Chapter 11: Forgotten Warnings

FOUR DAYS LATER

The storm had been raging for hours, we were only a day away from Serkonos and we didn't even know if we'd make it now. Captain Havelock held a public meeting where he warned how incredibly dangerous the storm would be, it was causing some waves that could entirely capsize the ship. I shrunk further into the corner of my cabin as I heard another large clap of lightning outside, I wished Corvo was here with me but the Captain requested his assistance, saying he needed all the man power he could get to secure the highly explosive whale oil firmly in place. I focused on my breathing as I tried to calm down and pulled my blanket tighter around myself.

The storm reminded me of the night I lost my mother, there was a horrible storm on that night as well and I remembered how I cried over her for hours until my father pulled me away from her cold body. Another clap of thunder hit and I hid myself entirely under the blanket in my safe little corner, I didn't want to die…especially not alone on a cargo ship.

"Jessamine?" I heard Corvo's voice break the silence, he sounded scared of something. I poked my head out of the blankets to see him closing the door behind him. He saw me and walked over with ease as I buried my head back under the blanket again, "There you are." He noted as he closed the distance between us. "What are you doing?" he inquired softly as he pulled the blanket off my head and I glanced up to see him crouched in front of me.

"I'm scared Corvo." I breathed softly as I looked up into his big brown eyes.

"There's no reason to be scared…Come on." he started as he tried to grab me, but I squirmed out of his arms with a little bit of a struggle.

"Please just let me stay here." I pleaded as he paused his attempts to try to pick me up. He was silent for a long while as he stared into my eyes, and I couldn't help but feel exposed under his gaze; finally he moved though, and tried to push me out of the corner.

"If you refuse to move then you better at least make room for me to join you." he grunted as I struggled against his attempts to move me over, I paused momentarily. Just long enough for him to pull me out of the corner and steal it from me. Another clap of thunder sent me scrambling into his lap where I curled up into a ball, he slowly draped his arms across me letting me curl into his chest. I didn't realize he was still wearing his amor until I felt how hard his chest was against me.

"Why are you scared?" he asked softly as he stroked my hair lazily with one of his hands.

"Lot's of reasons…" I muttered softly as I cringed as the thunder clapped again.

"Like what?" he questioned gently as he rubbed small circles in my back.

"I was worried I wasn't going to see you again." I replied softly as I pulled the blanket tighter around the both of us.

"Well I'm right here aren't I?" he asked his voice still gentle.

"Are you going to sleep with your armor on?" I changed the subject.

"I'd prefer not to, but I can't take it off with you on me." Corvo chuckled. I took a deep breath before scooting off of him and watching as he removed his coat, then his pistol and sword belt, and finally his thick armor tossing them all aside. He was smoothing out his shirt when another clap of thunder struck and I quickly scooted back into him and wrapped the blanket tight around myself. He was much more comfortable to curl up on without his armor on, he was actually warm and had a little give to him.

"What else are you scared of?" he asked softly as he rested his chin on the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me with ease.

"I don't want to die…" I whispered quietly, and Corvo remained silent after my small admission. We we're both quiet for a long time after that and I listened to the sound of the angry waves crashing against the hull of the ship and the sound of the thunder clapping all to frequently for my liking. "I lost my mom in a bad storm like this one…she died in childbirth though, not on a boat." I whispered softly as I curled deeper into Corvo's chest.

"I'm sorry Jessamine." Corvo said sadly, and if the sound of thunder hadn't erupted through the room I would've been sure I'd heard his voice crack. We both fell silent again after that, and I let the warmth of the blanket on top of me and the man under me lull me into a restless sleep.

"Jessamine Kaldwin…the future Empress." I looked around as I tried to locate the mysterious voice that was surrounding me, I was back in my chambers at Dunwall but something felt wrong.

"Where are you?" I yelled at the walls before they chuckled almost eerile.

"Everywhere." the voice replied from directly behind me and I tried to ignore the goosebumps I felt as I turned to face it. He was a young slender man, with short cropped hair and black eyes, blacker than the night itself.

"So you are the girl who dreams of revolutionizing the great capital of the isles, the girl who would have the power to accomplish her dreams…if only she was not so foolish." the tall man remarked as he hovered in front of me.

"I'm not foolish." I defended angrily as I scrutinized the large slender man, he was enigmatic and I found it unnerving.

"You are not quite as interesting as your bodyguard but you are still of interest to me, what do you posses that makes him want to change his ways so much?" he inquired as he paused for a moment as though mulling over his thoughts.

"I'm not foolish." I ground out through my teeth once again, whoever this man was he was an ass; and I wasn't going to take any of his crap.

"So you say, but in the days to come I am certain you will come to find that you are in fact quite foolish. You make it so incredibly easy for your enemies to tear it all away from you. Perhaps that's why he's fond of you, you are ignorantly trusting." he started rambling again as he faded in and out, almost ghostlike. "Or perhaps it's that he finds your innocence quite refreshing, I know that I do." he continued his monologue as he started to drift in a circle around me, however I was unable to turn to watch him, "Or maybe it's because you see things in him he can't see himself, but you give the man hope." he finished from behind me, raising more goosebumps along my skin.

"Are you talking about Corvo?" I asked somewhat shakily, beginning to feel a trickle of fear grow inside me.

"You are so obvious, I can tell just by the way his name rolls of your tongue." the man chuckled as he slowly moved in front of me once again.

"You can tell what?" I questioned worriedly as he hovered incredibly close to me, his black eyes invading my soul.

"How deeply you love him, and just because he has saved your life a few times…you are quite easy to win over empress. However there's no need to fret, he loves you too. I am unsure of wether or not he loves you enough though…" the man trailed off grimly as I struggled to comprehend what he was saying.

"What are you saying?" I asked my voice growing smaller even though I was trying to yell, as the room filled with the sounds of gusting wind.

"I doubt he loves you enough to give everything up for you. It seems…improbable. Especially since he is such a logic driven man, logic would insist he carry out his mission and continue with his life. And you will be nothing more than a small blip in all of time." the strange man said as he began to fade away.

"Wait come back here." I tried to yell, but it only came out a whisper as he disappeared leaving nothing but smoke in his wake.

"However, if he does for some reason spare your life, you can rest assured that I will be watching you both very closely."

I bolted awake sitting up quickly and hitting my head against something hard.

"Ugh. Jessamine. What are doing?" I heard Corvo's voice from right in front of me, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark I could barely make out his figure as he held a hand against his head.

"Ow…" I murmered softly as I rubbed the tender spot on my head.

"Yea ow…I was just putting you in your bed…you didn't need to headbutt me." Corvo muttered defensively as I felt him tuck a blanket around me tightly.

"I'm sorry…I had a bad dream." I replied quietly as I laid back down on the mattress.

"It's alright. Go back to sleep." Corvo ordered as he started to walk away.

"Corvo?" I asked quietly and he stopped as he opened the door to leave the small cabin.

"Yes?" he questioned as he turned to face me and I realized that I had no idea what I had just dreamt about, I felt like it was important but I couldn't recall a second of it.

"Nevermind…I can't remember."