ELECTRA OF THE LONE ISLANDS

Disclaimer: The characters of Peter Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, and Aslan are all property of Disney® and C.S. Lewis, as is Narnia.


Clouded Waters

The plan had gone all too smoothly. The cool salty air blew about them as they sailed toward the open sea, toward the Lone Islands. Electra was thankful that the wind and the current were with them, at least for now.

She gripped the crystal vial in her palm tightly, her trophy for going through with everything that night. While the others brooded over what treasures they had collected from the chambers (Damin, Alec, and Veil had even gone as far as stealing some of their precious jewels and gold) Electra stood at the bow of the boat with what some could see as the gift of immortality.

Electra wouldn't have gone so far as to say that it was the key to immortality, but it did hold powers that could heal any injury. For a pirate, such a treasure was more valuable than gold. Now that she thought about it, Electra was less inclined to sell it. Especially with the recent fortune she had been given, not that they were bound to come true, but still, it was smart to be precautious.

And through all this, the thought of King Edmund kept coming to her mind. His charming yet sincere smile, his tragically dark eyes, his strong connection with his siblings, and the mysterious air about him, all were a simple reminder of him, but it was impairing her vision like clouded waters.

She cursed herself for allowing Edmund to teach her how to dance. King, she quickly reminded herself. King Edmund. She had no idea who she thought she was thinking she could go around calling him by his name as if he were some sort of commoner. She shook her head, still unable to get rid of the memories.

And still, she didn't want to let them go just yet. The small glances, the miniscule movements. Each tiny thing that had happened that night seemed to mean more than it actually did. The entire thing was making Electra's head spin so much she decided to turn in early. Slowly she headed back to her cabin to get some sleep. Perhaps the reason she was thinking these things was because she was so tired. Yes, that had to be it. She was delusional because she was tired.

"Electra?" a voice called out.

She stopped, about halfway back to her cabin and turned to the four. It was Alec who had addressed her.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to hide her dazed and preoccupied expression and look as normal as possible.

"Are you alright?" he asked, obviously worried. It marveled Electra at how well he could read people. But this time she thought it best not to tell him everything that was going on in her mind at the moment.

Electra simply smiled and nodded. "Yes," she replied, trying to sound as cheery as possible. "I'm just a bit tired. I think I'm going to go to bed for a little bit."

Perhaps cheeriness wasn't the best solution, because they all glanced at one anther before Veil stood up.

"I'll help you take the pins out of your hair," she said, coming up next to Electra and leading her toward the cabin. Electra knew she meant more than taking some stupid pins out of her hair. She could have done that herself. No, Veil was coming with her to see what exactly had caused Electra's mood swing.

Inside, Veil closed the door behind them. She pulled out a long white dress for Electra to change into once she was out of the red one she wore to the party. After splashing her face and cleansing it of the makeup she had plastered there, she walked back over to Veil.

"Sit on the chair and I'll be able to reach your hair better," she replied, scooting a chair right behind Electra.

Electra did as she was told, mind still too clouded to argue otherwise. She still couldn't get those dark eyes out of her head. There was some sort of mystery that lie behind them that Electra had to figure out. Yet at the same time, she didn't want to see him again because of the horrible thing they did and the idea of making a fool of herself. Electra shut her eyes tight. Why should she care if she made a fool of herself in front of him?

"Veil?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Veil was busy undoing the gold leaves and string that wound around Electra's dark curls and unpinning the hair that she didn't give up much room for anything else that might have needed concentration, such as a conversation.

Electra pressed on anyway. "What was it like when you first met Alec?"

Electra quickly reasoned with herself that in no way could she have been attracted to King Edmund the Just. She was just interested in hearing a story.

"Now that is a story if I've ever heard one," she said with a smile. Silence overtook for a few minutes as she concentrated on Electra's hair. "I lived in one of the brothels of Calormen."

"What?" Electra asked turning her head to face Veil. In doing so she pulled her hair and winced, slowly going back to her position. Veil paused for a moment before continuing with her hair and with the story.

