"Dominick," Maria called as she chased after her brother. "Dominick, wait. We need to talk about this."
Dominick was out of her reach down the corridor, but she was catching up. She caught him in time to barge into his room.
It was clean, organized, and had two desks stacked with separate books and diaries meant for whatever he saw fit. A made bed and an end table with not a speck of dust. Maria was insulted by how well he maintained himself, in private or otherwise.
Yet, he ignored her, going to the desk at the far end of the room. He snatched one of the diaries, flipped it open, and began writing with intense concentration. Given how much his hand was shaking, Maria could tell he was furious.
"Dominick," she said in a much calmer voice. "Please, listen to me."
"Listening. What a novel concept," he snapped.
"Dominick---."
"Maria, I have a lot to do, okay? I ask that you leave me to it."
His hand grew stiff, gripping the writing utensil with concerning strength. If pushed further, Maria feared that he would break it within his palm.
"We need to talk about this," Maria insisted. She approached the desk, map and amulet still in her grasp. "I might have a solution to our problem."
"I already know what you're going to say. And the answer is no. You're not going across the ocean to chase down a fantasy."
"And why not?"
"Since when do you care?" he shouted, slamming the pen down.
When he looked at her, his eyes were red and filled with anger. Yet, there was a hint of something else, something Maria both recognized but could not place.
Maria took a deep breath before speaking. "If it means anything, anything at all, I've always cared."
"Could've fooled me."
Dominick stomped over to the window and placed his hand on the glass, leaning against it. Maria had never seen him so exhausted, or this was the first time she noticed. She was cautious as she stepped closer to him.
Dominick sighed. "We're not doing it."
"Doing what? Saving the kingdom?"
"Even if this island exists, we don't have the funds to do it. I'm not putting every last scrap of hope on some legend that may or may not be out there."
"You'll never know unless you try." Maria smiled, but the friendly expression meant nothing to him.
"You want to take the word of a pirate, who, by the way, put you in danger."
Maria shook both the map and the amulet in front of his face. "It's all real, Dominick." she shouted. "The island, the treasure, Flint, everything. If we---."
"No, Maria."
"Weren't we just talking about this? How we needed a miracle? We have it right here. All we have to do is---."
"Maria, I already said---."
"One ship, one crew, a few weeks. We can do it."
Their voices overlapped as Maria climbed higher in pitch and Dominick failed to keep his composure intact.
Maria continued. "We can finally do something about this. Maybe our kingdom can survive after all."
"Maria---."
"We can do what Father didn't and become better than him in every way."
"You're not listening."
"Dominick, this is the chance we've been waiting for."
"I said no."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm not going to lose you too." he cried with a depth of desperation, grief, and fear.
At last, Maria fell silent and studied her brother's expression. In all the excitement she was creating for herself, she had not realized that Dominick had broken down into tears. His face was red, his bright eyes that had dulled over the years turning blotchy and filled with pain.
Maria took a step back as she felt an indescribable guilt consume her body and mind. It was no secret she had hurt her brother in the past, but to be forced to look at the damage she had caused was something she could not process. She clutched the map and amulet closer to her body.
She turned her gaze away. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't realize that---."
"No, you wouldn't have," Dominick snapped. "You never realize anything. Who do you think is the one waiting up all night to make sure you're safe? Who do you think is the one who wonders if this is the night you decide not to come back? Who do you think, between the two of us, is falling apart at the seams?"
Maria wanted to say so much, wanted to assure Dominick that she knew all of this. Yet, despite her best efforts, nothing came out. Her mind flipped through every possible response she could have chosen and she settled on none of them.
When Dominick saw that she wasn't going to answer him, he spoke up again. "And besides, what do you think is going to happen if I let you take your own ship and leave for some mystical island? Do you think I have the slightest hope you'll have the heart to come back?"
"I guess you wouldn't."
"You're right, I wouldn't." He walked over to the desk with all his diaries and journals. Grabbing the top one, he handed it to Maria. "Here."
"What's this?" she asked, taking the journal.
"Everything you've missed during our time together."
Without further prompting, Maria opened to the first page and saw the entry was ten years old. Ten years…that was when their father abandoned them. The handwriting was clean enough for a distraught teen.
"Father has yet to return. Not so much as a letter. Vincent doesn't know anything, or isn't telling us what he does know. Maria is still hopeful, which is more than me. She told me I was getting better at the voices in her dumb book. Not better than Father, but better. I hope it will tide us over."
