Dream Mountain Press

The Guardian Star's True Captain

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:13:00 +0000

Chapter 9 ~ Overboard

Justin watched as his ship drew ever closer to his target. He had waited a long time for this moment. He was on a mission to see how well he could do without Maath and Namid’s leading. He had been trying to do missions more and more without Maath and Namid’s firm guidance ever since he had dropped Dabria off at her own home over eight months ago, but this time he was determined he would make it. He was supposed to pick Dabria up again in a week and he wanted to have his first total capture under his belt by then. He was catching up to the opposing ship now in a matter of moments he would be able to fire.

“Dip the colors,” Justin commanded.

Maath relayed the message and the Guardian’s Star’s flags dipped low. Justin watched, but there was no response. “Make sure they heard.”

Math called out again and a cannon ball launched into the air. It fell harmlessly into the water. The other ship’s response was to turn hard to the port side in an attempt to leave The Guardian Star behind.

“They never do learn,” Namid commented from the wheel.

“That makes it fun,” Justin replied. “When we are in range, take out the masts,” he told Maath quietly who again relayed the command to the ship.

Justin waited and watched. Within moments, they were in range and a volley of cannon balls soared to the opposing ship. Two hit the ship’s waist, one hit the quarterdeck, and one missed.

“Yes!” Justin exclaimed.

“You have not won yet, Captain,” Namid calmly said.

“No, but I will,” was Justin’s cocky reply.

“What is next then?” Namid asked conversationally.

“We hit them again,” Justin replied, thinking on his feet.

“Sure, why not,” Maath said, “we don’t want there to be a ship left for us to board.”

“We only hit it three times,” Justin complained.

“You are the captain,” Namid replied.

“Right, and I’m about to prove it,” Justin said. “Send out a half volley, as soon as it launches, Namid pull hard port and Maath have the men ready to board.”

Namid and Maath shared a glance and both men said, “Aye, aye, Captain.”

The men carried out their orders to perfection and soon The Guardian Star had pulled along side the opposing ship. Within minutes, planks connected the two ships and the crew was crossing, swords drawn. They moved as seasoned men and the crews clashed swords quickly. Justin followed in the final wave, with Maath and Namid at his side.

The three made their way through the throng, searching for the captain of the doomed ship. Justin slashed in front of him and cut a long gash into the opponent standing in his path. Namid turned and used his shoulder to move him completely out of the way, just as Maath slashed at another opponent. Justin nodded his thanks and moved to take out the next one in line. They continued slowly up the steps until they reached the quarterdeck. The captain stood at the helm glowering.

“You! You will not leave this ship alive, Black Panther!”

Justin turned behind him to look at Namid who was at his shoulder. The captain seemed to be addressing him. Justin wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be amused or angry, but anger quickly won out. True, they had carefully kept his identity a secret because Tommy was recognizable and he still looked so young, even at twenty. But this was his first mission with little guidance from Maath and Namid and he should be able to take credit for it! Besides, this guy obviously had no idea who the original Black Panther was either if he could mistake Namid for him.

“Why you…” Justin sputtered.

“You are not even worth the Black Panthers time, you weakling. You should feel honored that your ship was conquered by the greatest pirate on the Ula Ocean!” Maath spoke up.

Justin glanced at him and shot him a frown, which Maath ignored.

“I’ll defeat you without breaking a sweat!” Justin swore, turning back to the other captain.

“What’s wrong, Black Panther, can you not even speak for yourself?” The other captain mocked.

“He doesn’t have to, my sword speaks for itself!” Justin exclaimed launching himself forward.

The man barely blocked his blow with a high cut. Justin let his sword slide along the other then swung it underneath. The man jumped back, but his clothes were ripped in the process. The captain growled and swung high. Justin ducked and lunged, cutting the man’s arm, but as he did the man cut down deeply into Justin’s side. Suddenly, another sword joined the fray and it sliced across the hand of the captain, causing him to drop his weapon, before it could do anymore damage.

Justin looked up to see Namid standing above him and between the two opponents. He hit the deck with his fist in frustration, and then automatically groaned at the pain it caused his side. Maath reached down and helped him to stand.

“Are you all right?” Maath asked.

“I’m fine,” Justin muttered angrily.

“Hmmm,” was Maath’s reply.

Justin looked at the man who stood on the opposite side of Namid clutching his hand and glairing at the three of them. “Mark the ship, get the booty, and let’s go. I’ve had enough,” Justin muttered, unable to enjoy his victory now.

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Maath replied too quietly for the man to hear. “Inu, Sheron!”

The two crewmembers, who had been tying up the other crew, rushed over. “Take him back to the ship and see that he is properly taken care of,” Maath commanded handing Justin off to them.

The men nodded and carefully they made their way back to the Guardian Star. Justin allowed them to lead him into the Great Cabin and help him onto the bed. Sheron left quickly to get the Cook and hot water and bandages, while Inu helped him to take off his shirt and sword. Before Sheron came back, Justin had blacked out.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“Honest, I am fine, Dabria. Will you quite it already!” Justin said louder this time.

“You are not fine, I saw you wince!” The girl protested just as loudly.

“You saw no such thing,” Justin growled, wishing the girl had paid more attention to the decorum lessons aboard the ship.

The two were standing on the main deck and Justin was sure half the crew could hear them arguing, since about that number had stopped working to listen. He had been supervising the moving of some cargo, when he had pulled his shoulder the wrong way. That wouldn’t have been a problem, except the shoulder was connected to his side that the rival captain had pierced. It was two week since the ‘incident,’ as Maath referred to it, had happened and Justin was almost fully healed, but it still caused pain when he forgot and moved the wrong way. He hated being reminded of it because it made him seem weak, which was exactly what this girl was doing by protesting loudly that he was hurt to half the crew.

Dabria shook her head, so that her almost white hair flew all around her face. “I’m not blind. Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Why are you being so noisy?” Justin countered.

Dabria took a step back and lowered her voice. “I am not. I’m just concerned. I can help you get better.”

Justin looked at her in surprise at the change in topic. “What exactly do you mean?”

