Cursed | Armando Salazar x OC

TWENTY-FOUR

The service on this ship is terrible.

I'm tied to the mizzenmast between Henry and the girl so I'm facing forward. This gives me a clear view of the deck, the forecastle deck, and the two pirates tying a frantic Jack to the foremast.

"The only safe place is the land?" he stresses, "Why are we going away from the land?"

No one pays him any mind, especially Barbosa, who is studying a map on the other side of the wheel.

The girl, however, is bold enough to call out to him, "Captain, your map is incomplete. I can take us to the Trident if you'd only trust me." She goes ignored. "Did you not hear anything I just said?"

"It's no use," I tell her calmly, "You can bring a horse to the water, but you can't force it to drink. I'm Samira by the way."

She looks at me over her shoulder and I thought her eyes hold a certain familiarity to them. "Samira? Of course, Henry told me about you."

"Did he now?" I quirk a brow at the boy on my right. "What did he say?"

"He told me about your curse, how you hope the Trident can help break it."

"Did he also tell you I used to be his sitter?"

"Samira!" Henry scolds and I can imagine his cheeks burning up. "She's joking, we were only friends."

"Only friends?" I tut, "Ouch." Then, to the girl, I say, "I used to wash his face, wipe his little mouth after dinner, tie his shoes –"

"Samira!"

Fortunately, I could lighten the mood at his expense. The girl snorts and suppresses a laugh before we settle into an anticipating silence.

So, she must be the one who holds the map to Poseidon's Tomb. A part of me wonders how she acquired it, and another part doesn't care unless it truly takes us to the Trident. That's all that matters at this point.

"So," I begin, "you have the map that no man can read. Is it because you're a woman?"

"Thank you!" she exclaims victoriously, "Someone who understands! Have you any idea how stupid pirates are?"

I nod, looking directly at the pirate duo who I take so much pleasure in scaring. "Oh, yes. I know. Mind if I ask to where that map leads?"

"Well, if you must know, it's in the stars." I look up at the night sky as she explains, "I believe if I follow the right star, it will lead us to the Trident."

Without even looking up from his map, Barbosa says cynically, "So you be saying is that a star is pretending to be a map?"

One of the crew, the bigger one, shakes his head from behind the wheel, "Sir, there is no island on any map to support what the woman says."

"Captain, you don't have to understand her," Henry interjects, "Just believe her."

A smile tugs at my lips when I catch on what's stirring between them. Henry usually doesn't mind me poking fun at him, however, gets defensive and embarrassed around this girl. I'm not going to lie, she is pretty. A young man like Henry had to be blind not to see it.

It seems Barbosa still doesn't believe her as he goes back to studying his map and gazing out over the horizon.

By now, it is completely dark out and ominous clouds have gathered in the sky. Every few seconds, lightning strikes in the distance, lighting the sky for a second or two.

"Samira," Henry's voice sounds behind me, "are you doing this?"

At first, I don't answer. Only when he mentioned it, do I notice the storm closing in on the ship, making it impossible to see a few yards beyond the dark waters below.