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One, long, long ago, there was a world called Gaia. In this land, there were eleven high races: Nagas, Snake People; Kitsunes, Fox People; Erans, Rabbit People; Merpeople; Lycans; Vampires; Humans; Guiars, Winged People; Centaurs; and E’radnis, very small, frail people who had long arms, legs, and nails, pale white skin, large black eyes, and pale hair.
It so happened that the E’radnis believed that they were superior to other races. Slowly but steadily, they began to succeed in their efforts to take over Gaia and instill their beliefs on all the races. They felt the less like themselves a race was, the worse it was, and thus, they placed the races in this order: themselves, Humans, Vampires, Lycans, Erans, Nekos, Kitsunes, Guiars, Centaurs, Nagas, Merpeople, and (the lowest of the low) anyone of mixed race.
The biggest clan of Nekos lived in a rain forest on an island to the south of the main continent, Gambino. The princess of the Nekos was an eighteen year old named Tiger. Like all the Nekos, she had cat ears on the top of her head and a long, slender tale. At the moment, she was running through the forest, her head in the clouds. She was thinking of the rumors that had recently reached her clan, that the E’radnis truly were taking over Gaia, that they would be heading towards her island next.

~ ~ ~

The island was mostly Nekos, but there were a few smaller clans of other races (mostly Nagas and Guiars). The races rarely interacted, which was a sign of the times that her father had been seeing the leaders of the various other clans a lot recently. Over the past few months, various leaders had been coming to her village, and her father had been traveling to their villages.
Although she had tried, Tiger hadn’t been able to hear much, and her father, Chief Leon, had told her even less. That was why she was running now. Unlike most Nekos, she loved to swim, and she was on her way to her favorite pool to relax.
When she got to the pool, she slipped off her clothing and into the water, allowing the cool water to completely submerge her and wash away any trace of thought. The water felt nice on the warm day, and as she swam, thoughts came to her and were briefly acknowledged. At one point, she thought about the trip that had started all the worries.
A few months previous, a young warrior by the name of Puma had left to travel to Gambino to see about studying carpentry there. This was not uncommon, and had never been a problem before. However, when he arrived at Gambino, Puma had not been allowed in. The E’radnis at the port entrance had told him that there was no room in the Neko section of the city. Puma couldn’t understand it… since when was there a Neko “section” of Gambino. Puma had returned to the island and told Chief Leon what had happened. No one could ever remember the city being divided into sections before. This was when her father had begun to meet with the various leaders on the island.
As her mind wandered, Tiger wondered what she would have done in her father’s shoes. It made her feel slightly better about not being in the loop- she didn’t want to have to make those decisions. Feeling better, she got out of the pool and began to dress, staring out through a gap in the trees at the ocean.
Suddenly, she did a double take. There on the horizon was a fleet of ships, growing closer. She surpassed a gasp and began to run back towards her village.
Once she got there, her heart pounding, she began searching for her father. Please let him be there, she thought, unable to remember if he’d left that day or if he was still there.
“Panthara is my father here?” she asked a friend that was standing nearby.
“He’s in the meeting house with the Naga king,” Panthara replied, “Why?”
“Thanks, tell ya later, bye!” Tiger replied, starting towards the meeting house.
Breaking into a run as soon as she could, she reached the meeting house quickly and burst into the room her father and the Naga king were in. “Father,” she started, “I-”
“Tiger,” her father said sternly, glancing up and looking at her with his piercing tawny eyes, “you’re interrupting a very important meeting.”
“I know, but-”
“You know better than to just burst in,” he continued, ignoring her frantic attempts to tell him what she’d seen.
“I do, but-”
“We will discuss this later.”
“But-”
“Young lady-”
“Father, I saw a fleet of ships heading towards us,” she said quickly, interrupting him in order to finally tell him the news.
His eyes and the eyes of the Naga king widened. The Naga king was the first to speak, “Thisss cood be a sssmall problemm… I musssst return hommme and warn mmmy peoplesss.”
“No!” Leon said. “Gather your people and bring them here, we must formulate a plan together, or we’ll be defeated for sure. Go home, Vasilica, but return before nightfall. By then, we should be able to have everyone here and be able to finish the debate that has been going on for months.”
