Chapter Four. A Memory Sealed with a Kiss

I peered into several rooms, they were all vacant. In the room before last in the hallway did not have a door, there was only a sheet that sealed all privacy. I pushed the sheet to the side and gasped when I saw someone in the room. The person was sitting on a cheap French settee which was facing away from the entrance to the room, facing an equally cheap painting on the wall. Frozen in my place, I was not sure if this person was alive or awake.

“How long do you plan on standing there at the door entrance?” That sure answered my question.

My thoughts began to race at full speed as I walked into the room, “Are you the captain of all of these pirates?”

Not turning around nor changing his tone of voice he asked, “And what makes you believe that I am the captain?”

I stammered, “Oh u-u-um. I guess that would be a no, forgive me for interrupting” I turned around and began to walk out the door when I heard him start to chuckle.

“Interrupting? My dear what on earth would you be interrupting?”

I slowly walked closer to him, “So you ARE the captain of these pirates?” I asked

He turned to me and smiled, “In the flesh”

My stomach started turning in knots and my heart fluttered, play it cool, I approached the settee, “May I sit here with you?”

“Suit yourself. Although I must warn you I can ere on the side of boring”

I sat down and smiled, “You are a pirate captain, I am a mere peasant, and surely your adventures are just a tad more interesting than mine”

He turned his body, now we are sitting face to face, “You certainly are no peasant, nor a lady of the night”

I smiled and playfully rolled my eyes, “What gives you the idea that I am no lady of the night?”

He softly touched my face, “I have been with countless ladies of the night, day and even the afternoon. You are far too delicate and far too clear of mind to be a lady of the night”

I blushed a bit and looked at my bottle of rum, “What makes you believe I have not had even a sip to drink on this very night?”

He glanced at the rum in my hand, “One. Your bottle has not even been opened”

I smiled and started trying to open the bottle.

“Two. You don’t even know how to open a bottle of rum”

I put the bottle on the blushed again from my slight embarrassment.

“And three” He leaned in as though he were going to kiss me. He looked into my eyes and whispered, “You are far too nervous to have had a sip of rum tonight”

I gulped and tried to clear my throat, “W-w-what makes you believe that I am nervous right now?”

He started to chuckle and pulled away, “My dear, I know all there is to know about you, just by looking at your face”

I smiled, “Should I be flattered or worrisome?”

“Whichever is fine with me”

 

The conversation slowly slowed to a halt. I started fidgeting with the pesky rum bottle as the pirate captain started to pull something out of his jacket.

I gasped and excitedly asked, “Is that your sword?!”

He smiled, “No Miss Artificial Peasant, it is a map”

I coyly glared at him for the tease, “A map of what?”

He then slid out his sword and placed it on the dusty wooden table, “If I tell you of what, I would have to end your life at this very moment”

All the color left my skin as I tried to spit out the words, “My God are you serious?”

He chuckled, “Of course not. I would pray I go straight to the gallows of hell for claiming a life such as yours”

I smiled, “Well that is a very comforting thought. Will I ever know the extent of this very map?”

He was a bit puzzled, “I have never met a lady so interested in pirating adventures, and might I ask; who are you?”

I leaned over to look at the elaborate map and gasped, “You are looking for Pandora’s Box? I was not aware that it existed”

He looked puzzled, “How did you know I was looking for Pandora’s Box?”

I giggled, “I know all there is about you just by looking at your face”

He smiled at me as I added with a wink, “I did not have a hint that you were in search of Pandora’s Box until you told me”

“Ahh. She is smart with a touch of manipulation”

I stuck out my tongue, “Manipulative I am not, immensely intelligent I am”

“Overly confident with a hint of exaggeration”, The pirate captain added with a sly grin

“Exaggeration?” I said with a cocky chuckle, “I can tell you exactly where in the world you are looking for this very box. But I strongly doubt that an experienced pirate captain as yourself would like to listen to an overly confident, manipulative artificial peasant as myself” I stood up and began walking very slowly to the exit of this small room, hoping he would follow in suit.

Just as I had hoped, the pirate captain jumped over the side of the settee and took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards him, “Do you know where in the world the map is portraying?”

I pulled my wrist away and gracefully walked around the settee to pick up the map to confidently show off for this hard-to-impress pirate captain. I opened up the map for him to see, “See look”, I pointed to the far right of the map, “that is the Sea of Sanji, also known as the South China Sea. And this” I motioned to another body of water, “this is the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. If X still marks the spot Monsieur Pirate Captain” I said in an exaggerated French accent, “Your buried box is located in one of the islands you will see after sailing through the Strait of Malacca” I rolled up the map and gave it back to him as I basked in my boastful glory.

I could tell by the slight expression on the captain’s face, that he was incredibly impressed, but I knew that he would not let is amazement obviously known to me. All the pirate captain said after my detailed description of the exact location of the buried treasure was…

“Hmph”

I was flustered and even more amazed for that was all the praise I received, “Hmph? That is all?”

He slowly opened the map and silently nodded.

I put my hands on my hips and decided to enlighten the rude pirate captain on my frustrations, “I just deciphered your entire map and the only celebratory remarks I receive is not even a word, but a bodily sound!?”

He did not even raise his eyes from the map, “Where did you learn this information peasant?”

I rolled my eyes, “My private tu…” OH DRAT! Peasants do not have private tutors, he’ll find out who I really am. I am not sure if pirates will take a liking to a princess due to the fact that her father and all the men in my country are trying to put an end to pirating forever. I laughed, “Teacher I mean, I attend a private school where there are private tutors and teachers that teach me lessons such as geography, coincidentally my best subject” I added with a smile.

He lowered the map from his face, “It is amazing how easy the truth can slip out when one is enraged”

My mouth dropped open in disbelief, “I cannot believe you attempted to trick me”

He smiled, “I’m a pirate, what did you expect?”

I returned his smile, “But it amazes me that instead of nobly asking me of my background, you try to trick it out of me”

Mr. Pirate Captain thought for a moment, “It is because you are far too smart for direct questions. I saw you out there dancing and carrying on with your female companion. I even asked a few of my pirate subjects of your identity and no one knew a thing. Why is that?”

I walked closer to the elusive pirate, slowly slipping the map from his hand and tossing on the settee behind him, “Why must you always know all there is to know? Let mystery be mysterious”

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my un-pierced ear, “It is not that at all. I simply like to be able to decipher my women before I kiss them”

My eyes shifted from the captain’s lips to his eyes, “Just because I am undecipherable does not mean I am unkissable” I said in a low tone

His lips curled into a little smirk, “You want to kiss me, don’t you?”

 I leaned in even closer, so close that the tips of our noses touched, “Not as much as you want to kiss me”

“Kiss me” He whispered

“You kiss me first” I teased