Musicbox
By The Morning Parchment
Chapter One : The Abduction
"Daddy, what's out there?" she asked. She was no more than 5, a blue-eyed girl, fair, innocent and sweet. She gazed out the window into the sea, gazed into the azure wonder beyond, vast and mysterious, shimmering in the setting sun.
"It's best not for little girls to know, my dearest Evangeline. Your place will be in the home, the sea does not concern you," said her father, a practical man.
"Daddy, I hear guns. I hear them. They come nearer, daddy. I see black sails. They're open wide, it's mast is rotten, yet it moves so quickly, daddy. Its flying, on water. It's coming for us." She looked at her father, her blue eyes wide. "I'm scared."
"Don't let your imagination get the best of you, girl. You've been listening to one too many a sailor tale. There be no ships on the horizon, none in sight, look for yourself. We are safe, nothing will come, they dare not. This island is a fort, Evangeline, do you know what that is?"
The little girl shook her head.
"This island is guarded by hundreds of men, all loyal to the royal guard. Only fools of pirates would dare approach, let alone attack. Now sleep, child, sleep. Rest that curious mind of yours. Think no more of pirates in the morn."
With that, the tall, bearded man, his skin a deep tan from his many adventures on the sea, stood up, his head skimming the ceiling, and walked out of the room. He stopped at the door, and gave her a loving smile, but It was brief. He then turned on his heel, closed the door, and left. He loved Evangeline, but he had matters to attend to, his men could not be left waiting.
Evangeline Hainstale walked to the balcony, the wind blowing her ebony curls away from her face. There it was, the ship that brought nightmares on many a sailor. She blinked. It was gone, for now. It was coming. She ran back to her bed, closed her eyes, and told herself that it wasn't real, though she knew she was lying. She chanted that over and over in her head, a silent mantra, willing herself to believe it, until sleep carried her off.
That night, the fort was indeed attacked by a ship with black sails. Not one man lived to tell the tale. The only survivor of the massacre was a little girl, aged 5, who was taken from her bed, carried off by the captain of that ship. Her little eyes did not once open, she slept while Rotchester Hainstale pleaded for his daughter to be spared, to no avail. She slept while her father's throat was slit, his pleas then silenced. She slept through the booming of the cannons, the walls of her beautiful house crumbling. If she had woken, she would have found herself in a dinghy, being rowed out to sea, the ship with black sails awaiting her…