The Naga king paused, and then inclined his head to the Neko Chief. “Very well, Leon… I ssshall trussst you…” And with that, he slowly slithered out of the room towards his village.
Leon turned to his daughter. “Tiger, you’re the fastest in the clan. I need you to go and tell the Guiars what we are doing… I thought we would have more time…” he mused, staring off for a moment before snapping out of it. “Tell Cheetar to warn the tribes to the west and Panthara the tribes to the east… we all need to be back by sundown…” with that, he left, no doubt to begin to gather the troops.
Tiger stood still for a moment, allowing her heart to still before leaving to find Cheetar and Panthara. She gave them their orders then set out at a sprint towards the Guiars in the south.
The Guiars were on the south side of the island, a fair journey when one wasn’t rushed for time. They lived among the tallest trees and the cliffs, giving them plenty of space to fly. Each Guiar had wings, though the types raged from bat-like wings to angel-like wings to fairy-like wings.
If anyone knew what was going on, Tiger had faith that the Guiars did. The island, while not small, was not as large as other islands, and she often saw Guiars amongst the clouds, flying above her village. One of them was bound to have seen the sails on the horizon.
Sure enough, when she got there, the Guiars were gathering supplies and weapons. She made her way to a nearby Guiar, tapping him on the shoulder and asking, “Excuse me, but where is your leader?”
The man paused in his work long enough to point her towards the highest tree, where perched among the branches was a building.
“Greeeeat…” she said. “Thanks.”
But the man had already stopped paying attention to her, barely acknowledging her with a nod.
Tiger made her way through the busy people towards the tree, and looked up when she got there. It was a looong way up… There weren’t any stairs or ladders leading to the top, and the tree was too thick around for her to get up on her own.
She stared at the tree for a minute, walked around it, and stared some more. Nothing was coming to her.
“Excuse me?” a young Guiar said, not much older than herself, “do you need any help?”
Tiger turned around, relieved and said “Please and thank you!”
“No problem,” the woman said. She bowed formally as she introduced herself. “I’m Jenna, one of the Senators.”
“Tiger, Princess of the Neko Clan,” Tiger replied, also bowing formally.
“C’mon,” Jenna said, grabbing her and flying up to the building.
“Thanks again!” Tiger said when Jenna set her down at the door.
Jenna waved and flew off to continue whatever she had been doing before.
Tiger quickly composed herself and knocked on the door, trying not to look down as she did.
“Come in,” a stately voice commanded, and Tiger gladly entered. Inside, Tiger faced a room with a long table in the center, headed by three Guiars intently studying a map of the island.
“Jenna?” asked one with beautiful light blue fairy wings, looking up. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Tiger. “Who are you? How did you get in here?!” she demanded.
Tiger bowed. “I am Princess Tiger of the Nekos… my father sent me to tell you about the ships coming an-”
“Silly girl! We already know!” interrupted another.
“AND to tell you to come wait in our village… we are mounting a defense,” Tiger finished. She was really getting tired of being interrupted when she had important things to say.
The three conversed quietly amongst themselves for a few moments before one said, “We must gather the rest of the Senators… please, sit and wait Princess.” He motioned to a chair at the end where Tiger fretfully sat down. One of the Guiars went to the door and let out a shrill whistle, pausing for a few moments as ten other Guiars appeared, Jenna among them. The thirteen Senators sat down, looking from Tiger to the three senators at the head.
“This girl,” said one of the original three, this one with bat wings, “claims to be Chief Leon’s daughter.” At this, Tiger opened her mouth to retort, but quickly closed it and bit her tongue. “She also claims he wants us to go to his village and face the E’radnis there. The question we face is: do we go?” At this, he sat down.
Right away, another stood up. “How do we know this isn’t a trap? We know that some Nekos have joined them!” A few ‘hear hears’ came after he said this, and Jenna stood up.
“We know for a fact that the ships haven’t landed yet! We’ve been watching them, we have Hawks watching them! No one has left those ships. If they had, we would know. Plus, she looks like Leon, anyone who has met him even once, as we all have, can see it. I know I’m new and everything, but my voice has the same weight as all of yours!”
“No one is denying that, Jenna,” the bat-winged man said calmly. “But we need to look at all the options.” He looked straight at Tiger when he said this, and she felt immediately calmed.