“I heard Maath’s lessons, I bet I could do some work too. I’d be a huge help to you and you know it.”

“No way. You would only get underfoot,” Justin said thinking back to her first time on board when she had been into everything and had nearly driven him and his crewmembers mad.

“I would not. Let me do something easy then,” she cast him a sly look, which Justin did not like at all.

“What are you thinking, Pixie?” He asked cautiously.

“Well, if you think I’ll get underfoot down here, then let me do something that I can do and not get under foot,” her gaze slid past him and up.

Justin didn’t have to look to know what she was gazing at so intently. “Absolutely not. You must think I’ve lost my mind. Don’t you remember the last time you tried that? If you as so much as attempt to go up that rigging to the crow’s nest, so help me, I will lock you in your cabin for the rest of your life!”

Dabria threw him a disgusted look, which quickly changed to an innocent one. “Oh, come on, Captain Justin, you wouldn’t do that and you know it. Besides, I was only what eleven last time? I’m much older and responsible now.”

Justin wanted to shudder at the thought of the last time she had attempted to climb the rigging. Unlike his first time, the girl had been fearless. She was a little thing, but she had managed to make it halfway up to the nest, before anyone but her maid had realized what she was doing. Then she had slipped, Justin had seen his life and hers flash before his eyes when that happened. She had landed in her cabin for the rest of the trip for that stunt.

“Justin? Justin? Hey Justin! I’m talking to you!” Dabria’s impatient voice called him back from memory lane.

He looked at her for a moment before realizing she was still speaking. “What?”

Dabria sighed. “I had a very convincing list going!”

“Not convincing enough. You are never to climb the rigging again. Don’t you remember, you promised me.”

“But I was only eleven!” She protested.

“Yes, and now you are only thirteen. I’m grateful that you want to help, but the best thing you can do for me is stay out of trouble for a change! End of negotiations.”

“What negotiations? You didn’t even let me finish!” She protested louder.

“You’re finished now,” Justin responded. He turned his back to her and shouted some minor order to a sailor passing by then yelled for everyone else to get back to work. Behind him he heard Dabria give a ‘humph!’ and then leave. He’d deal with her later, but right now he just wanted the soothing sounds of his ship.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Dabria stomped away from the captain and back towards the cabin she shared with Salena. She almost hit two crewmen in her way. She mumbled an apology and kept going missing the strange look the men shot at her. She reached her door and yanked it open. Salena looked up from her reading startled.

“What is wrong with you?”

“I am not just thirteen!” She stormed.

“Uh, okay. You are thirteen,” Salena said logically, looking at her friend as if she had lost her mind.

“But not just thirteen! Thirteen year olds can do a lot of things! I’m not some little kid anymore!” Dabria clarified loudly.

“Of course they can,” Salena said soothingly as she stood up. “You can do lots of things, Dabria, but just what is going on? What has you so fired up?”

“He said I was only thirteen and I couldn’t be any help at all! Do I look like a baby to you?” Dabria spouted out.

“Oh,” Salena finally said, as she came to stand in front of Dabria. “I take it our captain didn’t need your help.”

“Oh, he needs it. He just doesn’t want it,” Dabria explained.

“Um, do you want to sit down, Bree? You look like you need a seat and a drink,” Salena asked carefully.

“I’m not a baby! I don’t need you to watch over me!”

“That’s my job. I’m the maid,” Salena stated calmly, leading an unwilling Dabria to the chair at the table.

“I never treat you like a maid!” Dabria defended herself.

Salena arched her eyebrow. “Yeah, you do. Whenever it benefits us or we need to keep up pretenses. But that’s beside the point, I’m trained to help you and that’s what I’m going to do. So, sit down and close that mouth of yours!”

Dabria sat and her mouth closed, only because she couldn’t think of anything else to say at the moment. She watched silently as Salena put her book on the bed then poured a glass of water and handed it to Dabria.

“Drink. You don’t want to get sick again.”

“I’m too mad to be sick,” Dabria stated.

“You know any high stress or emotion brings it on. Anger included,” Salena reminded her.

“It takes more than just that, besides I haven’t had an attack in a year.”

“The last one was on this ship and I believe because of the captain then too,” Salena commented slyly.

“What is your point?” Dabria asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, except maybe that you get emotional on this ship,” Salena replied calmly.

“I do not and I only want to help! Hey, who asked you anyway?” Dabria demanded.

“Nobody, I was blessing you with my opinion,” was the quick reply.

“Go bless our captain,” Dabria muttered.

Salena shook her head. “No way. I’m staying right here. You’re the one with the problem.”

“I don’t have a problem. I don’t get what the big deal is!”

“You and me both. So why are we still talking about it?” Salena asked, titling her head to one side.

“We’re not,” Dabria replied quickly. She glanced up at the ceiling. “I’m hot.”

Salena shot her a concerned look. “You are? Do you want more water or a cool cloth?”

Dabria shook her head. “No, I don’t think that will help. I don’t feel like I have a fever. I feel like I’m stuffy hot.”

“Oh,” Salena nodded. “Well, there is not a lot we can do about that on this ship. You know that.”

Dabria contemplated the table for a full second, before jumping up. “Maybe there is.”

“No. Whatever it is, Dabria, no. I know that look,” Salena looked at Dabria with narrowed eyes.

“Yes, and you’ve always loved my ideas,” Dabria grinned at her.

“When we were nine!” Salena exclaimed.

“Oh, stop. Haven’t we already gone over that today?” Dabria shook her head. “We are older now!” She yelled as her voice rose two octaves. Suddenly she stopped, and then spoke much lower, “But then, that proves my point, if he wants to treat me as a kid, then I’m going to act like one!”

Salena’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She closed it and tried again without success.

Dabria laughed. “You look like a fish!”

This time, Salena’s mouth worked. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking it’s time for some fun. I’m hot, so I’m going to cool off,” Dabria said confidently.

“Um, doing what?” Salena asked tentatively.

Dabria’s eyes got wide as she grinned. “Swimming!”

