Hello readers! Hope you enjoy part 3 - Any feedback is appreciated
Fia's eyes fluttered awake with the light streaming in from the cabin's windows, streaking warm beams across the bed of rippling honey veins. Lying next to her, in her direct line of sight were 2 piles of leather-bound books and a parchment envelope with her name on the front. Swift, Fielding, Voltaire, and Marquis de Sade were among the authors. Fia warmed with glee at the sheer number of stories at her disposal, though she felt shame for how she had earned them. She reached for the envelope and tore it open to discover a note and an ornate looking key.
Uncrumpling the note, she read out the loose scrawl : "As promised."
Lifting the key and stumbling to the balcony door, she slid the bit into the keyhole. She heard it lock into place and turned it with a satisfying click, swinging it open to reveal a small balcony on the ship's stern with a wooden bench and an observation post. She lay on the sun-dappled bench and opened Gulliver's Travels and began to read, forgetting where, why, and who she was.
Sometime later, Fia lifted from the pages and resumed with reality, studying her surroundings. She could hear the men speaking from the deck, feel the somnolent warmth of the sun on her body, hear the soothing lapping of the waves against the ship. Considering her circumstances, she theorized that a more respectable woman might fling herself from the boat's deck while she had the chance. She was not this woman. She longed to live -- to have adventures, to squeeze every ounce of joy from each moment, to force life to send her out kicking and screaming with a violent rattle that would frighten death itself.
The thought of escape had entered her mind although she hardly had an idea how she would do it. Perhaps when they inevitably docked somewhere, she could rush from the ship, never looking back. But where would she go? How would she live? She would figure it out -- she always did.
Fia stood from the bench and walked to the railing's edge looking out at the placid water. She felt exhilarated but frightened, full of energy but trapped, an endless ocean lay before her and she was confined to a room.
Just then the door opened and Jack strode out onto the balcony, fixing his eyes on Fia who was standing in his white nightshirt, wrapped in a thin blanket from the bed. With her black hair falling in locks around her shoulders, she remained unmoved, holding her gaze on the ocean.
"Thank you for the books." Fia said, not moving her eyes from the horizon.
"I gave you my word." Jack said advancing.
Fia turned to see him moving towards her and began to back up slowly, eventually bumping her backside against the farthest end of the balcony's railing. Jack smiled at the show of frightened wariness, entertained by how bravery and cautiousness seemed to work in tandem within her.
"Are you afraid of me?" he chuckled.
"No." she replied trying to sound as casual, though she kept as much distance between them as possible.
He strode up to her and ran his hand through her dark hair, touching the small of her back.
"Come with me" he said softly.
"But I -," she began to protest, but before she could finish, he lifted her over his shoulder and carried her into the cabin.
