Gilbert

I was in my room thinking about the last few hours. The chamber Toris and I had gotten was very small, but as long as we had windows and could roam freely, I was content. My fingers played with the amulet around my neck, as I watched the ocean outside. My eyes fell back on my small bed where the egg was lying, swathed in a blanket. Since my brother was born, I had developed a strong feeling for youngsters, small animals and abandoned living-beings. It was my responsibility to take care of the egg because no one seems to care about. The urge to feel needed was important for me. To be useless was the worst emotion I could feel. The egg was not the only creature that occupied my thoughts. It was Eliz who lingered on my mind. She told me to call her by her given name Elizabeta, but I decided to shorten the name. I liked the sound of the shortened version, especially if one would pronounce it in my mother language. While I reflected on the conversations we had, Toris entered the room.

"Are you feeling well?" he asked.

My eyes met his and I could read his troubled mind. "I am. But looking at you, I conclude that you are not feeling that well."

His shoulders stiffened after my comment. Seconds afterwards, his lips let out a sigh. My brow shot up, inquiring him to tell me why he was troubled. When I met him, he had never shown his emotions towards me, but being stuck on a pirate ship, the now friendly relation we had, improved.

He let himself fall onto his bed. "What is going to happen if this ends? I do not know why, but my heart feels heavy when I think about how this is going to end." His sighing sounded extremely unsettling. Despite our different characters, our emotions were caged by the same thoughts.

"I am certain, that if the Marine will rescue us, the pirates will be hanged for the criminal actions they had taken. My father will declare war on them and everyone who is involved with them. And if not, then we will either be killed, sell as a treasure to be bought off by a rich men who will use me. The life of a hostage is not very fulfilling. The amulet on my neck is the reason we are alive and I informed them, that it cannot be used without me," I breathed with a frowning look and remembered what Eliz had told me. "Eli-, I mean the charge of this ship, told me that she acted out of personal interests. Her father was kidnapped by that infamous Captain Roberts and threatened to be killed."

Toris watched me with a frown. "Roberts… I have met and fought him once. It was some years ago when I was ordered to the neighbour country in order to support their local army. The road was blocked and we had to sail over to the place. We were attacked by his crew. Until today, I do not know why he was lurking there. Normally it is a well-guarded country, especially on the shore and ocean which connects our lands."

"What country was it?" I asked him.

"Duchy of Eastdorn."

"Edelstein's Country?"

At first I was confused, but rethinking the current situation, my brain started to work. "Do you think Edelstein has anything to do with that? I have never heard him mentioning any pirate before. Their armed forces are one of the best ones. Their marine is almost as good as ours. They should have been able to protect the sea which bounds our countries," before I could say anything further, Raivis words haunted my reflections. "Raivis told us something about not wanting to smuggle goods for my kingdom. What if there are more kingdoms besides ours which are engaging pirates for some businesses?"

The room was filled with silence, but on the inside Toris and I were trying to put all those information together. "Although I have positive news about the situation," I mentioned calmly. "Eliz promised me to help us to find and look for those crews who made treaties with my kingdom. Then we can fathom who is connected with it and who not. Even though I have the feeling that Captain Roberts is involved with all of those dubious affaires."

Toris' reply was a thoughtful nod, before a small smirked formed on his face. "Eliz?"

My body tensed. Did I say her name out loud? Shooting him a glare, he smiled. "I thought her name was Elizabeta?"

"Yes it is." My words sounded like an angry order and inquired him to not ask anything further. To my dismay, my cheeks were rosy and Toris noticed it. Without any word, he got up and looked out of the window. Even though it was silent, it was clear that I had used my personal abbreviation of her name, and I normally did not do that with everyone's name. The enemy's name never got a nickname from me only ridiculous ones. Apart from our different backgrounds, Eliz fascinated me. It was no secret that she was a beautiful gem, sadly it was bad enough that she was a pirate, but I could not stop thinking about what it would be like if she was not a criminal. I had to admit that she was a brave fighter, which intrigued me. Shaking my head, I tried to get rid of her green eyes, which haunted my thoughts. Under the current circumstances, I could not allow myself to get too comfortable in her presence. She had abducted me after all.

"I understand your struggles." I heard Toris murmuring, which caught my attention.

"Those pirates women are really a complete other kind of woman."

"Kind of woman? I only know the boring royal ones." I commented while shaking my head in mockery. Toris laughed with a light-hearted look. "Yes, there are the royal ones, who know how to behave. The others are the kind ones, who are a bit clumsy. And mostly women admire strong men, because they are not strong to defend themselves. Several kinds of women exist. But never in my life have I encountered females like Miss Elizabeta or Miss Natalya. Strong, brave and independent. I must admit that it fascinates me."

At first I had an annoyed feeling when I heard the way he spoke out Eliz's name. It was shocking that I my emotions were acting like that. Was I getting too attached to her? I've only known her for a few days and she had already that effect on me. The first time I had seen her, it were her eyes that caught me. She was gorgeous. Beside her looks, her witty comebacks and strength were awesome. If she would be a minor criminal who did acted properly, I would not even bother. But the mere fact that she was in charge of a pirate ship and abducted me was making me angry. After she told me that she was a half-orphan, my heart melted. Her childhood was motherless and I know the pain of having lost a mother. It was a tragedy which still connected us. And it was at that particular moment I started to acknowledge her. We shared the same pain. I was trying to hate her when I was stuck in the hold just to find out that I was angry that I could never get to know her. She would be an amusing and loyal fellow. My hope was that it would only be a small admiration which would fade away, because I was not a person who would fall in love, especially with a criminal person. I let my head fall into my hands. What a mess I have myself gotten into after two days I was considering that I had gotten attached to a woman I barely know. How could my feelings escalate so quickly?

"Blast." I hissed.

"Just the way I feel," Toris whispered. "Miss Natalya defeated all of my men, injured me, helped the crew to abduct you and on top of that she insulted us. And still I cannot stop my lips which would form into a smile every time I see her."

My heart felt at ease when I realised he was smitten by the other pirate and not Eliz. I felt stupid for even having these thoughts; why would I get angry with him? My mind and heart was confusing me. Why would both of them not cooperate?

"These women are only worsening the situation." I let Toris know. Agreeing with me, he turned back to his bed. "I will go to sleep now."

Before standing up, I observed the egg on my bed. "Little fellow, at least you will take my mind off those inconvenient thoughts."

I smiled before I went to bed. The egg was beside me, protected by blankets. Sleep embraced me the moment I closed my eyes, not noticing that the egg was moving lightly.

[A/N: While I was writing this part, Word always underlined my words with red and I was wondering why. Apparently Word recognised every fifth word I wrote as German O.o I think it was only because I wrote Gilberts POV :'D. I hope the chapter is okay. Feelings are staring to confuse the characters ~ :D. Gilbert feels more connected with Lizzie now, because they share the same pain of being half-orphans (even if Eliz never met her mother, the absence of her was still upsetting for Eliz), in addition to that they felt attracted to each other right at the beginning. Of course it is still too early to think about "oh love ~ peace and harmony" :). And yes I like the abbreviation "Eliz" for Elizabeta :D (especially if you spell it in German :D). Just to give you warnings ahead (if one of you is actually reading my notes here) that I mentioned there will be few pairings in this story, the main ones are Pruhun an Lietbel. But a side Pairing would be Ukxfem!Japan. Japan will make an appearance later, but still I wanted to mention it.]