"Well, I was sold as a slave there. I was actually born to a maid in Archenland. I never knew my real father. But one day pirates raided our town and I was caught up in the middle of it. I was eight years old."

"I'm so sorry," Electra whispered, sorry she brought up the subject. This must have been how King Edmund felt when he bushed on the subject of her past. Electra pinched herself, trying to stay focused on the story. "Would you mind continuing?"

"It wasn't as horrible as you think," she told Electra, now picking up a brush and running it through her now pin and gold décor hair. "I was too young to actually be of any use when it came to business. So I mainly cleaned and worked around the brothel. Mother Matron made me wear a veil all the time so none of the men could see my face. I was also unable to speak with any of them. It was how I got my name Veil. I was so used to not being called by my born name, it became as though I didn't even have one."

"What is your real name?" Electra asked.

There was a small pause and a change in the tone of Veil's voice. "Alena."

"It's pretty," Electra said with a smile.

"It's meaningless now," Veil continued. "When I was ten, on the verge of becoming one of the courtesans, Alec made his first visit to the brothel. He was fifteen." Veil's hands paused and Electra knew she was closing her eyes and remembering that day. "When he first saw me he knew that I was going to come with him. So, he paid the Mother Matron for me and then took me with him back to his home, in Narrowhaven."

"So he was just visiting Calormen that day?" Electra asked as she felt the brush run smoothly through her hair once more.

"He had business in Calormen," she replied. "Later I found out he was dealing with pirates, but that was a few years later. He hadn't become one yet, but he was close to it. He was such a caring person; he didn't want me to get tangled in his affairs. I however, was content on going with him wherever he went, no matter what he did. So, when he was twenty and I had just turned sixteen, we joined the Nomad. He was branded immediately, but forced me to wait until I was eighteen to be branded. He wanted to make sure I was absolutely certain this was what I wanted." She paused before adding, "if I knew this would have been my fate, I would have happily branded myself at ten."

Electra smiled. "It must be a nice feeling when you're in love like the two of you are," she said.

"It is," she replied. "Every breath is worth the time we spend together, no matter where our actions lead us. I would be content if I had to die now, as long as it was in his arms. I know he feels the same way."

"How?" Electra asked.

She could sense the smile in Veil's voice. "Because he's told me."

Electra pondered this for a moment, silence befalling the both of them. She wondered what it took to fall in love, and what it was like to be in love. Not that she wanted it right now, she just thought that someday it might be nice to have someone like Veil had Alec. She didn't like the idea of being passed around like Trinity did, making herself out to be a whore.

"Electra," Veil whispered. Electra noticed her hair wasn't being brushed anymore and she turned her head to see there was fear and excitement in her eyes.

"What?" Electra asked, turning fully to see the woman to the best of her ability. "What's wrong?"

Veil pulled up a side stool and sat down next to Electra. "I need to tell you something," she whispered. There was a quiver in her voice that scared Electra.

"What's wrong?" she asked urgently. "Are you sick? Hurt? I have Queen Lucy's vial right here, we can fix anything if it's something like that." Veil had done so much for her in her entire life time that Electra would do almost anything to help pay her kindness back."

"It's nothing like that," she replied in a whisper. "I think I'm pregnant." Electra's heart practically stopped at her words, her eyes widening in surprise more than everything.

Being a mother, Electra knew, was something that Veil had secretly always wanted. Sure, she had Electra, Damin and Darit, but a child of one's own was something that she had always wanted. It was a feeling that Electra knew one couldn't know without actually experiencing it.

At the same time, having a child was also a really bad thing, especially for female pirates. Pirates weren't bred; they were made from men or women who didn't have anything else to live for. A child born of a pirate was a bastard baby, and if found was killed.

"Oh, Veil," Electra whispered. She quickly pulled Veil into a close hug, unsure of what else to do. It was rarely seen that she embrace her like this, but it seemed necessary.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered into Electra's ear. "I'm happy for the child, but I can't let it be killed. I also don't want to endanger Alec."