“What?” Salena practically shouted. “Have you lost it?”

“Yep,” Dabria readily agreed as she turned to her trunk and pulled out a white billowed shirt and a pair of loose black pants, she had obtained from an unknowing sailor a while ago.

“In that?” Salena asked.

“You got a better idea?” Dabria questioned.

“Not go?”

Dabria gave her a look and Salena muttered, “I didn’t think so.”

“You coming?”

“For a swim in the Ula Ocean? No thanks. I’ll wait till your next crazy idea,” Salena replied.

Dabria shrugged. “Your choice.”

“Dabria, are you really serious?”

Dabria shot her a look again and Salena sighed.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“If we didn’t have the girls, I’d do it in a second,” Justin replied to Maath.

“Everyone is tired. The last battle was hard fought, and you and others were injured. They can use a break,” Maath replied stubbornly.

“Maath, do you hear me arguing that point with you? I know that, but we still have the problem of Dabria and Salena. We have to get them to Tommy’s before we do anything else. Then we can head to the Diamond Islands for a break,” Justin replied.

“Fine, can I at least tell the men they have one coming?” Maath questioned persistently.

“Fine by me. It will feel good to relax for a few days. The last haul was pretty big.” Justin replied.

“Aye, Captain, and the men are eager to spend it,” Namid replied, walking up to join the two.

Justin grinned at him. “How about this, we drop off the two girls, spend some time in the Dimond Islands, then head to Jasmine for a night or two. That ought to cool off their bodies and their pockets.”

Maath and Namid smiled. “Yeah, a whole bunch of Yalrando will do that right quick.”

Justin nodded, thinking he was just in the mood for some of the beverage. It was a mixture of some non-alcoholic beverages, even the alcoholics loved the mixture and it could only be obtained in Jasmine. “Go ahead and tell the men, Maath. It should lift up some spirits.”

Maath nodded and moved away as Namid spoke, “You said you wanted to take a turn at the helm, Captain?”

Justin nodded. “Yes, we’ve made this trip so many times, I can do it with my eyes closed now.”

“Perhaps,” Namid replied, “but remember no matter how many times you sail one direction, the sea is always changing to another.”

Justin moved towards the helm from his place on the main deck. “I know, don’t worry Namid, I don’t forget all those lessons that easily.”

“You still have much to learn, young Captain.”

Justin shrugged and walked up the steps to the quarter deck, relieving the sailor at the helm. “Maybe, but I’ve been pretty impressive getting this far.”

Namid laughed. “Yes, you have.”

Justin grinned and felt the wood wheel give with the sea under his hands. He had grown to love that feeling. It still thrilled him as it did when he had first taken a turn steering the fasted ship on the Ula Ocean, his ship. He looked up quickly when a movement unfamiliar to him caught his eye.

“Tell me I am dreaming! She is not going too…” Justin started to say to Namid, when a splash cut off his remark. “Dabria!”

He yelled and leapt from his position to race to the spot where he had seen her jump in from the top of the rail. Behind him, he vaguely realized Namid had taken the wheel again. He reached the edge at the same time as Maath and a fraction before the rest of the crew.

“Do you see her?” He asked frantically.

“No, Captain, nowhere.”

Justin let out a loud curse.

“Please, sir, do not use such language,” a small voice came from beside him. Justin swung around, instantly on the attack. “Salena! What was she thinking!”

“Um, I think you’d better ask her, sir. Could you just bring her back on board, please?”

Justin swung back around his eyes scanning the sea carefully. “If I could find her,” he muttered. “Come on, Dabria, where are you?”

“There!” A crewmember called out suddenly. He pointed to a spot in the distance towards the stern of the boat. “I saw something bob!”

Justin stripped his jacket off without thought. Maath’s hand on his arm caused him to look at his first mate quickly.

“Captain, you are still injured.”

“And Dabria is still out there. It’s too long not to see the idiot. I want her back and safe. Let go.”

“But sir…”

It was too late. Justin had jumped in and was heading towards the spot that the sailor had pointed out. He looked widely around, but couldn’t see her. He dove under quickly, pushing water out of his way in an attempt to see where she might be. In a minute, he was back up again, scanning the surface.

“When I find her, I’ll kill her,” he muttered, half terrified that he wouldn’t find her and half mad that she might be fine and he just couldn’t see her.

A bob on the surface a few yards away, caused him to swim in that direction. A spot of white flashed in front of him and he went under again. This time he saw the white more clearly and grabbed hold of the hand attached. She began to struggle violently, but Justin yanked hard and pulled her to the surface, his side aching in protest to the hard action.

They broke through with a gasp. Justin still held her hand firmly and yanked her closer to him, scanning her face for any sign of danger to her. Her face was flushed, but she appeared unharmed otherwise and she was treading water fine, even with one hand captured in his. She tried to jerk away from him, but he held on tightly.

“Owe, that hurts!” She gasped out.

“That is nothing compared to what I’ll do once I get you safely back on that ship!” Justin replied crossly. “Are you out of your mind!”

“I wanted to swim,” Dabria replied innocently.

“Don’t give me that crap.” Justin yanked her hand harder and pulled her back towards the ship. He turned and saw the longboat making its way to them. He held her hand tightly and refused to say another word to the still protesting girl.

In a few minutes they were back on board and Salena had wrapped the soaked Dabria in a warm blanket. Both girls stood still as Justin glared at them. Finally he barked, “Cabin!” and both girls scurried away. He turned to the rest of the crew and barked again, “Show’s over. Get back to work, and then next one that sees something like that had better get me before it happens!”

The crew hurried away and back to their jobs, while Maath brought Justin his own blanket, but Justin shrugged it away.

“Now, Justin,” Maath started in a calm voice.

“I’m going to kill her!” Justin sputtered glowering at the spot where the girls had disappeared below.

“That might not be the best idea,” Namid replied calmly. “Go to your cabin and change then deal with them. You will also need to get that side looked at again, though I suspect you’re too angry to feel it right now, you will later. Besides, you will need a clear frame of mind, or else Maath and I will need to play bodyguards for the girls and I don’t really feel like doing that.”

