Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 11

The night on ship’s deck was a mixture of fog and darkness, but the icy breeze was welcome to Evanora. She could get lost here, hide away with only her thoughts for company as she sorted through them.

Wandering over to the railing, she ran her hands over the complexities of the carved wood, musing to herself about her emotions while trying to keep her eyes from the bloodstained floor.

Finally, she came to a point where she could barely tell the dark evening sky from the black of the ocean. There, she let her mind run rampage, allowing herself for the first time to truly feel the heartbreak of leaving her family, the panic at finding herself aboard the Maelstrom, the conflicting reactions she was experiencing toward the crew, the journey, the First Mate.

It all became too much. Ashamed, she loathed her tears, but they continued to splash into the sea.

At least Terrian is safe, she told herself, and at least I’m alive…so far.

She imagined what her brother would say if he heard that she was sailing with pirates. It would kill him; that was for sure. She had never wanted to hurt Terrian, there was just something inside of her that urged her to prove him wrong. Perhaps it was possible to survive among pirates- after all, one of them had saved her life on two separate occasions.

A loud splash, like something solid hitting the water, startled Evanora and her heart leapt into her mouth. Immediately, the cold breath of fear returned and she choked on its taste.

“Is anybody there?” she asked aloud, turning to look behind her.

The night-time fog completely obscured her view.

Still afraid, Evanora turned back to the railing and wiped at her eyes, preparing to go back inside. Then she remembered the hole in the wall of the galley that stretched to her cabin. She shuddered, visualising falling out to sea while she slept. This kept her still.

And the splash came again, louder this time. Closer this time.

“Hello?” she called again. “I can hear you out there. Show yourself!”

Straining her eyes, she gazed down into the sea. Through the black, the waves rocked and curled, making her imagination twist reality into sinister shapes. She thought that she saw something shadowy slip beneath the shield of water, but she couldn’t be sure.

Shaking her head and wrapping her arms around herself, she resolved to go inside and get some sleep to clear her mind.

“My boat’s by the tower and my bark’s on the bay,

And both must be gone at the dawn of the day,

The moon’s in her shroud, and to light thee afar,

On the deck of the daring’s a lovelighted star…”

A soft, lilting song carried to Evanora’s ears. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before, a peculiar tune reaching new depths with a deep male voice. Listening to the lyrics, she ran back to the railing and leant out over the edge, eager to discover the source of this entrancing sound.

A slight gasp escaped her lips as her eyes met with the head and bare upper torso of a figure, bobbing in the dark open ocean below. The broad shoulders were definitely masculine and, in the silvery blue light of the moon, his long damp hair glistened with water as he reached up to tousle it loosely with his hands. Not seeming to sense her watching, the figure continued with his entrancing song.

“So forgive me my rough mood unaccustomed to sue,

I woo not, perhaps, as your landlubbers do,