"Alec will be just as happy as you are about a child," Electra informed her, pulling back and looking Veil in the eye. She knew Veil was scared at the idea that Alec would leave her, but Electra knew he never would. He would have killed himself before leaving her.

"But when they find out," Veil whispered, unable to continue her sentence. Tears were forming in her soft brown eyes. They were the first tears Electra had ever seen her shed. She quickly reached up and wiped them away. It was Electra's turn to be the motherly figure in this scenario.

"Don't worry," she said. "Here's what you're going to do. First, you're going to stop drinking."

Veil gave a laugh at this but nodded. Being as alcoholic as she was, Electra knew that because of how much she wanted a child she would give up drinking before snapping her fingers. It wouldn't be easy, but she would do it.

"Second," Electra continued, "Alec is going to have to find out. You can tell him, I can tell him, I don't care but he will have to know. It's the best way we can protect the baby." Veil nodded and Electra continued. "When we get back to Narrowhaven, take a ship and get to Archenland. Find passage to Telmar. Get as far away from the ocean as you possibly can."

"I don't know what I'll do without you," Veil whispered, giving Electra a strong hug, which she returned.

"Go tell him now," Electra whispered, pulling back and giving Veil a smile. She nodded before standing up, Electra absentmindedly helping her and walking with her to the door.

Electra stood in the doorway as Veil walked over. Slowly she pulled Alec aside, ignoring the odd looks she received from Damin and Darit before they went back to talking about their loot.

The outline of Alec and Veil barely stood out in the moonlight, but it was enough to see his expression when she broke the news. He let out a joyful laugh, picking her up and spinning her around in his arms. Electra smiled to herself before going back into her cabin and closing the door.

Alec, just as she had predicted, was getting a bit too restless for pirate life. He was too paternal and shouldn't have been categorized by those thieves who enjoyed killing and stealing. Likewise it was the same with Veil. She was too kind to be messing around with pirates anymore. The best thing would be for them to get away.

Electra knew that as long as they stayed hidden for a certain period of time, and didn't tell anyone about the Nomad, they soon would be thought to be lost at sea. They wouldn't be searched for and then they would be safe.

Electra lay back down in her bed, not feeling tired but willing herself to fall asleep. Her mind wandered toward Alec and Veil and toward their happiness. Veil was lucky, especially as a pirate, to find someone who cared as much about her as Alec did.

Damin and Darit on the other hand, Electra thought with a small smile, those two were bound to get more ruthless. They were still young and learning, in their early twenties. But especially with Alec and Veil gone, they were bound to get worse: greedier and less compromising.

Electra knew she was just as much out of luck. She would have gone with Veil and Alec, but two people running from the Nomads together was dangerous enough. They didn't need another to chase them around. She could pretty much see how she was going to eventually turn out. Just like Trinity.

Not only did she have the lust of a whore, but she also had just about as much ruthlessness as their captain. Kill and torture first, and ask questions later were her policy on life. She was even known for sleeping with men before killing them before stealing what money and valuables they held in the house. Electra might not have gone to that extreme, but she knew that was the direction her life would be headed.

Sadness filled her, and for a second she wished for nothing more than to find what Veil had found: someone who lived to love and take care of her. She lived with the pirates because that was all she had ever known, not because she didn't want something more.

The image of King Edmund fluttered into her mind once more and she quickly shook her head. It was impossible that he could even possibly be someone in the future who could be that for her. Perhaps she might have liked him a little bit, but it was little more than an infatuation, she told herself. Kings married princesses and duchesses, not pirates or commoners. If he saw her now, he wouldn't have even bothered to look at her, let alone speak to her.

Electra turned over in her bed, placing the pillow over her head so it blocked out all light coming from outside as well as muffling all sounds. She knew thoughts of him would soon go away. Any other thoughts she'd had of other men had gone away as quickly as come before. This would be no different.

It was yet another hour later before she was finally able to relax enough to drift off into sleep. Her breathing became easy and her muscles relaxed enough. The pillow atop her head slipped to the floor and Electra turned in her sleep, no longer worrying about the things that had clouded her mind so much.

This night was to be different, however. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she dreamed.