“What could possible have possessed her?” Justin asked out loud.

Maath shrugged. “Don’t know, but I bet she has a great answer.”

“You are enjoying this!” Justin accused.

“Now that the girl is all right, yes I am,” Maath replied happily.

“You’re going to need a bodyguard too,” Justin muttered as he stomped towards the Great Cabin, but he could hear Maath and Namid’s laughter anyway.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Justin knocked on the door to the girls’ cabin then entered without waiting for a reply. He was relieved to see Dabria was properly dressed again. He was pretty sure she had been swimming in sailor’s garb. He stood just inside the closed doorway, with crossed arms and looked sternly at the girls. Dabria was sitting comfortable on the bed, while Salena sat ramrod straight in the chair.

“Well, Dabria, do you have anything at all to say? What were you thinking?” Justin asked in a ‘don’t bother lying to me’ tone.

Salena cast a look at Dabria, but the girl simply smiled and replied, “I wanted to go for a swim. I was hot.”

“So you launched yourself off the side of my ship and into the sea?” Justin ground out.

Dabria cast a quick look at the floor, before looking up and replying firmly, “yes.”

“Why?”

“Um, I wanted to go for a swim?” Dabria asked, confused.

“Stop it, Dabria. Why did you really jump and don’t give me that ‘I’m hot’ line either.”

“I was hot,” she muttered.

“Fine, does that also explain your two year old attitude?” Justin asked, very frustrated now.

“I’m not two!” Dabria stormed.

“Then quite acting like it!” Justin yelled back.

Dabria dropped to the bed. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“Yes, you did and you pulled it off quite well,” Justin accused. “I don’t have time to run this ship and babysit you too. Wasn’t it you who earlier today said you wanted to be a help? This is not helping, Dabria, this is the opposite!”

Dabria looked steadily at the floor and said nothing. Justin turned to look at Salena, but she too was studying the floor. Justin heaved in exasperation. He wasn’t use to dealing with teenage girls, especially not ones that were like little sisters to him. He was twenty now and had watched Kiliki deal with her sister for years, but he still didn’t get it. He wanted to throttle them both and yet he felt slightly guilty for screaming at them too.

“You went way overboard today, Dabria, way too literally. I ought to throttle you and then dump you back over the side,” Justin spoke, even as Dabria’s head went down further and Salena’s eyes widened. He knew he wasn’t helping, but he was still furious. He felt really guilty, however, when he saw the tears dropping to the floor from Dabria’s eyes. “You have got to learn when not to act, Dabria.”

He walked over to her and knelt in front of her. “Hey, Pixie, come on and pick up your head.” He tucked his hand under her chin and pulled it up. “I got so mad because I have never been so scared in my life. There are sharks out there, or you could have been pulled under the ship, another ship might have come along, the undertow could have taken you…” Justin took a breath. “Do you see why I was so worried? You could have been seriously hurt and I care too much about you to let that happen, Pixie.”

Dabria nodded. “I’m so sorry, Justin! I was mad and I wanted to prove I was older and I thought if I just took a swim I could cool off. I didn’t want you to get hurt even more. And I just… I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.” Justin smiled at her and used his free hand to wipe her tears off her face. “You may be a teenager, Pixie, but you are still a kid too. And that’s not a bad thing. You will have plenty of time to help me as you get even older and I’m pretty sure you’ll give me plenty of trouble too.”

Dabria laughed at that and Justin felt a sense of relief at the sound. “You know how you want to protect me and make sure I don’t hurt myself worse? Well, I feel the same way about you. So let’s make a deal. You don’t jump overboard or do anything reckless like that again, and I’ll try to remember to behave when I get hurt and get better quick. Deal?” Justin put out his hand.

Dabria looked at it for a second before shaking it. “Deal. I am sorry.”

Justin nodded as he stood up. “Yeah I know. Take a swim, you must have been out of your mind.”

“No, she just wasn’t thinking straight,” Salena piped up from her chair.

Justin and Dabria both turned to look at her. Dabria shot her a grimace, while Justin asked, “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Nope, there is a distinct difference,” Salena affirmed.

Justin just shook his head, but Dabria was silent.

She looked at Justin. “Justin, how are you going to punish me?”

Justin glanced at her. “What do you think I should do?”

“I don’t know. I caused a lot of problems, didn’t I.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, you did,” Justin agreed. “If you’re old enough to know that, you’re old enough to take responsibility for your actions. What should I do with you?”

Dabria thought for a long time before she finally replied, “Well, I’m on your ship, so I guess I should be punished like any of your crew members. I think I should have to swap the deck until we reach the port and I shouldn’t be allowed to take the helm or attend any lessons with Maath, if you have them.”

“That sounds fair,” Justin replied thoughtfully. “Maath isn’t giving me regular lessons anymore, he hasn’t for a while, it is more like teach as the time comes now, but I defiantly agree you shouldn’t have any of your privileges. As for the deck, it would be really hard for you to clean the whole thing by yourself, however, you will help to clean it everyday.”

Dabria nodded accepting the terms.

Justin turned to Salena. “And what about you?”

Salena looked at him in surprise. “What about me? I didn’t jump overboard.”

“No,” Justin agreed. “But you are Dabria’s friend. You knew she was going to do something dangerous and you didn’t tell anyone. You also let her do it. I know that’s not a reason to punish you, but it is a reason to make you think. You might not be in charge of Dabria, but when she has a dangerous idea it is up to you to tell someone who can help. I don’t mean tattling, when she just gets one of her crazy ideas, but something serious like this. When you knew you couldn’t stop her, you should have come straight to me. Understand?”

“Yes,” Salena nodded. “So will I be punished too?”

“Why don’t we just take away your privileges for two days? That way you can spend some time figuring out when it is the right time to speak up and when it is okay to be silent,” Justin decided.

“Okay,” Salena readily agreed.

“Good. Now I have to get this ship back on course and on time. I want you two to stay here for a little while, calm down and think some more. I’ll see you both later.”

