A Pirate's Kiss (Wattys Winner 2011)

Chapter Three | Innocence

"What are you all standing around for?" I roared, feeling the burn begin behind my eyes, before slowly spreading to engulf the rest of my body. "This ship will not sail itself, you lazy mongrels!" 

Immediately, all eyes were averted as they scurried away like mice on the run from a lean, hungry housecat. 

"Captain," Hobbson warned cautiously, but I ignored him, looking instead back to the jewel, in which my reflection was mirrored. 

Two golden eyes stared back at me. "I know," I murmured quietly. And then louder - "I know." 

I let the jewel drop, the necklace bouncing against my chest before settling under my shirt, hidden from view. 

And then I steered the ship directly for the cliffs. 

*  

CIRCE

I watched from my balcony, as the sun sunk low on the horizon, swelling to at least three times it's normal size. As it touched the ocean, it wove a shade of crimson into the ever shifting waves. Slowly, as more of the fiery orb succumbed to the water, the macabre shade spread outwards, morphing into a violent orange, before finally fading to a molten gold. 

I wonder what it would be like to swim in gold like that. Surely it would be magical. 

It seemed ridiculous to think that, although I lived right beside the ocean, I had never set foot in the water in my entire life. Watching the ships and visiting the Pirates in the jails was as close as I had ever gotten to the wild untamed seas. 

No-one had ever seen reason to teach me, and I had never felt particularly compelled to learn. Swimming was not something that was widely learned - only Navy soldiers had use for it. And age old superstition saw to it that I - as a woman - would never set foot on a ship. Bad luck and all. 

A knock sounded at the trapdoor and I cast an eye over the grandfather clock standing proud in a corner of the room. It was almost eight.

"Come in!" I called, looking back out of the window, now focusing on the steady stream of carriages that were pouring through the castle gates. The courtyard below was lit with lights and befit with splendor rarely seen. I had spent most of the afternoon out on my balcony, watching as the decorations went up. It had been a pleasant way to waste time. 

"Miss Circe, I've come to prepare you." 

I turned, smiling widely at the elderly ladies maid that had accompanied me since I was young. "Isabelle," I sighed, "I'm glad to see you." I turned back to the window,  watching the finely clothed women exit their carriages in their beautiful ball gowns, dripping with jewels. I looked down at the plain dress I was wearing, it was beautiful, to be sure, but did Father really think that it was suitable for a ball?

"Your Father requested we bring this up for you to wear Miss." I turned to find that two more maids had joined Isabelle and they were carrying a large cardboard box between them. They smiled at me and set it down on the bed with a curtesy. 

"These two are new, Miss Circe," Isabelle said promptly, introducing the two. "Arabella is on the left, Constance on the right. I interviewed them personally, they will be assisting me to attend to you from today onwards." 

I nodded and greeted the two with a smile. 

"Your Father wishes you a Happy Birthday and wants to let you know that you are due to appear before the masses at nine o'clock sharp," Isabelle relayed. "I believe your outfit for tonight is in there," she pointed to the box with her eyes twinkling. "You had best open it."