The WindFlyer

Chapter 36

Captain Astoria's PoV

The boy wishes to go. I can't blame him, I tried to, but I can't. As much as I wanted him to stay in Oneiro or even on my ship, I think I always knew he never could. He is too honorable. It's not easy to leave everything you know behind. It's not easy to go back, either. I think Draen has a lot of courage returning after tasting freedom. He has a lot of courage in hearing the sea sing for him and turning his back on it. I admire him for doing what I could not. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I think part of me is going to miss having him around and waking up near him. I'm going to miss the banter and having someone who talked to me like a real person. Someone who looked past the captain and the hat. Someone who saw the cruel in me and... and understood. That's it. What I'm going to miss most of all: having someone around who understood.

I won't ask him to stay again. I won't cry for him either. I will be strong and say goodbye like I should. I will treat him no different as our time draws to an end. Whatever we were, friends... something different, it will always stay with me. So, I refuse to mourn what I'm losing. Instead, I will celebrate what I have gained: the experience, the knowledge, the memories. That's how life goes sometimes. You win some, you lose some, but no matter what, there will always be another day. No two days will ever be the same -- I've found that over a long career of sailing and adventuring and courting death -- but there will always come another.

I watch as this day begins to draw to an end, the sun sinking low in the sky creates a display of vibrent red. I smile a little: red skies at night, a sailors delight. Draen has been below decks with the newly freed people quite a bit today. Maybe he didn't want to face me or maybe he is trying to learn all he can from them to try and better Alturian lives. I think it's a little of both. The sea breeze ruffles my hair, the loose strands whipping me in the nose. It begins to get cooler while the sun falls. The sun skims the water now, lighting the sea on fire. I've always loved the sunsets from my ship. Enjoyed the colors that bleed through the sky to the water like paints running down a window.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and shake myself from the trance. I turn to see Andreas, ready to take over for the dead mans shift. "Evening cap'n," he salutes. He looks tired too, the whole crew is getting tired. Us being always on the move, having three places to rush to in a row, really takes its toll on them. I will have to make a note to myself to give us a few nights rest. I think it would do them all a world of good. I hand the wheel over to my first mate with a tired sigh. I guess even I'm not immune to it.

"You know where we are headed?" I ask as I stifle a yawn. Andreas nods at me once, keeping his eyes on the horizon. Soon we will have the stars as our map to guide us. I always liked navigating by stars, it's like reading a story in their diamond like depths. Stargazing was my mothers favorite pastime and she used to let me join in with her as she pointed out all the constellations she could see. I watch the last rays of the sun dip below the waves as I stand next to Andreas. He licks his lips once he sees the prince exit the below decks.

"You sure about this, cap'n?" he asks nervously. This is the closest Andreas has ever come to challenging me. I watch as he shifts from foot to foot, ands gripping and re-gripping the wheel as he does. He really has nothing to fear from me in all honesty. In fact, it might be good if he pushed his orders a little everyone once in a while. Keep me on my toes and remind me to stay grounded. Sometimes my ideas fly a little far from reality. I do a pretty good job reigning them in, but I still push it.

"Aye, I'm sure," I say as I watch the prince. His eyes find mine and he holds a hand up in greeting. I mimic the gesture very slightly and subtly. Andreas huffs beside me.

"Of all the people, you had to--" he cuts off as I scowl and then glare at him. A slow smile stretches on his lips when he notices the tips of my ears heating up. I roll my eyes and punch him in the arm. My knuckles bark in pain when I do and I shake my hand out a little, stupid muscly brute.

I walk down the steps and away from Andreas so that I can get to bed. I grab the handle of the door and push it in, entering the room and kicking it shut behind me. As I walk in, I hear the door slowly reopen and a second pair of boots walking in. Draen continues into the bedroom as I make a small detour and stop at the pile of trophies I keep in the dining room. My old locket and sigil ring, my crown, and the verification of my death. I always promised I would pawn the first two off -- the crown and locket -- but I never could bring myself to do it. I don't know. It's not like I hold any allegiance to Roltem, but maybe it's for the same reason I have the first red star. A reminder of who I was. I pick up the locket and open the chain up, sliding the ring off it, I begin tossing the metal in my hand. It's weird to hold it again.

I walk into the bedroom with the ring still in hand to find Draen already ready to sleep. I kick off my shoes and change into more comfortable sleeping clothes before sliding into bed next to him. One last night where I'll sleep in someone's arms. Tomorrow will be one last morning I'll wake up in them. I count myself as lucky to have ever know the feeling. No mourning, only celebrating, remember?

"Draen?" I ask. He looks over at me and raises an eyebrow. I smile a little at the familiar expression that I've come to know from him. "I want you to have something." The prince and I both sit up now. I begin to feel a small flutter in my stomach. No going back now though. I hold out my hand to him, fist closed and palm up. He gently takes it in his hand and starts to pull my fingers open. I let him open them his way, preferring to watch how he goes about it. Once my hand is unfurled, he looks at the ring in my palm. He doesn't touch it, he only looks at it with a childlike awe.

"You want to give my your sigil ring?" Draen breathes, his eyes wide. I feel a little blush on my cheeks as I nod a few times. I never thought giving someone some ring that only meant hell for me as a child could somehow be so... intimate. Draen reaches his other hand out -- seeing as the one still holds my own -- and plucks the ring out with a heartbreaking caution. I then watch as he takes his own sigil ring off and places it where mine had been resting in my palm before sliding the new one down. I take his second hand in mine and examine it. It shouldn't look so weird to see him wearing it, he wore his own often enough, but I can't help but feel the oddness of it. Looking down at my ring on someone else's hand. A giddy sort of laugh threatens to bubble up in my throat but I deny it passage through my lips.

I move to hand Draen his ring back but he shakes his head at me and folds my fingers over it. "You keep it," he says softly.

"I can't, you need it at court, all royals do. You can hide mine on a leather cord around your neck, but you can't just show up without your own," I explain as I try to force his ring back into his hands. He chuckles at me before responding.

"Think of it as," he pauses as if pondering the best wording, "lost at sea. Like my heart had been." I smile at him, fair enough. I take his ring and slip it onto my finger, the weight of it not unwelcome nor uncomfortable. Just... different. We both lay back down to sleep now, Draen throwing his arms around my waist and pressing my back against his chest. I relish the warmth he is kicking off and also the security of his arm around my waist. He was right, I do like being held. My eyes fall into a playful glare at my small defeat.

We lay like this for a while, both of us just seem to be thinking. Like there are too many words running through our heads. I know he's not asleep and he knows I'm not. We listen to the waves and the sounds of the sea at night, there is a quiet peace now. Too many words in our heads but neither person is left with any words to say. Until some pop into my head; some I could say, I suppose. Stupid words, words I don't know that I should speak. It would be simpler to just forget them and ignore it... but I am going to say them, when have I ever done what's easy?

"I think," I begin, feeling Draen attention snapping into focus at my voice. "It would have been very easy, Prince, to fall in love with you, to be your princess." Draen doesn't say anything for a beat, barely time to register the words before he speaks, his warm breath brushing across my cheek.

"It would have been even easier, Pirate, to make you my queen."