A little short chapter cause ya girl has spent all the free time here moving into my new place! It's been a wild start to 2024 but we're getting back into the swing of things now.
(I had to move a couch, a boxing bag, and a grand piano... so you can imagine the stress levels I had going on lol).
As always, I love y'all so so so much
I hope you're taking good care of yourselves <3
I cannot waiiiiitttttt to get to the next few chapters, cause the lore is about to go crazy :)
Anywhoo, Enjoy lovelies!
xoxo

Caspian

"You look like death." Snips noted to me, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead onto the shirt sleeve covering his upper arm, as the bright sun beamed down right above us. It was signaling high noon to the sea and it's inhabitants.

My hands were gripping the wooden pole we were moving with unnecessary strength, and Snips felt it when he tried to pull the pole from me and lift it into its standing position. The look he gave me confirmed it, paired seamlessly with his flippant irritance.

We were tightening the support of one of the beams when I started to fall victim to my own thoughts. Something that was dangerous to do around Snips seeing as he didn't favor any distractions as we worked.

With every current that pushed this large vessel forward, we were drawing nearer to the shores of Gatvia. Alistair had already given the orders to prepare to dock before nightfall, and my uncertainty would only grow from here on.

I hadn't lied to him about my family being dead. But I did lie about Gatvia. My feet had never touched its soil, and a man as smart as Alistair already knew that. Even if he hadn't figured out who I was, he was making impressive strides to. There wasn't any telling though what he had planned to do with this information once he confirmed the lie, or what would happen to me then.

I couldn't tell him who I really was even if I knew he had no desire to kill me... and the words he had spoken the evening before over supper- about me being as good as useless cargo if the men didn't accept me as his property. Those words had terrified me.

This crew would never accept me as anything without knowing who I was. They especially wouldn't once Alistair confirmed his suspicious of me not being from Gatvia. Yet if they knew exactly who I was, who my family was, this hostility would go from unacceptance to something else entirely.

And then there was that other threat. The one about Alistair tying me down below until my body fell succumb to the natural process of things. I knew how long that could take, and my mind would break before my body ever did.

So none of this was good.

It wasn't ideal before, but now it really wasn't good.

"I can already smell it." Snips added once he got the pole steadied into the notch we created, before taking a deep inhale. "The rivers... the mountains...the food... the women." Snips had a genuine smile on his face as he slowly closed his eyes, faulting me to do the same.

And I smelt it to. Somewhat. I could at least sense land nearing us.

"How long will we port?" I asked Snips, to which he shrugged.

"Maybe a few days, nothing near a fortnight. We've got a man to track down in Sicoria and that's something the Captain won't put off for no one."

I gave this shorter man a nod, following his movements as we went to grab the next wooden beam stacked high against the side of the ship. Even the timber on this ship felt heavier than anything I had ever lifted before. My legs almost buckled under the weight of the next beam. I was admittedly exhausted, and the conversation with Alistair the previous night had done nothing to help me find sleep after supper. The crews time to rise also felt like it was getting earlier and earlier with each passing day I stayed on this retched ship.

"You'll like it." He insisted, which inadvertently answered the question of whether or not Alistair had admitted to the rest of these men that I claimed to be from Gatvia. Snips wouldn't have reassured me had he thought that was my place of birth.

The hot tempered man treated the situation as if I'd never been there before and I was grateful to Alistair to say the least. He hadn't said anything. I rather the crew think I'm capable of withholding truth, than flat out lying. That felt safer... at least for now.

I didn't answer the man I strangely found myself growing used to. Snips was... complicated at his best, but the more work we did together, the less differences I could find between he and I. We were both meticulous with how we did things.

A strong whack to my back with a piece of loose ply board quickly reminded me of who was a crew member here, and who was a slave.

I can't get comfortable, I told myself. Nor did I want to. If Alistair found use for me, he'd never free me. And if he didn't, he'd still never free me.

I thought about Gatvia. It was wishful thinking on my part, but it was also the first patch of land I'd be seeing in at least a moon. And granted trying to escape Alistair on an island would be like trying to run out of a latched room with barred windows, but what choices did I have?

Snips seemed sure of us not staying in Gatvia long which meant I would have to act quickly. The next moment I got away from Alistair, I thought to myself. I had managed to slip away from many places, which led me to believe that escaping his clutches couldn't be that much more difficult...

That was the lie I told myself the remainder of the afternoon to keep my spirits high.

-

"Land!"

