Cold Winter Nights

He, too, braced himself as the ship leaned, but the moment he gained his sea legs back he moved quickly to the window in the hopes of seeing a shoreline. Unfortunately, all he was met with was endless blue mirroring itself in sea and sky until they both met on the horizon. There was no real way of knowing just how far from home he’d been taken, but he could only assume that the distance between he and his home made the idea of going back somehow quite unrealistic by that point. 

“Bhenchod,” he muttered in defeat, and looked to his companion. She looked worse for wear, for obvious reasons; he wondered if he looked the same to her. 

Just as he’d expected. Kiran moved about the little room carefully from the moment he notices that she seemed tense, not wanting to startle her. The last thing he needed after everything he’d been through so far was to get in a fight for no reason. He moved along the perimeter of their makeshift cell, using the wall to brace himself until he could get to his opposite corner. 

He nodded at her question, thankful that they had a common tongue. If there had been a language barrier, the journey would have seemed much longer. 

“India,” he replied. “Have they told you where they’re taking us?”

Dagny startled, jerking back and immediately chastising herself when the man moved so quickly towards the window. She let out another shaky breath as she shifted her position to try and get somewhat more comfortable as she watched the man with a weary and wary expression. 

She didn’t understand the word he used but it was likely some sort of swear word, she was glad he wasn’t agitated or angry, it was easier to hang on to her control without that worry. Her anxiety lessened as she watched him move carefully to the opposite corner of the room.

“No,” she said in response to his question, “I...” she stopped her, eyebrows drawing together as she struggled to remember anything, “I just woke up, I think-... they must have drugged me, I don’t remember anything.” Being on the ship was bad enough but the memory loss was even worse. She shuddered, not wanting to think about unconscious around unsavoury characters. 

“Uhm...” she sat, desperate to stop her mind thinking the things it currently was, “Sweden. I’m Swe-... Princess of Sweden... my name is Dagny.” Why the introduction brought tears to her eyes she would rather not think about, right now, she needed to focus on keeping them in check, something that was proving much more difficult that she liked. Quickly, she wiped at the tears running down her cheeks, hoping that it would somehow stem the flow but it only seemed to make things worse.

This time of day happened to be Morgan’s absolute favorite. The setting sun was hovering just above the ocean as if it were playing a game of will I, won’t I.  The brightly colored hues of orange, pink and red blended effortlessly into one another while just kissing the crystal blue waters. 

As she walked towards the shore, she tightened the shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She was just about to dip her toes in the warm tropical waters when her attention was diverted. Squinting her eyes, Morgan cautiously approached the clearly panicked woman. 

“Dagny?” She asked incredulously. How had they managed to kidnap, so many royals? Seeing her friend’s distress, Morgan darted towards the other Princess and immediately pulled her into an embrace, “I wish I could say the same.” She admitted softly before gently pushing Dagny back, so she could examine her for injuries, “Of course, I’m thrilled to see you, but I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances. Are you alright? Did they hurt you at all?” 

Dagny hugged Morgan tight, letting out a shaky breath of a laugh at the other princess’ words. No, under the circumstances it wasn’t good per se but at least it was someone that Dagny knew. A friend in these situations was worth her weight in gold. 

Reluctantly, she let Morgan push her back and quickly wiped away the tears, smiling as best she could considering as she shook her head. “No, I mean, yes, I’m fine, I wasn’t in-...” she took in a breath to steady herself, holding onto Morgan’s arms, “I think they drugged me, that’s all, a few bruises but I’m okay, I am...” it was almost more to convince herself when her brother popped into her mind suddenly, “Alrik, have you seen him? I haven’t-... I didn’t know where to look for him, I need to see him, it’s been so long, it’s.. the one twisted bit of good in all this mess..” 

Stay quiet, stay calm, abide. He repeated the words in his head, over and over again, from the moment he’d been taken from his room at the palace. For months he had charted the developments of missing royals, watching on the map he’d made of their locations as those little red pins grew nearer and nearer to his home until he practically anticipated that he would be next. To say he was nervous about such a thing would be remiss. 

