Sea Of Seagulls: A Pirate and Fae Tale

Chapter 14

Guilt gnawed in Theodosia's head as they sat down with Chaol. He offered to have dinner with them, but she was far from hungry. Not with the image of Turner flashing in her mind. I'm a pirate, she told herself, I've done plenty of terrible things. But she couldn't shake the feeling no matter what she told herself.

She glanced over at Shaye, who had a tired look in her eyes. Their mission was to find the wyrdkey, but at what cost? She couldn't bear to cause another death. And put Shaye through that. That wasn't fair. Theodosia was taken aback by her thought. What would it matter what Shaye had to go through? She didn't care, she told herself.

After a few minutes of Shaye and Chaol catching up, he decided he should get back to Ardarlan.

Chaol returned to his ship and steered back towards shore. Now they needed to continue their journey with hopefully no more distractions. 4 members of their crew were left. All the dead bodies were hoisted overboard. Theodosia took up her position at the wheel and pushed towards the setting sun. Shaye walked up beside her.

"When was the last time you slept?" Shaye asked, staring at Theodosia.

" Not that long ago," Theodosia chimed, keeping her eyes pinned on the ocean in front of her. Why would Shaye care about her sleep schedule?

"I can take over. And before you say no, I wasn't asking. The ship will be right here waiting for you once you wake up after some rest," Shaye assured.

Still wanting to argue, Theodosia took her hands off the wheel and sat on a ledge to the side. She knew was trying to help. She also knew that she would not be sleeping much.

"What will you do after we give the wyrdkey back to your mother?" Theodosia questioned gazing at the colorful sky and clouds with tints of pinks, reds, and oranges.

"I am not sure. I will most likely just continue with my role of being the heir and all."

"Well that's a boring life," Theodosia remarked, now admiring her dagger. She held the handle in one hand and ran her other hand along the blade and spun it around her fingers.

"Ok, what will you do then? I doubt your father will be happy that you took what he stole."

Theodosia hadn't thought that far into the future. How would her father react? He was so unpredictable at times. Her father would see what she did as a huge act of disrespect. Theodosia could not bear to imagine how he would make her pay for that. It was too late now to turn back now. She had to finish what she started, for Turner. She had killed so many people but it was rare she lost someone she knew. She didn't even know Turner that well. She did know how loved he was and how he loved others, like Shaye. To see him die trying to protect them felt not right. It felt like someone dug a blade into her heart. Just pushing it in further and further. Hopefully helping Shaye would remove some of that guilt.

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There was no way that Shaye was letting Theodosia steer the ship all the way there. Even if she did, once we hit Skull's Bay, she would fall asleep and never wake up.

Shaye had been standing at the wheel for three days and a half now. Theodosia went in and out of sleep throughout that time. Shaye guessed that they were almost passing Bellhaven by now. Finally, all of her classes about the continent's towns and layout were paying off.

Shaye never thought she would be on a ship with a pirate and crew. She never expected to enjoy the saltwater breeze and the calming sound of the waves. It was so peaceful. There wasn't an exact schedule like she was used to. No dancing lessons, random meetings, or horseback riding lessons all day. She could have sailed forever. But it had to end sometime, she had to go home. She had her fate written in stone. She would become the heir of ice and fire. She would go back to lead her tasteless life as a princess. If she made it out alive. She looked over to see Theodosia come up from below deck.