Jenna sat back down, blushing. “I’m sorry for my outburst, Senator Al and my fellow Senators.”
The senators each nodded at her then continued with their discussion. One Guiar with gorgeous angel wings kept glancing at Tiger, and whenever he did, she felt a shiver travel down her spine.
“We’ve discussed long enough,” said Al, after some time had passed and Tiger thought everything that could be said about the matter had been. “It is time for a vote. All in favor of going to the Neko village raise your hands…” he, Jenna, and eight others raised their hands. “…And all opposed?” Three senators, including the angel-winged man and the Senator who had spoken against her, raised their hands. “Very well,” said Al. “Majority rules; we go.”
Tiger smiled, quite relieved that they were finally coming. However, the sun would be setting soon; they’d have to hurry if they wanted to get there in time to figure out what was going on. Standing, she announced this fact to the Senators.
“Very well,” said Al. “We’ll leave now.” He gestured to the other senators. “Tell the people,” he said. The others left to spread the word, but he stopped Jenna. “You will carry the Princess. It would not do to make her run all the way back. She wouldn’t make it before sundown.” Jenna nodded as Al left.
Tiger smiled and let out a small sigh as the senators left. “Thanks for speaking up for m… I was worried that they were going to tar and feather me at first…”
Jenna laughed. “I didn’t do anything… they all think I’m an insolent brat, not old enough or worth enough to be a Senator at my age… Big Al did it for you. You saw the look he gave you when I sat down…”
Tiger gave a half nod. “Big Al?” she asked, curious about the name.
Jenna blushed slightly. “It’s the name the People call him…” she said. “He’s like a father figure… even though we have no king or official leader, he is one. Most people follow him, except for maybe Sepi. He’s the one with the angel wings, but he’s no angel…” she added with a shudder.
Tiger mimicked that shudder. “I know… he kept glaring at me… it was almost scary…”
Jenna nodded. “Well, we’ll have to talk later… the others are starting lo leave, and it wouldn’t do for the Princess to arrive home late…” She grabbed Tiger under the arms and lifted her up, the two joining the rest of the Guiars as they flew towards Tiger’s home.

~ ~ ~

“Wow!” Tiger exclaimed as they soared high above the clouds. “This is amazing!”
Jenna laughed. “I know! I wouldn’t give up my wings for anything!” She suddenly dived down, Tiger still in her arms, and did a series of loop-de-loops.
The two girls laughed, enjoying themselves immensely, but at a glance from Big Al, they stopped and rode in comfortable silence.
Tiger looked down and realized they were very close to her village. Looking towards the horizon, she realized that the ships would be there by daybreak, most likely trying to surprise them.
As the last of the suns rays disappeared, the Guiars landed in front of the gate to the village.
Leon walked out to greet them warmly. “I was beginning to wonder if my daughter had been kidnapped, or if she had been unable to convince you to come,” he said, drawing Tiger to him and bowing to the Senators.
Big Al chuckled softly. “It was a challenge, but she has your persuasion ability Leon,” he said, taking Leon’s hand and shaking it like they were old friends.
“You are the last to arrive, hurry and come in. We’ll put your people into homes with ours, but I’m afraid you Senators will have to come with me. It is time to decide on a course of action. Your soldiers will also have to room with the others. They’re all preparing for tomorrow. Tiger, if you would please make sure the families are settled, Senators, follow me,” he said.
Tiger made a face, though her back was to everyone at that time, then gestured to the Guiar civilians. “Follow me,” she said.
“Take the soldiers too,” her father reminded her.
She nodded, bowing to her father and the Senators and then set off to bring each family to a home. One by one, she found them each a place to stay, until only the soldiers were left. She led them to the where the other soldiers were gathered. She left them with a high ranking hunter before beginning to look for someone she knew. She found Puma quickly, looking out of place without his carpenter goods and in armor.
“Puma!” she said, making her way through the mix of soldiers.
“Princess!” he began to bow, but she stopped him.
“Never mind all the formalities, what’s going on?” she asked.
Puma looked grim as he answered her. “We’re preparing for the worst case scenario…”
Her eyes widened as she hesitantly asked, “Which is…?”
“War.”
Tiger’s hands went to her mouth as she thanked him, leaving to return home. Her original intention when she got there was to sleep, but that proved impossible. She got up after a few hours of tossing and turning and began to wander around. As she walked past the meeting hall, she heard voices, and realized torches were still burning inside. Slowly, she crept up and peered through a crack in the doorway.
