The Pirate Queen

Chapter 23

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who made it out & kept going <3

Trigger warnings: emotional abuse, violence, kidnapping, drugs. 

Ariel fell into Declan's arms the night of Georgina's murder. The fire alarms were going off announcing the arrival of the fire brigade, but there was no one to rescue her, the staircase had collapsed. The only way out would be the window.

She'd heard a voice shouting for her to jump, and she thought it had been Flounder. It was too dark and her vision too hazy from the smoke to see well, but she'd trusted whoever the voice was and landed roughly in a pair of strong arms.

Declan rushed them away from the fire, holding her tightly until they settled near a shed on Georgina's estate out of the way of the men trying to control the inferno. He tried giving her some water, but she was shaking too badly to hold the cup or even to swallow. She clung to him, something she was still never proud of, and he'd wiped the tears from her face as she sobbed quietly to the early morning light.

"Don't cry, darling. Don't cry," he whispered, wrapping her in his arms. She couldn't tell if he smelled like smoke or if that was her. "It's over now. You're out. You're safe."

It took a while for her to tell him that Georgina had died too. It took years more to admit that Georgina was like a mother to her; the mother she never had. Declan sat with her all night at the back of that shed until Flounder came running around, frantic and near hysterical to find her. Declan handed her off with a kiss to her temple and a small smile on his face.

"Be strong, darling. It'll be okay."

"What is your name?" she wheezed, throat raw from the smoke and crying.

"Declan." He gave her a blinding smile and took her hand gently in his, shaking it once and squeezing gently before letting go. Ariel thought her shaking knees were due to the exhaustion, and not his ruggedly handsome face tuned 100% into her.

Despite the heartache, the heat, the weariness in her body, she managed to smile back at him. "I'm Ariel."

She didn't see him again for almost two years. But she thought about him many times in between.

The next time Ariel ran into Declan was on Schilbad. The Dauntless had stopped to restock and rest after a rough few months in stormy seas. Edward had a small house on the island for them to stay in for their longer trips, quaint but comfortable. Flounder and Jora joined her at the house as defunct body guards, but she was alone when Declan came strolling up the lane to their house on the hill with a smile on his face and a bundle of roses in hand.

"Roses?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged and gestured to the jars and bowls of dried flower petals scattered around the cabin, the source of the constant pleasant smell in her rooms. "I'm a sea loving girl who likes flowers. Sue me."

Eric held up his hands. "I didn't know roses were your favorite flower." 

Ariel sighed and tugged at the sleeve of her shirt. She hadn't meant to offer him his information since he hadn't asked, but this was an evening for unbarred truths. "They're not," she admitted. "Hibiscus flowers are." Before he could say anything else though, she continued with her story.

At first, Ariel hadn't recognized Declan with the longer hair, tanner face, and lean body. He'd grown a lot since she last saw him, but she would have recognized his voice anywhere. It was oddly refreshing to meet someone, to remember someone from her past, who didn't want to kill her or gain anything from her but friendship. He was pleasant and cordial and didn't want to talk about anything that had to do with being a pirate. They walked the entire island twice, discussing books, plays, art, travel, drinking, anything. He'd respected her, seemed to revere her, and that meant more than any bushel of flowers.