The Captain's treasure
Chapter 6

–violet– 

I could only sit there and wait until Ace came back. The sailor who brought me to his quarters was quick to leave me alone and return to his duties. I had a feeling he was avoiding being near me because of Ace.

As much as I appreciated it, I also hated being alone right now. Having Johnny's company wouldn't be so bad but if he started asking questions… I squeezed my eyes closed. No, nevermind I don't want him here I don't want the boy to see me like this. 

I buried my head in my arms as I sat on the floor against Ace's bed with my knees pulled to my chest. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. I feel…gross. I almost wanted to be back home in my room.at least there I'd be somewhere familiar, and wouldn't be surrounded by complete strangers.

The sun was setting, casting a red orange Glow throughout the room. I couldn't hear much if anything from the men outside. Soon enough the light from the sun died away leaving me with only a small bit of light from a single lit candle on the desk. 

The sound of footsteps approaching Made me lift My head, and I watched as the door opened and Ace stepped inside. He didn't seem happy. He glanced at me before shutting the door behind himself and stepping towards his desk.

I watched silently as he grabbed some cloth That was sitting there and wiped what I assumed was blood off of his blade. 

He didn't say a word or let his eyes stray towards me as he opened a drawer and grabbed some matches to start lighting various candles throughout the room.

Was he mad at me? Surely he didn't believe what those men said about me flaunting myself! I never meant for any of this– I didn't ask to–

“violet.” He finally spoke up, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blinked and looked over to see him standing beside me with his hand outstretched to help me up. 

Wiping a stray tear from my cheek I took his hand and he pulled me up to my feet. Letting it go, he then gently grabbed my forearm to look at and I followed his gaze to my bloodied sleeve. Grabbing the top of the shirt he pulled it down. Over my shoulder to reveal the cut and I winced, looking away as the stinging pain really became noticeable. 

Humming to himself he then stepped away and went over to the door to step out for a moment. I held my arm close and watched through the door as he spoke to someone then came back inside. He then proceeded to go over to his desk and open a large drawer to pull out what looked to be gauze and some other stuff.

He grabbed a bottle of alcohol and hesitated briefly before eyeing me. “Want a drink?” 

I nodded and he set the things to gather, down to grab two glass cups. Popping open  the bottle he poured us both a cup then came over handing me one. I gladly took it and sipped the drink only to recoil slightly at how Spicy it was. 

Ace chuckled slightly seeing my reaction before downing his drink in one go and setting his glas back on the desk. “Whiskeys a bit stronger, might burn a little at first… Come here.” He beckoned me over and I obliged.

He had me sit down in his fancy chair and he kneeled beside me before he took my injured arm into his grasp once more to look at it. 

There was a quiet knock on the door and Ace told them to enter, without even turning his back to look who it might be. I was surprised to see Johnny open up the door carrying a wooden bowl of water with a clean rag. 

Once he saw us and his gaze moved to my bloodied arm his face twisted in worry. “What happened?!” He quickly came over, careful not to spill the bowl. Ace gestured for him to set it on the ground next to me which the boy did before standing back up to stare at my injury. “h-how did this happen!?” He exclaimed worriedly.

“not now johnny.” Ace said as he proceeded to cut open the sleeve of my shirt to get better access to my injury.

“but– are you okay vi!?” He stammered.

“Johnny I said, not now.” Ace spoke up once more, much sterner than before. 

John went quiet knowing it was best not to disobey Ace but that didn't lessen his worry any as he stood there. 

Biting the inside of my cheek I composed myself enough to give the boy a warm smile. “I'm fine, it's nothing serious so don't worry.”

My words seemed to help him relax as he looked at me unsure before nodding. “go get her some food, she has yet to eat.” Ace ordered.

The boy quickly turned and ran out the door as Ace got the clean rag wet in the bowl of water and started to clean up my arm.

I winced a few times squeezing my eyes shut as he cleaned around the wound. “Bear with it for the moment…drink some more, the alcohol will help with the pain.”

Looking at the glass in my hand I chewed my lip before taking a few bigger sips. They didn't burn so much as the first but the feeling still bugged me.

Ace dipped the bloody rag into the water, cleaning it off and wringing it out to use again. I watched as the clear liquid turned pink, distracting myself from the pain, the best I could.

