The Princess of Pirates

Chapter 7 - [The Apology]

Richard woke up from a strange dream that night and after that, he couldn’t go back to sleep.

He lay there, staring at the ceiling, until he got frustrated. “Damn alcohol.” He muttered as he got up from his bed.

He left his room, thinking that some fresh, salty air and a nice breeze would put him to sleep. It always helped.

When I climbed up onto the deck, he was surprised to see both the captain and Nerina together. What shocked him the most was that the captain was holding her wrist.

Richard smirked. He knew the captain had a thing for her… he knew that the captain would get her into his bed soon enough.

But then Richard noticed something. Anger on the captain’s face, and fear on Nerina’s.

“Understood?” The captain asked Nerina.

She nodded and the captain released her.

“Good.” Edward said as he turned around.

Nerina turned around and rushed away as fast as she could.

For some reason, the fact that the captain was scaring Nerina angered Richard. Maybe it was because he knew the Captain wasn’t the type of mean to scare women.

“Edward!” Richard called.

Edward spun around, looking startled. “What?” He asked.

“What did you do to the girl?” Richard asked as he walked towards his friend.

Edward seemed to have relaxed. “She was spying on me.” He simply said.

“So?”

“So I told her not to spy on me.”

“Did you hurt her?”

Edward shook his head.

Richard sighed. “You can be a real ass you know, Ed?”

Edward smirked.

“She looked scared to death!”

He shrugged. “She shouldn’t have been spying on me.”

Richard rolled his eyes and turned around. “Go get some sleep, Ed.” He said as he walked towards the spot that he always has saved for when he can’t sleep.

When morning came, Richard sat in the dining hall, eating with Sam, just like every other morning.

“Where be the princess?” Same asked him.

Richard thought for a moment. Was she still in her room? Was she too scared to come out?

He turned around and looked at Runny, the fat pirate that was supposed to bring her here every morning. “Runny!” he called.

The fat man turned around. “Ai, Richie?”

“Did ya call the princess this morning?”

The fat man nodded. “Ai, she said she ain’t hungry.”

Richard nodded and turned to face Sam. “Guess she’s not hungry.”

Sam looked a little worried, which made Richard sigh. “Fine, I’ll go try and get her.”

“It just aint good for a lady like her to not eat, y’know?” Sam said.

Richard nodded with a smile as he turned and walked towards the princesses bedroom.

When he arrived, he knocked hard on the door. “Open up princess, you gotta come out and eat.”

“Leave me alone!” She yelled, startling Richard. “I said I don’t want to eat! I’m not hungry!”

“Don’t be like that, princess.” Richard said with a sigh. He knew why she was doing this. She was scared. And he felt bad for her.

“Take me home right now!” She screamed. “Or else I’ll starve myself to death!”

Richard rolled his eyes. “You won’t do any such thing.”

“I will!” She yelled. Her voice was right at the other side of the door now. “Just watch me!”

“Aw c’mon princess—”

“Either you take me home right now, or I’ll kill myself and all of you will have to deal with an army of pain!”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright.” He said. “I’ll talk to the captain.”

“Good! And tell that good for nothing bastard that I want to go home right now and that he can go rot in hell.”

That made Richard smile. He’s never heard a girl talk so bravely against the Captain. “Got it.”

Edward sat at his desk and stared at his map. He only now realized how far they were from Caspian… which meant that it would take them a while to return… which meant that the girl would remain on his ship for a longer time.

He sighed and leaned back on his chair.

He felt bad for scaring the princess the night before… but he had to do it.

If his crew found out about Aina, they would do everything they had to do to save him from her.

It was their job to save him from her… and he would never see Aina again.

He didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to be able to be with Aina forever.

Well, that was what his mind wanted.

Edward knew that his heart thought differently. His heart knew that he was being controlled by this mermaid. He was enchanted by her. But he couldn’t do anything about it. His mind wouldn’t let him.

He had tried to fight against it before but his mind was stronger than his heart.

Everyone’s mind is stronger than their heart.

He was then surprised by a knocking at his door. “Come in.” he said as he sat back up.

Richard walked in, looking a little frustrated.

“What is it?”

Richard sat on one of the chairs across from Edwards’s desk. “The princess wants to return home.”

“Who said we were forcing her to stay here?” Edward asked.

“She wants to go home right now.”

Edward snorted. “It will take about three days to sail back. And if my suspicions about the coming rain storm for tonight are correct, then it’s going to take even longer.”

“She refuses to eat, Edward.” Richard said.

“That is not my problem.”

“Yes.” He said. “It is.”

Edward raised his eyebrow.

“If she dies, the Caspian army won’t rest until they have our heads.” Richard said.

Edward groaned as he got up from his chair and marched out of his room. Richard followed.

“What are you going to do?” Richard asked.

Edward didn’t respond.

The two walked over to Nerina’s room and Richard was startled by Edward loud banging.

