The Pirate Queen

Chapter 14

Slowly, Eric looked up to find Ariel standing not by her desk or the armchair, but in front of a painting nailed to the wall. She didn't immediately turn to greet him or give much notice to his presence at all, so he took the quiet moment to look around. 

It was homey and neat in her cabin, and it still smelled like dried flowers. Many of the paintings and tapestries hung on the walls had nothing to do with sailing or islands though, which surprised him. There were some still life paintings of fruit and flowers, another of a glade at sunset surrounded by willow trees and lit up by fireflies. There were a few other paintings of couples or crowds of people in homes, restaurants, or fields of flowers. There was her leather coat thrown haphazardly over the back of a chair and a cane leaning against the wall in a corner. Tucked into the folds on the blankets of her bed, Eric could have sworn he saw the arm of a stuffed bear.

He took another small step in and peered closer at the painting she was looking at. It was a man and a woman standing on the deck of a ship, hardly a foot between them. The woman was dressed in a long, fine gown and cloak, cupping a golden chalice in her hands. Eric couldn't tell if she was smiling in happiness or sorrow.

The man, in comparison, was in full knightly armor, the red padding of his suit matching the stitching on her dress. He was handsome in the way knights were always depicted with dark hair and stoic face, holding the stem of the chalice with one hand so the only part of them touching was their pinkies. Eric couldn't tell if the knight was going to drink or throw the chalice over the side. Whatever was happening though, it was intense and intimate.

Finally, the silence became too much for him. "Captain?" Eric asked softly, hardly louder than the sound of the waves coming in through the open windows.

Ariel snorted and kept her back to him. "Formal titles now? If you're going to beg me not to punish you, it's useless. There are no exceptions."

He hadn't planned on begging for anything besides answers. "Why wouldn't you let me leave the ship?"

She turned finally and Eric was surprised to see that she didn't look angry, but sad. A resigned sort of sorrow that came from the knowledge that nothing would ever relieve the pain inside, not even time.

"Why did you disobey me?"

Eric set down his bag and sat on the arm of a chair, running a hand through his still-damp hair. The ache in his chest lessened ever so slightly, but his stomach still hurt. He shouldn't have cared so much, but he didn't like her being upset with him. "I am happy to answer you if you don't pity or mock me or use what I tell you against me. If the way to earn your trust is through the truths of my life then I will share them but not for arsenal in your verbal armory."

Ariel leaned on a bookshelf and considered him for a second before nodding. "A truth for a truth then, to keep us both in check. Why did you disobey me?"

"Because it felt like I was back in the castle with my father, keeping me locked up and hidden away," he admitted, clenching his hands. "You promise freedom and then take it away the second it most benefits you to have me out of the way." His words came out sharp and bitter and the ache in his chest transformed from anxiety to sorrow. Christian only ever kept him locked in the tower or the inner castle after Cordelia died, sometimes for no other reason than he could. He did it because Eric hadn't passed his tutor's tests well enough and needed to study. That he spent too much time out on the boat and not with his people. Any reason to lock him up, Christian would think of it.

"And it's ridiculous but it..." Eric sighed and pulled at his hair, glancing at her and back down at the floor. He didn't understand where all this honesty was coming from, but he didn't want to lie to her. He wanted to open up his chest and lay everything bare before her just to make up for making her flinch on the beach. "It hurt... It hurt me that you did that."