The Pirate and the Princess

Chapter 6

"Jim, my boy, please try to work a bit harder," Delbert urged the boy. The older man was proceeding to squeamishly slice pork, while the boy was scrubbing away at dishes, a skill he had mastered while on the ship. He rolled his eyes, rubbing away at the dishes even harder. Delbert eyed him, staring over his new garments.
"Who dressed you today? The princess?" He asked, sarcasm lining his words. Jim smirked, pressing the rag into the dishes, further cleansing them.
"Yeah, actually. She's a nice girl," Delbert watched him, both in disbelief and in interest. Jim looked back at him, raising a single eyebrow to Delbert.
"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Jim scanned the older mans face, the wrinkles on his face making him look like an English bulldog. Delbert merely scoffed, sarcastically adding to the conversation.
"I never took you for much of a romantic, Jim. I always thought that the sea was your only maiden." Jim felt flush, still watching the older man as he returned to his discomforting station, half expecting a stubby tail to appear on his backside. He didn't love the princess. The thought was quickly shaken from his head.
"She's just a friend, that's all."
"Mhm. Just a friend who you'll get closer to, and closer and closer until you're not just 'friends'." Delbert pushed in slyly. He quickly retracted his statement, following it with, "But as we both should know, we're working on a wedding, and I don't believe the king and queen are getting married a second time." Jim tried pushing that back. It wasn't fair to her, at all. But, again, what could he possibly do? Take her to a secret island with a few other people and hope that she falls in love with them? How stupid.
Returning to his work, he felt his singed flesh drop more pain into his calf. He gently brushed it, his wrinkled hands carefully padding down the spot. It was still sensitive, but that was to be expected.
"Um, Jim, my boy. Would you mind trading stations with me? I don't think I can stand cutting this any longer," Delbert tapped his shoulder. Jim looked over at him, obliging his offer. They switched spots, giving Delbert a look at Jim's awkward walk.
"What happened there?" He pointed to the bum leg Jim was waddling around with. Jim made a face of mild embarrassment. Clenching his teeth, he spoke with a bit of hesitation.
"I may or may not have accidentally spilled a bucket of hot water on my leg. While cleaning my dirty clothes." Delbert stared at him, humor wrapping around his tongue. His chortle was filled with a fine assortment of weird noises. The clatter of dishes made it seem like the situation was extremely funny.
"Y-you know you don't have to clean your clothes, Jim? They have other people to do that." Delbert still wasn't entirely done laughing at the young boy. Jim sliced the meat even harder, embarrassment waving over his face.
"I was alerted after the fact. Melody," Jim started, quickly correcting himself, "Sorry, the princess, had come in and caused me to burn my leg."
Delbert seemed to cease in his dish cleaning, his laughter dying out as well. Jim continued cutting, trying to make sure the silence wasn't total. The minute passed like an hour, every second sucking away at their lives.
"Jim, you know what I'm going to say, right?" Delbert finally broke the silence. There was a throbbing in Jim's head. It was unexplainable, but Jim retorted, trying to be mature.
"I don't love her, she's just my friend."
"Now Jim, I might be older, but I can tell you at least want her."
"I want her to be happy," He assured him, slicing harder.
"With you." Delbert asserted, correctness in his tone. Finally, Jim felt his wits snap.
"So what? Am I not allowed to have friends? Am I not allowed to want to help them? To make sure that they're happy in their life?" His voice boomed through the kitchen. His entire body started shuddering, trying to defend his case desperately. Delbert stopped, giving him only a grave sigh. The rest of their work happened in bleak and awkward silence. Before they parted ways, Delbert tried giving Jim his fading words of wisdom.
"Please, remember my boy, there's a difference between friendship and love. You're treading on the very thin line that separates those two."
"Yeah. Thanks." Jim grudgingly replied, walking off in a huff. Delbert held out his arm, but hesitated, pulling it back.
