Aletta could do nothing but let out a small nervous laugh.
"Hello, your highness...," Her eyes flickered to Sebastian and back to Celestiel nervously.
Celestiel turned to look at Sebastian in shock. And Sebastian smiled at her.
"You seemed to enjoy her company so much. I thought you'd be lonely without having company of your own."
Celestiel was caught between feeling touched and feeling frightened. No one had given much thought to her her whole life but him, a man she barely knew was being so thoughtful. As touched as she felt, she was worried Sebastian had threatened Aletta. The woman looked like a single word from him would cause her death.
Celestiel turned back to Aletta. "Are you...okay?"
Aletta nodded quickly and Celestiel let out a nervous breath. "I'm fine, your highness."
Sebastian almost wanted to laugh at how stiff Celestiel had become. He knew she still felt some kind of fear for him and his crew and it amused him how she still tried to hide it.
"I'll leave you here. Come to me when you are finished," he spoke before promptly leaving.
Both women heaved relieved sighs simultaneously before staring at each other.
"Did you come willingly?," Celestiel asked with worried eyes.
"No," Aletta replied with a shaky breath. "Did you...perhaps, ask for me to be kidnapped?"
"Why would I do that?," Celestiel asked back, an incredulous expression on her face. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
Celestiel's eyes sized Aletta up and she immediately noticed a deep cut on the side of her neck. "Did the king do that to you?"
Aletta shook her head. "The king didn't do anything but give the order."
"Then who did that to you?," Celestiel asked. "Was it Leonore? Heavens, why would he want to kill you?"
"It wasn't Leonore either. It was the third in command, the quiet one," Aletta answered. Her hand moved up to touch the still fresh wound and she flinched immediately.
Aletta clenched her teeth in annoyance. The man had the audacity to barge into her shop and kidnap her. And he didn't even kidnap her properly!
The encounter had Aletta caught between laughter and tears. Reagan had walked leisurely into her shop and she had welcomed him like she welcomed every other customer she had.
"What would you like to buy, sir?," She had asked him.
Reagan had taken a long look round the shop before looking back at her and calmly asking, "Are you a fighter, miss?"
Aletta had tried her best to defend herself. But she had only ended up with a wound on the side of her neck and a concussion.
She let out a defeated sigh. "Well, I'm here now. My duty and loyalty is to you, your highness."
Celestiel flinched. "Just call me Celestiel. And you certainly do not need to be here if you do not want to. I will speak to the king if I have to-"
"No! Don't!," Aletta cried out in alarm, quickly. "I want to be here, I swear."
Celestiel grimaced. "What about your shop?"
"I have family members," Aletta forced a smile.
The truth was she really wasn't that upset about being kidnapped to be the queen's escort, she just was still shaken up from her encounter with Reagan.
In all honesty, she liked the thought of being the queen's escort, the adventure she always yearned for had to be there.
"Well...I certainly would love your company, Aletta. And if you are truly alright with being here, that would be great," Celestiel told the shopkeeper, an earnest look in her big, golden eyes.
Aletta grimaced at the Queen's words. For the Queen's sake, she hoped she was pretending and wasn't actually this docile and kind.
If so, she was sure to be taken advantage of.
In the pirate world, one couldn't afford to be too kind. It was a free world, a lawless one.
One where kindness would be taken for weakness and love, for naivety.
If the Queen kept this naive, Icarthan nature up, she would certainly not survive in the King's harsh world.
⚓⚓⚓ ⚓⚓⚓
Sebastian looked ahead, a thoughtful expression on his face. The expression only vanished when the second sea came into view.
He glanced down at the main deck and whistled to Leonore. "Have someone summon the princess here."
Leonore lazily glanced about and his eyes landed on Alazne. She met his eyes and glared.
"I'm not going."
"I wasn't going to tell you to. But because I am now aware that you do not want to, I am telling you to do it," Leonore smiled.
"I said I am not-," Alazne didn't get to finish as Leonore shot her a warning look, his emerald eyes, dark and threatening, silently daring her to disobey him.
"Who is the superior here, Lazzie?," He asked. "Or is your intention to walk the plank?"
Alazne gulped. She knew Leonore wasn't joking. The last time he asked someone that question, they actually had walked the plank.
And they hadn't survived it.
She swallowed her words, as well as her pride and walked away, towards the king's private study.
Her heart burned with bitterness as she knocked on the door. Even she wasn't allowed in the king's private study and some Icarthan priss was?
The door opened and she was met with a new face, dark brown hair and light brown eyes.
"Who are you?", Aletta was the first to speak.
Alazne sized Aletta up with a smug look on her face. "I'm the second mate, who are you?"
"I'm the queen's escort", Aletta sensed the passive aggression and she instantly straightened her shoulders. "What do you want?"
Alazne frowned. When did the Icarthan get an escort?, "The king summons the Icarthan"
Aletta glared at the girl. "You mean the queen."
Alazne opened her mouth to retort but Celestiel's voice interrupted.
"Who is it, Aletta?," Shortly after her voice was heard, Celestiel came into view.
"Some disrespectful cabin girl," Aletta sneered at Alazne with a glare.
Alazne's fists clenched in anger. "What did you just call me?"
"Your highness, the king summons you," Aletta ignored Alazne and spoke to Celestiel instead.
Celestiel turned to look at the intruder. "Already? Didn't he just leave?"
Alazne scoffed, rolling her eyes as if surprised that the princess had questioned the king's request. "The king summons you so do well to obey, your majesty."
She marched away immediately after, fuming with spite and anger. The princess' beauty was even more prominent up close. Was that why the king wanted her?
"Did she just disrespect you? And did you just let her?", Aletta asked with an incredulous look on her face as they both watched Alazne storm away.
Celestiel had a blank look on her face. "The funny thing about this is I can not even recall who she is."
⚓⚓⚓ ⚓⚓⚓
Celestiel met Sebastian on the helm of the ship.
"My lord, you requested my presence?," She spoke calmly.
"Yes. My apologies for cutting your conversation with the shopkeeper short. But we're arriving at the second sea and I thought you'd like to see it," Sebastian replied.
Celestiel smiled. A thoughtful man he was. "I would like that, my lord."
Celestiel expected to see a sea as beautiful as the first. But as they got closer, her smile turned into a frown.
The second sea was nothing like she had expected. It looked...dead.