in a white linen shirt and tan breeches. I was almost convinced he was someone different until he turned his head to address another body who had entered the room. I recoiled as much as my emaciated body could at the sight of the hooked nose. It was, it could only be, General Westmoreland.

His body rose to standing over me as my eyes weakly followed then closed as his warm lips pressed against the clammy skin of my forehead. "Darling I must leave for a few days. Rest now, I will see you when I return." My eyes remained shut until the heat of him had dissipated but I could hear him address the other body as he left, "If you value your life, you will keep her alive."

The heavy wooden door thunked deeply as it closed behind him and my eyes drew open once more. The body was that of a portly man. He came to rest in the chair beside the bed and propped a black leather satchel on his knees as he smiled warmly towards me, "How are we feeling today Your Grace?" I tried to return the smile but knew that it fell flat. I still had no words but blinked slowly as his hand came to rest on my forehead. He looked as though he were in his fifties, his face was just beginning to wrinkle with age, his head was covered with a white powdered wig and his face bore the same powdering albeit more subtle. He had a great double chin that waddled when he talked and accompanied the jiggling of his rotund stomach when he laughed. I lay in amused silence as he examined me, and my child, thoroughly then propped numerous pillows against the head of the large bed in which I lay and pulled me up against them so that I lounged in a half sitting posture. He tucked the covering quickly over my exposed chest as a large smile overtook his face, "Now then Your Grace, shall we have some company this morrow?" I watched him leave the room then let my eyes wander.

The room was expansive. At the far end was the main door, to the left of the bed sat another door. Three floor-to-ceiling windows flanked the wall opposite me and, at the moment, were covered by heavy navy blue curtains. A massive marble-mantled fireplace sat to my left and blazed with life bringing the horses and hounds carved into the mantle to life as they galloped after an unseen quarry. The bed that I lay in dwarfed me. The wood was a deep, almost red color. Carved vines trailed up the length of each post subsiding at a deep red canopy that covered the top of the bed, the sides of the canopy cascading down the posts to flood across the floor.

My thoughts were suddenly broken as the door across the room opened slowly, a dark-haired woman peering warily inside. A burst of movement from around the corner of the gold inlaid armoire caught my eye as a small silvered-eyed bundle waddled quickly towards me. My mouth did turn up at the sight of my small daughter then broke into coughs as I tried to voice her name through mummified vocal chords, "Naomi." She wound her hands through the folds of the bed-coverings as she desperately tried to claw her way into the bed. Falling Water rushed to her as I tried to will my arms to lift the weight of the child. I smiled again as the weight of her body fell on my chest and her small arms wrapped around my neck, "Mama...I miss." A short chuckle escaped me as the words filled my ears. Falling Water sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped her slender fingers around my own, smiling down at me, "We've been practicing."

"How long have we been here?" The child slipped down the side of the bed-covering and burrowed herself close to my side as I looked at my friend in anticipation of answer. She thought for several long moments, "About three weeks." I could feel my mouth drop open as my eyes blinked slowly towards the stoic face, "You were very sick." Her eyes lowered to her hands for a moment as the bundle beside me shifted, "Mama dead." My cold hand fell against the child's warm back as I tried to smile down at her, "No darling, Mama's not dead, Mama's right here." The child burrowed even closer and dug her head into the ribs beside my breast. I looked back to Falling Water and saw her for the first time. She was attired in a steel blue bodiced and over-skirted day dress, the underskirt of which was crimson red. Her beautiful coal hair was braided up elegantly behind her head. I tried again to force a smile, "You look ravishing." I could see the pink flood her cheeks as she looked up at me, "The Duke has been...kind...since we arrived." I could feel the skin pull taunt with the brow as it rose, "The Duke?" Her eyes darted to her lap again as she mumbled, "Westmoreland."

I let out a choked-filled moan, "Water?" The young woman scurried like a mouse to deliver a cup of water into my shaking hands. The luke-warm liquid was like manna from the gods as it drifted in silky floods down the back of my parched throat. Finishing off the last few precious drops I reached the cup back towards Falling Water as I cleared my throat, "I am so confused. What exactly has happened?" My eyes closed involuntarily to the sharp sound of the cup as it was forced onto the table. The course sound did however pare well with the shrill voice of the woman as she chided me, "You married him!" I screwed my face to her as she continued, "The horrible man who beat you, who we protected you from, who kidnapped us...that man...you married that man! How could you do this to Red Horse? He will die when he hears what you have done."

Her voice trailed off into a hideously sad whisper as her head fell in utter defeat. I turned towards the small bundle at my side and tickled her side gently. Receiving no response I turned back to Falling Water, "He is dead." Her eyes rose to mine in slow motion. I could see the first beads of salty tears forming at the edges of her almond-shaped eyes, "What?" I inhaled deeply before continuing, "Red Horse. Westmoreland told me that the Patriots executed him." Her eyes grew wide and puppy-like as the tears cascaded silently down her smooth cheeks, "Why?" I turned my head away from her, guilt overwhelming me, "Why do you think? Me." The words were barely a whisper as they scorched the inside of my mouth upon exit.

We sat in silence for several minutes. My mind now ran back through time trying desperately to piece together the last four months of my life. I remember leaving the docks at Wilmington. I remember that first awful night and then I remember waking up in this bed. I looked back to Falling Water who had been staring at me with glazed eyes, "I had no choice." Her eyebrow drew up slowly as the tears fell at a faster pace, "He said he would kill you...Naomi...if I did not give him what he wanted." I was suddenly exhausted and let my body relax onto the pillows at my back, turning my gaze to the sleeping child at my side I allowed my eyes to close. They opened heavily as the bed rocked and swayed slightly with her weight. I hoped my eyes smiled at her as she nuzzled next to me and the child and gently took my hand in her own.