“…we sssshould all jusssst go into tthhhhe foressst and hide, assss I havvve been ssssuggessting all night! Ssss!” the Naga king Vasilica was saying, obviously upset since his s’s were especially long and his tail was twitching dangerously.
“King Vasilica, I understand your thinking, but we’d eventually be found,” Chief Leon said coolly. Tiger had always wished she’d had his cool head, and was once again glad she wasn’t him.
“It’s true,” said Big Al, “and even if we kept hiding, we live on an island… we’d eventually run out of hiding places.”
“Yes,” added Sepi, the angel man, “and they’d most likely hunt us down one by one or burn us out.” The matter-of-fact way he said it, bordering on cheerfulness, sent a shiver of horror around the room.
Leon sighed. “The most logical thing to do,” he said, “is to wait for them. The soldiers will wait in the forest, and if anything happens, they’ll attack.”
Big Al and quite a few others nodded their heads in agreement.
King Vasilica reluctantly nodded as well. “Yessss… I sssupposssse you are right… sss… we ssshould all get ssssommme sssleep now…” he said, glancing around. Many people had their heads in their arms, and Jenna was already asleep.
“You’re right, of course…” Leon said. “There are servants waiting out in the hall, down a little ways, to take you to your rooms. You’ll all be here for a fresh start tomorrow. Everyone began to get up, Al gathering Jenna in his arms, and began to leave. Tiger his just in time as the doors opened and people began to file out, where they were met by servants who had been waiting at the edge of the hall out of sight. The last to leave was her father, who paused and looked at her hiding place. “There’s no need to hide, Tiger, I’m all that’s left,” he said.
Tiger’s heart jumped into her throat as she slowly reappeared. “I’m sorry…” she started, looking down at her feet.
Leon sighed again, and for a moment, Tiger thought she saw his strength and solidarity waver. But as soon as she saw it, it was gone, and he was back to being the man she had always known. “I suppose I should tell you what’s been going on…” He took her into the meeting room, and they both sat down. “You of course know the basics of when Puma went to Gambino, but you don’t know all of it…
“You know Puma left to go to Gambino in one of our best boats. You know it takes about a week for us to get to Gambino and back, but Puma was gone for almost two months. He was supposed to return right away to let us know what they said about his apprenticeship, and we would throw him a going away party, since it is an honor to go and learn on the mainland.
“We feared the worst when he didn’t return, and when he did, it was in a boat full of leaks, no where near the fine vessel he’d left in. He returned with horror stories about the E’radnis…”

The young woman stood in the shadows, staring at the building in front of her a bit apprehensively. A grimy sign hanging from above the door announced the building as The Shark’s Tooth, and, judging from the crowd gathered outside, she didn’t belong there.
Brushing a strand of her airy blond hair out of her honey colored eyes and back into its braid, she lifted the hood of her cloak and entered the building. Under her cloak, she clutched a bag of coins, clinging to it as if it were life itself. She planned to secure passage on one of these ships and run away for good from her parents and the man she was promised to.
A frown touched the girl’s face as she recalled the conversation in her eighteenth birthday three months previously…
“Lilianna,” her father had said entering her room and staring out her window to look at the ocean. “I have some news for you…”
Lily, as she preferred to be called, had looked up from her book with interest, waiting for him to continue.
“I have found you a husband,” he had said, stepping aside to reveal an older man into her room. “I believe you remember Lieutenant Ashley Andrews. I’ll let you two get acquainted then, shall I?” he’d said, leaving her room almost guiltily.
Lily had later pleaded with her parents not to make her marry him. He was a nice man, but about as sharp as a potato and with less personality. He was also at least twelve years older than her. That night became the second night she’d ever cried in earnest.
Shaking away the memories, Lily peered around the bar, looking for anyone who would help her.
Her entrance had drawn the attention of several less than reputable characters, not the least of which was the wanted pirated known only as Drent of Captain Drent. However, unlike most of the men watching her, Drent did not have bad intentions in mind for her. Although he was indeed a pirate, he liked to consider himself an honorable pirate who only killed when necessary. If at all possible, he left innocent women and children alone, even men so long as they stayed out of his way.
