When the carriage finally stopped, they had traveled far beyond the main village, up through the gates of the largest house Natasha had ever seen, something more akin to a castle. She couldn't help but stare up at the massive stonework as she descended from the carriage and took Easton's arm, the contact making her skin crawl, but she did it anyways, knowing displeasing him would but those she cared about in danger.
"Captain Easton, good evening," a man standing outside the door greeted him, his dark eyes lingering on Natasha's face. Easton greeted the man in return, but Natasha missed his name, focusing on the feeling of her locket against her skin, trying to focus on the comfort it usually brought her. No matter how hard she tried to focus on the presence of the cool metal, however, the tightness in her stomach, brought on by more than the rigidity of her corset, wouldn't go away.
She forced herself to smile at the man at the door when he looked at her again, hoping the discomfort on her face wasn't too obvious as the man then turned and reached to open one of the two heavy wooden doors.
"You're doing excellent, my dear," Easton leaned towards her and whispered, his breath on her skin again making her shudder involuntarily as her skin pricked. She forced herself not to look at Easton as he leaned away from her, looking straight ahead as the doors opened, and she stepped inside at Easton's side. Once again, she found the breath taken from her lungs when she stepped inside, but this time it was out of pure awe at the scene before her.
They had stepped into a grand foyer, at least three times the size of her entire house. The floor was white with waves and swirls of a faint gold, made of a material Natasha had never seen before, but her heels clicked sharply against it as she stepped inside. At the center of the room sat a large, dark wooden table, at the center of the round top was a sculpture of what appeared to be a man and a woman embracing. Beyond the table, on both sides, were two winding staircases, the material a combination of the white flooring and dark wooden banisters. The walls were decorated with gold patterned wallpaper, and dozens of the most beautiful pieces of art that Natasha had ever seen hung at all heights on the wall, up the stairs, and into the hallway beyond. A portrait to her left caught her attention in particular, and she felt herself gravitating towards it, forgetting that she was supposed to be staying with Easton.
"It's quite something, isn't it?" She looked over at Easton as he came up to her left shoulder, and then looked back at the piece of art, trying to decipher what it was made out of. Whatever had been used to create the image of the woman seemed to had clumped heavily against the canvas, giving the portrait a texture she could never create with her charcoal. The various colors brought the woman's dark skin to life and made her green dress seem as if it was flowing off of the page. Even to a man like Easton, Natasha couldn't deny its beauty.
"It's incredible," she admitted, the words leaving her breath in merely an awed whisper. "What's it made of?" Her question made Easton chuckle lightly, and Natasha couldn't help how her cheeks flushed lightly at his response, a reminder of how much of an outsider she was in this situation, her sheltered lifestyle making her a stranger to things that these people probably considered normal.
"It's called paint, Natasha. It's a colored substance, like a liquid, that dries on a surface and leaves the color behind to create whatever image you want." Natasha felt childlike having Easton explain something that was clearly so common, but tried to ignore it, and focus on the painting in front of her.
"Is it safe to assume, then, that the drawings my men found in Captain Avery's room belonged to you?" The mention of John made Natasha's heart skip, and the mention of her drawings made her fingers twitch with longing and her heart ache with the desire to have her charcoal in her hands again to bring relief from everything else she was feeling, or even to have the opportunity to pain and feel the excitement that she had felt the very first time she picked up charcoal to draw, the feeling that came with trying something new. Yet, the knowledge that Easton had seen her drawings also made her deeply uncomfortable, with some of them being immensely personal to her, ones she would never willingly plan to show somebody else.
"Yes, they were mine," she responded quietly, looking away from the portrait of the woman to the one next to it, a similar style except the subject of this portrait was a man, with equally dark skin and dark eyes, and a deep, moss green coat of a similar style to what Easton was wearing. The portrait of the man was equally as stunning, and Natasha found herself hoping that one day she could create something at least half as beautiful as it.