Jim walked through the hall, staring out at the ocean through the seven foot high windows. His thoughts spun, all surrounding Melody. She was his friend, barely that. There's no love between them. It's purely platonic. Right? He knew that he didn't have feelings for her. It was impossible. Hanging out with someone for less that forty-eight hours doesn't make you fall in love with them. It's improbably against nature. They're definitely just friends.
The fading blue sky turned a tinted grey. Dark purples fused with that grey, pinks tried making it less dreary, though it was futile. He wasn't in love with her, he just wanted to make sure she was happy. Any good friend wants that, right? He pulled his hair back with his hand, running over his actions. None indicated he loved her, just that he wanted the best for her. He found himself at his dormitory, alerting Amelia where he was going.
"Are you sure you're allowed to do that, Mr. Hawkins? We wouldn't want any trouble with the king," Amelia was as aware as Jim that what he was doing was against the rules.
"I'll deal with the repercussions when it comes to that. Just tell them the truth if they ask." Jim demanded, wanting nothing more than to clear his head at this point. Captain Amelia nodded, a bit concerned if anything.
He met the front doors, watching the evening roll through. Continuously he wandered, before stumbling upon a grassy courtyard that overlooked this overbuilt enclosure. Some part of the castle looked down upon it and sea, though it looked like a rather small and illuminated window stood there.
He stared out into the sea, which now became the same color as the sky. Picking up the small stones that laid inside the sand, he examined them, throwing them out into the darkened water. The splashes of water were nothing, a simple inconvenience to the overall waves.
He knew that this was simply a friendly relationship. Can't girls and boys just be friends? Was that so impossible to comprehend? He threw the stones harder and further each time. It was such an annoyance to know that they all thought he was in love with the princess.
He eventually ran out of rocks, sitting back down in the sand. He felt the tears inside of his eyes try to break out, so entirely jealous of Melody's life. Her dad was still there. Her mom wasn't constantly in debt. She didn't need to worry about having to make her own money however she possibly could. Warm streams fell down his face as he forced himself to forget those. He didn't need this pity party, he was privileged in his own ways. He could marry whoever he wanted, he could go anywhere at any time, he didn't need to constantly dress nice.
Jim wiped away his tears, hoping the emotions would wipe away too. They didn't, still filling inside of his belly, wanting to be belted out. But he forced them far down, to a place he didn't want to revisit. He felt his heart sink as his name protruded along the castle. The familiar sweetness of the voice emitted made him look around. Through the small window, he noticed Melody, standing on the balcony.
"Is there room down there for two?" She joked, her towel in hand.
"Uh. Y-yeah, come on down," Jim swallowed the lump in his throat. The purple night gown swayed gleefully as Melody turned from her window. Jim took a minute to collect himself, hoping that he'd at least look calm in front of her. He brushed off the back of his clothes, though it didn't seem to matter at this point. After five minutes of waiting, Jim noticed the younger, out of breath girl. She was standing below the arch that had welcomed him in two days ago.
"Would you like me to carry you the rest of the way, princess?" He held out his hand, comically offering the idea. Melody stared at him, still panting.
"N-no. I can... I can walk myself." She smiled, standing straight. Her legs still obviously wobbled, and Jim took that as his invitation to pick her up. In his arms, she sat with her arms wrapped around his neck, her knees held by his hand, his other holding her back. She was relatively light, which didn't surprise him as much as he thought it would.
"Thanks..." She murmured, spite lining her tongue ever so softly. He smirked, assuring her he was strong enough to carry a 120 pound girl. Melody gave a slight shift in facial expression. He questioned what it could be, but steadily walked the both of them to–roughly–the same spot he was in. He set her down finally, allowing her to sit up by herself. She huffed, her gaze turning to the sea. She giggled to herself, probably reliving old memories.
"What's so funny?" Jim finally asked her. Her head moved toward him, but her eyes were locked with the waters.
"Promise you won't think I'm crazy, okay?" Melody sent him a quick glance before returning to the ocean.
"Promise."
