The Pirate Princess

The Dream

I lay on my bed as the door swings open. Scar walks in carrying a trey. The trey holds a glass of water, some bread and what looks to be beef broth stew, the steam rising from the bowl. Scar sets the trey on the table and turns to leave. His boots scrape against the wood as he drags his feet. My back is feeling better but when I move it cracks and bleeds. I muster enough courage and strength to make my voice work.

"Wait", I say my voice horse as it scrapes from my throat. Scar turns and looks at me, his eyes as hard as steel. "I want to see the Captain. I want to see Skylar." Scar stiffened at the sound of Skylars name. He looked me straight in the eye, his attention not wavering once.

"You do not make demands or invoke the name of our Captain. You are nothing but a worthless wench who doesn't deserve such gracious treatment. All you deserve is to be thrown into the sea and set adrift for the rest of your life." His tone is calm with a slight hint of anger, barley showing his emotions. His eyes betray him. The hatred dancing with the quickness of flames, licking up to the top and sputtering out when they reach their limit.There is something under all that hatred, pity?, longing? I can't quite put my finger on it. I want to ask him what it is, why he despises me so much. What did I ever do to him? He's the one who kidnapped me! He took me from my home, from my family. I didn't choose this life they chose it for me.

Before I have the chance to even decide whether or not to ask him, he turns and storms out, his feet stomping as he goes. He slams the door so hard that the whole room vibrates in response. I am alone again, the silence returning but with a different feeling. The silence feeling foreboding, heavy with judgment and unasked questions. I fear what might happen if I brake this silence, as if there's an anvil just waiting to crash to the ground when and if the silence is broken.

I carefully get out of bed, my back protesting with the scabs braking open, causing blood to seep into the bandages, They need to be changed soon if this is going to continue, I think to myself. The food is slightly cold and the water somewhat stale, but it's still refreshing and the hunger gnawing at my stomach lessens by the mouthful. When I finish, I make my way back to the bed and lay on my stomach. The seconds stretch in minutes and the minutes blur into nothingness as I drift in and out of consciousness. The weight of the food mixing with the rock of the boat lulls me to sleep within the hour.

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I dream of home, of being with Stephen, and what it would be like. I dream of our first night together, how unexpected it was to find out he was a true gentleman. How rudely I acted at first, but then came to fall in love with him. I dreamed of us living in our own castle, with our children running around the throne room while he and I sat on our thrones watching them play. He reaches for my hand and I let him take it in his. He gives it a gentle squeeze, and I squeeze back. He strokes his thumb on the back of my hand. moving on circles. The feeling of it feels so real that I forget I'm in a dream. I laugh lightly in delight as he pulls my hand to his lips and kisses the back of it gently.

The door to the throne room is thrown open. A lone figure stands in the doorway, silhouetted by the darkness of despair behind it. Stephen lets go of my hand while placing his right hand on the hilt of his sword that's resting in it's usual place; in his belt on his right side. He stands slowly as to address the strange new comer, as I hurry from my throne to get the children. I make it down the dais steps, taking them quickly as well as carefully. I am but a few long strides form my children. One boy who looked to be about 6 or 7 with his fathers dark dirty blonde hair and flawless skin and my soft features and eyes, the color of soft green and brown mixed, with a look of bravery and stubbornness. He was holding a little girl about the age of 4, her long brown hair hanging in braids of two wrapped into  a bun. Her dress was pale pink, and made of soft velvet material that made it easy to move in. Her eyes looked at me with a mixture of hope and fright, while she gripped her brothers neck as he picked her up. The boy moves towards me, as I hold out my hand while I am running to get them to safety. Every fiber of me wanting them to be safe, even if I loose my life.