The Pirate's Bride

CHAPTER I

The sun was disappearing in the sea, but walking down the crowded street of Redport, Esther couldn't know that. In the heart of the city, it was already dark and the sky overhead was indigo, scattered with the first of stars. The pink and orange of dusk were lost on her as she pushed through the mass of human bodies milling on the cobbled stone.

Esther was hurrying home after a small get-together with a bunch of her friends, determined to reach her house by the time her husband had to leave for work so that she could bid him proper goodbye.

Again - she bitterly thought.

Every once in a couple of months, Jonathan would go off to work and be gone for several long weeks. He never spoke of the nature of his job, and Esther never asked. It was enough for her that he brought back gobs of gold every time he returned and she didn't bother questioning it. She loved and trusted Jonathan... and rather liked the life his riches gave her.

"Jonathan, darling!" she called with forced cheerfulness the moment she had stepped through the door. She allowed the maid to close it behind her and take her coat, and she herself speeded inside.

Jonathan, a handsome man of twenty-six years with dusty-blond hair and a bit of a scruff that accentuated the sharpness of his jaw, was seated in an armchair in the lounging room, the biggest room in their sizable house. It was not a mansion by any means, but it was bigger than most houses of Redport. Decorated entirely with bright colours and floral patterns and all kinds of flowers in vases and pots, it smelled like hyacinths, roses and crocuses. It smelled like home.

"Ettie, my love," said Jonathan, bringing his gaze up from the newspaper he had been reading. He folded it neatly and set it down onto the table in front of him, smiling at his wife. "I'm glad you're back. I was hoping for a farewell kiss before I left."

Esther, despite her discontent, couldn't help smiling, too. "Of course, Jon. Are you packed? Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?"

Jonathan stood up. His gait brisk as always, he walked up to the woman and wrapped his arm snugly around her waist. Esther gladly sunk into him, relishing the last moments of closeness she could share with her man. And again, sourness settled into her stomach at the thought she wouldn't have him by her side for the next weeks... if not months, even!

"I'll be back before you know it," he whispered.

But she remained silent. She wasn't sure she'd be able to speak.

One could argue that after years of their marriage, she should be accustomed to those weeks of separation by now. The truth was, she doubted she could ever get used to it.

Again, though - if it meant he brought back home money... It made everything a tiny bit sweeter.

"All right, then." Jonathan pulled away. The corners of his mouth rose as his fingers brushed the few strands of dark brown hair out of Esther's face, tucking it behind her ear. "So, about that kiss..."

Esther was happy to stand on her toes and connect their lips. The act was sugary and gentle, and she did her best to convey her longing - the one she could already feel sprouting in her chest - through the kiss's delicacy.

Jonathan's tender palm cupped her cheek. "I'll miss you, dove."

Esther smiled almost subconsciously and tilted her head, leaning into the touch. Her eyes, round and glistening with admiration, peered upwards into the green eyes of her husband.

Then Jonathan stepped back. "I shall go now. I cannot be late."

Esther nodded, accepting that fact like she accepted everything Jonathan ever told her about his job.