His hand still held mine, our bare feet leaving prints in the sand as we wandered along the beach. He kept his eyes on the ocean, sighing occasionally.
“What would you do?” he whispered. “To sail the worlds forever.”
He glanced at me briefly, smiling softly.
“Forever is a long time,” I breathed. “Even for a pirate. Besides, reaching port is half the fun.”
He chuckled, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “Then you don’t understand yet Gittoran. I’d do anything to feel the spray of the seas from the bowsprit. Grounded like this, stuck in one place while worlds are left unexplored, I feel like I’m half the man I could have been.”
“It’s a bit difficult to top being the King of Pirates,” I said.
“A useless title,” he hissed. “I can do nothing with it, not when I’m only with pirates.”
“And how is being Queen of Thieves useful to me?” I asked.
“That’s different,” he said, laughing slightly. “You being queen… that’s amazing, something so rare that even Jumé-falio hadn’t heard of it before. It suits you, shows your strength to the world, and makes them give you the respect you deserve.”
“You deserve your respect too,” I countered.
“But I already have that,” he said smugly. “I’ve had that since… the second week I was in the game I think.”
“What, is it circled on your calendar or something?” I teased.
“You never forget the day you earn this world’s respect,” he said solemnly. “You know the day you earned yours.”
“When I accidentally blasted Tempest Storm’s camp,” I breathed.
“The day they started to call you ‘Flame’.”
“What was yours?” I asked.
“The first time a captain tried to push me around,” he said. “I killed him.”
“Just for pushing you around?”
“I knew it was a rough world Gittoran. This world… it was nothing like this when I first arrived. Nowhere was safe, no one was trusted, it was a waking nightmare. I knew that if I let one man get the better of me than others would try their luck with me as well.”
“What happened to change that?” I whispered.
“I happened,” he breathed. “When I became captain I gathered pirates with exceptional skill, offering them a place in my crew at the point of my sword. Eventually we were strong enough to take on any group that attacked us. We set up a more permanent camp, and decimated the crews that weren’t fast enough to set up their own strongholds. We’ve held power like that, by being the strongest, even though I haven’t added any new crew members to the original group… until you.”
“Is that why you’re so obsessed with my loyalty?” I asked.
“I’m not obsessed,” he muttered.
“It’s all you talk about,” I laughed. “You’re scared I will kill you in your sleep.”
“That’s not what I’m scared of!” he protested.
YOU ARE READING
FireSweet
Fantasy"My name changed before my eyes, the paper before me read "Welcome Gittoran Scarlet", I felt a searing pain in my left shoulder and the world spun around me. I dropped to the floor, and blacked out." Gittoran was your average party-girl with attit...
