Swashbuckling Romance | Coraline(: & Silverknight

Esteban looked at the direction she had gone in, he figured that it was likely she would have her own aims before heading to bed, but on his ship, he trusted his men. He let out a sigh, he wasn't sure why her father agreed to marry her off to King Pedro VI, but he knew of Pedro and he knew a lot about his lands and kingdom. There was much about it that he didn't like, it was corrupt and backwards in how it treated women. He knew this from his experiences in the kingdom. He ended up barely avoiding making a large number of enemies there but he hadn't and was able to use their outer ports like the one that he was going to the day following for trade. He looked though his stuff in his room and let out a soft sigh as he had a feeling the next day was going to be extremely busy.

It turned out that night would have a period of business too, the ship started to rock back and forth violently as they were hit by a storm front. The captain was working a lot as he made sure everything on the ship went well dealing with the shaking of the ship. He wasn't sure what the reaction of Lucia would be to the storm of the shakiness, but he figured that was her business now. He had to focus on keeping his ship moving forward and keep it from sinking to worry about her. He ordered his men around as they were in the storm for a good hour before it passed bye them. He took a deep breath as he was able to see things calm down around the ship after the hour and made sure everything settled down before he got some sleep.

Lucia tried to not sway as best as she could while she held a tray with her food, the liquid of her stew jiggled in the bowl and the goblet that contained only a bit of wine did too, using her forearm and hand to hold it as she pushed her room door open. The door slammed into the other wall with more force than necessary caused by the rocking of the ship, why was the ship beginning to rock so much? A scowl on her face as she quickly shuffled to the desk that was screwed into the floor, planting the tray there with a sigh, she was glad to have made it across with no spills. She spent the remainder of her time in her room, eating her meal which consisted of day old bread, stew, and the wine. She light her candle once the ship rocked a bit harsher, making her guess that the were going through a storm, a quill in hand as her elegant penmanship ran across the page, deciding maybe if she couldn't escape she should write a letter to her father or husband-to-be telling of her situation.

It had been a while since she had changed into her night gown, currently brushing her hair in the candle-lit room before setting her brush down and blowing out the candle, swaying as she tried to make it to her bed smoothly. She gave out a scream of pain when she stubbed her toe on the leg of the bed, sliding under the covers with a small frown before she fell into a deep sleep. Lucia had been glad that she hadn't ran into anybody except for the chef of the ship.

The next morning would find them in a tropical port, something that would look like a complete dream for Lucia, it would be beautiful beyond the normal. If she were to look out her window she would see the perfect blue water, water so amazingly clear that she would be able to see all types of fish in the water swimming around. The fish would be of all colors from blues to yellows to reds and purple as well. They would look exotic and different to Lucia who most likely would of never been to a place like this in her whole entire life. If she were to look hard enough she would see the coral under the sea as well. The sand on the beach was a tropical white color, and beautiful as the sea was. There were small hermit crabs moving along the shore which could be seen as well from time to time.

Esteban had made sure his ship was in port as was needed before he went to check on Lucia, he knocked on her door, he wasn't sure if she would be awake or not at this hour, but he figured there was a good chance the princess would be very much asleep. He knocked again a moment later louder as to make sure that he woke the young woman up. "Lucia, we are at the port get up and get ready," he ordered with his loud deep toned voice, as he figured or hoped rather that would wake her up. He then looked to the shore, his eyes looking at the few buildings that were their. they were trader's huts for people who sold fish and supplies to ships passing by, it wasn't the island that Lucia's would be future husband owned, it was a small island only a half square mile or so in total and not many people lived there just enough to keep the business of selling supplies and keep the port open.

