Daisy's Baby // 1D AU

025.eleanor

Taylor and I had been on the water long enough to know when it was slowing, and it was, only a day after Siren's Scream was destroyed yet again by them. I scrambled to the small window, and saw a ship passing close by. Then there was the distinct sounds of a bridge being put up, and lone steps going across.

Please don't make the same mistake we did, I begged silently. I would have done it louder, but Taylor was in a fitful sleep, and I knew she needed it. Every moment that passed, she looked weaker. And there was no way that Gold was going to keep her alive when they only really needed to kill me in public.

A conversation began, and I was surprised to hear a woman's voice. "Hey, there, big boy," She said seductively, and I deflated. There was no hope for us with someone who was just going to flirt her way out of conflict. "Us? We're just headed to Pensare." A brief pause. I could only hear her voice for some reason. "Our business is none of your business." It was my business - I ruled Pensare, after all, as one of the small islands of Cannelloni. "Yeah, we were just at Volere."

That didn't make sense to me. Because I was just at Volere, and there wasn't another ship in sight for days as we explored the island. But there was a chance that her ship skirted the west side of the island as we left, headed south. "We weren't able to get in. Maybe you'll succeed where we failed. In exchange for leaving this parley without conflict, we are willing to give you all the maps of Volere we have."

There was some discussion as they worked it out, but the Captain was surprisingly receptive. And then, it was over. The girl walked away from an encounter with Gold, fully alive, and without being followed. It was miraculous, and I cried just imagining it for Taylor and I. Now, even if I had called for help, it wouldn't have mattered. She wasn't going to go to war with them to save a couple of prisoners. It was stupid, and that's why I stayed silent.

I had been pacing the cell all night, trying to think of a way out of this. The only one I could think of was to make knives out of the wood in the floorboards, fashion a lockpick, and kill the captain in his sleep. Without Taylor telling me what a horrible idea that was - she was my voice of reason - I started ripping up any section of wood I could find.

The captain wasn't going to make it through the night.

---

Taylor awoke with a fever, and I stopped working to comfort her. I ran my fingers through her hair, avoided looking at her wound, and sang softly. Lullabies that my mother had sang to me. Eventually, she nodded off again, and I continued shaving down the wood as best I could with no sword or other metal anything.

While she was awake, she complained of being dreadfully hungry. Part of the nobility her whole life, Taylor had never had to deal with food insecurity. It was old hat for me, and if they gave us any food at all, I knew that I would have given my portion to her too.

Taylor was special. Her mind was as sharp as a blade, and she was more regal and composed than I ever would be. I learned how to rule a country by reading books. She learned by watching, her whole life. I was often jealous of how she commanded a room better than I could, even though I was in charge. People loved her, and when she smiled, everyone would smile back at her. It felt jealous to want her attention on me all of the time, but I took it.

I always said that I would never feel right without her by my side, and that I would lose myself without her, which was true. But I wanted another level of that. I wanted love. I mused over it, as I continued making my knives.

In the dark, it was hard to continue. And when I felt I was ready, I took pins from Taylor's hair, and started working on the lock. I had never done this before. Very quickly, I became frustrated as I just moved two pins around with no idea what I was doing. Then, I screamed into my elbow as quietly as I could, took a deep breath, and tried to figure it out.

It took hours.

Then, there was a click, and the lock popped off the door. Gently, I reached through the bars to grab it and place it on the floor. Then, I shook Taylor awake. "What?" She groaned.

"I love you."

I placed both hands on her cheek and kissed her, then disappeared into the night.

---

There was a shit-eating grin on my face. Thankfully, ship layout is almost always the same, so it wasn't hard to guess where the Captain's quarters would be. And because a skeleton crew works at night, from far away, no one could tell I wasn't just a really skinny man. I opened the door, and saw that the captain slept in full battle gear, hand on his sword. That scared me, that he'd swing and cut right through me as I -

Without worrying any longer, I swiped the wood across his throat with pressure, and then plunged into his throat. As I did the first move, blood sprayed upwards, and I barely managed to avoid the arc heading straight for my face. The captain spluttered, trying to speak, and he choked on his own blood.

Silently, I moved through every room of the top crew, killing the first mate, the quartermaster, boatswain, navigation, everyone who mattered. And then, I crossed across the deck, covered in blood, and put the captain's hat on. His sword was on my belt.

And I ordered the crew to make Taylor some soup.