A Pirated Heart

Her Control and the Boy

Kaden shook himself of the restrictive thoughts and strutted toward the familiar building. The thought of Arabella had never stopped him from indulging himself before. Why would that change now?

Simpering beauties surrounded him the moment he entered the brothel. He didn’t need to beg for attention. He never had. He let himself be led to one of the many rooms and he let the experienced women strip him of his clothes. All thoughts of Arabella fled his mind the moment their soft skin touched his exposed chest.

 ***

Arabella started to head back toward the ship. She could feel her anger and magic sparking. She would be a danger to all of the civilians in Lauricia if she couldn’t control her rage.

“Hey! You!” Arabella stopped when a young boy ran in front of her and pointed an old dirk at her. She glanced down at the weapon with an unimpressed frown.

“What do you want, boy? I’m busy,” Arabella growled. The boy’s eyes widened as he continued to stare at her. She could see his courage faltering. People were now stopping to see what this boy was doing brandishing a weapon toward a woman.

“You’re Arabella Cartridge, right?” He questioned as his voice cracked. Arabella quirked an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest.

“And if I was?”

“I’m going to kill you so I can collect that bounty!” He exclaimed boldly, but Arabella could see his legs shaking beneath him.

“Just go home, boy. Going after dangerous bounties is going to get you killed.” She replied as she pinned a glare on the boy. He shivered but steeled himself. Now the people around them were beginning to whisper and talk amongst themselves.

This is becoming tiresome.

End him. A dark voice whispered from the back of Arabella’s mind. She paused. She didn’t recognize the voice, but its suggestion was beginning to have some merit. Her magic sparked again. Red was started to filter into her vision.

End him. Make him regret going against us.

“I am going to kill you!” The boy proclaimed bravely. Arabella felt her lips tilt upwards into a smirk. Her expression froze the boy.

“Not if I kill you first,” she hissed easily.

“Oi! What’s going on here?”

“None of your business,” Arabella snarled as she let her eyes drift from the frozen boy to the man pushing his way through the crowd. Arabella frowned when she noticed his naval uniform. The man looked from the boy to Arabella.

“The Navy is in charge of keeping citizens safe. This kid is waving a knife in your face, so that makes it my business.” The man replied as he started to head toward the boy. Arabella let her arms drop from her chest as she glared at the intruder.

“He has a goal. Don’t interrupt.” Arabella ordered as the man stopped to stare at her.

“You want me to let the kid keep threatening you?”

“It’s not like he’s a danger to me. Let him do what he wants to do. Maybe he’ll learn a valuable lesson. Like who not to threaten.”

The boy stared at her. He was confused. It was clear in his wide eyes.  

“Are you saying you’re not in danger?”

“Hardly.” Arabella replied sharply as she narrowed her eyes on the officer. He froze and lifted his hands in the air.