"Okay." Melody took a long breath, like she was afraid that after she told him that all oxygen would be lost. "My grandpa used to live in the sea."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. He's really amazing. He's... well, was, King Trident of Atlantica." Melody let out a stifled and stiff laugh. "I know, it's crazy sounding, but it's true." Jim's eyebrows were slightly furrowed. This sounded absolutely insane.
"How do I know it's true?" Jim finally questioned, folding his arms over his chest. Melody made a quick skim of the area, before being assured no one else was there or around to witness what was going to happen.
"Okay, promise to keep your mouth shut about this?"
"On my life and children. Now what is it?" Jim urged, impatiently. Melody made another quick skim, before pulling him to the cold water. She proceeded to strip down to almost nothing. He looked away, though temptation had creeped on his shoulders.
He heard a loud splash and realized she had jumped in. Jim stared, waiting for her to come up for breath. As he realized she might be drowning, he swiftly ran in and jumped down after her. He felt his veins constrict in the cold waters, though he knew he needed to find her. His breath was limited, as he constantly poked up to the surface to try to gasp for breath. He searched through the dark waters for her, hoping she'd be anywhere. His energy started giving out about five minutes in, his muscles sore and body frigid. Still he couldn't help trying to find her. He felt tired, but needed to find her. He dove under, meeting her face to face, her eyes resting on his. Jim took both her arms and pulled her up, using the little strength he had to pull both of them to shore. He was begging for a warm gulp of air, though the night wouldn't allow warmth. Melody patted his back, both of them still drenched.
"Jim, are you okay? Did I scare you?" Melody's voice trembled, unintentional terror coming through her words. Once regaining his breath and strength, he grabbed her, making sure she was real, that she was okay. Once making the realization, he pulled her close into an embrace. Tears bubbled in his eyes as he stroked her hair.
"Don't you dare do that again," Jim hissed, still holding her, tears still falling down his face. Melody returned the hug, her fingers curling into his wet shirt. They sat there, holding one another, sand and dirt lining the clothing they had. When they pulled back, both of them looked as though they had been crying profusely. Melody let out a stifled laugh, trying to make light of the situation.
"I get you these new clothes and it takes you about five hours before you completely dirty them again." Melody brushed back his clumped brown hair, giving them both a chuckle. Jim smiled at her, making sure his tears weren't as obvious.
"I think that's mostly your fault," his voice sounded stuffy and sarcastic. Melody pushed him back slightly giving another slight chuckle. Jim stood, pulling Melody with him. His large hand seemed to almost entirely cup hers.
"There's something I want to show you." He took her to the midpoint of the grassy area, before releasing her hand and laying down, staring longingly at the stars. The princess followed suit, staring with him at the millions of diamonds lining the sky. He proceeded to show her all of the different constellations, different stars with different names, even the different nebular sectors. All her questions were answered with relative ease by him.
"How'd you learn so much?" Melody turned from the stars to look at the boy. He glanced over at the young princess before staring back into the sky.
"Well, I had books to keep me company. My mom used to read to me about the pirates, space, anything we had. When Delbert brought more books over from his trips to Italy, I started learning to read on my own."
"Is Delbert your dad?" Melody turned back to the stars. Jim's composition changed, a frown pulling down at the corners of his mouth.
"Uh, no. My, um... My dad left me when I was about eight. He didn't really see the point in taking care of me." Melody stared at him, her eyes widened.
"I'm, so sorry." Her voice seemed so soothing in that moment. He let out a forced smile, pushing out a laugh too.
"It's not your fault. My dad doesn't know what he's missing." He laid back down, arms holding up his head. Melody stared at him, confused at his nonchalant nature towards the situation.
"Don't you miss him?" She asked.
"Not often. If he didn't want me, I don't want him."
"But he's still your dad." Between them hovered a melancholy silence. Jim sat up, attempting to switch the subject.
"Have you ever seen the inside of a pirates ship?" He knew it wasn't really a pirates ship, it was just a cargo ship. But he liked playing it off that he was the big, cool, pirate. Melody shook her head in response. He gleefully smiled, taking her hand in his and pulled her towards the gargantuan ship.