The Captain's Jewel
Chapter 3
"Tell me another story!" a girl at around the age of twelve leaned against the railing next to Captain Carriedo on the deck of the ship. It was late at night and the Captain decided to tell his young daughter a story. He patted the head of his teenage daughter, "Alright mi concha" he said in a gentle voice, "I'll tell you a story. This is a story about two pirates whose families were enemies with each other. Their names were Capulet and Montague." "Wait a minute Papa. That sounds like mother's story of Romeo and Juliet." cried the girl, she folded her arms across her chest and pouted. Captain Carriedo laughed, "You're quite sharp mi concha." He smiled at his daughter, "It is Romeo and Juliet, only instead of being set in Verona this story is set here in England, on these very waters."
A girl at the age of sixteen woke from her slumber, "A dream huh?" she spoke to herself. The girl ran a hand through her hair, "When was the last time I heard that rendition of Romeo and Juliet?" she asked herself. The girl sat up and glanced at the book next to her, it was an old book that she obtained from her room after visiting her mother in England. That book contained her father's rendition of Romeo and Juliet that she had asked her father to write about a long time ago. Her father; Captain Carriedo failed to complete the story and she hadn't gotten the chance to read it especially since her father's death. The girl lighted a candle and propped up her pillows, she began to read her father's handwriting. "On the waters that flowed by the country of England there ruled two pirate families; Carriedo and Kirkland…" The girl paused, "Carriedo and Kirkland?" she stared at those two words bewildered and in thought.
I woke to find myself in a large bedroom that is actually quite neat and orderly. If this was the Captain's quarters, then I'd give him full points on the presentation of his room. I sat up and was surprised to be on the Captain's bed, although I was still bounded by the ropes tied around me. I struggled to get them loose but failed. "Now, now lass. There's no use struggling, those ropes are tied quite tightly you know." a mocking voice reaches my ears and I turn to see the Captain sitting on one of the chairs, arms folded and one leg over the other. He must have waited for me to wake, I noticed that the Captain had golden blonde hair and emerald eyes; this is the same guy that kidnapped me last night. I couldn't help but snort when I noticed his unusually bushy eyebrows, but luckily I managed to stop myself from giggling. To be honest as strange as those eyebrows may be, they complimented his looks nicely.
For a pirate captain he looked quite decent, it reminded me a little of my cousin Antonio. "So you want to ransom me?" I ask him, remembering what he had mentioned that night. He smirked,
"Of course I do lass, if Captain Opal cares enough about you, he'll agree to my ransom. I've just sent him a message." Lucky for him, I have a feeling my crew might abide to that ransom, after all he unknowingly kidnapped the Captain herself, but I won't reveal that to him. After all I'd rather keep my identity a secret, again.
"I see." I stare at the pillow thinking to myself, there's a chance that I might be stuck here for a while so I might as well get used to this. I turn to the Captain, "If I may ask, what would the name of my captor be?" The Captain stared; he was slightly shocked at my unusual diction. He chuckled before replying,
"I knew you were too fine to be a wench," he smirked once more, "I'm Arthur Kirkland, The proud Captain of the Devil's Dagger." He stood and bowed with his hat as he introduced himself.
Kirkland. So he's my enemy, the guy that I've been trying to avoid, how ironic. Yet here I am captured by Kirkland, tied up on his bed, and he's looking at me in quite a strange way. I'm actually slightly nervous now, he is a pirate after all. "I know what you're thinking." speaks Kirkland, "I'm not planning on anything dirty lass. You're not worth it anyway." I don't know if I should feel relieved or insulted. I glare at him slightly and turn so my back is facing him. "You know lass, I gave you my name. May I care to know yours?" I sigh, and hesitate. For sure I can't give him my real name, I can't reveal to him that I'm a Carriedo and I also can't give him my current name, it would defeat the purpose of Finnian Opal being a man. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your own name?" asked Kirkland, I can hear the smirk in his voice. This guy really likes to mock me doesn't he?
"Unless," His boots thump along the floorboards towards me, with a gentle hand he turns me around to face him. "You're hiding something lass?" I feign embarrassment,
"A-Amor F-Fernandez." I say quietly, I hope he buys it. Kirkland grunts and turns me around again, I feel his hands on mine, "W-what?" My eyes widen when I feel the ropes that bound me loosen. As soon as the ropes are completely loose, I remove them from around me and rub my wrists tenderly, they made some really bad marks on my wrists. I guess I really shouldn't have struggled so much. Kirkland notices my wrists and gently takes my hands to examine them,
"They should be fine after a while." He says quietly, "You should bandage them though." He walks to one of the drawers and takes out some bandages. He turns only to raise an eyebrow at me, he must have noticed me staring at him in disbelief. "What?" he says, he sighs and sits next to me on the bed, "Just because I'm a pirate doesn't mean I'm not a gentleman. Besides, you might be here a while so you might as well get comfortable, but not too comfortable." He nurses my bruised wrists carefully, "But between you and me," he says, "I don't normally go around treating people like this so don't get used to it."
We sit in silence after my wrists have been bandaged, it was slightly awkward but at the same time the silence was quite comforting. "So how did a girl of your caliber end up on the ship of the merciless Captain Opal?" Ah yes, my reputation as Captain Opal precedes me once again. As much as I am not the type to be going around killing people I do have to keep up with my disguise, and as much as I hate to admit, such a reputation is actually quite useful. I place a finger on my cheek as if I was unsure as to how I would reply,
"Well," I say, "My father was killed in a pirate raid and I was left stranded on Port Carol. Captain Opal found me and sort of dragged me to be part of his crew." I laughed shyly, Port Carol was the name of the island that my crew and I got stranded on and luckily my story was partially true. Kirkland nodded,
"Just a question Miss Fernandez," He said, "Are you Spanish by any chance?" I nodded, well I'm only half Spanish but I don't really have to tell him every single detail now do I?
Kirkland stands and walks over to his closet. He pulls out a clean white blouse with a long brown skirt and a deep scarlet sash. There's even a ribbon of the same colour, "You'll be wearing these," he says, he also tosses me one of the most annoying pieces of clothing known to man; a corset. Why women wear these is still a mystery to me. "It won't go away even if you stare daggers at it love." Spoke Kirkland, "You're going to have to wear that." He seemed amused at my hatred for the corset. He walked out of his quarters and before closing the door he said, "Once you're done, meet me up on deck." I nod in response and immediately got changed.
Once on deck I made my way to Kirkland who was busy directing orders to his men. I look around at the ship, it's almost as clean as my own. Well being female I tend to look at those 'petty' details when it comes to the ship's decency. "Uh, Captain?" one of Kirkland's men points to me and Kirkland turns with a frown.
"Come 'ere lass!" he says sternly, I'm surprised at how his diction changes once he's surrounded by his crew. I quickly walk towards him, "Ye'll be joining ol' Joseph 'ere with the cooking. I suspect that ye know 'ow to cook?" I nod and Kirkland grunts in approval. Joseph; the man that Kirkland was referring to smiles and gives a curt nod. "Now get down to the kitchen and start working!" I slightly jump at his harshness towards me, although being a Captain myself I understand why he's suddenly so harsh. As a Captain we can't show anyone else weakness, although in my case my crew and I are family and I grew up with them. Joseph and I hurry to the kitchen where he then introduces me to the kind of job that I'll be having. To be honest, I think I might even enjoy this experience and as a daughter of Carriedo, I'd like to get to know more about the family that my own family so deeply despises.