I listened to Keane's Somewhere only we know as I wrote this chapter. SUCH a beautiful song, isn't it ? ...
Enjoy!
She felt a warm finger caress her left shoulder blade. Then his astonished voice broke the silence.
"What is that, love?"
Sail On Silver Girl
Chapter 16
At that question, Silver could no longer hold back her tears or contain the loud sob that erupted from within her. She rested her head in the crook of her arm to hide her face from him and began to cry uncontrollably. Jack cringed and withdrew his fingers from her as if he had touched something incredibly dangerous and stared at her, his eyes mirroring his helplessness. When it came to dealing with women's emotion, Jack was not very talented. He merely was a womanizer, capturing his victims with his charm until they were all too willingly to give in. But never did he have to deal with a woman in tears. Jack's face was contorted with discomfort and at the same time he felt incredibly sorry for her. He wanted to help her, to do anything to make her stop crying. His eyes were still fixed on her shoulder. What first looked like a burn mark was a black crown etched into her skin, delicately its dark and jagged spikes contrasted with her paler skin. One was smudged, uneven and imperfect: she must have struggled when she had been marked. Just imagining her in this forced pain made Jack's heart pound with anger.
Under the crown were two initials in a beautiful cursive writing: K.A. Jack felt confused, utterly confused. K.A.? What did this mean? Silver whimpered and Jack was distracted from his thoughts.
He tentatively stretched out his hand until it hovered over her head, scared of doing something wrong. Slowly he reached out to stroke her hair and Silver gave another loud sob. Instead of instantly letting go, Jack instinctively scooped her up into his strong arms and held her close, his eyes taking on a faraway look disguising the emotion he felt as she dampened his shirt with her tears. Silver clutched to him desperately and twisted the fabric of his shirt between her fingers as she buried her face in his chest. Jack simply caressed her silken hair, soothing her with the repeating movement of his hand and just gave her time to let everything go.
He had already lost track of time when she ceased sobbing and only an occasional whimper broke the silence. He put a ringed finger under her chin and lifted it up until he stared into her red eyes that were bright from the tears.
"Will you tell me now, love?" he asked intently, with a more serious tone of voice than she had ever heard him use before. As she stared back into his dark eyes she couldn't help but thinking that in this case they really were windows to the soul. No, he really was earnest with her, he wouldn't betray her. No, never. And so he deserved to know.
Breaking the gaze she got up and walked over to the round window in the corner of his cabin. Staring out into the calm and smooth ocean she began to talk, her voice merely a whisper at first.
"I have been marked before, and...to me it is far worse than this pirate brand." , she started, her voice quavering slightly. Silver took a deep breath and continued to stare out into the sea. "It was my father who gave me this mark. No, Jack!" she said as she heard him getting up from the bed, clearly enraged. "No, Jack", she repeated, her voice softer. "It's not like you think. My father was a good man, I think I...even miss him, sometimes. But it wasn't his choice to harm me, it was his duty. He had to preserve our family blood. My father is the King of the island Antigua and I am the heir to the throne. As every other member of my family, I have been branded with the symbol of our royalty: the crown and the initials of my father, and his father, and his grandfather: Kasimir Altingis IV, which at the same time are the initials for Kingdom Antigua." There was a small pause in which Silver's eyes took on a faraway look, as if consumed by memories. Quietly, she continued her story. "But I never felt like part of the family. I knew my parents wanted a son for the heritage, but I was the only child my mother was able to conceive." Silver sighed and her thoughts traveled again until she felt Jack's warm hand on her shoulder. She smiled, but didn't turn around.
"I was never comfortable on the dreaded fancy events,
where I had to dress up and act all feminine. The shallowness of it all
disgusted me, and I always dreamed of a life of piracy. My dad used to
read stories..." she remembered with a wistful smile. "I always
imagined the life of a pirate to be perfect. Free like the wind, no
restrictions, no rules. One night, shortly before I would turn 16 and
be eligible for marriage, most likely spending my life with a pompous
jerk I'd never met, I just had to do it. I ran away, wearing only the
clothes I bought off the bakers' son and bartered a passage on a trade
vessel. Great idea, wasn't it?", she asked bitterly, not waiting for
Jack - who had opened his mouth to answer - to respond. "But my 'new'
life didn't turn out to be as great as the stories told it. Several
years of my life were spent in Tortuga, waiting for the day to pass to
get drunk in the evenings and maybe engage in a game of cards. My life
was boring, pointless, and I even started to think about returning
home, although it was the place I dreaded most. But you have to
understand, I had no where else to go! ... Then you came along. And..."
At that Silver turned around to look at Jack. "And I thought this would
change everything. That I could forget my past and just enjoy life the
way I'd always wanted." There was a silence between them as each held
the others gaze. Jack's eyes, they were so incredibly ...deep. And
thoughtful, full of understanding and -
Silver broke away abruptly,
her eyes flaring with sudden anger and pain. "Now look what I have
gotten myself into! When I dreamt about piracy I was merely a naïve
little child! I was branded a queen - and now I'm branded a pirate,
marked for life! It's...I..." Tears welled up in her eyes and she
fought to hold them back. Her small fists clenched at her sides. She
had let her guard down several times too many already in front of her
Captain.
"I just don't know where I belong." She whispered. "I just don't know..."
Silver turned abruptly and, her head held downwards, she stormed past a dumbfounded and distressed Jack, and disappeared out of the cabin without another word.
Several hours later Jack stepped out into the cool starlit night. A light breeze was ruffling the sails and the dark ocean was completely smooth and calm. He had been thinking, locked in his cabin for hours. When he saw the silhouette of a dark figure leaning against the railing he straightened the tricorner hat on his head and strode over. Silver had sensed the presence of someone behind her and turned around before Jack had yet reached her. She looked up to him, a calm, almost peaceful expression on her beautiful features that were striked with the paths her tears had made down her cheeks, and Jack swallowed hard as he gazed down at her. Suddenly, his words, that whole speech he had prepared to soothe her and explain he understood, left him. His mind was blank and he opened and closed his mouth helplessly, trying to find the right words,. He was hit by her exquisite beauty and the feelings that just the sight of her arose in him.
Without another thought Jack gently lowered his head until his lips brushed softly over hers. She closed her eyes and a shaky sigh escaped her mouth. That was all it took and slowly his lips descended upon hers in a sensual heartfelt kiss. She clung to him as desperately as a shipwrecked one would to a piece of driftwood and gratefully took his reassurance.
Jack had never been a man of many words...
A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews! Replies in the next chapter, which I already started pats herself on back ;-) Keep 'em coming! I love your feedback, it really means a lot to me! Criticism is greatly appreciated too!
(Btw, the Antigua island really exist in the Caribbean, in case you didn't know. Just a quick note. :-))
Cheers,
Sereture
