Sparrow's Pearl

Husband and Wife

Waking up, there was an incense in the room, along with a small crack of light beaming in. Sitting up, the silk sheets slid off of my body, showing my nightgown. I sat up, rubbing my face with my hands. The room was beautiful; the walls were all sheets, the furniture was the highest of standards and it smelt divine.

        An arm suddenly draped over my waist, pulling me further in the bed. Laying down, I saw who was next to me. Dorian. He was sleeping soundly, pulling my body closer to his. I scrambled away from him, causing me to fall out of bed. He woke, now aware that something had happened.

"Darling, what happened?" He laughed, walking over to me. I tried to get away, but his grip was too strong. Dorian lifted me onto my feet, holding me in his arms, stroking my hair. I was frozen, unable to move due to my horror.

"Are you alright Scarlett?" He asked, raising my chin up. I shook my head, whimpering as I tried to untangle myself from his arms. He called something out in a language unknown to me and a maid came rushing in. They kept talking in that language whilst I cowered in the corner. The maid came over, trying to comfort me.

"Your majesty, tell me what you remember from yesterday." The maid said.

"I-I was on The Black Pearl, and we were fighting a monster and Jack..." The realisation hit me. Jack was gone again. He was dead."And Jack was left behind. When I woke, I was stranded on a beach. Your people took me here."

"Not this again." Dorian groaned, putting his face in his hands.

"Your majesty, these dreams are getting out of hand."

"Wh-what?"

"You keep having the same dream. Though, we haven't had this in quite a while."

"No, you're lying. It was real, it just happened yesterday. Look at my wounds!" I stood up, holding out my arms for them to see. But there was nothing there. Frantically scanning my whole body, I tried to look for any signs of injury, but none were there. Two hands stopped me, making me look up again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the maid leave, leaving me alone with Dorian once again.

"My love, you are scaring me. These dreams are becoming tedious."

"Y-you mean I've been having these dreams for a while?"

"It's been a whole year. This past month has not been too bad but I don't think I could go through it all again."

"A year? I only got here yesterday, I-"

"Remember when I tricked you to come here? You stayed. I let Jack go, you chose to stay, we celebrated and got married the next week. These dreams are taking over your life, our life."

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Why was I so confused? I didn't know what was reality and what wasn't. Did the kraken attack us yesterday? Was Jack dead? Did The Black Pearl sink to the depths of the ocean? This all gave me a headache and was causing me to panic. Dorian seemed genuinely worried about me which muddle up my brain even further. This wasn't me.

          I wasn't some weak, delicate or fragile woman. I was strong, able to look after myself and above all I was not ladylike. But I couldn't help feel like I had to hide in Dorian's arms, have him hold me in the darkest times. There was something that attracted me to him but also something that repelled me. How was I wanting to be with him though also wanting to hate him?

"Let us retire to bed early tonight. I need to know that you are getting enough rest." Dorian whispered in my ear at lunch. His breath on my neck made me shiver, something that made him smirk."If you cannot sleep then there may be something else we can do." Kissing my cheek, he got up and left the table, having some sort of business to attend to. I found myself smiling and blushing, which I forced myself not to do.

          The rest of the day was filled with me being pampered (I did not complain about this). I was given massages and a luxurious bath (which could probably hold ten people). They wrapped me in dark blue toga with golden hemlines and attached flowers to my wavy hair. I remembered when they did this before the celebration, if there even was one.

         After this, I was relaxed and at peace, wandering around the village. Until I saw a bottle of rum, sending my mind crazy again. Shaking my head, I walked on, wanting to have a clear mind. I saw a temple up ahead, heading towards it I thought this might help with some answers. Upon entering the tomb, I smelt more incense, along with the sound of my bare feet patting the ground. I had taken my shoes off before entering, as there were shoes outside, so I assumed that we had to take them off.

          Up ahead was a statue of a man and a woman. One I recognised as Dorian, the other I was not so sure of. As I made my way there, I saw more of the temple. It was a basic square shape with pillars lining up the walls. It was quite dark due to only having candles to light the room. Though behind the statue was a stain glass window in which the last of the days sunlight was shining through.

"My queen," a woman curtsied to me. She was quite old, as her hair was turning grey but she had a kind nature about her. She continued ,"have you come to see your statue?"

"M-my statue? Uh, yes. Yes I have." I said in shock. It made sense now that I was up close. The resemblance was great, they had done an amazing job.

"Our sculptures have done a marvellous job have they not? It is plain to see that they have captured your beauty perfectly."

"Thank you." I blushed.

"We must be going your majesty, dinner shall be starting soon. But first, this." She pulled out a lilac flower from behind her, giving it to me.

"Thank you again. Though what for?" I asked, pinning it in my hair.

"You shall see, you shall see."

           Anyone could see that I was nervous at dinner. We were surrounded by courtiers, or those of nobility. There were more people than I thought there was. The food was divine though, everything was very exotic. As the food was being served, some fish was put onto my plate. I was about to explain how I did not like fish when Dorian interrupted me.

"Here, I shall have that." He said, taking the fish from my plate and putting it onto his. I stared at him in shock, few people knew that I didn't like fish."What? You have never liked fish."

          This just added more questions. How could he have known that? Could someone have told him? Only a few people knew about my dislike for fish whether they were alive or not.

         As the night progressed, I started to get tired. Not so tired that I could sleep because I would not be doing that tonight. Dorian saw this and guided me out of the room. Our arms were linked as we walked down endless amounts of corridors. Entering the room, he left me in first and saw the flower in my hair.

"Scarlett, who gave that to you?" He asked, taking the flower out of my hair and wrapping his other arm around my waist.

"An old woman down in the temple. Why?" I answered truthfully.

He smiled,  holding me closer. Looking me right in the eyes, he pushed a strand of my hair away, chuckling."My darling, this flower has everything to do with birth, mothering and love for a child."

My eyes widened."W-why would she give this to me?"

He held the flower up to my face."Maybe she has predicted the future or seen the signs."

        Slowly pulling away, I took the flower from his hand and placed it on the bedside table. I didn't want to be near it. Fiddling with the ring on my finger, I heard him sigh and walk over to me. Dorian's hands were placed on my shoulders, roaming down to my waist. I felt his lips on my shoulder as his grip tightened on my hips.

"It may not be now. We may not have an heir anytime soon. Do not worry my love."

         Though it worried me all too much. This woman had predicted that I would give birth to a child no matter when it was. It would be Dorian's. And I was still confused about the whole situation, was I actually here? Was this all a dream? Would I wake up to the eyes of those who survived the kraken? I was so desperate that if I saw Elizabeth I would probably hug her.