Kismet

Adelina is a Spanish name meaning "little noble".

The Dawn of an Adventure

"What is this?" The woman was speaking very raptly, clearly angry, in Spanish. She was average in height with long, straight, dark hair and olive toned skin. Her eyes were brown but at the moment there was a fire behind them that honestly wasn't uncommon.

The men before her looked at each other clearly worried. None of them were sure what to say. After all, at the time it had seemed like a good idea. "Well, you see," one of the men ventured slowly. "At first we were just going to use her to… persuade them to do what we wanted. But then one of the British Naval ships came by and, well, somehow the girl wound up getting dragged along with us in our haste to escape."

"So what do you plan on doing with her?" The woman before them asked waspishly.

"We could just kill her," another man said unperturbed by the idea.

The woman's hand shot out so fast that the man who had put forth his idea didn't even have time to flinch before she backhanded him. His eyes were wide and very quickly a red mark appeared where her hand had connected with his face. "We are not uncivilized barbarians; we will not go about killing innocent children!"

The four men shrank back from this one woman her point clearly made. "Then what do we do with her?"

All five sets of eyes turned to the child in question. She was clearly of Spanish descent herself. She had handsomely toned olive skin, silky black wavy hair, and emerald green eyes. She looked between the adults observing her intently, she was clearly apprehensive herself.

When the men looked back to the woman she glared at them. "The solution is simple," she said slowly. "It is not feasible to try to find the ship and the people to which she belongs, so it will be up to you from now on to make sure she is taken care of. In fact, the job will fall upon us all I believe.

Again all five adults were looking at the girl. They had no idea how old she was nor even a clue as to her name. The woman knelt down on one knee and looked the girl in the eyes. "Do you understand me?" She asked a tender note suddenly creeping into her voice.

The girl nodded mutely, clearly bemused. "Can you tell me your name, or how old you are?"

The girl opened her mouth tentatively, "Adelina Desoto, I'm four."

She had held up four fingers to make sure they had understood her.

"Well Adelina, my name is Veronica. It seems like you may be staying with us for quite a while. I'm truly sorry that you were taken from your mother and father."

Adelina frowned, "Mamma…"

Adelina's eyes popped open; she wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep. It was the middle of the day, if Veronica knew she'd go crazy on her. Adelina sat up and stretched, she looked around her room. It was small and sparsely furnished, but she was always well fed and otherwise taken care of. Besides, other than when she slept or felt a need to be away from people, she hardly ever was in her room.

As she slipped her boots on her mind wandered back to her dream. She wasn't sure why, of all the things that she could imagine, she dreamed about that. It had been years since that day. The day she first stepped foot on Trinidad and met Veronica. Veronica had kept to her word for the most part everyone had pitched in when Adelina was younger to take care of her. She had never in her time on Trinidad ever wanted for anything.

They all lived in a community just outside of the Port of Spain. For the most part, surprising as it may seem, their community was a quiet one, even at night. Of course, this would only be surprising if you understood that their community was made up almost exclusively of pirates and their families. For the most part, if they felt like getting rambunctious they went into the Port of Spain to let loose. If they didn't they would later have Veronica to face.

Veronica wasn't so much their captain as she was their overlord. She, herself, had quit pillaging years ago, before Adelina had even come to live on Trinidad. Instead Veronica oversaw her men, advising them and keeping them as organized as was possible with a group as large as the one she oversaw. She had three ships under her care and more than enough men to crew them all at once.

For the most part none of these facts made the least bit of difference to Adelina. So she was raised in a village by pirates. She wasn't a pirate herself, though there was a part of her that longed to be. Veronica had warned her away from that path long ago and Adelina had every intention of honoring that wish. After all, Veronica was as good as a mother to her. Maybe she hadn't directly raised Adelina, but it was by extension her care that had helped Adelina survive all these years.

Throughout the years there were only a handful of things Adelina was likely to do when she was bored. One was go a watch the blacksmith work, and he worked almost tirelessly it seemed. Another was going to see the horses. Taking care of them and spending time with them always had a calming effect on her. She sometimes went into the Port of Spain to whittle away the time. Or else she'd go to the beach and go for a swim. In a last ditch effort, if none of these other things interested her, she would go about the town and mingle with the various people who were out and about. There was always someone no matter the time of day, and it always was interesting.

The problem was that lately none of these things were holding her interest. The more she thought about it the more she came to realize that it may have been because, since she first came here, she had never once left this island. While maybe she would never be a pirate perhaps that shouldn't bar her from ever going out and exploring the world. More and more she thought that perhaps she wasn't meant to stay here her whole life.

She had thought a few times in the past to broach the subject with Veronica, but every time she was about to bring it up she would find herself tongue-tied. She was afraid that Veronica wouldn't agree and that she might, in fact, get angry at the notion of Adelina leaving. The woman may be brusque, but it was obvious that she felt some form of concern for Adelina's well being. If she didn't Adelina wouldn't even be here today.

Adelina had been so caught up in her thoughts that it wasn't until a hand clapped down on her shoulder that she realized anyone was trying to get her attention. She had jumped in surprise. "I was talking to you," the man who had stopped her was smiling down at her.

