Chapter 8 – The Life For Me

It wasn't every day that the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow underestimated his beloved ship. However, he did...just this once, at the most inopportune time. We packed hurriedly and rushed to the Pearl, Jack carrying Nick. It wasn't until later, when we arrived at Port Teyal on one of the smallest islands in the Caribbean, that we found out that the Royal British fleet arrived at Port Royale two days after our flight. That news didn't make my parents the happiest people in the world. My mother, in particular, was far from pleased.

The arrangement on the Pearl was far from comfortable, and I was the one with the least complaining allowed. I had my own room. It was a small cubby tucked back into a wall. There was a bed with drawers that pulled out from beneath it. The head of the bed had a ledge where I could set my candle at night. That was the extent of my mobility off deck. I had a bed. However, like I said, I was allowed the least complaint. My parents had a room similar to mine. They, however, had two people to fit in their cubby. I'm surprised they never got stuck. Then there was Nicolas. Nick was still ill and the roughness of the waves in the Caribbean didn't help any. He shared a room with Jack. We all figured that Nick needed the most room of us all and allowed him the comfortable first mate's bed in Jack's quarters.

It wasn't until we had been out an entire week that we came to the next island and its miniscule port, Port Heyforn. There, we docked and found rest in the only lodge Heyforn had to offer, the Slop Bucket Inn. The owner of the Slop Bucket truly lived up to the title. He tended pigs and we were all pretty sure that he fed us the same things he did them. We were all pleased to be on solid ground for a few nights, though. The food was of little importance at that point.

Our first night at the inn was quiet. We all rested in our rooms peacefully, with the exception of Nick, who was coughing violently in the room beside mine. Once in the night, I heard my father enter Nick's room. A short time later, the noise subsided as Nicolas drifted off to sleep. I didn't even bother to ask my father what he did. As long as it got Nick some sleep, I don't care.

The second night however, I went to the common room with Nicolas after dinner and sat with him at the fire. He had a large wool blanket wrapped about his shoulders and he warmed his hands in front of the blaze in the stone fireplace. As I did the same, he noticed my left hand.

"You've put the ring on your finger," he pointed out. I smiled at him and nodded.

"There's no need to hide it anymore. They all know now, and they're all happy for us. Why hide the ring where no one can see? I'm not ashamed of you...I hope you know that..." He grinned that mischievous grin of his.

"Of course I know that. Its just that I had so much fun pulling it out when I wanted to see it..." I flicked my hand at him in a mock slap.

"Nicolas Kingston!" I exclaimed, taken aback by his candor. "Watch your mouth!" I cupped my hand over his mouth, trying to block the sound in as best I could. He grabbed my hand with both of his, but it was not an aggressive gesture. His hands seemed smooth...smoother than I can ever remember them being. He held my hand there, in front of his lips, and began to kiss my fingers one by one. He finally pulled away and looked into my eyes, a serious tone in his expression. I stared back into his beautiful face, which had lately been so pale. He was still pale, but the fire had added a rosy color to his cheeks, bringing his face to life. I stared deep into his eyes, as he did to mine. I knew that he was seeing a pale, icy blue, which he thought to be beautiful. Nevertheless, I felt sorry that he wasn't seeing what I was. His warm brown eyes flickered in the firelight. I felt as though I was being sucked into the depths of his soul. I wanted it to stop before I unleashed some secret desire of his heart, but yet, I couldn't tear my gaze away. For all that I tried, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not just then.

We stayed that way, staring at each other's eyes for what felt like hours. In reality, only a few precious moments passed before he whispered in my ear.

"I love you, Meg," he said, as he bent closer to my ear and began to kiss my neck. My body felt as though the fire had spread to my insides. I was warm all over as we kissed there, alone, beside the fire. What would mother think if she found us like this? I wondered to myself as I leaned into Nick's arms. He may not have had all his strength back, but he could have fooled me. His arms wrapped around me so tightly that I thought all of the heat building up in my body may explode out the top of my head. As we laid beside one another on the cold stone floor, beside the warm fire, beneath Nick's soft blanket; as I drowned in those passionate kisses; I wondered how anything could be bad in the world when life in its entirety seemed perfectly flawless.