Justin headed to the door and opened it.

“Justin?” Dabria called, causing him to turn back around. “Thank you for coming after me.”

“You know I’ll always come, Pixie,” Justin promised with a smile, before he left, closing the door behind him.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Guardian Star's True Captain

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Chapter 8 ~ Wedding Bliss

Despite protests, Dabria was in bed for the next three days. Kiliki had taken one look at her and ordered her up to her room at the Javale estate. Justin had carried her upstairs, and then immediately left, promising only to be back in time for the wedding. Salena and Tadi did their best to keep her well entertained with news of the wedding preparations and Adem’s three year old attempts to help. Their recollections were highly amusing, but not quite the same as being there herself.

The Brentlyn estate had been turned into a huge wedding palace. The wedding itself would take place out on the back lawn. The Jakon orchard would provide the backdrop to the sunset wedding. Flowers from Aunt Jada’s garden were displayed everywhere. Aradon and Brena, Tommy’s housekeeper for the Brentlyn estate, led the servants as their own private army.

The moment Dabria was allowed out of bed, she requested a trip to give the ‘wedding palace’ her own approval. With a promise from Evyn to keep an eye on her, she and Salena gleefully took off in the carriage. The girls’ eyes widened in surprise at the activity around the Brentlyn estate.

“Wow, Salena, I thought Javale was busy. This is amazing.” Dabria’s voice held wonder and awe.

Salena only nodded, keeping her eyes on the activities outside the carriage window. Evyn’s face appeared in the window, blocking their view.

“I have to see to things about the estate. All this wedding stuff and I still have to keep everything running. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

Dabria’s mouth dropped open. “It’s your wedding! It’s really important!”

“Sure, that part after the wedding. Everything else is just a pain,” Evyn reported.

The girls looked at each other and shook their heads.

“You are such a boy!” Dabria exclaimed.

Evyn laughed. “Yes, and Emalia likes me that way. Now, can you two stay out of trouble for a bit?”

The girls nodded solemnly.

Evyn grinned and pointed at Dabria. “Don’t overdo it or our sister will have my head!”

“I won’t,” Dabria said in her best innocent voice.

Evyn didn’t look completely convinced, but he left the girls and hurried inside.

Dabria grinned at Salena. “Let’s get a good look around!”

“Oh yes! I want to see everything!” Salena agreed quickly.

Within seconds the girls were out of the carriage and bounding all over. Everywhere they looked there were things to do and see. Gardeners were trimming and watering each bush and tree all across the estate. People came and went constantly with all manner of different shaped packages. Servant’s carried things in from the store rooms and furniture and rugs out of the house to get some fresh air in them. Others carted tables and chairs and set them up all over the backyard for the guests. Many of the most important people around all of Zerlinda were expected if Tadi was to be believed. Some kids chased a dog and three cats between it all. On top of the stairs, Brena directed everything, looking much like Captain Justin directing his crew, Dabria thought.

She hurried up the steps to Brena’s side. The older woman glanced at her and then swooped down to give her a large hug.

“My dear little, Dabria. How are you feeling?”

“I’m better now. I came to help.”

The older woman’s face turned slightly stern. “Help or watch? I believe you are still restricted are you not?”

“Well…” Dabria hedged.

“She doesn’t know what that means,” Salena put in helpfully.

Dabria glared at her friend, while Brena laughed.

“Oh, she knows. She just wishes she didn’t. You may watch, Dabria, but you are not to do anything that will overtax you. Like it or not, you are recovering still.”

Dabria stuck out her tongue, making Brena laugh again.

“Go on with you. We have lots to do before the wedding in two days. Why don’t you see what the twins are doing?”

Dabria grinned. “Yeah! Are they in the orchard?”

“More than likely they are helping Natili in the kitchen. I believe that was where my daughter sent them after they attempted to get little Cuini to eat some freshly dug up worms.”

“Did she?” Dabria asked, eyes wide.

Brena laughed. “Cuini is five, but she is not dumb. Sometimes I think she is smarter than my grandchildren.” She glanced up. “Henri! You put that down right this second! You can’t bring that type of wood outside! It’s been finished! They are watering things out here! In! Inside! Right now!”

With that, Brena was off directing again. Dabria laughed and she and Salena headed straight for the kitchen. Inside, it was just as active as outside. The entire house smelled of fresh air, cleaning supplies, and something really good coming from the kitchen. The girls followed the scent into the world of foods.

Natili was a captain of her own in this room and though there was someone or something in every inch of space, everyone flowed to a timing all Natili’s. The cook didn’t shout once, but a single look was enough to send anyone off in the opposite direction. At the middle table, the nine year old twins were chopping vegetables rather furiously.

“Hi!” Dabria said, stepping up to them.

“Dabria! Salena!” The twins cried simultaneously. “When’d cha get here?”

“Now,” Dabria responded causally.

“Aren’t cha sick?” Keshi asked, his noise wrinkling.

“Not anymore,” Dabria answered importantly. “Besides, you can’t catch it.”

“Oh,” Keshi replied, going back to his chopping, apparently not concerned anymore.

“Are you staying here now?” Kiran asked, keeping a close eye on her brother’s motions.

“I wish,” Dabria said sadly.

“She’s still on restriction,” Salena put in.

Dabria turned to glare at her friend and the twins laughed.

“Dabria!” A strong voice called out.

Dabria turned to find the rotund cook smiling at her.

“When did you get here, small one?”

“Just now. I wanted to come look.”

Natili nodded. “I’m sure you did. There is lots of excitement here. A little too much, sometimes.” She added, with a glance at the twins, who started chopping faster.

“How is Cuini?” Salena asked.

“My daughter is just fine. Thank you for asking, Salena,” Cammy reported from the brick oven she was placing bread into. “The excitement is a bit much though, so she went down for a nap.”

Dabria nodded importantly. “She probably needed it.”

“Yes,” Cammy smiled. “She did.”

“Natili!” Brena entered. “Did you figure out what cake to make yet?”

Natili frowned. “You can’t rush art!”

