It was another couple of hours before the figure on the bed stirred. Charles woke with a groan. He realized two things quickly, the bed next to him was empty and he had the distinct feeling of being watched. He turned around and found Abigail tucked away in the alcove behind his chair, holding a book in one hand and a cup in the other. His groan had alerted her that he was awake and she was looking at him with a smile on her face. "Good morning, well afternoon. I hope you slept well. There is some food and drink on the table. I thought you might be hungry."
Charles was ravenous. He had not eaten in God knows how long, but that was momentarily forgotten when it dawned on him what this meant. Abigail had ventured out on the ship by herself and somehow had managed to return without any harm. He had not enlightened his crew as to why Abigail was here. He did not really know himself. He wanted to address the crew before allowing her to roam the ship. He'd fucking kill if anybody decided to touch her.
He sat up and ran his hands through his hair. "You went to the mess to get me some food," he asked while walking over to the table. His mouth watered at the sight of the meal and before he could stop himself he was chewing on the piece of bread she had brought. Abigail closed the book after taking note where she was in the story and then looked up at the captain with a small smile. "Well, first I went to get something to eat for myself but I thought I would bring some for you." Charles poured himself a cup of wine. He briefly thought about settling down in the captain's chair but instead he grabbed his cup and plate, and joined her on the alcove seat. He ate in silence quickly devouring the food she had brought. He was still hungry but this would be enough until dinner.
He went to refill his cup but not before grabbing hers. She looked up at him, grateful, "Just a bit of wine, with water please." The wine the cook had given her was far too strong for her taste but drinking it helped a bit with the pain in her back. He looked at her incredulously. She was practically ruining this rather exquisite wine but he did as she asked. He went back to the alcove seat and both sat in silence for a while. The silence was not awkward, quite the contrary, Charles realized. He actually enjoyed her company. Regardless, he needed to talk to her.
"So..," he started, just as she began speaking, "Captain…". She motioned for him to go first. He took a drink from his cup and started again, "So, you thought it an idea to go out there and face my crew alone, …" Before he could finish his sentence, she stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, or rather on his bracer. He suddenly wished she had actually touched his skin and not just the bracer. Fuck, he was in trouble. He ran the other hand through his hair again.
"I was positively starving and I did not want to wake you. You looked like you needed to sleep. The man on the wheel, Jimmy and Sam were kind enough to help me." He looked up at her, "Kind, Abigail?" He shook his head, "I still don't understand what you see in us." Abigail giggled, she could not help it. "The way I see it, Captain, all of you are just flesh and bone, just like me or my father or the King. We are all just humans, with vices and virtues." She sipped at her cup and continued, "They all seemed to think that I belonged to you."
He thought about her statement for a while. It made sense. He had brought her back on board, and taken her straight to his cabin. "We both know that this is not the case, but maybe we should let the men believe this for a while. It makes your position on this ship a lot safer. Do you understand?" "I understand," she informed him, and they fell into silence again. Her hand still resting on his bracer. His eyes wandered to the book she was reading. "Don Quixote?" "Oh, yes," she beamed at him. "It is one of my favorites." He finished his wine and stood up. "I need to see to my men. I will meet you for dinner."
At this precise moment, the ship's bell rang to signal eight bells. The dinner for the first dog watch was to be served in two hours. He moved away from her. Well aware that her hand slowly slipped off his bracer and briefly touched his fingers before coming to rest at her side again. He quickly left the cabin before he could come up with another reason to stay longer.