Maria saw the steady decline in his optimism, skipping ahead to a year after the first.
"Maria didn't eat today. It's her eighth birthday. I tried reading to her, but she took the book and threw it. Some of the pages ripped and she said she didn't care about those 'dumb stories' anymore. I stayed with her until she fell asleep. She didn't stop crying."
She remembered that night. Dominick refused to leave her alone while she sobbed and screamed about having a birthday without their father. It was the first time the reality of their situation had begun to settle in. Many of the entries from there showed her decline into isolation and Dominick's ever growing failures to reach her. Yet, he never left her side.
"I tried reading to her again. Maria didn't respond. Maybe it would be best if I stopped trying. It doesn't seem to be helping her. I have enough to do on my own anyway."
The next entry she focused on struck Maria to the core of her heart. She had turned fourteen at the time.
"Maria snuck out tonight. It was a first. She wasn't gone for long and I have no idea where she went. She was not herself when she came back. She was smiling, slurring her words, going on and on about the stories she heard, whatever that meant. She could not walk straight. She smelled horrible. At least she's safe. At least she's home. She's no help when here, granted, but I like having her around. I was happy to see her smile again."
Maria had taken it upon herself to grab more journals. She went through the entries at a steady pace and Dominick watched with patience. She stumbled across one from about two years ago.
"Maria's nightly excursions are increasing. If it's not quantity, it's duration. She dropped swears common among sailors. I learned she's a frequent visitor of the Benbow. She became angry when I tried to enforce a curfew. If she won't listen, at least I know where she is. The sailors have taken a liking to her. They'll watch her. In the meantime, I'll do what I can here."
A few months ago.
"I can't remember the last time I was so afraid. Maria stayed out all night. I found her blacked out at the Benbow where the sailors had taken care of her. She ordered them not to take her home as she fell asleep listening to their stories. It was the first time she hadn't come back of her own volition. I didn't get any sleep. But at least she was safe."
And finally, a most recent entry. Maria could feel tears streaming down her cheeks and she whimpered as she reached the end. Dominick wrote it two nights ago and it was his longest yet.
"Things are so much worse. No money, people are leaving, I'd be surprised if the kingdom survived this. Maria is out again. Sunrise is coming. I hope she's back by then. I'm becoming king officially. Can't put it off any longer. I'm so scared. I'm exhausted. I wish she was here, not that she cares about me. She doesn't seem to care about anything anymore. She only talks to me when drunk. At this rate, it really is a matter of time before I lose her completely. I miss her so much. I wonder if she feels the same. Doubt it. But at least she's still here. That's more than some people."
Maria closed the journal and glanced back up to a calmer, but still crying, Dominick. He refused to make any eye contact with her and he would not speak until she said something, anything, first. As Maria came to understand this, she prepared her words carefully and took a heavy breath.
"You were right about one thing," she stated. "I don't feel the same."
Scoffing, Dominick smirked with obvious sarcasm and turned his back to her. He leaned on the desk, his head hanging low.
"I never thought you did."
"I don't feel the same because I never had a reason to miss you."
His head lifted, but he remained facing away. Maria approached him, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, and smiled knowing he could not see it.
"Why would I ever miss someone who was always there?" She could feel the tension in his body leaving. "I could never miss someone who has made an effort to stay in my life, regardless of everything I've done. And I do notice your effort, your stress…and I notice how little I've come to care about all of it."
She took a step back, allowing Dominick to turn and look at her. She began crying herself.
"And it really does hurt me to say, but I don't care anymore. Why should I? I mean, look how much you care about me and look at all the difference it seems to make. Why should I care, Dominick? Why do you?"
Maria threw her face in her hands, dropping both the map and the amulet. As her sobs filled the silence, Dominick stepped toward her and embraced her with a loving touch. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt.
"Why, you ask?" he whispered to her. "Because the moment I stop is the moment I lose you. As long as I know you're safe and here, it can be enough sometimes."
"You don't mean that."
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."
"…you were always bad at telling stories," she giggled. Dominick joined her light laughter with a weak smile.
As they remained in that position, Vincent opened the doors and walked inside. Dominick met his gaze as Maria turned to face him. His expression was somber, as was his tone when he spoke in a hushed manner.
"I apologize if I'm interrupting, Sire."
"Not at all," Dominick responded. "Did you need something?"
"About Mr. Bones, sir."
"What about him?"
"I can confirm that what he is saying is, in fact, true."