He watched Lily carefully as a group of about five men approached her and sighed as she flashed a bag of gold from under her cloak, finishing his drink in one big gulp. He glanced around the bar, quickly finding his first mate Tomás, who was flirting outrageously with one of the waitresses.
“It’s time to find the rest of the crew, Tomás my man,” Drent said, patting Tomás heavily on the shoulder. “We may have to make a quick getaway.”
“Again?” Tomás asked, although he grinned and saluted his captain good naturedly, speaking softly and quickly to the waitress in Spanish and kissing her hand before leaving to round up the rest of the crew.
Drent smiled, watching him for a moment before leaving the bar himself to follow Lily and the group of men. Once outside the bar, he fingered the pistol on his belt and made his way into the shadows. He saw the group further down the street and began to discreetly follow them. Soon, he was close enough to hear their conversation.
“Yeah, girly, we’re takin’ ya to our ship… tha’s it there!” one man, obviously the leader, said, gesturing to the mast of a ship visible over the buildings.
Drent knew for certain that he was lying now; that ship was property of the Royal Navy.
“So, you’re Navy men then?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow and stopping in her tracks. Drent couldn’t help smiling, continuing towards them with his pistol now drawn. The girl might yet have a head on her shoulders.
The men realized they’d been found out. The leader who had pointed to the Navy ship gestured to the others, who grabbed Lily who managed to scream once before a rag was shoved into her mouth and she was grabbed roughly and dragged into a nearby ally. Drent silently followed them, still hiding in the shadows.
“Well, well, well…” the leader chuckled, “Righ’ fine mess you got yaself inta, in’ it?
Lily stood perfectly still, the gag now removed from her mouth, though the largest of the men was still holding her. She showed no emotion other than the occasional dangerous flash from her honey eyes.
This seemed to infuriate the man, who stepped forward and slapped her across the face, screaming “Well, wench!?”
“I’m neither deaf nor stupid,” Lily replied calmly, her cheek stinging as she stared the man in the eye. “However you might be.”
“Wha’s that sapposta mean!?” he yelled, again in her face.
“I repeat… I’m not deaf,” Lily said as she clenched her jaw. “But if you do to me what I think you’re planning to do to me, then yes, you are stupid.”
“Oh? And jist why migh’ that be?” the man asked as his buddies chuckled.
“I just… don’t think my father would appreciate it,” she said, tossing the word ‘father’ around almost too casually.
Don’t tell who your father is… Drent mentally warned her.
“A-and ‘oo migh’ your father be?” the man asked, his fear showing through slightly.
Don’t… Drent thought again, moving closer.
“The governor,” Lily answered, quite firmly, a premature triumphant smile appearing on her lips.
The leader looked shocked for a moment, and Lily thought her plan had worked- this man must fear her father. But then, a slow grin spread across his face. “The Gov’na, eh? Well, I been meanin’ to get back at ‘im for signin’ me brother’s death warrant…”
Drent decided this might be a good time to move as he watched the leader reach behind him for a silver dagger. He stepped from the shadows and aimed his pistol at the leader. “Evening, fellows,” he said, cocking the gun.
Lily stared, her heart sinking. Great, she thought, they brought reinforcements…
But the men seemed more scared than she was. The man that was holding her murmured something in French… she thought she caught the words “notorious” and “pirate.” At those words, the five men took off running down the ally past Drent, who smiled a cocky half smile.
“All right?” he asked Lily, putting the gun away and approaching her.
She nodded, unable to speak for a moment as she composed herself. Once she had, she turned to Drent, the anger returning to her eyes. “And just who the Hell are you?” she demanded placing her fist on her hip.
“A ‘thank you’ might be in order,” he replied, smiling bemusedly and crossing his arms.
A frown creased Lily’s brow; she knew he was right, but it wasn’t in her nature to admit she was wrong or be complacent and do what others willed of her without a fight.
“Thank you…” she finally muttered to the ground at the left of his feet.
Drent made his way up to her and lifted her chin in his fingers so she was staring up and he was looking into her eyes. “I’m afraid I missed that,” he said, his voice low and dangerous as he stared down at her 5’3” frame from his 6’2”.
She glared venomously at him and opened his mouth, though whether to thank him or curse him was never known.
