By the time evening struck, she went straight to the galley to eat her fill of supper and then dove into her gloriously cushioned hammock, muscles and back spasming from overuse. There was only one problem; Kamira couldn’t sleep.
All she could do was lay there, wide awake, the pungent scent of body odor thick in the air. Her hammock rocked with the ocean's waves, the heavy breathing and loud snores of the crew echoing throughout the cabin — all sound asleep, used to a life on the sea.
She stared into the darkness, willing herself to sleep. The exhaustion of the day weighed heavily on her limbs, but still, sleep never came. A weary sigh escaped her wind-chapped lips.What was she doing here?
It wasn’t the first time in the past two days Kamira wondered why she remained aboard a ship full of pirates. She had barely found the time to think about her new life. Her night of fleeing and full day of hard work had left her little time to think about all that happened, and now that she was far away from Aksahri, she felt some relief. Although, now she couldn’t seem to stop revisiting the events of that night over and over again.
Kamira rolled over, groaning at her perpetually running mind. She needed rest, especially for another full day of hard work tomorrow. The dark circles under her eyes were becoming a permanent fixture on her features. She could feel the bags growing under her eyes with every hour that sleep eluded her. Maybe she needed some fresh air.
Pushing herself out of the hammock, Kamira quietly tip-toed around the snoring crew, slipped out of the cabin door, and headed up to the main deck.
The cool sea breeze was a welcomed embrace—a magnificent breath of fresh air from the dank, musty cabin. The sea was mesmerizing at night. Nothing but the sounds of the ship cutting through the waves. The crescent moon and twinkling stars looked down upon her, bathing the ship in a milky glow. A swift breeze caressed her face, tousling her hair, and Kamira closed her eyes, feasting in the delight of the vast ocean around her.
She sensed each swell and current that swirled beneath the surface. Kamira opened her eyes and pulled against it. The sea obeyed, coming up to meet her palm, where she willed it to dance within her hand and wind between her fingers. This playful sorcery had always come easily to her. She had never pushed herself much further. Her life and circumstances had not allowed for it. But now that she was free, she could try something new; a sorcery much greater than anything she had attempted before. The whirlpool from this morning was proof that she had barely scratched the surface of her power.
Kamira closed her eyes once more and brought her hands straight out in front of her, palms facing the horizon. She stilled her mind and released a slow rhythm of calming breaths. Her shoulders sagged as her entire body relaxed.
It was just her and the sea.
“You should be asleep,” a smooth, baritone voice came from behind her. She jumped and dropped her hands instantly, wincing at the sound of her water splashing into the sea.
Turning, she was greeted with the now familiar scowl on the young Captain’s face, and the ever-present arms crossed over his chest.
She almost laughed at the look he was giving her. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to frighten her or if he lived his entire life with that eternal frown. If it was the former, it might have worked on a young boy, but it would certainly not work on her. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“There is no ‘sleeping in’aboard a ship. When the sun begins to wake, so will you, and I have many tasks for you to do tomorrow.” He stepped closer and she raised a brow at his blatant attempt to scare her.
Kamira was getting tired of his brutish performance. “Yes, I am aware.” A smirk ghosted over her lips as he held her stare with the same stoney expression, as if he’d rather throw her overboard for the bottomless ocean to swallow her whole than stand here with her. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut about it any longer. “You know if you keep scowling at me, your face will freeze that way.”
His mouth fell open in surprise, his brows rising and his arms falling slack at his sides. There was a long moment of silence between them until his features finally settled back to their normal stoic state and he said, “You are unlike any boy I’ve ever met. I can’t quite place it, but there is something off about you.”
The shimmering light of the moon illuminated his face, causing his amber colored eyes to glow like pools of gold in the darkness. “You are unlike any Captain I’ve ever met,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest to mirror him.
“And how many ship Captains have you met in your short life?” A black brow rose in question.
“A few.” She wasn’t about to tell him how many times she had actually traveled by ship. At least once a year during her twenty-one years of life she had traveled from Torheim to Aksahri for a forced interaction with her intended. She had been on many ships and had never encountered a Captain like him.
“And what exactly makes me so different from all these other Captains you have met?” He narrowed his eyes on her.
“They were all old. You don’t seem much older than twenty.” She said, holding her ground.
“My age doesn’t dictate my ability to Captain a crew.”
“I never said it did.”
The Captain bent his head closer to her, narrowing his eyes as he searched her face and…was he examining her body?
She felt tremendously exposed, “What are you doing?”
“How old did you say you were, again?” he asked, not stopping his perusal of her.
“I didn’t.” Kamira said, anxiety pricking her nerves, sending her heart racing as his eyes lingered on her chest.
“Where are you from?” he asked, stopping for a moment as their gazes locked. His eyes still gleamed eerily in the moonlight, and she rubbed at her arms as gooseflesh prickled her skin.
Kamira tried not to hold her breath, “Jaaria,” she said quickly.
“Jaaria? You don’t look like a Jaarian,” he said and stepped closer, lingering less than a hand’s width from her.
