Chapter 6 - [The Mistake]
1581 Words
CaptainEdwardlooked out at the sea. He was more troubled than he needed to be. Plus, he was tired.
“What’s up with you,Ed?” He heardRichard ask.
Edward didn’t turn around. “Nothing.” He said. “Why do you ask?”
Richard frowned. “Because I know you be hiding something from your crew. And that thing that you be hiding is weighing you down.”
Edward didn’t respond.
“Again, what’s wrong?”Richard asked. “One look at that girl and you run away. You scared?”
This madeEdward look at his friend. “I’m not scared of women,Richard.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t like women on my ship.”Edward said. It was a lie,Edward didn’t care if there was a woman on his ship. His father didn’t care, so why should he?
Richard sighed, seeing right through his friends lie. “I know that’s not it. And I know, one day you’re gonna be forced to tell me, alright mate?”
Edward nodded. “Alright.” He said, not knowing what else to say.
Richard looked at him for a moment and then turned around and walked away.
WhatRichard didn’t know was that there wasn’t just one problem, there were many. But at that moment, the most important problem thatEdward wanted to deal with first was this girl.
He hated that every time he looked at her, his heart would jump. Not because he was attracted to her, but because she looked like Aina.
He wanted to get her off this ship as soon as possible.
“Tell me more about mermaids.” Nerina askedRichard as he walked her back to her room.
“What d’ya want to know?”
“Just… about them. I’m interested.”
“Well, to be honest with you, I’ve never seen one in person before. But I’ll tell you what I do know… they usually come out at night.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the sun tends to dry them up. They can come out during the day but only for short amounts of time.”
Nerina nodded.
“And they can enchant men, like I said before.”
“Are men enchanted when they are willing to… I don’t know… lick their toes… or fins?”
Richard grinned. “Ai. Most of the time.”
Nerina smiled. “So all the other times they do it themselves?”
He nodded, with a laugh. “They are evil… that’s all I can say.”
Nerina thought for a moment. It was odd to think that what she had believed about mermaids for so long was a lie.
The two stopped in front of Nerina’s room. “Go this way to get to the deck if you need anything. There is usually someone up there.”Richard said.
Nerina gave him a smile and after a short pause, she asked him a question. “Can you please tell me when I’m going home?”
Richard smirked. “After we’re sure that we’ll be gettin’ some reward for returning you.”
Nerina’s smile faded.
“See you later, princess.”Richard said before he walked away.
Nerina watched him leave and then walked into her room.
She spent the rest of the day thinking. Should she trust these pirates?Richard was so kind to her, but he still seems to be using her. Eventually, she decided that it would be smart to keep her guard up.
Pirates were cunning… and bad.
Everyone knew that.
It was dark out when Nerina decided to leave her room. She walked out onto the deck and was surprised by the half moon, high up in the sky. It looked beautiful.
She walked over to the railing and looked out at the sea. Something about this excited her, maybe it was the fact that she was sailing on a ship. She had always wanted to do that.
She then realized that for the short time she was on the ship, she had never realized that this was what she wanted.
“Girl!” She suddenly heard someone call.
Nerina was surprised when she heard another girls voice. She turned around and looked, but saw no one.
“Girl! Over here!” She heard again.
Nerina hesitated and then looked over the railing. She then screamed and fell back when she saw the woman in the waters.
Nerina heard the woman laugh as she got back up. She peeked over the railing and looked at her. The woman had blue hair which covered her face and she treaded in the water.
“Why are you frightened?” The woman asked.
“I am not…” Nerina said as she completely showed herself to the woman. “You just startled me.”
“What are you doing out so late? It’s dangerous.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice.
“Are you a mermaid?” Nerina asked, ignoring the woman’s question.
There was a pause. “Yes.” The woman said.
Nerina opened her mouth to ask her something else, but the Mermaid spoke first.
“I am Aina.”
Nerina’s eyes widened at the familiar name.
“Now run. Hide somewhere.” She said.
“Why?” Nerina asked.
“Because the captain is coming. He will be furious if he saw you here. Hide.”
Surprisingly, without another word, Nerina did what the mermaid said and hid behind a large crate.
About a moment later, she heard footsteps.
She peeked over the crate and saw the captain walk over towards the railing of the ship.
“Aina… you’re here.” She heard the captain say. His voice sounded so calm and so different to the one she had gotten used too.
Nerina listened carefully as they spoke, and slowly, she began to realize that something was wrong.
She remembered her conversation withSam andRichard.
Mermaids were dangerous.
So why was the captain being so kind to one?
She continued to listen, quietly, but suddenly, Nerina began to worry.
“Come down now, my Captain.” The mermaid said.
Nerina’s heart started to race. Was the mermaid going to kill the captain?
The captain chuckled. “We are north of Caspian. The water is too cold for me to be in it.”
“Oh don’t be silly, the water is fine.” The mermaid said. “Come down now, if you want a kiss.”
The captain hesitated.
And that’s when Nerina realized that the captain had been enchanted by a mermaid.
She then heard a creak, and that was enough to make her jump out of her hiding spot and run towards to captain.
“Don’t do it!” She yelled. “You’ve been enchanted!”
It took her a moment to realize that the captain was standing in the same spot and was staring at her.
And then she heard the mermaid laugh, which faded as seconds passed.
She stared at the captain, who stared back at her. She saw the anger building up and after a short moment, he exploded.
“How dare you spy on me?!”
Even though Nerina expected the yelling, she was still startled.
But she was the never the type to stand there while someone yelled at her.
“You’ve been enchanted by a mermaid! She was trying to kill you!” Nerina yelled back.
Something flashed across the captain’s face. It looked almost like fear… but at the same time, it looked like sadness. But the anger returned almost immediately. “That is none of your concern.” He snapped.
“We must tell your men!” Nerina said. “They might be able to help you.” She turned around to run towards the cabins, but the captain grabbed her arm.
He pulled her, twirling her around so that she could face him.
Nerina gasped, noticing how close they were and her heart started to race in fear when the captains face twisted in anger. “You will not say a word to anyone, understood?”
Nerina held her breath. “But—”
“Not a word!” He yelled. “Or I will rip that head off your neck and feed it to the sea monsters of Caspian.”
Nerina swallowed hard and then winced when the captain tightened his grip around her wrist.
“Understood?” He asked.
She nodded immediately and the captain let go of her.
“Good.”
Nerina turned around and rushed back to her room, trying to release the extreme fear she felt at that moment.
How dare he treat me like that! She thought.
When she returned to her room, she sat down on her bed, trying to hold back the tears that were building up in her eyes.
Chasing after that pirate had been a big mistake.
And this mistake had made her, for the first time in her life, want to return to her home in Caspian.
- Writer