“as uncomfortable as it may be to answer, did they do anything else?” He asked suddenly.

My stomach twisted at the mention and my mood soured as he continued to clean my wound. “No. You came before they could.”

He was silent in response to my answer and finished up cleaning the cut on my arm. He then proceeded to put some kind of ointment on it that made me hiss and nearly pull away. “ow!”

“hang in there, almost done.” He said, somewhat amused. 

Whining I let him finish despite how much it stung and then watched as he wrapped me up with gauze.

Johnny came back with a steaming bowl of stew and set it down on the desk. “Anything Else?”

“That's All for now, you may leave us… tell ivan to keep command for the rest of the night.” 

“Yes sir!” Johnny turned to leave and glanced at us one last Time before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Silence filled the room once again as Ace finished up bandaging my arm and put the supplies away. stepping over to the window he opened it up and dumped a dirty bowl of water before shutting It again.

Coming back over he tossed the bowl aside before grabbing the stew and setting it in my lap. The aroma made my stomach grumble hungrily as I looked at the food and set my glass down. “eat up.” He urged.

“thank you…” I grabbed the spoon and started eating the stew quite pleased by the creamy broth and delicate taste. I was surprised by how good it was. I had expected the food upon vessels like this that were on the seas for such long times would have much blander foods.

Ace watched me eat for a moment before stepping around the chair to take off his large coat and hang it up on a  standing coat rack. He then kicked off his boots and made his way over to the bed.

Lying back with his hands behind his head he got comfortable and relaxed, closing his eyes. I watched curiously as I finished off my soup. “Let me know once you're done, and we can see about making sleeping arrangements for you.” He said as he laid there. ‘He must be tired.’

I could feel the alcohol Kicking in as a buzz washed over me. I drank The rest of my glass and looked over the various maps and the books upon Ace's desk. 

One book in particular seemed much more worn Than the others and caught my attention. Glancing back at Ace, his eyes were still closed as he lay in bed. Grabbing the book I looked it over and saw it was a bestiary about various mystical creatures. ‘Interesting.’

Flipping it open I suddenly felt like I was being watched as the candles in the room all flickered. Looking around and back at Ace I didn't notice anything different. He seemed to be asleep and everything was quiet. 

Ignoring the strange feeling I flipped through the pages reading about all sorts of things. Such as playful water sprites. Monstrous sea serpents, wind spirits. But the thing that really caught my attention was the page that seemed to be bookmarked. 

Opening it up I was greeted by the image of a beautiful mermaid…no not a mermaid, something else. Mermaids were usually playful and harmless creatures. This thing looked… dangerous.

Flipping to the next page I saw numerous notes and so much information that it was hard to understand. What any of it meant. There were notes regarding tears, hearts, scales, and some kind of riddle?  As I read through it something else caught my eye. A separate section that was outlined and written in great detail. It spoke of something called ‘The sirens curse’

Suddenly all the candles in the room flickered and changed to a blue color. I looked at them confused and glanced all around only to freeze as I saw something in one of the porthole windows on the side of the ship. It almost looked like there was a figure outside watching me, with glowing white eyes. My heart started to race as I stared at the thing in the window and it stared back, as if it was looking into my soul. I swear I could hear it whispering into my ear as I sat there unable to move.

The candles returned to normal and I was startled as the book was slammed shut and I noticed the figure behind me. 

Turning back I saw Ace leaning over with his hand on the book keeping it closed.  He glanced towards the porthole I had been staring at before looking back at me. “Don't you know it's rude to go through a person's things without asking. You might rouse the holmly spirits…”

“i-I'm sorry I was just curious, and you looked tired…” I stuttered then turned to look at the port hole to see whatever had been watching me was now gone. Ace picked up the book looking at it with an unreadable expression before turning away and placing it on a shelf. 

He looked back at me but I was too focused on the window to really notice. “something wrong?” He asked, snapping me out of my daze. 

“i… did you see the candles and the thing– in the window!” I stuttered unsure how to explain what I saw. I didn't even really know what I saw.

Ace stepped in front of me grabbing my chin gently and tilted my head up to look over my face. “you’re drunk.” He stated plainly.

