Swept Away (The Swept Away Saga, Book One)

Chapter Thirty-Four

It only took a few hours to reload everything onto the ship and set sail. By nightfall, we were in the harbor of the town Tristan wished to dock at.

Standing beside him at the window in the Captain's Quarters, we watched the shoreline, lit up with fires on the beach and the lights from the settlement. It looked exactly how I'd imagined a pirate hangout, with silhouettes of people acting merrily and drunkenly stretching across the water. The buildings were connected together at odd angles, the doors of the brothel and bar thrown wide open so as to entice passersby. It felt like a scene from a movie, the classic architecture unaware that it would become an icon over time.

"Will we go ashore tonight?" I asked him softly, moving behind him as I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his back.

"No, we'll wait until morning. My shoulder hurts, truth be told." He shifted his weight, stretching his neck gingerly. "I'd like to have ye to myself at least once more before the crew claims ye, as well."

"What do you mean?"

Sighing, covering my hands with his free one, he continued to stare out, silent for a moment. "I'm happy ye are a part of the crew," he finally breathed. "It's good, for ye and the men. I've watched ye among them before and have no issue with ye on the ship. But—" Pausing, he gripped my hands tighter, letting a whoosh of air pass through him. "When I found ye on board the ship we'd taken, covered in blood, yer arm flayed open, I thought ye dead. There were bodies all around ye, blood in yer hair, and ye were so still and white. My heart all but stopped at the sight. It's not a scene I wish to see again, savvy?"

"Is that why you voted no when they asked you if I should join the crew?" I already knew that was his reason for voting the way he did, but it I knew this was something he needed to say to me.

"Aye." Tristan's answer was quiet, but very apologetic. "I did not want to see ye, lying in a puddle of yer own blood ever again."

Breathing deeply, I strengthened my hold on him, hugging him. "You know I feel the same way about you, right? That it terrifies me every time I see you facing down death?"

"I do," he acknowledged. "But it's different for me. I must fight, to protect the items and people in my care. It's not a choice I get to make. But, ye could have chosen to stay away from it, to be safe. All I've been able to think of since ye were voted in is that day, washin' the grime and gore off ye while the padre stitched ye up, and wondering why God hadn't let it be me instead."

His voice sounded strange and choked, leading me to believe he was still holding back a massive amount of emotion over the ordeal. There was something I could say to help, surely, but I remained silent, letting the inspiration come to me before speaking.

"There's a quote I've heard," I started, resting against him. "It talks about the creation of this world and why God chose Adam's rib to make Eve from, and not any other part of him. Have you heard it?"

He shook his head and his shoulder twitched, causing me to raise a hand to it, steadying him.

"It says that she was made from his rib because she was to be his equal, not anything more or less. I wanted to join the crew because of my desire to be right there with you, to protect and support you in your times of need.

"In this century, a woman belongs to a man. She stays home and cooks, cleans, and raises children. She is cherished, no doubt, and highly appreciated by the man who loves her, but she can never do what he can. Where I'm from, a woman can do whatever she wants. Any job a man can do, she can as well. Military, finance, legal, nothing is out of her reach. She protects those she loves. On top of that, she isn't even expected or required to have a family if she doesn't want one. Marriage is a choice, not a necessity. Society tells her to do what will make her the happiest and ignore anyone who tells her different.