BLOOD CURSE

~ NINE ~

Sea breeze blew Lyria's dark curls. Sunlight lit up the smile on her face. James' continued foul mood kept Lyria's spirits high and provided her with amusing content to put in her letter to Lucien. The longest the two had ever gone without talking had been three hours so not talking to him anymore had everyone of Lyria's nerves on edge.

Since they had set sail two days ago, she had received numerous letters ranging from complaints, questions and even some poorly drawn faces. Despite finding them ridiculous but sweet, she could not resist in sending her own back - much to James' chagrin. Being Captain and not talking to your Second made life complicated for the whole crew. Thankfully, Caleb had stepped up and taken on the role effortlessly.

"Please, Lyria, will you just talk to him? He is snapping at everyone aboard the ship and quite frankly, no one can stand him anymore. Jonathan is even starting a petition to throw him over board."

Briefly glancing up from her current letter, Lyria rolled her eyes at the melodrama of her crew. James had many moods and the crew had put up with them many times before, they would deal with him until he apologised. She refused to talk to James first when he was the one in the wrong.

Being stubborn was her most fatal flaw, and looking at the frustrated look on Caleb's face, he was not in the mood to be dealing with it.

"Ly, please. We are all begging you."

Running his hands through his hair, Caleb sighed deeply out of his nose, trying to resist the urge to grab his two closest friends and bang their heads together.

Caleb let out another frustrated sigh and started fiddling with things on Lyria's desk, knocking into her every now and again as she tried to write a response to Lucien's latest rant. She glared at him but did not budge from her seat.

Banging a rhythm on her desk, he noticed that her hands began to twitch with irritation, messing up her usually neat handwriting until she screwed up the piece of parchment and lobbed it at Caleb's head.

Muttering under his breath, Caleb started singing terribly off-key, getting louder and louder with each verse until eventually, he was screaming it at the top of his lungs. Climbing out of his chair, he started dancing around the cabin, doing obscene, distracting gestures until Lyria finally caved.

"Fine!" Lyria exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the desk. "I will go and speak to the man child throwing a tantrum."

Glaring at her now quiet Third with intense annoyance, she stormed out of her cabin, ignoring the smug smile that followed her. No one could have anticipated the catastrophe that would commence with the Captain and the Second of The Crimson Rose talking for the first time in three days.

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"WHEN WILL YOU STOP BEING SO STUBBORN AND ADMIT YOU WERE OUT OF ORDER?!"

"WHEN YOU STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU KNOW BEST!"

"I AM YOUR CAPTAIN AND MANY YEARS OLDER THAN YOU, I DO KNOW BEST! I MAKE THE DECISIONS AROUND HERE. YOU ARE JUST A CHILD!"

"THIS CHILD HAS SERVED BY YOUR SIDE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS AND YET YOU NEVER STOPPED TO THINK FOR ONE SECOND TO INCLUDE ME IN YOUR PLANS TO SPILL OUR SECRET!"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO APOLOGISE FOR THAT? IT WAS NOT PLANNED! I LOST CONTROL WHEN WE WERE FIGHTING!"

"BULLSHIT! WHEN DO YOU EVER LOSE CONTROL?! THE ONLY TIME YOU LECTURE US IT IS ABOUT CONTROL!"

Caleb was beginning to regret his decision to try and make amends between Lyria and James.
In fact, he wished Lyria was still holed up in her cabin writing letters to the handsome blond Captain of The Mermaid's Revenge with a smile on her face.
He wished James was still scrubbing floors and brooding; it was much better than the small conversation that had turned into an hour long screaming match.

"WELL SOMETIMES I DO! I DO NOT HAVE IT TOGETHER ALL THE TIME, JAMES. I MAKE MISTAKES AND THAT WAS WHY I NEEDED YOU THERE AT THAT MEETING. BUT YOU WERE NOT THERE!"

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO STAY ON THE SHIP!"

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY ON THE SHIP IF YOU HAD AN ISSUE WITH WORKING WITH LUCIEN! YOU CHOSE TO STAY HERE, NO ONE FORCED YOU TO!"

"OH, SO IT IS LUCIEN NOW, IS IT?! GLAD TO KNOW YOU TWO ARE GETTING ON SO WELL CONSIDERING HE PUT A BLACK SPOT ON YOU THE OTHER DAY!"

"REALLY?! THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE FOCUSING ON RIGHT NOW; THE FACT THAT I USE HIS NAME!"

Standing at the bow of his ship, Lucien had originally tried to ignore the yells coming from The Crimson Rose; whatever was happening with her crew, it was her business. But then he began to recognise the powerful, female voice booming louder than the other.
Grabbing his telescope, he stood at the bow of The Mermaid's Revenge and saw Lyria and her Second in a heated discussion.
Both were red in the face and despite being smaller than James, Lyria towered over him as he cowered in slight fear.

Calling out for Tomas, he requested that his Third head over to The Crimson Rose and find out what was going on; not that the whole ship couldn't make out the words that the two were spitting at each other.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, JAMES, IF YOU DISAGREE WITH MY METHODS AND MY RULE THAT MUCH THEN STEP DOWN! YOU ARE NO LONGER SECOND ABOARD THE CRIMSON ROSE. END OF DISCUSSION."

Everyone went silent.

Tomas, who had come to stand next to Caleb, froze not wanting to get dragged into the drama.

Caleb looked at the scene before him, blue eyes filled with horror, the brightness of them dimming as the reality of what just happened sunk in.

Lucien, stood at his helm, stared in the direction of Lyria with shock across his features.

James' reaction was the worst. He physically flinched back from the petite Vampyre whose venomous words poisoned him so much. His facial features dropped and he looked as if he was about to throw up. Ever since she had become a Captain, 300 years ago, James had been by her side as her Second. He only ever thought that death would change that.

Nostrils flaring with quickly dissipating anger, Lyria bit her wobbling lip as the words she knew she could not take back sunk in. Tears pooled in her eyes and the two of them stared at each other with glassy eyes.

Lyria nodded at him before driving the final nail in the coffin.

"You continue to argue against my every word and I am no longer sure I can trust you to follow my rule in times of need. Caleb will be stepping up as Second , effective immediately." Lyria's voice was deathly quiet but even Tomas, with his human hearing, could hear every word clearly. "If anyone has any qualms or queries, report to Caleb. Isabelle, you are now Third. If any of you have an issue with that, feel free to visit me in my cabin."

Despite her soft voice, the words were filled with a slight threat. Translation; if anyone had an issue with it, they should suck it up or face the wrath of a seriously pissed off Captain. Turning on her heel, she dismissed her crew, leaving Caleb and Isabelle to discuss how to fit into their new roles together.

"Hello, Tomas. You may report back to Lucien and thank him for checking up on me." Lyria smiled sweetly at the scarred Third, leaving him freaked out at the change in emotions and how she knew the reason as to why she was there.

Walking into her cabin, she shut the door gently behind her without looking back. If she had, she would've seen the heartbroken look on James' face as he felt his world crumble down around him.