Lucia had been burning the midnight candle, quite literally actually, she had had trouble finding what word to put into her letter. By the time she had finished she was sure the sun was to rise in a few hours, sleeping just as comfortably as she would have if she had been on her father's boat or in her own bed at home (in her father's kingdom). So used to the sheltered and good life of being a princess that she was quite used to sleeping in, hearing the knock at the door made her grumble irritated, who would knock at her door at this hour? But she figured the person would get the message that she was asleep when she didn't answer, but they hadn't gotten the message, knocking a second time and calling out for her through the door. The blanket flew off of her in a matter of seconds, legs swinging over the edge, touching the wood floor and with holding a shiver as she grumpily stomped to the door. Lucia was obviously not a morning person. Someone so awake and chipper so early in the morning (truthfully it wasn't so early) irritated the hell out of the girl.

The door swung open violently, revealing a scowling Lucia who glowered at the sight of Esteban, "I'm not going any-- Wait. Where are we?" She had started out adamantly, going to make her intention of staying and sleeping in known but they were at a port if she remembered correctly, it was the perfect time to send the letter off. Lucia hadn't noticed that she stood in her night gown in front of him, nothing sexy but no lady was supposed to let a man other than her husband to see her like this, flushing as she simply slammed the door in the face. She didn't bother trying to apologize, he did kidnap her. She used her stamp to close the letter she had written, showing it's authenticity that her, Princess Lucia, had written it.

She stripped to nothing before pulling her under garment on properly as well as tying the corset to the dress she wore as best as she could, pulling out a light cloak from her luggage and helping each end stick together with a gold brooch inherited from her grandmother before stuffing her letter into a secret hidden interior pocket. Her hair was put into a braid, tied together with one of the many ribbons she had, deciding that she was dressed to go out. Now came the hard part; figuring out how she'd get this letter sent off to her father.

Estaban looked at the half asleep Lucia and shook his head as he didn't say anything at all. He figured she had a plan though when she changed her tune so quickly. He figured something was going on. Should he stop it or not, he knew that to stop it would take doing things he promised himself he would never do to the woman who he cared for so deeply. He was seeing just how one sided that seemed to be, but that was fine, if she had to get to her slave selling of a future husband, then let her, she would find out just what type of man he was. He waited for her on the deck as he ate a wild fruit, a type of banana that grew on the island. He leaned against the rail as he saw the woman come out looking well like an important lady for sure. He smiled a bit as he figured that Lucia wasn't going to change at all.

"We are on a small clay a trading island where people trade fish or trade for water due tot he well of fresh water on the island," he explained as he walked down the ram and helped Lucia as much as possible to make sure she got onto the island, she would see the one decent size building the trading hut, "We are here to get supplies and generally to relax, the water as you can see is rather clear around here, and it is easy to dock at," he explained as he motioned her to the building, "What do you think I am sure for someone like yourself, this looks like a dumb run down not regal enough for your tastes," he said as he figured she would want to look around in the trade house, "Now, in two days or so we will be in your future husband's island, I am sure you will find it surprising, I think," he mused as he figured she had some plan to get away, he was more confident about it now as he had seen how she had acted.

Once she was finished dressing, she opened the door, half-expecting him to be waiting there for her but he wasn't. She had to go look for him now, figuring he would be at the deck so they would be able to get off the boat, the ocean breeze cause her cloak to sway with the wind along with her dress. She raised the hood of her cloak up to stop the tendrils of hairs that didn't make it into the braid from flying crazily with the wind. There he was, leaning against the rails of the boat while finishing a fruit, she guessed the fruit happened to be his breakfast.

She followed him down the ram, receiving his help here and there, but she gave him a look so he could stop trying to help her as she didn't need it. Besides she didn't think it was a good idea to be so friendly with her kidnapper. There was small buildings scattered everywhere with a wide space between each of them, one building was significantly larger than the rest (compared to other building in more developed cities, it was only decent) and from what Esteban told her it was the trading house. She didn't think this was a port of her future husband's, it seemed to small and she believed he wouldn't have his port in such low standards as she had been told he was a good businessman. It turned out she was correct, rolling her eyes as Esteban made a comment about these place maybe not living up to her "regal standards". Would she still be able to send the letter? Or should she bide her time for two days and wait until she got to her fiance's..?

