Free Traveler by Ashley Bourgeois

 He took her hand in his, feeling his fingers, rough with calluses, along her smooth ones.  “So you are not one used to being in the ocean.”  Aislin’s skin, though smooth, was definitely wrinkling from exposure to the salt water.  
    “I...I don’t know how I got here,” she said honestly.  “I woke up...and I was here.  I don’t even know where I am, much less how I managed to get here.”  She needed to use her head if she were to survive this.
    The pirate who had fished for her, whose name was Luc, narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t believe her story.  “For now, I’ll take that answer, mermaid.  We need to get you dressed and away from these prying eyes.  There are men here who haven’t seen a woman in months.”  
    Deftly Luc unwrapped the cord around her waist, his fingers working as if they had done this a number of times before.  Just as fast, he wrapped the rough woolen blanket that whoever Petra was had gone to fetch and directed her to her feet.  “I’m bringing this mermaid below decks, lads,”  he called.  “Back to yer business.  The captain won’t be pleased if you’re dawdling.”
    He led her across the deck, navigating through piles of rope and other such things on the surface of the ship, towards the stairway leading down into the underbelly of the vessel.  Downstairs, he led her to a cabin, allowing her to navigate the narrow hallway.  Aislin looked around her in wonder.  It looked so old, and authentic.  It looked...perfect, like something out of her books.  “You’ll stay here,” Luc said gently, “Until the captain is ready to see you.  Understand?”  Aislin nodded her head mutely, her eyes wide and somewhat frightened.  “Good girl.  Nothing will happen to you, so long as you behave. Now, get dressed, and make yourself comfortable.  Welcome to the Maiden’s Voyage.”
    Aislin nodded and held her breath as the door was shut and locked with a click.  The name of the ship sounded familiar, somehow, but she couldn’t place it.  She was trapped, here.  With a heavy heart she got dressed into the voluminous dark blue gown that had been set out for her and she sat on the bed.  How was she going to escape this?
    ***’
    The Queen’s Lace was a modest ship, a passenger and trading vessel of middle size, with a suitable hold for about a hundred or so passengers.  As vessels to the islands went, she was well equipped, with enough fresh fruit and salted meat to get them well across the ocean to the unknown shores beyond, unknown, at least, to the majority of the passengers aboard her.  The crew, though...the crew knew these waters well, travelling them many times.  Danger lurked in these waters, danger that presented itself in the form of pirates.  The captain knew this, oh he knew it well, but still he kept quiet to those people he transported belowdecks.  Best to not get them excited and trying to get back their fare once they reached the colonies...best to let them be ignorant.
    While most of the passengers were excited to be traveling to a tropical island, there was one who was not happy in the slightest.  At sixteen years old, Brileia Narelleva was on her way to a new home, the manor built especially by the man Lord Silvertongue had chosen to be her husband.  And once there, she would be married and expected to submit to his every whim, a thought that made her shudder visibly.  Still, she was an obedient and dutiful girl, even if she railed against the injustice of it all silently.
    It was a man’s world, truly, and Cedric Duhamel, better known as Snake, knew it.  His parents had land and he came from old money--what else could be desired in this world?  Well, there was one thing...but he had been told time and again he would have to wait until they got to their new home for him to claim it. The beautiful woman below-decks did not slip his notice, though.  Every move Bird made, every breath she took, Cedric watched, pining silently for the