"What?" Dominick and Maria exclaimed together. Dominick leaned in closer, as if he heard incorrectly. "What do you mean it's true?"
"Mr. Bones was a surveyor, of sorts, sent by your father many years ago to find the treasure. In fact, Princess, he was the one who gave your father that book you're so fond of."
"He did? That explains a lot," she exhaled, but Dominick was not the least bit concerned about that.
"Our father sent him?" Dominick questioned.
"Yes. It was the last resort your father could think of to save the kingdom. But when Mr. Bones failed to return, James felt it wise to leave it all behind."
"Wise? You call abandoning his own children wise?" Maria shouted. "We were left with a disaster, Vincent. Our father---."
"Can never be excused for what he has done," Vincent interrupted. "You both have every right to be angry, and I will not defend his actions. But I will say this. Mr. Bones has given you a map of this island. If found, it could save our home."
"You want us to trust the word of a pirate?" Dominick scoffed. "A pirate sent out by our father, no less. I find your story to be a bit of a stretch."
"Sire, I am relaying to you what I believe is right. I would have said nothing if I did not think this was at all possible. I dare call it a miracle."
"That seems to be the magic word of the day. Hypothetically, if I did believe you, Vincent, with what funds do you suggest we use for this exploration?"
"If you want my honest answer, Highness, I would say all we have left."
"Excuse me?"
"If it can save our kingdom, then it would be a risk worth taking."
"And if it fails?"
"That is one of the many outcomes we would have to make peace with before setting sail."
Maria separated herself from Dominick as she bent down to retake the map and amulet. She gazed at both for several seconds as all three of them let the circumstance process in their minds. And when no one stepped up to make the final decision, Maria took it upon herself to do so.
"Let's do it," she said with total conviction.
Dominick gasped. "Maria."
"Dominick, this may be our best chance at making it through this. I know you're scared, you have been for years, but when was the last time you were hopeful?"
"But---."
"Dominick, please," she begged. "If not for yourself, then for me. I know I don't deserve it, but it's all we have. Please. We can do what our father couldn't."
Her eyes were shining like the stars she once watched over the vast ocean. A faint glistening of optimism found under several layers of confidence and tenacity. He already knew all too well rejecting the idea meant nothing. Maria would go out and scrap up any last piece she could find to fund the trip herself. None of which would surprise him.
With that in mind, Dominick produced a reluctant sigh that led to a groan of defeat. "This better be worth it," he grumbled.
Sounded like a yes to Maria and Vincent. Maria hopped up and wrapped Dominick in a suffocating hug. The action startled him and he had no time to react as she jumped back with the biggest smile on her face.
"Thank you," she cried over and over. "I'll make you so proud."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry, what?"
"I said I'll make you proud," she repeated. "I'll find the island and come back with more treasure than Father ever could."
"Who in the world said you were going?"
And the momentary excitement plummeted as Maria realized what Dominick said to her.
"I don't think I follow, brother dear. Want to try that again?"
"You're not going."
"I'm sorry, um, that was not what I was expecting. I believe this is the part where you wish me luck and tell me that you've always been proud of me. Or, better still, that you know I can do this and I'll come back as a better person, right? Say it with me."
"Maria, I agreed to let the voyage be funded and completed, not that you were going to be a part of it." Dominick looked to Vincent. "Might as well get started, then. Do whatever you need to."
"Yes, sir." Vincent left without further prompting while Maria stared at Dominick in disbelief.
"Why am I not going?" she inquired.
"Aside from the obvious dangers of being at sea, I would prefer you stay where I can see you."
"You mean where you know I'll be safe."
"That was the grand plan, yes."
"I'll be fine."
"My final answer is no."
"And if I don't listen?"
"That's not as big of a threat as you think it is."
"I'm going."
"Maria, don't make this more difficult than it needs to be," Dominick moaned. "For once, can you do what I ask? Stay home."
"You think I won't come back. Is that it?"
"The thought did cross my mind."
"I feel like I should be offended," she shouted.
Dominick rolled his eyes and walked over to his bed, sitting on the edge as he rubbed his forehead. As stubborn as ever, he knew talking Maria down would take whatever energy he had left.
"Maria, as I humored you with this possible fantasy, humor me with compliance. That's all I ask. Don't make me force you."
"But---."
"My head is really disagreeing with your tone right now. This discussion is over," Dominick snapped at last. And it was indeed over.
He laid down and flipped over so his back was turned to Maria. Maria huffed from behind him and stomped her way out of his room.