We were becoming respectable. This sat well with the older crew members, as they weren’t risking their lives and health with every voyage. The younger boys seemed to prefer it as well. They wanted to work hard, not fight hard. Yet they also wanted to relax on a beach now and then. Our new trade route was providing us this luxury, and this would increase as time went on.
My view of the future had always been a bit murky, as I took things from day to day. Flora was right. Time was different out here, and tended to ebb and flow with the tides.
Hearing the gentle swish of the waves against the hull, I looked out the window. I’d once sworn that I’d never stop living on the sea. But I knew that someday I’d end up living right beside the sea, and there was only one woman who could understand the difference properly.
Flora had been more than patient while learning to live an entirely new life, in an entirely new world. The very least that I could do would be to make one tiny thing stable and permanent.
~ Chapter 25 ~ Flora ~
* Under the Moon *
“Lass, wake up for a moment.”
“Hrm?” I blinked hard, trying to focus. Not so long ago, a man’s voice in the night would be terrifying. Now I simply reached out to snuggle against the Captain’s chest, feeling warm and safe.
The Captain sat up, pulling me with him, so we were facing the tiny portal that looked out over the sea. The full moon was clearing the horizon, sending feathers of silver across the water.
He waited while I stared at the sea for a moment, then cleared his throat. “Lass, I thought of the perfect way we could spend that extra gold together.”
I looked up at him with a smile, curious and excited. “What’s that, sir?” He had an odd look about him, and although I’d never seen him wear the expression before, he looked nervous. Taking my hand, he looked at me quite seriously.
“We’ll be down in Port Chancelry in a week. What do you think about getting married in the south?”
I froze, my mouth falling open. I couldn’t move for three full heartbeats while the Captain held his breath. “Are you...” I cocked my head, blinking, terrified I might be misun
derstanding.
“I love you, Flora. You’re the most magical creature on land or sea, and I’d be honored to have you as my wife.”
My breath hitched with a tiny choked cry as I held back a sob. Throwing myself into his arms, he rocked me softly. “Yes. I love you, Captain,” I whispered. “Yes, that’s a beautiful idea, to be wed in the south.”
He wanted to marry me. No dowry, no connections. Just me. He wanted to keep me as his. Just a few months ago, I would have fallen to pieces at the thought. Now, it made me feel strong. Secure. As if every part of my world clicked into the proper place.
This wonderful man thought I was valuable enough to bond me to him forever.
The Captain pulled back to study my eyes carefully. “Unless you want to return to your village for the ceremony. If you want your mother to be there, or your girlfriends. I know that brides like a maid of honor and such.”
“I don’t need any of that. I never want to go back there.” The moment I said it, I knew once again that my decision was absolute.
“We could have Little Larry wear a dress,” he teased.
“I already have a fine, strong woman who can stand up for me,” I grinned. Reaching out, I patted the wooden wall. “The Fortune’s Favor will be there, right?”
“Aye, that’s my clever lass,” he said . We dissolved into a kiss, snuggling down into the bed again, wrapped in each other’s bodies while our ship gently sailed with the evening winds.
~ Epilogue ~ Flora ~
* Flora’s Paradise / Cabbages *
"Mama, what's the name of our island today?"
I grinned, reaching out to rumple little Artie’s thick curls. He had his father's dark eyes, but I thought it would take him some time to grow into the name. Arthur didn't quite fit for a six-year-old. Maybe when he turned sixteen.
"Did you ask your sister?"
His pudgy face scrunched up in a scowl, just like his father’s did when a storm was rolling in. But holding his little hands in fists when he was frustrated definitely came from me.
"Clara always says the island is called Sandy Land," he glared at me as if I should have known better.