"Oh, sorry Aaron, I was just- a little lost in my own mind," Adelina said, she smiled apologetically.

Aaron was just a little older than Adelina's twenty-two years. His hair was always a mess, but it was kept short so he didn't have to worry about it getting too tangled, he had hazel eyes. He was muscular from wrangling horses all these years, but his face still had that boyish look to it. It was a look she realized he may never be able to get rid of.

"Yeah, you seem to be falling prey to that a lot lately. What's it that's been so all consuming to you?" Aaron was the stable boy, though he wasn't much of a boy anymore.

"Honestly? I've been wanting to get off of Trinidad, explore the world. Well, maybe not the world, but at least the rest of the Caribbean! I've been on this island for eighteen years and it isn't as though I can really remember anywhere else, I had been so little when I was brought here."

"Why would you want to go anywhere else? From my experience you're better off staying here. The rest of the world doesn't allow women the same freedoms you get here, you especially. After all you are Veronica's little princess aren't you?"

Adelina glared at Aaron, "That's not funny!"

He grinned back at her, "Of course it is. Especially because it's true! You're a spoiled little cretin."

"Spoiled little cretin am I?" Adelina challenged playfully. "How about we duel and see how spoiled little princess Adelina really is. Can't be too spoiled if I'm tough enough to whip you, can I?"

"Of course you could be, you know I'm no good with a sword."

"Coward," she taunted.

Aaron shrugged, "See me as you will."

Adelina sighed. "What do I do though Aaron? How can I possibly go about asking Veronica to go out adventuring? I mean, the best way for me to get off this god forsaken island is to leave with one of her ships and she'd never allow that."

"Oh I wouldn't, would I? Good to know you're forming assumptions about me. I would have hoped you'd have the backbone to actually approach me with this kind of request instead of just assuming the answer."

Adelina's back went rigid her eyes wide. Slowly, she turned to face Veronica. Though years had passed since the day they first met time had been good to Veronica. She still looked as good as she did then, there were a few more lines etched on her face (they were very fine though), they were easily hidden with just a touch of makeup.

"Y-you would let me go then?" Adelina asked tentatively.

Veronica frowned slightly, "If it is your wish to leave it would be wrong of me to stop you. I suppose I could allow you passage out of here with one of my ships. But you are not to take any part in the illicit activities of my crew, do you understand? And if you are to be caught you are to claim that you are naught more than a captive, is that clear?"

Both Adelina and Aaron were staring at Veronica; both had equally dumbfounded looks on their faces. "When is she leaving?" Aaron asked softly.

"That's up to Adelina isn't it? I have one of my ships leaving as soon as two weeks from now, but she can wait for another if that is her will. The final decision is up to her," Veronica surveyed Adelina carefully waiting to see her reaction.

Adelina took a step back, her hand instinctively going to her mouth as she contemplated this news, her gaze cast down to the ground. She could be gone in as soon as two weeks! The prospect was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. She looked quickly back up at Veronica, "I want to leave as soon as possible then!"

Veronica nodded slowly, "As long as you agree to my terms that is fine."

"Of course I agree! Why wouldn't I?" She was almost giddy with excitement.

Veronica's eyebrows shot up momentarily. Her gazed raked over Adelina and she smiled half heartedly, "I'll inform my men of the change."

With that said Veronica left Adelina and Aaron standing there. Though Adelina was excited it still hadn't fully sunk in what was happening. She turned to Aaron and smiled at him. "Can you believe it?"

Aaron, still looking shell shocked, shook his head slowly no. "I would never have thought- especially since she knows what it's like out there."

"Will you go with me Aaron?" she asked, her question was meant in all honesty. Aaron however couldn't help but wonder if she had thought before the words were out of her mouth.

"No, I rather like it here. The work may be hard and the company not always pleasant, but it's a lot better than what is out there. I think I'll stay thank you very much."

"Right, I'm sorry, I forgot. You don't appreciate the rest of the world…"

"Adelina you don't understand what the rest of the world is like! You, the way you are, dressed like that. You can't, you can't be yourself. Women are meant not to speak unless spoken to first, you're not meant to read anything other than the Bible, or learn to write. You're supposed to wear dresses and corsets, and petticoats and heels. The way you are they'll distrust you in an instant. They'll vilify and slander you in a second. They won't give you a second's thought, or a chance."

Adelina opened her mouth to retort but stopped halfway through forming the first word. She shut her mouth and thought about what she wanted to say. Finally she said slowly, "I have to take that chance. Besides, I can always come home if things don't work out and it turns out I don't like the rest of the world."

"It's easy to say that now, but it isn't so easy if they label you a pirate and throw in you in the stocks."

He saw with some satisfaction that this seemed to have the desired effect on her. "W-well – I… that won't happen. I know everything will turn out alright. Besides, I'm clever and I'm strong."

He saw the doubt there as she bit her lower lip. He had managed to make an impression on her thank the Lord. Maybe, just maybe, it will cause her to think twice instead of just barreling into things without careful consideration of the consequences. He patted her gently on the head. "It's fine if you go. Just please, for Veronica's sake, be careful."

Adelina nodded, she still had two weeks to get ready, but this conversation had given her much to think about. Which was probably a good thing.