“Oy, you!” Let go of Miss Williamson!” yelled a soldier who had arrived with a group of them at the mouth of the ally.
Drent let out a rather profane curse and moved behind Lily, drawing his dagger and putting it to her throat.
“Didn’t really want this to happen, but circumstances change,” he murmured into her ear. Then he said to the officers, “Back off or I’ll slit her throat.”
The officers paused long enough for Drent to make his way out of the ally, keeping Lily in front of him. Once out of their sight, he picked her up and started carrying her over his shoulder.
Lily was unhappy, to put it mildly. “If my father catches you, you’ll hang!” she yelled, beating his back.
“Darling, I’d hang with or without your help,” he said, making it to the dock where his ship was. A grin spread across his face as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
“You’re a pirate!?” Lily cried, half in disbelief, even as her mind considered something.
Drent set her down upon reaching his ship and bowed. “Captain Drent at your service,” he said.
From the deck, Tomás called to him. “We’re all set, Capitan!”
“And now, it’s been a pleasure, but I must take my leave,” Drent said, saluting Tomás.
Lily stared, a wild half plan forming in her mind as she saw her father and Lieutenant Andrews storm the dock, followed by at least three dozen Navy men. “Wait,” she said as Drent turned, grabbing his arm. “You still need me. Else how do you plan to get out of here in one piece? They’ll turn the cannons on you the moment they see I’m safe!”
Drent stared at her. He’d never seen a governor’s daughter volunteer to be a hostage. He knew she was right, but dammit… these aristocrat types were always such a pain in the a** when they were kidnapped. His mind worked quickly, and as Governor Williamson and Andrews appeared at where the ship was. He drew his dagger again and grabbed Lily again. “Your daughter is now in my possession, sir…” he said, holding Lily closer against him and pressing the silver blade to her throat. He slowly began to back up towards his ship.
“Now don’t do anything rash…” Lily’s father said. “I’m willing to pay anything,” he added as Drent began to back up faster.
Drent paused at the mention of money. “Anything…?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lily stepped backwards onto his foot, and couldn’t help smiling slightly as Drent groaned slightly. “Arrest, hanging, cannons… or maybe they’ll just shoot you and make it easier,” she murmured, barely moving her lips.
Again, Drent knew she was right, and began to back up again, but had to stop again when the governor called out, “Fifty thousand!”
Keeping his face as calm as possible, he began to wonder if he couldn’t get some serious money out of this. “One hundred fifty and she stays with me for security,” he said, finally reaching his ship. His crew quickly got rid of the gangplank as he smirked at the men. “I look forward to when we can exchange ‘valuables’…” he added, running the back of the hand still holding the dagger against her cheek.
Lily glared at the hand and stepped backwards again, much harder, onto his foot. Drent groaned out loud this time, and Lily let a smug grin of satisfaction spread across her face for just a moment.
“If you or any member of your crew harms Lilianna in any way, you’ll not receive a cent and I will personally hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands. Are we clear!?”Ashley called after them as the ship began to move.
Drent finally let go of Lily to bow to Ashley. “You have my word as Captain; neither my crew nor I shall harm a hair on her head… or anywhere else for that matter,” he said, his eyes traveling Lily’s body in such a way that she felt like she was standing naked before him. “Oh… and just so we’re clear… don’t follow us!” he added, then turned, dragging Lily with him to the middle of the deck. “Crew! I have an announcement!” he yelled. “Gather round, as soon as we’re clear!”
People began to gather around Drent, and one older man leered at her. “New toy, cap’n?”
Drent grinned. “Off limits, Charley-”
“Aw, keepin’ ‘er to yerself, eh?” Charley interrupted, laughing.
He barely began to turn around when Lily was there, slapping his face with all of her strength. “I am not a ‘toy’ to be fondled, played with, or put on display, regardless of what you may think, she said, her cheeks glowing pink. As she opened her mouth to say more, Drent was there, spinning her around to face him. She raised her hand to slap him as well, but he grabbed it… hard.
“You will treat both me and my crew with respect at all times,” he said almost threateningly. “I am a man of my word, but if the need arises, I’ll break it…” he squeezed her wrist in emphasis, but Lily refused to acknowledge that she felt it, though it would probably bruise.