"They were quite good, considering your limited resources and experiences. I especially enjoyed the portraits of what I assumed to be your family, as well as the portraits of your captain." Once again Natasha's cheeks flushed with Easton's referral of John as hers, and the discomfort and irritation she felt at Easton having looked through her sketchbook deepened in her stomach, mixing with the budding feeling of animosity towards him. The loathing made her jaw open, as a dozen irate thoughts worked through her brain. Thankfully, she was saved from the biting remark on her tongue by the approach of the man and woman whose portrait they had been studying.
"Governor Greaves," Easton turned, greeting the man who had approached them. As Easton and Greaves, who Natasha assumed to be the host of the party, shook hands, Natasha took a moment to study him and compare his appearance to the portrait she had just been looking at. The resemblance was remarkable, and whoever had created the paintings was clearly exceptionally skilled, as Natasha felt as if she was staring at the image come to life, dark green jacket and all.
"Elanor," Easton continued, turning then to the woman with the Governor, presumably his wife, and took her hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of it lightly. Natasha studied her too, noting that her resemblance to the painting was equally as striking as her husbands', yet she looked much kinder in person, with a wide smile and bright eyes, despite their near black color. Even as she spoke, her voice was light, her words genuine.
"Frederick, how are you? It's been too long." At the woman's words, Natasha realized that Easton and the governor were friends, and she feared that they knew the truth about where she was from and why she was with Easton. However, after Easton had greeted them, the Governor turned to her and reached for her hand, which Natasha had rested across her stomach, and kissed it the same way Easton had kissed the Governess' hand, and she found it safe to assume that they did not know the truth about her, otherwise the Governor would not have greeted her in that manner. Her assumption was further confirmed when Easton introduced her as a distant relative from a place Natasha had never heard of before, surprising her by speaking as if he had told the Governor about her already, and they were just now finally being introduced. Despite that, the knowledge that nobody here knew who she was or the true reason she was with Easton made her relax slightly, knowing nobody here, except Easton, would be looking for her.
"If you're attracted to the artwork, Ms. James, you should certainly let my wife give you a tour of the library. That's where some of our best pieces are," Governor Greaves was saying, and it took Natasha a moment to realize that he was speaking to her. In her musings, she had let her eyes wander again to some of the other pieces of work on the wall, mixes of landscapes and portraits that she assumed were images of relatives, feeling more at peace when her mind was distracted by the paintings.
"Oh, that sounds lovely," Natasha responded, and before her, the Governess agreed in earnest, extending her arm out. Natasha looked sideways at Easton, wondering if he would allow her to leave his side, but to her surprise he nodded once, even smiling at her in a way that seemed more genuine than any other time he had looked at her. Natasha laced her arm with the Governess and followed in the woman's footsteps as they departed from Easton and the Governor. With each step she took, she felt more comfortable away from his intimidating gaze.
"I'm so pleased to have found somebody else with a genuine interest in art. My husband tries to humor me by letting me clutter our walls with these paintings and comments on their loveliness, but he just doesn't share the same passion for the beauty of it that I do," the Governess started saying, leading Natasha through rooms full of people and hallways lit by candles in extravagant chandeliers, each room more beautiful than the next. "Do you paint?"
"No," Natasha responded, half-distracted by a long plate of food that they walked past in one room full of tables and chairs. "No, ma'am," she added, unsure of how she should be responding to somebody in a position of power, somebody who might have actually been worthy of some level of respect, unlike Easton.
"Oh please, call me Ela," the Governess said, patting Natasha's arm gently, and when Natasha glanced down, she saw that the woman's fingers were heavily decorated with gold rings, glittering brightly against her dark skin. "My husband and I would like you to feel comfortable here. Easton has told us what you've gone through, but you are safe here." At her words, Natasha faltered slightly in the heels she was already uncomfortable in, hoping Ela didn't notice as the corrected herself, thankful at least that her guide was strolling slowly down the current hallway they were in. Her heart pounded uncomfortably in her chest as she feared that her earlier assumption about her safety in this home was not true, and that Easton had told the Governor and his wife the truth, and she had walked into a trap. She tried to force her breathing to even out before she spoke, hoping Ela couldn't feel the way her body trembled slightly.
