Jasper POV

I don’t want to do this. 

I see him. He is sitting in the dimly lit cell pacing back and forth.

Dammit. Annette told me to protect him. I don’t know why she cares about him. We’ve fought in countless battles together side by side, he saved her once.

If I want to escape and find Annette then I will have to save him first.

I unlock the door quietly. Just as I had planned the crew is nowhere to be seen.

“Jasper?” he stares confused at me.

“Shutup. We’re getting out of here”

He remains silent and follows me as I make my way of the ship.

I turn back once. Just once. Breathe and chose to leave the only home I’ve ever had for the only girl I’ve ever loved.

We pass the lightly lit streets full of women with breasts stuffed into see-through cloth and eyes skimming pockets for bulges of money or intent. I can see the Prince scowl and drag him to a less crowded alley. I look back. The prince stopped following me. He’s stopped in front of a girl in rags who grabs his hand.

“Monsieur?” Her voice squeaks like a mouse demolishing any elegance in her foreign tongue. Her ribs are poking through her skin.

He waivers and frowns “What happened? I don’t..”

I push him along “Keep walking”  We pass more women and children with carved out bellies and empty eyes. Most of the men have left to fight in the war meaning that the women and children are left to fend for themselves.

We finally reach the outskirts of town. A brown dirty road leads farther west and splits towards a road hugging the crest.

I point a small dagger at the prince, but he doesn’t flinch. “Take it”

He stares dumb. “Take it” I throw it at the ground inches from his foot.

“Follow that road and it will lead to your palace. Go back to your safe little castle.”

“I won’t go back. What was that? What happened back there?”

“Those are your people suffering from the war.” I start walking away.

“Where are you going?”

 “To get Annette” I keep my pace

“I’m coming with you!” He stumbles to keep up with my fast paced walking.

“No”

“I know where she is. That was a Romani ship and I know her father”

I laugh at that. He has no idea. I know who they are too. “Gypsies hate outsiders, especially royalty. You have destroyed the very lands the Romani live on.”

“Then you’re an outsider too” He retorts.

“I’m an exception. You are not coming”

“What’s your problem? I haven’t done anything to you. I have a right to protect Amelia.”

“Her name is Annette! And you are responsible for all the people. That is what being a Prince means. Those starving people are your responsibility. I have a right to hate you. And as far as Annette and I, we don’t need you. If you want to help, lead us into an age without suffering and starvation where sons are born and don’t die at a young age.”

“…I didn’t know there were cities suffering this badly. My brother is trying to end the war. I didn’t know this was happening.”

“The border cities are the worse. They suffer from your army’s attacks as well as the bordering country’s. Sooth your conscience by assuaging your ignorance, that won’t change anything. You should question your uncaring brother’s decisions more often. Perhaps you will find that the people are not his responsibility but his pawns.”

He’s silent like what I just said actually means something to him. I doubt it.

I walk faster, but he still follows.

We stop in towns along the road and our money dwindles away. I’m glad he doesn’t try to make conversation. I pay for one night room and split the last bit of bread.

“Are we close?” He eats fast, not savoring the bites.

“Tomorrow we should merge paths with them. Since we are walking I’m gambling on whether they have traveled the same paths I remember. ”

“They won’t know that I’m royalty.”

“You will stay in the city. I’ll talk to Annette’s father and return if you are welcome.” We both know I won’t come back.

Silence hangs in the air until he finally says “I don’t know why I love Amelia. When I first saw her I thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Maybe it’s because I’d never seen a gypsy.” I tense. I don’t want to hear him pour out his emotions to me, but he continues. This won’t change my mind. “Then I was angry. It was the first time that my father hadn’t given me what I wanted. He refused to let me marry her. I probably didn’t even understand what marriage was at that age.”

“So you see her as a prize you still selfishly want. A thing that you must possess” I scowl.

“...Then the raid,” he goes on, ignoring my comment.

He becomes silent almost lost in a pool of sadness. He tries to speak but his words are just bubbles rising to the surface of immense despair. He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

“The raid…yes…. I failed to protect her. I wanted to save her, but I was powerless to do anything. I guess I searched for Amelia, because I wanted to redeem myself, to prove that I was useful. Then I saw that city and I realized I’m still useless. I still can’t protect the people I care for. I want to help my people.”

“Annette doesn’t need rescuing anymore. She...She’s not a thing you can control. Annette has her own dreams and plans. You can’t take those away to boost your pride.” My blood boils thinking how Annette talks about him. She sees him as a beautiful angel that saved her, her prince charming.

“I know. She isn’t something I can control” I look up. I didn’t expect that. “When I met Amelia, my image of the frail dancer, scared and shivering, shattered. She didn’t leap into my arms, actually she pointed a sword at me. She’s like no other woman I have met before. I just want to stay by her side.”

“You’re in love with a dream. She can’t be who you want her to be. I love her as she is now. You’re deceiving her.”

“True, Amelia fears trusting me. She is afraid that we are too different. But then again I’m not the only one deceiving her.” He stares at me and blows out the candle by the two beds. “Night”

I lay awake staring at the ceiling. I haven’t told Annette the whole truth. I don’t want to hurt her or corner her into something she doesn’t want to do. I like her best free and fierce, facing the open seas.

Annette/Amelia POV

Paranoia they say. Ion claimed the boys hurt me first. It was defense. My reaction and heightened paranoia from being a captive held on a pirate ship induced a severe violent attack. It won’t happen again, my father promised.

I sit sipping tea on a small couth covered in different blankets. I forgot how calming tea was. My mother used to let me drink it before bed with honey as a treat.

I close my eyes and see flashes of red blood and I curse. What’s wrong with me? 

I jumped off the ship because I wanted to die. I wanted to stop myself from my own destruction. For a pirate killing yourself and bravery don’t differ. Plunging into the sea to meet Neptune’s adventure is remembered with honor. Here, the caravan sees the act of taking one’s own life as disrespectful and cowardly.

So am I a coward? Am I brave? I think back to when the Captain said I was just like him. I don’t want to be alone and feared. I realize that I don’t want to die either. Maybe I was neither brave nor a coward just stupid. I want to change a little.  I want to be stronger, but not the kind of strength that hurts others.

My father comes in with a frown on his face. He hugs me gently and I react before I can think to push him away.

“It’s ok chey. I know you meant no harm. You were afraid. He woke up and told us he provoked you.”

“He did?” I try to bite back my surprise. He could have thrown me to the wolves, was he too afraid? My father nods then does something strange. He smiles.

“I have wonderful news. Just what you need. Your fiancé has returned."