Drent looked around, realizing his entire crew was staring at him. He let go of her and smiled at the assembled men. “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to our newest ‘guest,’ Lilianna Wil-”
“Lily,” she interrupted.
“Williams…” Drent finished, casting a dark look at her. “Lilianna-”
“Lily,” she interrupted again, folding her arms across her chest.
“Can I help you?” Drent asked sarcastically, turning to face her and crossing his arms as well.
“The only people that call me Lilianna are my parents and that old cod that got their permission to marry me,” she replied defiantly, glaring at Drent.
“Very well then,” Drent said carefully, turning to face his crew again. “Lily joins us this fine day from the governor’s mansion… worth 150, but untouchable…”
Lily opened her mouth to protest again, but Drent cut her off. “Grace!” he yelled. Lily frowned and looked around, expecting to see the crew fall to their knees in prayer. Instead, a tall shapely woman stepped out of the ranks of men and approached Drent.
“Yes, my captain?” she asked, kissing his lips softly. Everything she wore accentuated her curves and the shirt she wore showed an extraordinary amount of skin. She was almost as tall as Drent, only a couple of inches separated them, and her dark, luscious hair fell in waves around her shoulders. Her large chocolate eyes seemed to always be laughing at some inner joke, and Lily averted her own honey eyes from the two.
She pretended to be interested in the man scrubbing the deck until she heard Drent say, “Lily will be staying in my cabin. Take her there. Help her find some suitable ship clothes… and keep your eye on her…” Lily sensed there was some deeper meaning there, and raised her eyebrows accordingly.
“Of course,” Grace said, taking Lily’s hand and leading her below deck.
“You and the captain then…?” Lily began to ask, but Grace’s easy laughter interrupted her.
“Oh no, love, we’re just good friends,” Grace assured her. She could tell Lily found this hard to believe, and smiled. “You are young yet, aren’t you?”
“I-I’m eighteen…” Lily said uncertainly.
“Younger than I thought!” Grace exclaimed with another easy laugh. “When Drent found me, I was twenty-one… that was three years ago. God, he must have been your age then…”
“He’s only twenty-one?!” Lily asked, unable to keep genuine surprise out of her voice as she did the math.
Grace laughed yet again and nodded. “He does have an air of being older, doesn’t he? Study his face, though, you’ll realize that he’s young yet. This is where you’ll be saying,” she said, abruptly changing the subject as she opened a door to the right. Lily stepped into the cabin, staring around at the various chests and the maps on the walls. “He has women’s clothes somewhere…” Grace muttered, looking around at all the clutter.
“He has what!? Why?” Lily asked, snapping her head to look at Grace.
“It’s called stealing,” a voice behind her said suddenly and Lily spun around to be face to face with Drent, who smiled. “Third chest by the window, love,” he said to Grace, keeping his eyes on Lily’s.
As much as she didn’t want to, Lily averted her eyes, watching Grace sort through the clothes, frowning as she saw Drent’s smirk out of the corner of her eye.
“Ah ha!” Grace called triumphantly, pulling out several garments and sending several others to the floor. A sigh escaped Drent’s lips as he made his way over to her.
“Gracie, darling… remember, you’re not looking for clothes for yourself.”
Grace’s face fell slightly and she cast a glace at Lily. Drent’s gaze followed and she felt as if they were both undressing her with their eyes. She crossed her arms and scowled, receiving one of Grace’s musical laughs and another of Drent’s smirks.
“Shoo, shoo, now,” Grace said, flicking her wrists as Drent as if he were a mutt. “This is woman’s work now.”
Drent smiled genuinely, kissing Grace’s forehead softly before turning to the door and Lily. She expected him to walk right past her and was surprised when he stopped in front of her, taking her hand in his and slowly bringing it up to his lips. For a brief moment, her honey eyes met his, and she was startled by what she found there. They were a vibrant blue and in them, she saw that he was indeed young, younger even than his twenty-one years. Yet at the same time, he seemed old and tired, but full of wisdom she couldn’t begin to imagine.
He averted his gaze then, and she was left hungry for more. She let go of her hand, and she slowly brought it up to her chest, her eyes still locked on his face. With a small bow to the two women, he left his cabin, barely closing his door before he heard Grace erupt in a fit of giggles.
He smiled, walking back to the deck. It would do Grace good, he decided, to have another woman on board.