An exasperated sigh left her lips as she figured she'd have to wait a bit longer, "So what supplies do we need?" Asking but not really caring for the answer as she looked around, maybe she could slip away for a minutes to see if she could send the letter.

"Well we need food and water for starters as well as we need to buy some supplies to do some quick repairs on the ship, I mean we have to make sure our ship is in good shape as possible encase we run into trouble,' he commented as he looked at her and sighed, "you really don't remember me at all, or the time we spent together," he commented as he saw the look in her eyes. He knew that she was most likely looking for a way to get in contact with either her fiancé or with her father. The look in her eyes in that moment told him enough to convince him of that. "You can send off whatever it is your going to at the trade house, and I will leave you at the port in two days," he said honestly as he looked at her, "you can have fun with your slave trading husband. By the way the reason I kidnapped you wasn't for money, it was to prevent the marriage between you and that scum, and I hoped you would remember those moments we shared, but at last it is pointless, so I won't get in your way. Did you ever think maybe you father agreed to the marriage cause he was forced to. Maybe an alliance that had to be formed for protection or a threat of invasion or breaking of trade agreement is he didn't go along."

He walked down and headed into town to find the training house, he had made some attempts to be kind to her, but with that look he knew that none of those looks mattered much really at all to her. He headed to the market to get what he needed for his ship, he would drop her off, and go back to his wild ways, and his rogue ways. He figured that he could have his home at the sea now anyway, and would feel uncomfortable on land, he figured that he made one mistake, but he could learn from that mistake and grow stronger with time. He talked to the merchant getting fresh barrels of water for the ship as well as fruit and fish to be kept and used for food on their trip.

Her perfectly arched eyebrow rose at his comment, remember him? Of course she remembered him, he's the man her father exiled (for a reason she did not know but it must have been a very good one) and a very well known pirate that has seized ship from not only her kingdom but others as well (including her fiance's). But her jaw dropped when he added that she could send off her letter, How did she know she had written one? Was she that obvious? But her eyes narrowed onto him in suspicion, when he then told her of his plan to drop her off at the port when they got there in two days time, what was the catch? Would he really leave her there, a sickening feeling hit her stomach as the thought came that he could leave her there. . .dead or alive. But the feeling was brushed off as he continued to speak, talking down about her fiance, revealing why he had kidnapped her though she didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"My father agreed to this marriage because it would unite our kingdoms and it makes the alliance stronger with this marriage," she said, repeating the words that had been told to her. But followed him in silence, she'd rather not her him talk at all if he was going to keep spouting this nonsense. A few people looked to her as they walked by, noticing the rich garments she wore and the glint of the gold brooch on her cloak, her clothes told of her status so some looked on with curiosity and others greed. The looks she was getting sent shivers down her spin but she kept her head up and continued to walk, not far from Esteban though. She figured it didn't matter if she sent the letter, he said he's drop her off once they got to the port and he had allowed her to get off the ship like he said he would. So maybe he wasn't that bad.

He paused as he looked at the goods as he looked at the food good in quality the barrels of water were going to be enough for a long time of travel. He looked right at her as he looked at her. "Sure whatever you think, I hate to tell you this, your father is not a nice man, not a nice man at all," he commented as he looked at her pausing his voice holding back his furry as he looked in her direction. "Ever think to wonder why I was exiled, or why it was so soon after I kissed you that I was banished form your father's kingdom. Ever think that these two things might add up, cause sometimes one plus one does equal two you know. For a smart cleaver woman, you can be dense," he commented as he looked at her. "The woman at the end will take the letter, I know you wrote it cause I only have so much paper, in my room and you took it from it, secondly, it is what I would do in your place. Especially if I didn't want to be there, as you don't want to be here," he commented as he looked at her.

