[Feb/06/2020]

September 12, 1002

While Hayley hid in her cabin, waiting for James to show up and tell her they were in the clear, she begged Aslan for the pirates to go away.

She could hear the footsteps and drowned voices of men running about on deck. It didn't sound like they were fighting, but that didn't ease her mind. Not one bit. And when the footsteps stopped and the voices ceased, she grew very curious as to what was going on outside. She became very quiet and still, trying to figure out what was going on as she pressed her ear against the wooden walls. The waters were calm and there wasn't a creak throughout the ship. A pin dropping could have been heard. Hayley didn't even dare to breathe, much less move.

She waited for something to happen. Anything.

At last, she heard a few footsteps above her and some shouting she couldn't understand. Almost instantly there was movement in the ship once again. Whether that was a good thing or a bad one Hayley couldn't tell, but she felt some of the tension in her leave as she drew in a new breath, but the fear remained as she figured the fight had come to a start. There was an awful lot of noise outside and lots of movement. The shouting and clashing of swords could only mean one thing: they had been boarded by pirates. She waited and waited and waited for what felt like an hour. Suddenly she heard some footsteps closer, right outside her cabin and immediately tensed. She reached for the knife James had gifted her a while back and gripped it tightly with her right hand. She watched the doorknob turn slowly and stop. There were some voices outside, whispering. She couldn't make them out. The door finally opened and Hayley launched herself at the intruder.

"Whoa!" He held her wrist above her head making her drop the knife. It fell to the floor and inserted itself on the wooden boards. "It's me," James said, laughing at her poor defense tactic.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hayley apologized.

He let go of her wrist and reached down for the knife.

"Good news. It looks like you won't be needing this anymore," he said handing it back to her.

"What happened?" Hayley asked, rubbing her wrist. James' reaction had been a forceful one.

"We had a fight with the pirates, but some friendly Calormen army ships showed up and had the pirates running with their tails between their legs," James explained.

Hayley let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

James laughed at this. "Don't worry, we're fine," he said comfortingly. "Do you want to come outside?" he asked her.

Hayley nodded, "That'd be nice," she said and followed him above deck.

They were not too far away from Tashbaan, so the ship headed there where the pirates wouldn't follow, escorted by the friendly Calormen.

"Are we disembarking this time?" Hayley asked James as they looked west.

"No," James answered. "I don't trust the Calormen,"

"They helped us out," Hayley noted.

"Still don't trust 'em," James replied with a small smile.

"You don't trust anybody," Hayley replied chuckling. "Come on, we never go out," she pleaded.

"You do realize we are out. For the last month, we've been out. And may I remind you, just a few months ago, we went to Ardenton. You complain far too much," James said with amusement.

"Maybe because there isn't much else to do," Hayley replied.

"Ah, there it is. More complaining. And don't tell me that you're bored, we got boarded by pirates, how much more excitement do you want?"

"Come on, I've never been to Calormen," Hayley said. She didn't trust them much herself, but she enjoyed visiting new places.

"We'll see," was all James said. He really, by all means, wanted to avoid stepping foot on Calormen.

They reached Tashbaan the next morning and, unluckily for him and luckily for Hayley, their ship was signalled by the Calormene ships to head to port. James did not like that one bit and couldn't help but to feel going was a mistake.

From the corner of his eye, James could see a Calormen official speaking to the Captain and glancing at him, but he acted as if The Lion himself was speaking to him and made Hayley follow him indoors.

"What is it?" she asked once the door had been closed.

"There's a Calormen on my ship. I don't like it," James said with a frown.

"Oh, come on, not all Calormen are bad," Hayley said. She had, after all, a bit of Calormen blood in her.

"No, not all. Just plenty," James said. Hayley shook her head at him but did not wish to get into an argument so she let it go. Not that she would have had time to argue because just then someone knocked at their door.

"Come in!" James said, and in walked the captain.

"Err, your majesty?" he called for his attention.

"Yes, what is it?" James asked.

"There's a Calormene here for you," the Captain said.

"You don't say," James said sarcastically, making both the captain and Hayley chuckle.

"He didn't say what his business was other than he's been sent by the Tirsoc himself," The Captain informed them.

"Bloody perfect," James exclaimed, wishing he could just swim to Datram. "We'll be out in a minute," he told the Captain. James walked towards the mirror and picked up the comb from the floor, for several things had fallen during their little altercation with the pirates, and started taming his dishevelled hair. "Whatever you do, do not mention the pirates, or the problem with my sister, or the way we left Cair Paravel,"

"Of course I won't, I'm not an idiot," Hayley said after rolling her eyes. James could see her reflection on the mirror and enjoyed her reaction with a smile. 

"Ah, shit! Sorry," James exclaimed, he knew Hayley wasn't comfortable around cursing. "Sorry. This bloody cut's bleeding," he said, touching a small injury one of the pirates had managed to get on him and flinching a bit.

"That is what cuts do," Hayley said, earning a sarcastic look from James. "Come here you big baby," she said as James poked at his wound. She found some water and a handkerchief and cleaned his cut. "Good thing you're strong-headed," she said, making him laugh.

"Thanks," James replied with a smile. "Now what do you say we go meet our Calormen guest?"

Many days later...

Returning to Datram took them forever. Between the pirate packed waters, the dull Calormen poetry and the Tirsoc's invitations which turned into undesired political meetings, James was left without a choice. He and Hayley smiled, pretended to enjoy their stay at Calormen, and waited for the opportunity to return to their ship. Not that Calormen was a bad place to be staying at, it was actually rather beautiful. But it was dangerous for them to be staying there. Especially with so few guards and no one knowing they were there.

The Tirsoc wasn't all too pleased when James informed him they were leaving, but since he wanted a commercial agreement with the Datramite King and since he was distantly related to the Datramite Queen (a fact which she loved to remind him of every chance she could so he wouldn't do something stupid) he smiled and fared them a safe trip by offering an escort through his waters.

It took them long, the wind was not favouring them, but eventually, they made it North to safe waters and watched the Calormen retreat.

"Can we stop at Lycia?" Hayley asked James once they had crossed the Iron Arm. "I would like to visit my mother,"

"Sure. We can spend the night there and then head home tomorrow morning," James said brightly, but Hayley's face didn't look too pleased about his plan. "Alternatively, you can stay in Lycia as long as you want to and I'll just head back by myself," James added.

"I just really want to see my mother," Hayley explained as she took James's hand in both of hers.

"I'd do anything to see my mother again, but she's gone. Yours isn't. I'm not going to stand in your way," James told her.

Sometimes she forgot how nice he could be when he wasn't stressed all the time. "Thank you,"