Stay quiet, stay calm, abide. Really, he wanted no trouble. He’d made that known multiple times. Regardless, he still found his hands bound together while being led down into the ship; of which he had little knowledge of after having been transferred from two others along this journey with small groups of others. They all seemed to blend together in his heat exhaustion.

Neither his quiet or calm, nor abiding nature did much to keep his back from hitting the far wall of the little room as he was tossed in, like a large wave clapping the shore. His wrists, now freed, still ached from the restraints. 

The door was slammed shut behind him, but it did not take long for him to realize he wasn’t alone there. Kiran did not recognize her face from his research, but he still had a good guess as to why she was there.

“Nobility, I’m assuming?” he inquired softly. 

When the man hit the wall opposite the door, Dagny couldn’t stop the little yelp of fear and she clamped her hands over her mouth as her eyes darted from the door to the man and back again. They locked on the man when he spoke, however, all of her attention on him while she tried to figure him out.

The boat listed sharply in the waves again and one hand quickly moved to steady herself against the wall as she nodded. No point in lying, really, there was no strategy that she could think of in her state that would warrant it. 

Dagny couldn’t tell if the man was a pirate or a prince but she was leaning heavily towards royalty with the way he had been tossed into the room with her and, perhaps, in the softness of his tone. She could only pray that he had good intentions.

“Yes,” she managed to get out, tension clear in the thinness of her voice, “And... and you?” Perhaps not the best question in that moment, nor eloquently phrased but the princess was doing everything she could to keep her wits about her and not panic.

“It is hard to go to school with everything else going on,” Anzhela had to agree. Young children education was a good thing to focus in, though she couldn’t imagine the difficulty she’d go through if she tried to actually teach in a public classroom. It seemed the camp was the right way to go. “My mother always pressed it was good for royals to give back to the community. Her focus was the reputation it offered us, but that approach always seemed… cold to me. It is a lot easier when the charity is something you can be passionate about.”

Chase glanced over her shoulder, in the direction that she had, and furrowed his eyebrows a bit. “You waiting for someone?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. She seemed antsy, and he hadn’t seem her before. With reasonable deduction, it was rather obvious that she was a princess and new to the island. “You seem a bit jumpy, love.” 

The shift in the man’s demeanour from teasing to suspicious, no matter how mild that suspicion was, made Dagny laughed nervously, kicking herself for not being able to keep her nerves under control. “Oh, yes, I am, I’ll just go now, they’re probably waiting for me.” She wondered, momentarily, if she should ask the man if he knew where her brother was but quickly brushed it aside, opting to stick to the ‘back away slowly’ plan. 

The royal looked frightened, which Roza wasn’t thrown off by, the woman was of the Swedish royal bloodline, her sibling being one who killed a pirate and nearly killed a fellow surgeon. Roza wasn’t fond of other woman’s family, but the princess didn’t take those actions, her brother did, which is what the pirate needed to remind herself after realizing who she’d offered the drink to. “Roza,” she replied and offered a grin. “There’s a towel in there as well, a few actually so feel free to use one and make yourself comfortable.”

Dagny nodded and gave a little half-smile to show her appreciation for the smile that the pirate gave her. It put her at ease and she was grateful for it and the subsequent offer of the towels to get comfortable. She wasn’t entirely sure that would be possible but she was willing to at least try. Gingerly, she took one of the towels and unfolded it, sitting down crossed-legged so she could take another bite of the granola bar. After swallowing, she looked sideways at the pirate, “Thank you, Roza. I hadn’t realized that I was so hungry.” she wasn’t sure what else to say so she blurted out the first thing she could think of, “Are you going swimming?”

TRIDENT’S TASK 003: Playlist

Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer // Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight

I’m Not The Only One by Sam Smith // You say I'm crazy 'Cause you don't think I know what you've done

All Of Me by John Legend // You're my end and my beginning Even when I lose I'm winning

Take Me To Church by Hozier // There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

Rolling In The Deep by Adele // The scars of your love they leave me breathless, I can't help feeling We could have had it all

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley // Take my hand, take my whole life too For I can't help falling in love with you

Stay With Me by Sam Smith // Oh, won't you stay with me? 'Cause you're all I need / This ain't love, it's clear to see / But darling, stay with me

Fallin’ by Alicia Keyes // Lovin' you darlin' Makes me so confused

Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell // I need the shelter of your arms to comfort me

TRIDENT’S TASK 002: Personality Exploration

Dagny groaned quietly, confused as to where she was. Her head was pounding and for some reason she felt off-balance even though she was sure that she was laying down. Her hand came up so she could press the heel of her hand against her temple as she blinked her eyes open. The room was unfamiliar, small, it looked like a sort of storage room of some sort and looking out the window, Dagny realized why she felt off-balance. She was on a ship. 