"Now, I am going to enjoy myself, have fun with the people here, I am sure your high class family status is going to help you deal with them," he said before paying for his good and handing the money for the food and water and ammo for his weapons and cannons. He then walked out and sat down on the beech as he took a bottle of rum that he had also got and started to sip on it. He never hardly drank, but he was in such a mood now it was impossible for him not to do so. He was in a rather bad mood as he sat there knowing that they would leave later that day form the beautiful island.

Her pale blue eyes narrowed onto his face, showing the defiance and distaste she had for him at that moment as he criticized her father. "What makes you think you're qualified to judge MY father? Me, his daughter, would know him better than you ever would? And what reason does he have to be nice to you, capturing ships and the goods on them." She scoffed in disbelief, not bothering to hide it when she rolled her eyes at him, nearly blushing when he mentioned the kiss. The kiss was something she had pushed back into the far crevices of her mind, it had been her first kiss, she had been refusing to acknowledge that the man before her was the same boy she had been kissed by at the age of fourteen summers. Lucia gave a firm shake of her head, shaking off any doubt or suspicion about how coincidental it had been that he had been exiled after kissing her, a princess. But it all had been shaken off when he accused her of stealing from his room, her jaw dropped before her fists clenched at her sides underneath her cloak. Had he not remembered that when he took her hostage that he took her chest full of luggage onto the ship? She gave an unladylike snort as he told her he'd leave her here to herself, she'd never wanted to raise her hand to someone so much in her life before.

She looked around once she was left alone, unsure what exactly she should do and taking a gold coin from the inside of her pocket, believing it'd be sufficient enough to pay for the letter to be sent. She'd send it just in case, walking over to the woman he had pointed out to her, the lady eyed her as Lucia slowly made her way to her.

"What is it you want?" The woman sneered at her especially after examining the girl's clothes, she should have dress a bit more inconspicuous today. "I'd like to send this letter off to King Lucius III of Asirath." She pulled letter from within the cloak with dainty fingers, offering it to the woman who looked down on it in distaste, Lucia held it out for the woman for a while before hearing. "What's in it for me?"

Lucia's eyebrows rose before opening her other hand and showing the gold coin, greed glinted in the burnette's eyes. The woman's rough hands carefully took it from Lucia, biting it to see it was real and was satisfied when she believed it was, grinning widely with her front tooth missing. "Well, pretty lady, why didn't you just says so?" The gold coin put into the pocket of her worn out pants and taking the letter from Lucia, she didn't feel all too trustworthy of the women but she'd have to do.

Seeing as she had nothing to do and was getting tired of the stares, she went back onto the boat.

Estaban had his men double time to get the ship ready, he had no reason to keep the princess around anymore if she preferred he slave selling future husband then so be it. She was a lost cause, there was nothing there anymore and she was a different woman then the one he kissed. She was entitled now, and a snobby woman. he waited till she returned, "we are leaving princess," we are going to be in your fiancé's land as soon as possible so that we can leave you on your way," he said coldly as he looked at her, "you should stay in your room, unless you prefer we leave you here and have your father come and send one of his ships to pick you up, cause that is workable as well," he said calmly as he looked at Lucia.

He walked over to a man, he was tall and strong, as he stood there, "this here is Calypso, he has served me for five years since I freed him from a ship, he will take care of your needs, I do not wish to trouble you with the prospects of running into me again by mistake if you do not want to go ashore and wait till your father arrives," he commented as he looked at her, "Calypso, tell me something though, how many years were you a slave or indentured service in the this woman's or her future husband's kingdoms, tell the high and mighty princess if you were" he said looking at the man pausing for a moment as he then walked off before he heard the answer.

"I was a slave for 24 years till you raided the ship and freed me, and all of them with Lord Amedius the adviser to Lord Lucius the third, or too Prince Alonso," he said as he answered the question in front of the princess before turning and going back to work on the ship, the numbers of shoulder the numbers used to sell him by when he had been sold as a slave.