“Come out right now!” He yelled.

Richard placed his hand on his head and groaned.

“No!” Nerina yelled.

“If you don’t get out right now and eat, I will come in, drag you to the dining hall and force that food down your throat.”

“Take me home!” Nerina yelled.

“We are going to take you home!”

“Now!”

“We are too far away from Caspian to get you home right now!”

Nerina didn’t respond.

“Come out.” The captain said, in a slightly calmer voice. “And eat.”

“No!” Nerina repeated. “I want to go home!”

Edward hands balled up into fists and then he pushed to door open and marched into her room.

But then he froze.

He stared at her, as she sat in the far corner of the room, eyes wide open, filled with tears.

The captain took a deep breath and watched as she hugged her legs and put her face down. “Get out!” She yelled.

Richard walked towards Edward and put his hand on Edwards shoulder, making his cheeks burn. Richard knew exactly why the captain was frozen at that moment.

Crying girls… that was his weakness.

He turned around and looked at Richard, who mouthed, ‘apologize.’

Edward turned around and left the room. “I am not apologizing to her!” He said when he was far enough from her room.

Richard, who chased after him frowned. “Edward, you scared the daylight out of her last night! She’s acting like this because she’s scared of you!”

Edward shook his head. “No. I did what I did because she was spying on me.”

Richard stepped in front of Edward and crossed his arms. “You have two options right now. First, apologize to her, get her to eat, use her to get the criminals of Caspian, get rid of her and then move on with your life. Or two, let her starve to death and have the Caspian army chase after us until all of us are dead.”

“What be going on here?” Richard heard Sam ask.

Richard turned around and saw Sam walk up to them, looking worried. But before Edward could stop him, Richard told Sam everything.

Sam looked at the captain, giving him a look of disappointment. “Cap’n… you best be thinkin’ of apologizing to the lass.”

The captain rolled his eyes and looked away.

“Cap’n, think about what your father would have done. And how he would have reacted if he found out you were acting like this.”

The captain took a deep breath and sighed.

“Now, go be a man and apologize to the girl.” Sam said.

The captain stood there for a second but then turned around and walked away. “I’ll think about it.”

But both Sam and Richard didn’t follow him, because both of them knew what he was going to do.

The captain waited until the evening before he did anything. He was hoping that she would eventually get so hungry that she would come out on her own.

But she was stubborn, and hadn’t left her room.

It was late in the evening, most of his men were asleep, but the captain paced in front of her bedroom.

He was going to have to do it sooner or later… but something was holding him back.

He thought again of what his father would do if he found out he was acting like this.

Well, first he would grab Edwards’s ear, then beat him until he understood that he was doing something wrong. And then he would lecture Edward about how to treat a girl.

Edward sighed and stepped in front of her door. He knocked on it but was startled by her sudden screaming.

“What part of leave me alone do you not understand? I am not coming out of this room until we arrive at Caspian!”

Edward bit his lip, trying to hold back his curses, and opened the door. He was, again, surprised by her, even though she was sitting the same way in the same corner earlier that day.

She also looked surprised by him.

“Come eat.” Edward said. It came out more rudely then he wanted.

“Get out of my room!”

Edward looked at her. “This is not your room. Every room in this ship belongs to me.”

She then got up, surprising Edward yet again. “If you hate me so much then why don’t you just take me home?”

“I’m not keeping you here because I want you here.” Edward said. “It is going to take us a while to return to Caspian, one because we’ve sailed far from it, and two, there is a storm coming. If you refuse to eat, you’re going to kill yourself and give me more trouble than I need.”

Nerina glared at him. “Well find a way to get me home faster.”

“Stop being a stubborn bitch.” Edward said, getting angry.

“Oh, I will be a stubborn b***h if I want. No leave me alone and go have an affair with that mermaid and die for all I care!”

Edward felt like he had been slapped across the face. “Do you know who you are talking to?”

“Captain Edward. The bastard who has been enchanted by a mermaid.”

“Oh shut up!” Edward hissed. “You’ve got some nerve don’t you? You know, I can kill you right now if I wanted too!”

“Then kill me.” Nerina yelled.

Edward stared at her and then frowned. “Come eat.”

Nerina turned around. “I was worried that that stupid mermaid was going to kill you and this is the way you treat me?” She said.

Edward stopped breathing for a second. He had never thought about it that way. The only reason for why she came charging out of her hiding spot was because she wanted to help him. She thought Aina was going to kill him.

He suddenly felt worse about what he had done… and he didn’t like this feeling at all.

“I’m sorry.” He finally said.

He watched her head shoot up, surprised, and she looked at him.

“You’re right. I treated you badly… and I only know realized that you were trying to help me.” He said, honestly. “And I apologize.”

Nerina watched him carefully, and she could see that he was being serious, which shocked her.

“Now please.” The captain said, kindly. “Do us all a favor and go eat something.”