That shattering yell came up above from Coop, who against the crews and it's Captain's better wishes, had climbed back up to his post on one of the high beams. He was insistent on being the first to lay eyes on his homeland, and though Alistair immediately chastised him once his feet made it safely back onto the floorboards of the ship, I could see a slight smile playing on the large Captain's sly lips.

It was nighttime now, the only thing visible to the men on deck being the ship itself... but as I looked out into the darkness of the settling sea before us, I started to notice lights on the horizon. With each tide that brought us closer, more lights appeared in the near distance.

My eyes found themselves slowly drifting closed much like they had with Snips's earlier in the day. This time, however, I smelt it. The land. The people. The food.

Then I heard it.

The music.

Coop's hand readjusted the bandages that had come loose once he started climbing down. He was already readying the ropes to port.

Alistair had appeared on deck for the first time today, not long before nightfall, disappearing for most of the daylight as he routinely did. Him and Cael had taken position on the top deck, and when my eyes drifted open, looking back from the turbulent sea to find his gaze- that one eye not concealed by the black patch strapped around his head, he raised his left hand to beckon me over.

Men were scurrying left and right preparing the ship, so I was careful to keep out of their way as I made my way across the main deck and up the wooden stairs. The Captain was wearing a long dark leather trench coat, similar to the one he'd worn the last few days, yet this one looked more... extravagant. Less worn. The gold detail made his onyx black hair more visible against the similar colored material.

His long hair was pulled back as it usually was, but it looked brushed, with some soft strands slipping from the tie and falling towards his sharp face. I tried not to allow my eyes to linger, yet it was almost impossible not to. This was the first night, I realized, that Alistair was without blood or soot anywhere on him.

He had freshened up, and freshened up well at that.

"We're docking soon." He told me, his eyes eyeing my own attire which made me feel something I didn't expect to feel. Especially not around a bunch of bloody pirates. I felt like I needed to change. Like I was underdressed for whatever occasion was about to befall upon us.

I gave this well dressed man a nod, forcing my eyes to remain on his gaze. To overlook the long black coat being open, revealing a white undershirt that exposed his broad chest. I could see the start of a tattoo there but the rest was concealed by the fabric.

"You are not to leave my side unless those orders come directly from me." Alistair spoke, his voice and strong and as raw as it usually was, not failing to make the hairs on my arms stand.

I gave the Captain another nod.

"And you are not to speak unless spoken to."

Yet another nod followed those words. There wasn't much else I could do now but agree. I was at his complete mercy.

"Aye?" He confirmed, his brow creasing slightly.

I almost nodded again, but stopped myself. "Aye." I spoke instead. My eyes glanced past Alistair briefly to Cael, who's lips curled up in a slight smile as he looked over to me. Then he cast his gaze back to the men on the deck down below, continuing to watch them work.

"Good. Now go bathe. You're a poor representation of this ship, and my crew."

I found Alistair's orders to be quite frivolous as I left both men at the top deck and made my way to our private chambers. Considering the dirt and wax all over my hands and shirt were directly related to the work on his ship, the look of distaste as his eyes lingered over each bit of filth somewhat irritated me.

Nonetheless, I found myself entering the empty chambers, pulling the soiled clothes from my sweaty skin, and drawing a bath.

And as soon as I lowered my naked self into the tub, I had a startling realization overcome me. I didn't remember the last time I had washed myself.

The water ran brown with what had to be weeks worth of filth and sweat as I began to scrub. On the merchant ship, it was difficult to find time to wash yourself when every other man forwent that same luxury. The men on this ship however seemed to favor cleanliness to a degree that was still surprising me. I didn't understand how Snips and I had done the same amount of work, yet he looked as if he had just gotten dressed.

I, on the other hand, managed to dirty almost every part of me.

I watched as the filth washed itself away from my light hair, doing my best to run my fingers through the strands to detangle them. I took better care to clean parts of me I would've otherwise ignored, before I finally pulled myself out of the warm murky water.

The sound of chatter on the ship outside of these private quarters was what made me hurry to dress, rifling through clothes Alistair had provided and brought to my private room, until I found something somewhat fitting. Nothing would come close to the crisp attire Alistair had chosen for himself this evening, but I did my best to look presentable.

That quick scurry proved more fruitful than not as the sounds of men on the ship grew louder.

I felt the stillness now, a stark difference to the mercy we were at on sea. The ship was no longer moving, which meant we had finally docked.

And all I felt then was the clear indication that I was unfortunately still alive. It was the feeling of my heartbeat quickening.

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