"You could be the King, but watch the Queen conquer." -Bella
Isabella's POV:
Shayla looked at me with a clouded look, but she shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment before letting out a long sigh. When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer cloudy.
"Well, I wouldn't expect any less of an answer from you, I suppose. I should've figured you would answer like that." she says with a small grin and I smile back at her finally, feeling the tension that was building up slowly drift away.
"Naturally." I tease and she laughs. "But on a serious note, remember what you fight for, and if it's going to be worth it." she says, her smile fading for a moment, and my heart hammers in my chest as her blue eyes pierce my soul.
It's as if she knew I was struggling to believe this was a fight I would win. But I couldn't show her any insecurities now. She had to believe that I was in this 100%, or else she would fight it.
"Of course it's going to be worth it." I say surely, hoping that she believed the words I said. I didn't know if it would be worth it, but all I could do was assure everyone and hopefully pull through on my part.
She merely nodded, not arguing the fact with me and I let out a small breath of relief. I had to keep myself going through this, whether it was going to end well or badly.
I had to stay strong for Shayla, Harry, Layla...even this crew. I can't let them see the conflict that's going on inside of me.
I would protect my family at any cost, but knowing that there would be repercussions out of that is what makes me falter in my belief. This wasn't just about me anymore, but about my family too. I had to keep them in my mind as well.
Turning towards the sea again, I let out a long breath. "I'm going to see what Harry is doing. We don't need him to be alone too long." I murmur and Shayla puts her hands on her hips.
"You need to be careful with him. He could be playing you." she says and I frown. "I've already thought about that possibility." I mutter and look over at her, giving a soft smile.
"But it's still worth trying." I whisper and her eyes widen. With that remark I turn away from her and begin to walk towards the stairs, going up to the upper deck to see Harry by the wheel, giving orders to the man who was steering us.
"What are you talking about?" I ask and he gives me a sharp look before realizing it was me. "Oh. Just telling him where to go. We're going to check out an island not too far from here." he says and my eyes widen.
"Harry we can't." I say and he raises an eyebrow. "Why not?" he grumbles and I walk up to him with a firm look on my face.
"We can't go searching for them right now. We only have a week. It would take us so much longer to find them and solve this problem." I say and he scoffs. "I'd kill every single one of them in less than a day. Those bastards...they killed Edward." he hisses and I shake my head.
"Harry that isn't the point of this journey. We have to stay safe. Remember this is just a trial run. These men aren't pirates, they aren't fighters like we are. It's a different type of fight they know." I say and he frowns slightly.
"I know you want to after them, and it's completely understandable. But we do only have one week. And it's nearly nightfall now. There's no reason to try to pick a fight we may not be able to end before we need to be home." I say reasonably and he takes in a deep breath before letting it out.
"I suppose you're right." he mutters, making my eyes widen in surprise. I was ready to fight him on this, but he didn't even try to put up a fight.
"Turn us East. We'll pass some merchant ships and maneuver through some of them and see if it is anything worthwhile." he says begrudgingly to the helmsman and begins to walk away. The helmsman nodded unsure, but started to turn the ship as commanded.
I turn to follow Harry, only to turn right into his chest. He had moved behind me, and I stumbled back, looking up at him questionably. A little bit of fear crept into my stomach at the thought of him being angry at me, but I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to be the one that spoke first.
"Come with me." he says, not giving me any other option as he grabs my wrist, tugging me after him, making me gasp in surprise. This feeling I had now...I've had it with him before. When I was kidnapped by him the first time...the first week I was with him...he was exactly like this.
"W-wait Harry, where are we going?" I ask confused and he ignores me, not saying a word and the sense of de ja vu hit me hard. Before I knew it, we were in front of the Captain's door, making my eyes widen as memories flashed in my head.
Before I could protest Harry had dragged me inside, closing the door behind us. I was released from his grasp as he pushed me forward, making me stumble to gain my balance. By the time I got my balance and turned around, Harry was stalking towards me, making me trip as I stepped backwards, hitting the wall behind me.
My heart was pounding as he put his hands beside my head, staring me down as I looked up at him.
"H-Harry?" I stutter but he remains silent, staring at me as he had me trapped against the wall, and I swallowed nervously. I had no idea what was going on in that mind of his, but I didn't like the way he was acting.
"You can still argue against me like it's nothing. Of all people, you're the one who does it, and it works." he mutters, my eyes widening as I stared into his green eyes. "Huh?" I breathe and one of his hands goes to my chin, his thumb rubbing the side of my face gently.
"How did I forget that you're the only one I've ever listened to?" he murmurs and I swallow hard. I open my mouth to say something but I don't get the chance to speak.
Harry leaned forward and kissed me as I went to speak, catching me off guard. My eyes were wide in shock as I felt his lips on mine, his hand behind my neck while the other still rested on the wall.
He was trying to get a reaction from me but I was frozen. It was...something I couldn't explain. Tears gathered in my eyes the more he tried to kiss me, pulling me closer to his body. This isn't how it should've happened.
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling a tear fall down my face before my body seemed to be able to move again. I brought my arms up and shoved against Harry's chest as hard as I could, knocking him off of me and I ran to the side, staring at him with disbelief.
He looked a little stunned at first, blinking a few times before he looked over at me.
"What was that?!" I shout at him and his eyes widen. "What do you mean?" he asks heatedly and I wipe my eyes. "Just kissing me like that out of nowhere, like nothing was wrong, like we weren't trying to fix things...what are you thinking?!" I shout and he straightens up, looking to the side.
"Isn't it what you wanted?" he asks and I narrow my eyes slightly. "No! We should have everything worked out before we try anything like that." I say fiercely and he frowns.
"Dammit. I still can't control myself." he whispers and my eyebrows furrow down. "What do you mean?" I ask and he shakes his head. "Nothing." he says and I huff, about to press him further whenever he looks at me, the look making me freeze.
"You should get some rest. Like you said earlier, it is nightfall. Go to bed early. You'll need all the rest you can get. Take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor." he says and I frown. What was that look for? It was very...endearing at first.
"I have some things to think about...I won't be in for awhile. Just go to bed, don't leave the room." he says dismissively, walking out without another word, leaving me both flustered and confused.
"It really is like when I was first on the ship." I murmur, all the memories flooding my mind, but I quickly shake them away. There was no reason to start comparing what was happening now to what happened then.
But in a way...I still ended up with him when that happened, so maybe...
Could this be a good sign?
EEHHH LOOK WHO'S BACK!! Sorry it takes me so long to update guys, this semester I am slammed with work and it's never letting up so *sobs*. But I do hope you enjoy the chapters when I get to update!!! Please let me know what you guys think about this chapter!
Also, when Thanksgiving Break comes around, I'll probably update more since I'll have a little bit of free time! Yay for that!!
Keep thinking about these quotes as you go along through the story and let me know what you think!! Love you guys!