"What exactly has he told you?" Natasha asked cautiously, trying to sound nonchalant and hoping that's how she came across, glancing between the woman's face and a long, horizontal mirror, wrapped in a hold frame, that hung against the white wall of the corridor. She caught a passing glimpse of herself in the mirror and, despite having seen her reflection earlier at the shop, didn't recognize herself as she walked more confidently with her shoulders back, trying to fit into whatever role Easton wanted her to play.
"Oh not too much, darling, don't worry. He only mentioned that you had a run-in with some pirates, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of your father and the disappearance of the rest of your family. He's hoping on your journey back to Acalia, you'll be reunited with them." Natasha listened to the story Ela was telling her, finding herself slightly impressed, but overwhelmingly frustrated, with how Easton managed to weave the truth with a lie that made him appear the hero in the story. Despite her annoyance at the story Easton had spun, she couldn't deny the relief she felt as her fears were once again put to rest with the confirmation that the Governor and Governess didn't know who she was.
"Yes, it's very kind of him to be assisting me," Natasha said quietly, knowing she still had a part to play here, for whatever game Easton was playing.
"Let's not dwell on the misfortunes of our past too long," Ela continued, "It is a party, after all." She stopped walking suddenly, at the very end of the corridor, and Natasha stopped with her, looking up at the double doors that took up most of the wall in front of them, presumably the library.
Despite the circumstances that brought her here, Natasha couldn't help but feel a fraction of eagerness and anticipation at what lay on the other side of the door, of the magnificent paintings it supposedly featured, as well as what kind of books were inside. When she looked away from the door to Ela's face, she could see an excitement in the woman's eye's that mirrored her own. However, as Ela's arm pulled away from her own and reached forward to open the door, her mouth opened with words she never got the chance to say because behind the, down the length of the corridor, a woman's scream pierced through the moment of silence that had lapsed, followed by distant sounds of other commotion.
"Oh no, I suppose the library will have to wait a moment," Ela muttered, looking troubled as she turned away from the door, walking at a much quicker pace than the one she had taken to bring Natasha here. Natasha hesitated a moment, cautious of the potential dangers, but then followed anyways. She grabbed at the folds of her skirts, lifting them away from her feet so she could move faster, following Ela down the length of the corridor and around the corner, coming out underneath one of the sets of stairs to the foyer. The moment she rounded the corner, she froze.
The doors to the home had been pushed open, and the two guards that had been stationed outside, the men who had let them in, were both lying in the floor, their bodies keeping the door propped open, as blood drained from gashes in their throats. The sight made her stomach lurch, but when she looked up at the source of the violence, she couldn't help the smile of surprise and relief that pulled at her lips when she saw an unruly group of pirates standing in the doorway. Front and center, holding two bloody daggers in his hands, was John.
*******
A/N: So originally I was going to try to make Natasha's time away from John and Alexander longer, but I was kind of running out of ideas and didn't want it to seem to repetitive, so here we are. (:
Also, I just want to note- school is back in session so I'm going to be pretty busy from here on out (I'm a first-year teacher, so I'm feeling all of the stress right now lol). I've still got a few chapters ahead of this written, so if it gets really bad I'll still be able to update for a couple weeks. I normally try to update every 4-5 days, but if it's longer it's just because I'm so swamped, but I won't give up on this story- I'm already planning out the sequel, so how could I stop now! You'll just have to be patient with me if updates are a bit longer in between. (:
P.S. Just cause I'm planning the sequel also doesn't mean this story is ending soon, I still have a lot planned. We're probably only half-way through!
Sorry for the long note, I just wanted to make sure I updated you all on, well, updates! I hope you guys are still enjoying the story!