Best Friend
ALASTAIR
Exploring the deep blue was astounding, granting one the privilege of viewing the world in a different light. It expanded perspectives, weaving together stories that only those brave enough to traverse Ellira’s marine would live to speak of—pirates.
The sun-soaked morning beat down, drying the planks from the persistent rain-filled night. Waves splashed onto the deck, coating a handful of my men with the ocean’s intoxicating scent. Seagulls squawked overhead in greeting, informing the town’s inhabitants of our arrival.
Their heightened sing-song made me smile as I wrapped my orange bandana around my head, pulling my auburn-blonde waves from my freckled face. Securing it with a tight knot, I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed one of the lines, working alongside my crew to direct us into port.
“Pull the slack. Don’t let her drift!” I shouted, coiling my forearm around the coarse fibers.
Deckhands bounced between the masts, following my orders. The ship swayed with our control, pivoting to dock with a strategy we’d mastered. It’d always been an intricate dance, one we’d perfectedthroughout the years. We relied on one another in ways we never could with those who shared our lineage—an impenetrable bond that had kept us alive.
Heat roared across my palms as I jumped from where I stood, securing one rope before moving to the next. Guided by instinct, I tied each knot with ingrained ease. Lifting my chin, beams of gold filtered through my lashes, my attention landing on the woman I’d fallen in love with during our time at sea.
Standing at the helm, eternal beauty flowed from her in waves. Her dark locks billowed around her, blowing with the wind as if she were borne of Ysalyne’s lineage—the blooming tide.
Glowing under the heat, her vibrant smirk barely wrinkled her flawless honey skin. Laughter spread across the deck, catching the attention of everyone traversing it as it blanketed me with a serenity only she could provide. With her hat tipped to the side, the feather's edges twitched with her orders, commands my men conformed to as if she were their captain.
“Leo, jump to dock.” She gestured with two fingers, her sepia gaze meeting mine.
With twinned blades on her hips and a belt of knives she constantly wore, it was understandable why many new hands assumed she commanded the men who joined us. She was my other half, filling in the pieces I didn’t have, and the crew respected her as such. I’d made my demands clear the moment we’d pillaged a boat full of the enslaved, rescuing her from one of the most unsurvivable trade routes.
She wasmine.
I’d never been someone who took advantage of the women who blessed the lands we pillaged. Where most pirates were schematic pigs, I knew where the line of respect began and ended, and it was always something I offered anyone I came across. That said, I was the furthest thing from merciful, even though many assumed otherwise because of her and my clashing auras.
Leilani bore a face of intolerance but was gentle beneath the layers, whereas I was her opposite, presumed harmless but far deadlier thanmost expected. Her patience walked a thin line; her annoyance was easily triggered if one pushed her too far. And while I was far more tolerable to stupidity, whoever wished to test the waters I swam in had met my blade, and each of our men knew that—witnessed it even.
As a team, she played with our prey while I lingered in the shadows, waiting to strike when it would benefit us both.
Dipping his chin, Leo obliged, walking the plank to dock the ship. I moved toward port side to gather the excess lines, tossing them overboard. He caught them, wrapping them around the cleat as the others began preparing for our approach.
Boots drummed steadily against the wood as the groan of crates marked our arrival in Darswyth. A city that was once my home before my life changed—before my best friend betrayed me.
The crisp, coastal town pressed snugly between the ocean cliffs and the edge of Serevalen, built to look orderly and charming, but anyone who knew better understood the quiet tension beneath its façade.
Sloped uphill from the harbor, narrow alleys twisted between the buildings like veins. The homes and shops sat close together in uneven rows, tall and narrow. Their whitewashed walls caught the sun’s light, kissed with yellow by the cloudless sky. They were structures of familiarity, ones I used to scale with the friend I now considered worse than an enemy.
Their wooden shutters, painted in soft blues and seafoam green, lined the windows—some cracked open to let in the salty breeze, others closed tight in secrecy. Flower boxes overflowed with climbing ivy, rosemary, and pale-pink blooms, adding a liveliness that had existed before greed and crime overtook the lands.
Generations of footsteps and incessant booted patrols smoothed the cobbled streets, weathering paths to tell the stories of those who’d walked them. Every so often, polished iron grates lined the ground, serving as drains to catch the stormwater. In the shadows, the underground trade routes thrummed with steady business, offering up lives as if the gods desired their sacrifice.
With the harbor meticulously maintained, its piers were made ofpale, salt-bleached wood reinforced with stone. Ropes were always neatly coiled, a sign of respect from the townsfolk to the pirates who ventured into their lands and ensured their markets thrived. Above all, the royal watchtowers punctured the skyline, their silver-blue banners fluttering in the ocean wind. The soldiers stationed in them moved like clockwork—always in pairs and always polished—but their presence in the streets had been more for show than safety.
“Welcome home, right?” Leilani’s hand wrapped around the side of my neck, the angelic ring of her voice caressing every ounce of my essence.
Groaning, I reached up and gently caressed her cheek without looking over my shoulder. “I suppose. If we want to call it that.”
“Lighten up,” she crooned, lacing her fingers through my hair before lazily tugging on it. “We’ve been at sea for a month and a half. It’s about time we set foot on land. Besides, I have beencravingthe pastries from Mina, and I am sure you’d love to swing by and say hello to Arthur.”
Blowing out a breath, I finally turned, my eyes meeting hers. “You drive me mad sometimes. You know that, right?”
She smirked, dipping her head to the side as her other hand combed through my short beard. “Yes, you’ve made that inherently obvious, love. Though without me, I am unsure how you and these men would have stayed afloat as long as you have.”
Grabbing her cheeks, I pulled her toward me, our noses brushing. “Careful, my little fang. I would hate for your venom to land you somewhere you don’t prefer.”
Her tongue jutted out, licking my lips with a promise-filled tease. “Oh,my flame,” she crooned, “don’t threaten me with a good time. As much as Iyearnto worship you, we both know there is something immensely satisfying and beautiful about seeing you beneath me, bound to the headboard.”