Lucia nodded, ignoring the cold tone in his voice when he spoke to her, biting her tongue to refrain from using some colorful words on him. Her eyes narrowed into slits as he continued, letting her know that she wasn't really in his good graces and they weren't getting along as they were before. He could at least be cordial with her in her time here. She'd only be here two days before she leaves. Lucia reminded herself, not wanting to stay there at that port because of the vibe she got from the people living there and believed she'd be safer at her fiance's port rather than where they stopped. He was acting so immature.

She didn't know if he was lying about the whole slave thing? Maybe even getting this tall virile man to lie for him so she'd...she'd...well, she didn't actually know how he'd benefit from lying. But it was the only reasonable explanation for it.

Lucia slammed her cabin door with a huff, taking the cloak off and onto the chair that rested in front of the desk while mumbling words she believed perfectly described Esteban. "Brute...Creep...damn Esteban!" Her body plopped onto her unmade bed, not being able to come up with insulting names for him. She stared at the ceiling for a while, blinking slowly after a moment as she laid there, growing a bit more tired by the second and the rocking of the ship wasn't helping. Deciding a nap would suffice as they both need time to cool off.

The days past fast for Estaban as he took Lucia back to her future husband's port, they were flying a fake flag of course so they wouldn't be attacked as they entered a day an a half later, it was his goal to get rid of this woman as fast as he could. He had no reason to want her around. She didn't want to be there, she rejected any of his advances and his acts of kindness too. She was a arrogant brat, he realized the woman he had feeling for was long gone, dead really. He pulled up and smirked as he noticed the next ship over was a slave ship. He figured Lucia wouldn't mind that, she would see herself superior to any normal person anyway not to mention didn't even care to watch her leave.

She could find her way along now, she didn't need him. He let the man from the day before open the door for the sleeping woman, he brought her food, as he walked into the room. "Princess, your able to leave, Captain hast said that you may leave the ship as fast as possible, that the woman can leave to find her husband, that he didn't want to play taxi for you anymore," the man said taking out the number curse words that were in the statement. He had said quite a number of them about the woman not caring about it and saying that he should use them too but the man was kinder then that to use those words would be wrong. "The palace is down the road from the dock straight ahead." He went and got her things for her to carry them off the ship and paused looking at her, "Tis too bad, for the last years captain has talked of no one but you, and his memories of you. The stories were most interesting, I must say, but people change. I guess I shall remember memories of people are always kinder then the real person, aye?" he commented as he carried her bags out of the room so she could depart.

Lucia had spent most of her time on the ship holed up in her cabin, except for the occasional time to bathe which she would still do in Esteban's cabin though she made sure not to leave a mess. It was pretty dull and the longer she stayed on the ship, the more she began to miss socializing with people, Esteban especially despite how annoying he had seemed to her and rude he was acting to her now.

Once that day came for her to leave, a knock coming at the door and the familiar largely buff man peeked into her room before stepping in completely, her cerulean eyes raising to him curiously. Her heart had slowed to thump-thump pace, she had believed it was Esteban coming to talk to her, she thought that maybe he need a couple days to cool down but apparently he was good at holding a grudge. She didn't even understand what he was so upset about. Was it the fact that she was standing up for her father that exiled him..? Did he think she would side with him? It's been years since they've seen each other, circumstances change. "All right then..," she said softly, her heart felt like it was in her stomach as she stood ready to leave but waited as he grabbed her things. Lucia gave a nod here and there so he knew she was listening as he commented about Esteban's stories about her, was he trying to say that she's changed? "There's nothing wrong with change. You have to adapt to your surroundings in order to survive and not dwell on the past.." She added, following him out the room and to the deck where he walked down the ramp that connected the boat to the port. He set her things down on the floor which made her smile, "Thank you for your kindness, please tell Esteban that I'm sorry for having been such a burden to him." Lucia gave him a short bow, grabbing her things and carrying them away with her head held high, slightly slanted from the heavy weight of her bags; one small circular one in one arm while her other held the large rectangular one.