Brena smiled. “I thought I was rushing a cake.”

“Same thing!” Natili threw her hands in the air.

Cammy closed the oven door and turned around with a grin. “It’s no use, Brena. She has two days. She’ll have it ready in time.”

“I was just checking. You have a lot of guests to feed too, Natili.”

“I know! I even have your grandchildren working!”

“I’m sure their mother is pleased,” Brena covered a smile as the twins gave a loud groan.

“Mom!” The twins’ mother, Patience, entered the crowed kitchen. “Someone put… I don’t even know what into the linen. It’s turned all the table clothes bright orange!”

“They’re supposed to be white!” Brena exclaimed.

“I’d suggest you inform the linen,” Patience said practically.

“And how should I do that?” Brena asked, crossing her arms.

“Ask Ferryll if there is money to buy more?” Patience suggested.

Before Brena could come up with a response to that, the back door burst open and Heath raced in. He glanced around quickly. “Hi, Honey,” he said in Cammy’s direction, before turning to Brena. “There is someone here who insists he was hired to paint the wedding portrait of the Knight and Maid before they marry, and Rallo wants to know if it was every decided exactly how many guests were coming so he can set out more chairs if they are needed, and I need to borrow the twins for a moment. Someone let the cat out again and she managed to knock over every flower vase in the backyard. How I’m not sure, but Rallo said either the twins get her or he’s getting letting the dogs have a snack.”

“No!” The twins shrieked together, before both dropping their knives and dashing out the door.

“Heath!” Patience exclaimed.

Heath looked at Rallo’s wife and shrugged. “They moved, didn’t they?”

Brena shook her head. “The wedding is in two days! Could we at least pretend to have some order around here?”

“There you are!” Evyn’s voice preceded him into the kitchen. “We need to get you back. Kiliki will have a fit if you are late for your final dress fitting.”

“Our dresses!” Dabria clapped her hands together. “We are going to be the Children of Blossoms.” She explained proudly to the room at large.

“Then you must look your very best,” Brena confirmed sweetly. “Go with your brother and I will straighten out everything here. Now, Heath, there will be no dogs! And of course they Knight and Lady will be painted after the marriage and not before of all the ideas! As for chairs and guests…”

Dabria missed whatever was said next as Evyn hustled her and Salena back into the carriage. They pulled up to the front steps of the Javale estate, just as Kiliki exited the house, hands on hips, and with a lecture for Evyn. The girls ducked quickly inside. Wedding preparations made for many active and uptight adults, Dabria decided, just as Aunt Jada stuffed her into a new dress.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The day before the wedding, Dabria and Salena closed themselves off in Dabria’s room for an emergency meeting.

“It’s not very good, Dabria. I mean, I’ve done better.” Salena spoke in a concerned voice as she analyzed the paper in her hand.

“Let me see it.” Dabria sat next to her friend on the bed and held out her hand.

Reluctantly, Salena handed over the paper. Dabria smiled at her before looking down to read the poem.

Through troubled times you kept me safe

Guarding my heart and mind always

It is you alone who lets my heart soar

It is you who loves me more and more

When I was lost to all and no one saw

You understood as no one else could

It is you alone who lets my heart soar

It is you who loves me more and more

Together we live and love, we remember

Together we will remain forever

“What’s wrong with it?” Dabria asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it, but it doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, I think it’s great. Now, let me think. Hmm….” Dabria stood and paced the room with the paper in her hand. “The first part is Emalia’s point of view, right?”

“Right!” Salena said with relief. “And Evyn’s is the second stanza.”

“And the rest is them together?” Dabria asked.

Salena nodded and Dabria kept pacing. Finally, she swung around to look at her friend.

“I’ve got it. I’ll draw Emalia on the left side up high, and in the middle Evyn will be on the right. Then, on the bottom, I’ll put the two together. I think a sunset over water for the background. After all, they are getting married at sunset and they met on the water!”

“That’s really good!” Salena exclaimed.

Dabria smiled. “I know. Sometimes I surprise even myself.”

The girls laughed.

“What is the name of the poem?” Dabria questioned, when they had regained their breath.

“I don’t know. I was thinking something simple. Like their names or just ‘Together.’ What do you think?”

“I like both ideas. But you’re the writer. I just draw.”

“Well, what would you title the drawing?”

Dabria thought about it for a moment. “Their names.”

Salena nodded. “Then it’s settled.”

“Good.” Dabria went to her desk and removed her pencils from the drawer. “I’ll start on the drawing right away and when I’m done, you can put in the words.”

Salena smiled. “It’s a perfect wedding present.”

“Yes. I can’t wait until tomorrow,” Dabria said, already drawing.

“It will be fun. There were a lot of chairs,” Salena commented, looking over her poem again.

“Are you nervous about walking to the front?” Dabria asked, picking up a different pencil.

“No, not really,” Salena answered, but her voice was quite.

“Just look at our family and friends.”

“We go down first!” Salena exclaimed looking up.

“Oh,” that caused her to pause for a moment. “Captain Justin will be up front before anyone! He’s the one marrying them. Look at him.”

“Dabria, Captain Justin isn’t here yet.”

The girls stared at each other for a moment.

“Kiliki!” Dabria yelled as she and Salena raced out of the room.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“Tommy, I cannot do everything at once no matter what you think!” Kiliki’s voice called out from her and Tommy’s bedroom.

“I didn’t say everything,” Tommy’s voice protested.

“You most certainly did!” Kiliki yelled, just as Dabria and Salena slid to a stop in the doorway.

Kiliki and Tommy stood facing each other with Adem on the floor between them. The just turned three year old looked from his father to his mother and back again, trying to figure out what had them upset. Dabria watched with interest for a moment, before stepping further into the room.

“Sissy!” She called more loudly.

The three occupants turned to look at her.

“Captain Justin hasn’t arrived yet!” Dabria pronounced.

“I know, Bree. I’m sure he’s on his way.” Kiliki said quite calmly for having been yelling a minute ago.

“But he’s not here yet! And it’s tomorrow!”