Drent’s mind returned suddenly to Lily, when he’d met her gaze. She’d seen something there, something deep inside him. He didn’t even know what… Yes, you do… a small voice told him, from somewhere deep in his heart. He frowned, but was blissfully saved from the memories about to surface by the bustling of crew activities. He took a deep breath of the sea air and grinned.
“Tomás!” Drent barked good naturedly, peering up through the sails to the crow’s nest. He saw a head pop over the side and watched as he made it down to the deck in a matter of seconds.
“Si, Capitan?” he asked, his grin appearing again as he saluted lazily.
“Did they ever decide to follow us?”
“See for yourself,” Tomás said, leisurely handing over the spy glass. Drent took it and made his way towards the stern, gazing back the way they had come. Nothing. This startled him; usually the kidnapping of one as important as the governor’s daughter warranted at least one ship.
“Moses!” Drent called, keeping his eyes on the horizon.
A large black man, towering at least half a foot above Drent, his bald head dotted with sweat, walked up to stand next to him. “Yes Captain?” he asked, his deep tenor seeming to resonate within everyone’s soul.
“Why aren’t they following us?” Drent asked, turning to stare up at Moses. Moses was the man to ask about these types of things. He was extremely level headed and saw all the angles of a problem, and was then able to find the most effective solution.
Moses chose his words carefully, speaking each word slowly. “Most likely, sir, they want to secure their fastest ship and their best soldiers. We should head south. It’s not the way the wind is blowing and it should buy us some time.”
Drent furrowed his brow in thought for a few moments, staring southward. He finally nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder. “She’s ready,” he heard Grace’s voice whisper in his ear.
He held in an annoyed sigh as she took his hand and led him back below deck towards his cabin. “And why exactly should this concern me?”
Grace remained silent, simply grinning. She shushed him once they were outside his door, and knocked lightly. “Lily? Sweetie? I’m back.”
“Grace, I am not coming out dressed like this!” Drent heard a voice say from behind his door. He opened his mouth to say something, but Grace clamped her hand over it.
“Just let me back in,” she called smoothly through the door. The lock clicked, but the door remained closed. Motioning for him to stay quiet, Grace opened the door, pulling him in after her. “Now, tell her that she looks fine.”
Lily spun around, the color creeping into her cheeks as she exclaimed, “Grace!”
Drent’s eyes took it all in and he was surprised. The woman in front of him bore little resemblance to the woman he’d left. Her hair, which had previously been up in braids, was now bound loosely with a black ribbon at the base of her neck, the soft waves cascading down to the middle of her back. Wisps of light hair, not long enough to fit in the ponytail, framed her face. Black slacks hung loosely on her hips, accentuating the curves she didn’t believe she had. The shirt she wore hugged her in all the right places, and barely visible under it was a strip of fabric, evidently wrapped around her torso a few times. Lily had insisted on this when she realized that is was possible to see though the shirt.
Drent actually felt a blush creep into his cheeks when he realized he’d been starting at her. He quickly averted his eyes, looking at Grace instead. “I see you helped yourself to the jewelry, did I say you could?” he said, reaching a hand over at the dangling silver earrings she was now wearing.
“You didn’t answer the question!” Grace said sternly, smacking his hand away.
“I don’t recall there being a question,” Drent countered, lightly grabbing Grace’s wrist.
Grace let out an exasperated sigh. “How… does… Lily… look…?”
The blush rose again in Lily’s face, and she bit her lip, looking down as if extremely interested in her fingernails.
Drent paused and strode back to the door, opening it. “She looks beautiful,” he said at last, stepping through the door and shutting it softly.
The moment the door was closed, Grace turned to Lily and smirked. “You made Drent blush,” she said, folding her arms across her chest and raising her eyebrows.
Lily sent a poisonous look at her. “Well, he’s a decent man, and any decent man would blush to see a lady dressed like this.”
“It’s rare, though, for people to see Drent’s decency when they first meet him. But you… you’re different. And I don’t know why…” Grace said, her face growing serious as her eyes searched Lily’s face for some sign as to what made Drent act the way he did when she was around.
Lily felt comfortable enough around Grace to make a face at her. “I think too many years at sea have gone to your head,” she said, causing Grace to grin broadly.
“The sea’s made me sane, actually,” she said, then opened the doors.