No. 

She stood quickly, regretting it immediately as she listed towards the wall and fell against it hard, banging her shoulder painfully. “Ow...” she couldn’t help but whine as she slid back down the wall and covered her face with her hands. 

This couldn’t be happening, she had been travelling back home to the palace, safe with her security detail and then... and then there was nothing. She had lost her memory of what happened and that was disconcerting enough. Now she was trapped on a ship by unknown people going to some unknown place and everything was horrible. 

It was about to get worse.

Flynn received new orders and a name to the person he was supposed to be watching now. Seeing that last name made the blood boil inside his veins. There had to be a reason why she had been designated for him to watch. If he were about to talk about the universe, maybe this was some kind of karmic retribution, one that he did not care much to have. Still, he had received his orders and wasn’t about to go whine about them to someone who could have them changed, just other people.

The soles of his boots crunched the sand below, and the man who was over six feet was about to find whoever this princess was, and go on with the routine that he didn’t really feel like going, but it was, apparently, necessary. Soon enough, his hazel eyes landed on someone who seemed to resemble the picture he had had the chance to see. “Daphne?” he called out, trying not to give his voice any sort of inflection. It would probably be for the best. Crossing his arms over his chest, he waited for her to say something. Anything.

The voice startled Dagny and she turned towards it, trying and likely failing to keep the worry off her face. `Daphne` was close enough to `Dagny` so she was almost sure the man was talking to her, “I’m Dagny...” she stated with a questioning lilt, just in case he was looking for someone else. 

The man was tall and looked dangerous, as most did on the island, but there was something unsettling behind his eyes that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She got a horrible feeling that this was going to be her “designated pirate” but she quickly pushed it away, it wouldn’t do to speculate and she had to make the best out of what she was given.

Having forgotten a towel, Chase shook out his hair as he stepped out of the water, the tides lapping at his ankles as he made his way up onto the beach. The salt on his skin lingered and made him feel sticky, but he was used to the feeling, and he had grown to love it. Glancing up, he smiled at the person in front of him as he pushed his hair back from his face. “Didn’t want to join me?” he asked teasingly. “I heard it’s always better to swim with a buddy.” 

Dagny was going to have to work on her espionage skills, she had been so sure that she had been hidden behind the tree near the edge of the beach but now, the man had seen her. At least he didn’t seem to be angry, perhaps he thought she was a pirate and not an unsupervised princess who didn’t know where she was or what she was to be doing. Whatever that may have been, she was also sure that it wasn’t swimming. Dagny couldn’t bring herself to laugh but she smiled, hoping to keep him in his pleasant mood, “Oh, no, thank you though, I’ll have to pass this time.” She looked quickly over her shoulder and started to back away as nonchalantly as she could, “I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”

Roza was off for the day and she had an odd urge to go out to the beach surrounding the island to soak up some sun and perhaps take a swim. She grabbed a few cocktails wrapped in glass bottles (which she’d be taking back home once empty), towels, water, an umbrella, and some snacks all placed in a large bag she placed on her shoulder. Once arriving on the beach she smiled up at the sky and started removing the shirt and shorts covering her swimsuit. She noticed someone close by and wasn’t sure if they were approaching her or just a bystander, “There’s cocktails and snacks in the bag,” she offered.

Dagny almost turned tail and run when the woman caught her on the beach. She was sure she wasn’t supposed to be there but she had been driving herself crazy with worry and needed to do something. “Oh...” she wasn’t sure how to take the offer but her stomach growled at that very moment and she only hesitated a moment before making her way to the bag indicated to grab a granola bar, watching the other warily, “Thank you, I am sorry, I didn’t catch your name. I’m Dagny.” She left it at that as she took a small bite of the bar and stepped back just a tad.