A Pirated Heart

His Choice and Sortega

“Bella!” Damien’s voice rang out across the deck just as the sun rose over the horizon. Arabella sighed as she made her way to her younger brother who positioned himself in the rigging that hung off of the main mast. True to his naval upbringing and sibling ties, Damien, like Arabella, had easily made a place for himself amongst the crew. The crew left him alone, but Damien felt like it had more to do with the fact that his sister could easily throw them overboard than anything else.

“What is it?” Arabella questioned as Damien jumped down in front of her. He grinned at her.

“We’re getting close to port,” he announced proud of his deduction. Arabella sighed.

“Yes, I know. We should be in Sortega by tonight,” she replied easily as she watched Damien’s smile fall.

“Sortega?”

“Yes, it’s the nearest pirate port and we’re still low on supplies,” Arabella explained as she turned to head toward the ship’s wheel. She could feel they were drifting off course by a few degrees.

“Bella, there is no Sortega anymore. Father raided it a few months back. He ordered it burnt to the ground and all of the pirates hanged,” Damien remarked to Arabella’s back. Arabella stopped suddenly. She didn’t turn to face her brother. Instead she reached out.

The way she found each and every port they traveled to. It was hard to explain. It was almost like following strings except there were thousands upon thousands of strings, each leading to a different port, island, cave, or reef.  She simply had to find the right string and follow it, which was easier when she had something to sense beyond the string like people. People always managed to taint the strings, turning them into vibrant colors different from one another. The Sortega string was the same dingy brown as it had always been in her mind’s eye. She let herself follow it until the brown was bathed in red. Her eyes widened as she smelled the burnt wood and used gunpowder and she heard the echoes of the screams. Damien was right. The Sortega she could recall was no longer there.

“There aren’t any other ports close by, are there?” Damien’s question brought Arabella back the ship and she shook her head.

“No. Our only hope is that Father was careless or Sortega is being rebuilt. Either way, I must speak to Lockes.” Arabella replied as she left her brother standing on the deck alone.

Kaden lost himself in his dreams. He didn’t question why they were filled with mermaids and bar maids. These were his favorite kinds of dreams. Suddenly someone’s voice cut through all the moans and simpering noises the lusty girls around him made and he climbed to his feet, intent upon destroying the person who dared to interrupt his alone time. The girls separated and made way for the one person Kaden never would’ve thought would appear in his dreams.

“Arabella,” he mumbled as he watched her stop in front of him and fold her arms across her chest. The action drew Kaden’s attention away from her face and down where he noticed the attire she wore. Arabella stood before him in nothing more than a thin chemise and her long dark hair was hanging around her shoulders and down her back. His eyes widened. The Arabella he knew never dressed like this. He watched her face softened as she leaned up to press her lips against his rough cheek. Fire shot through him and before he could stop himself, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. It didn’t take him long to realize that she fit against him like a glove, almost as if her body was made to match his, like interlocking jigsaw pieces.

“Kaden,” she whispered softly as she ran her finger down the length of Kaden’s jaw. He had never heard his name on her lips before, but now that he had, he couldn’t imagine anything that sounded more right.