Esmeralda stood at the bow of the Enchantress smelling the sea salt from the ocean. Her dark black hair hung down at her hips in waves while her violet eyes shone with sadness and grief.
"Miss Esmeralda," yelled a gruff voice from behind.
The young woman turned around quickly and jumped down. A gruff-looking man with white hair and beard and beady black eyes stared down at her. It was Mr. Copper, the captain of the ship.
"Yes, Mr. Copper?" Esmeralda said quietly.
"Have I not told you hundreds of times not to be on the bow of the ship?" Copper huffed.
A dark bald-headed man came and stood beside Esmeralda in a protective stance beside her. He hovered over Mr. Copper and looked down upon him. His muscles bulged as he crossed his arms to express his defensiveness of the young woman.
"Mangu." Mr. Copper grumbled as he stepped back from Esmeralda.
"Girl needs to be left alone. Almost landing," Mangu said confidently.
"I pick up the princess and I would get a bodyguard," Mr. Copper grumbled as he stepped away and started barking orders to prepare for landing.
"Thank you, Mangu," Esmeralda whispered as she looked at the retreating back of Mr. Copper, "That man has yet to not give me the chills."
"Man will not hurt you," Mangu answered as he grabbed her hand and put her in the crook of his arm and led her to her cabin underneath the deck, "I am here to protect princess."
Esmeralda smiled at the man that had been her bodyguard since she was three. She had seen him with his father one day whom guarded her father. She had asked her father if she could have him. Her father said yes and Mangu became her personal bodyguard at the age of ten. Even though he spoke little English especially after all the years that they've been together, their communication and connection was quite clear and strong. His physic expressed his experience with violence as well as strength. He was 6'4 with broad shoulders and a strong back. His arms and legs bulged with muscles as they were full of experience from many trainings and battles. But what was most unique was his face. It was handsome yet it had a single scar over his right eye that made him blind obtained from a street battle in protecting her.
"Change, Esmeralda," Mangu urged as he opened the door for her cabin and gently pushed her inside, "I be outside. Will guard."
Esmeralda smiled and closed the door. She leaned her back against the oak door and slid down to her knees and lifted her hands up in a sign of surrender.
"I can only do one thing, Lord," she prayed, "Is to believe in you. I have lost my family except Mangu and I am being sent by my officials of my country as a sign of peace to end this war. I pray for you to keep Mangu and I in safe hands in the country we are headed. Whatever plan you have for us is what we shall accept. Gloria de Dios. Amen."
She heard a whispered "Amen" through the door and knew the Mangu had been praying as well. She had brought him to Christ last year when he had lost his father to the war with the English. She was glad to have someone so close to her be able to share her faith while she was on this journey.
She got up and opened her wardrobe. It was over flowing with English dresses that seemed inappropriate for her to wear when presenting herself to the King of England. She chose a white dress that fell simply to the floor. It had beads that clung to the bodice in clear crystals as the sunlight streaming from the cabin window hit them and danced around the room. It had a violet satin sash that clung to her waist and tied in a bow in the back. She chose simple violet slippers that complimented her eyes nicely.
She heard a knock on the door and Mangu asked, "Almost done, princess? We almost land." She opened the door and beckoned him in.
"Will you brush my hair for me?" Esmeralda asked handing him the brush as she sat down on the stool in front of the vanity mirror.
"You nervous?" Mangu questioned as he grabbed the brush and gently started brushing through Esmeralda's dark mass of tangled hair.
"Who wouldn't be if they were a prince or a princess being given away to go negotiate war terms which more than likely means marriage to someone they don't even know?" Esmeralda replied testily.
Mangu chuckled. "Only you princess. Your brains and beauty is enough to make any man negotiate peace and marriage all in one look," he stated.
Esmeralda smiled at his humor and thought of all the times that he had been there for her. There has yet been a time when he hasn't told her the truth no matter how much it hurts.
"Hair done." Mangu exclaimed as he set her hair brush down.
Esmeralda looked in the mirror and gasped. She hadn't noticed how quickly he had worked to detangle and include pearls into her hair.
"Thank you, Mangu," she exclaimed as she stood up and gave him a hug.
Mangu stiffened at the contact but returned the hug when he noticed that she would need comfort sooner or later.
"Many things you don't know about me," Mangu stated as he tucked her arm in his and led her up the stairs to the first deck.
The men stared at the beauty that had transformed from a plain woman to an actual princess. Esmeralda stared straight ahead as the men leered openly and made crude comments at her.
"Seems we have an actual princess among us," a man yelled in the crowd.
The sailors roared in laughter as they made fun of her lack of status due to the defeat of her country. She walked with her head up high as she prayed to God to give her strength and wisdom in this negotiation she was about to endure.