“He promised he’d be here.” Kiliki responded again, her eyes returning to her husband.

“But what if he’s not? Who will we look at?” Dabria exclaimed again.

That got her sister’s attention. “What?” Kiliki asked, shock and amusement in her voice.

Dabria looked at Salena. “What did I say?”

Salena shrugged.

“Helpful,” Dabria muttered and turned back to her sister. “Salena is scared to walk down to the front, so I told her we could watch Captain Justin because he’d already be down there. But if he’s not, then we can’t!” She explained importantly.

That caused Tommy to laugh and Kiliki to smile and say, ‘oh.’

“Well, Captain Justin is on his way right now. You have to trust that he will do his best to keep his promise and be here on time,” Kiliki managed to clarify, while hiding a smile.

Dabria sighed heavily. “I guess so.”

“Bee!” Adem called out from the floor.

“Hi, Adem!” Dabria stepped between her sister and brother to plop down on the floor and play with him. “So, what’s going on?” She asked, looking up at the two adults.

“Tommy was just remembering he is a father,” Kiliki said firmly.

“I never forgot!” Tommy protested.

A mischievous smile crossed Kiliki’s face. “Prove it. Take care of him today so I can take care of the wedding.” With that, Kiliki was out of the room, despite Tommy’s soundless protests.

“That sounds like fun,” Dabria said grinning.

“I thought you were working on Evyn and Emalia’s wedding present?” Tommy questioned, obviously thinking fast.

“Oh yeah!” Dabria jumped up. “We’ll be back!”

The two girls scurried back to their room, but only worked for a little bit before heading back to see how Tommy was faring with his son. They walked in to see Tommy trying to persuade Adem to hold still. Dabria burst out laughing.

Tommy shot her a look that quieted her immediately, but her smile stayed in place.

“What are you doing?” Dabria asked quickly.

“Changing Adem. Can’t you tell?” Tommy asked, a little bit of frustration in his voice.

Dabria cocked her head and watched Adem for a moment. The naked baby’s old diaper lay beside him and Adem’s arms and legs moved in every direction as he giggled joyfully. Tommy stood above him holding the new diaper and trying to move around the waving arms and legs.

“Adem. Hold still.” Tommy commanded, but the little one just giggled.

Without warning, a stream of yellow launched for Tommy’s face.

“Ach!” Tommy yelled, holding up the diaper before his face. “Adem!”

“Ew! Gross!” Dabria and Salena managed, laughing hard enough to double them over.

The toddler rolled over on the bed and plopped onto the ground.

Tommy glared at his son. “Stay.” He ordered as he went to the pitcher and poured a lot of water into the bowl.

Adem put both hands on the ground and pushed his back up so that he could stand. Glancing at his father, he made his way to the door. Dabria and Salena stopped laughing long enough to watch in surprise as he toddled right on out.

“Um, Tommy?” Dabria called, but Tommy didn’t turn from the wash basin.

Salena looked at her and shrugged. The two girls hurried out to find Adem at the top of the stairs looking down.

“Adem, no!” Dabria hurried to his side. She grabbed a pudgy hand. “Those are dangerous.”

Adem looked up at his aunt. “Mommy!” He wailed.

“She’s downstairs.”

“Mommy! Want Mommy now!” It was louder this time and Salena clapped her hands over her ears.

“What should I do?” Dabria asked.

“Take him back to Tommy?” The girl suggested.

“He’s busy washing everything.”

“Then take him to his mom! Just make him stop yelling!” Salena cried as Adem started howling at the top of his lungs.

Dabria picked the boy up and hurried down the steps. Downstairs, servants rushed everywhere. Although the wedding was at the other estate, much of the preparations were taking place at this one. Naturally, this meant that there was not a single calm person on the floor and everyone rushed somewhere with a job that had to be done right then. Organized chaos reigned on the Brentlyn estate and Kiliki was nowhere to be seen. The girls looked around frantically as Adem continued to howl and wiggle non stop.

“Eak!” Dabria exclaimed. “Salena, he’s slipping!” The girl bent down to put the toddler closer to the floor.

“Well, don’t let go! I don’t see his mom,” Salena replied looking craning her neck to see in every direction.

“Adem, hold still!” Dabria repeated Tommy’s earlier command. She had no better success than he did as the three year old kicked her hard in her thigh. She yelped loudly and the boy slipped out of her hands and into the chaos of the wedding preparations. “Adem! Salena, stop him!”

But the Adem was already out of reach.

Salena gapped at Dabria. “How can a three year old be so fast?”

“I don’t know, but we have to catch him! He’s not even dressed!”

The two girls took off into the crowd of servants, pushing anyone who got in their way. Outraged cries rose up from everywhere, but the girls didn’t pay attention, intent on their mission to catch the little naked run away.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed Dabria’s shoulder and pulled her up short. She turned to see Tommy’s stern face looking down at her.

“Where is Adem?”

“Um, he got away…” Dabria’s voice trailed off quickly.

“How did he get downstairs?” Tommy’s voice was clipped.

“He wanted his mom and you were busy, so…”

“Dabria! It’s a natural disaster down here!” Tommy couldn’t keep the worry from seeping into his voice as he scanned the crowded rooms. “We need to find him.”

“Yeah! Before Kiliki does,” Salena put in.

Tommy winced. “Way before that. Split up. He’s down here somewhere.”

A cry from the direction of the kitchen stopped the splitting up process and everyone ran to the area. Servants were holding trays high above their heads as Adem toddled rather quickly around them. Tommy made a dash for his son, as others scurried out of the father’s way, but just before Tommy could put his hands on his little runway, Adem was lifted up into someone’s arms. Tommy looked up and took a step back.

“Hi, Honey.”

Kiliki stood with one hand on her hip and Adem secured on the other. Servants scurried for the door quickly and soon only the three and the girls were left.

“I suppose you have a very good explanation for this,” Kiliki spouted sternly.

“I was changing him,” Tommy offered.

“By letting him run naked through a house full of servants?” Kiliki was obviously not impressed.