‘What? He thinks I'm drunk?’

 “but, I saw…I heard It something–” 

“It was just the ship, it's old. I hear strange things all the time. The whiskey is also probably messing with your head, you're a lightweight so you probably just imagined it.” He reasoned.

I looked around the room and thought about all of it. Staring at the candles as they continued to burn in their normal orange light like the thing happened. 

Maybe he’s right…

“Come on I'm sure you are tired after all the stuff that's happened today.” He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

I felt embarrassed and overall ashamed. I knew the alcohol was affecting me but mmi couldn't control or stop myself from thinking about all the things that made me insecure. 

I've done nothing but cause trouble for Ace since he brought me onto his Ship. I'm nothing but a disgraced noble that no one wants around. Ace brought me on board to help me but all I've done is cause trouble and distract his crew. I didn't want him to resent me. I didn't want him to get fed up with me like my family, And end up turning his back on me. 

Tears welled up in my eyes taking him by surprise as he cupped my face. “violet?  What is it?”

I could only let out a choked sob before hugging him and crying into his shirt helplessly. I knew it was the drink making me feel so emotional but I couldn't stop crying. “I'm sorry!”

He was silent for the moment and didn't move until he wrapped his arms around me comfortingly with a sigh. “There's no reason for you to apologize…I shouldn't have given you such a strong drink.” He spoke quietly.

He patted my head and waited for my sobs to turn into sniffles. “Let's get you in bed to sleep this off. You will feel better by sunrise.” He urged me over to his bed and laid me back as he sat on the edge beside me.

I managed to calm down and stop crying but my eyes were still a little puffy. He sat there waiting for me to calm down as I sniffed and rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, I'm usually not such a baby.” I muttered.

“It's alright… it has been a long day.” 

Silence filled the air between us and I couldn't help but stare at Ace’s beautiful face. “Are you okay now?” He asked. I nodded in response. 

It was strange how I felt so close to a man I barely knew. How I felt safer within his presence.  This was something I never felt around my own flesh and blood. I couldn't understand it. I also couldn't understand how a complete Stranger worried for my well being more than my family ever did.

Before he could stand back up I grabbed the hem of his shirt. His eyes moved to my hand then back to me as I stared back. “Can you stay?” I asked.

He hesitated before nodding and moving to lay down next to me. I had to move All the way to the edge to give him enough space. I quickly realized there was hardly any room left and felt myself slipping Before his arm came around my waist and pulled me back to where I was practically on top of him.

I blushed Pushing myself up and we locked gazes with one another as if in some kind of trance. His warm hand on my waist sent Goosebumps across my body as his other hand moved my leg to his side so I would sit more comfortably. Only now I was straddling him.

“If you wish for me to stay, why are you running away?” 

“I-i wasn't…” I could feel his hand touching the bare skin on my waist and couldn't help but think about how good it felt to have him touching me.

“A-ace.”

He hummed in response as I leaned in closer and spoke quietly. “Can you touch me more?”

He didn't respond Immediately as his eyes trailed down. “Are you sure you want that? You're still drunk darling.

“Yes.” I affirmed.

He moved both hands to my waist and slipped them under my shirt slowly trailing them up my sides. He then removed my shirt completely leaving my breasts exposed without anything binding them.

His hands moved back to my sides as he caressed the underside of my breasts with his thumbs. My cheeks heated and I closed my eyes as his palms moved up grabbing my chest. I bit the inside of my lip as Ace massaged the mounds and stroked his thumbs over the hardening peaks.

Ace suddenly sat upright and moved one of his hands down, sliding it into my pants to grab my ass and pull me closer. “Are you sure you want this sweetheart?” He breathed against my neck as he pecked delicate kisses just under my ear. “Once we start there's no stopping me. I can hardly control myself when I'm with you.”

Putting my palms against his chest I pushed him back down making him let go as I tried to catch my breath. 

“I do, I want this, I want you…”

“but?” He asked questionably.

Gulping I composed myself as I sat Upright on top of him. “I want to be in charge.”

He looked at me surprised before a smug smirk made its way onto his lips. “Well then, you better find some rope to tie me down darling. Because the moment I'm inside you, I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep my hands to myself…”

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