“No. He did that by himself,” Tommy answered calmly, causing the girls to snicker behind him.

Kiliki swung her accusing gaze in their direction. Dabria swallowed hard.

“He wanted to see you, and Tommy was getting the peepee up, so we tried to get him down here, but he’s too active!” Dabria exclaimed.

Kiliki’s eyebrows rose and she turned back to her husband. “Peepee?”

“He’s a good shot with that diaper off,” Tommy commented and Dabria wasn’t sure if Tommy was proud or not.

Kiliki frowned and handed Adem to Tommy. “Take your son upstairs, put him in some clothes, clean up that mess, and keep a very good eye on him. I don’t have the time or desire to babysit you both!”

“My son! So, now you’ll let me claim him?” Tommy exclaimed.

Kiliki smiled tightly. “When he’s good he’s mine, when he’s bad he’s all yours. Now, move!” With that she turned and reentered the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “Girls, there is plenty for you to do too!”

Dabria and Salena glanced at each other then at Tommy, before moving quickly to follow Kiliki. Right before the door closed behind them, Dabria heard Tommy talking to Adem.

“It was never this hard on the ship!”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“The wedding is supposed to be in an hour!” Dabria shouted at the top of her lungs.

The entire room turned to face her. Tommy, Kiliki, Aunt Jada, Sahen, Evyn, Emalia, and Salena had all gathered before the ceremony to go over last minute details. But the action stopped when Dabria’s voice rose above them all.

“We are aware of that, Bree. What’s the matter?” Kiliki asked her sister.

“Captain Justin isn’t here!” Dabria stated what to her was perfectly obvious.

The adults’ faces turned slightly worried.

“We are aware of it, child. But there is nothing we can do,” Sahen replied gently.

“But he’s not here! You act like it doesn’t matter!” Dabria was almost in tears.

Kiliki went to her sister’s side immediately. “We know, Bree. But Sahen is right. We can’t do anything about it. If he can make it on time, Justin will be here.”

“But what if he’s not?” Dabria sniffed. “You can’t do it without him!”

Emalia came to stand next to her. “We don’t want to, Bree. But we can only wait so long.”

“Who’s going to marry you?” Dabria questioned, not at all happy that the adults were not more concerned about Captain Justin’s absence.

“The local minister is among the guests,” Aunt Jada replied. “Reverend Cassel can do it in a pinch if we ask. He’s not all that boring. I guess.”

“You guess?” Evyn looked at her amused.

Aunt Jada shrugged. “Well, I have to be honest some of the time, especially about the minister!”

“Aunt Jada, you are always brutally honest!” Emalia shook her head, quite amused.

Aunt Jada affected an innocent look. “I have no idea what you could possibly mean, my dear.”

Dabria frowned at them all. “But Captain Justin was supposed to do it! You promised he could! You can’t let someone else do it! You just can’t!” Her breathing was very rapid now.

“Sit down, Dabria,” Salena commanded, rushing out of the room. “I’m getting water!” She called over her shoulder.

Kiliki already had her sister halfway to the closest chair. “Count, Dabria. Slowly.”

Dabria shook her head and tried to breath, so Kiliki started the count. Salena was back in the room with a glass of water before Dabria’s breath matched the timing of Kiliki’s counting.

“Drink, Dabria. Please,” Salena pleaded, her brown eyes filled with concern.

Obediently, the girl took the glass and sipped slowly.

“We will wait as long as we can for Justin, Bree. I want him here just as much as you do. But we can’t wait forever,” Emalia tried to sooth the distraught girl.

“He promised he’d be here.” The girl hiccupped. “What if something happened? He could be in trouble.”

Kiliki looked back at Tommy. He glanced around the room and then spoke calmly. “You forget he is the Black Panther now, Dabria. And he has a good crew behind him. He’s fine, just delayed.”

Dabria nodded, still hiccupping and attempted to drink her water. Suddenly, she dropped the cup to the floor where it miraculously refused to shatter and ran to the open doorway. She flung herself into the arms of newly arrived Justin. Maath and Namid stood behind him.

Justin looked around the room, eyes wide, and barely managed to catch the girl on time. He gave her a quick squeeze and lifted her face to look at him. He frowned quickly. “Pixie, you’ve been crying.”

“You weren’t here,” the girl managed, burying her face back into his coat.

“Um… I’m here now,” Justin replied, looking to the room at large for help.

“She thought something might have happened to you and you wouldn’t make it in time for the wedding. She didn’t want us to replace you,” Evyn explained.

“Ah,” Justin said, comprehension dawning.

“Reverend Cassel will be so disappointed he won’t be able to perform the ceremony,” Aunt Jada inserted, obviously not the least bit displeased.

Justin gave Dabria another quick hug, the girl still had her arms wrapped around him, and then led her back to the seat. He glanced at the water and Kiliki’s position still on the floor.

Crouching down in front of her, he asked, “Pixie, did you almost have another attack?”

The girl ducked her head, but nodded.

“Pixie! I dropped you off with a promise you’d get well.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But I did.”

“And then you have a second attack because of me? Didn’t we just go through this?”

Tears appeared in Dabria’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Captain Justin.”

Justin shook his head and wiped her tears away. “Shh. Don’t cry. That’s not going to help. Everything’s fine. See, I’m here now.”

“Yes. We can walk down to you now,” Dabria breathed heavily.

“What?” Justin asked, confused.

“We walk down to you, remember?” Dabria asked.

Justin looked surprised for a moment and then smiled. “Oh, you’re the Children of the Blossom, right? Yep, I’ll be there waiting for you. Okay?”

Dabria nodded and smiled for the first time. Justin grinned at her and stood.

“I’m sorry. We were attacked and had to captured the ship,” Justin explained to everyone.

“Everything went smoothly?” Tommy asked.

“For us anyway,” Justin replied.

Evyn laughed. “Well, done Black Panther, but do you think you could slow down enough to marry me and my bride to be?”

“I don’t want to be accused of making the Lady wait any longer. I think the Knight already did that!”

Everyone laughed, except Evyn.

“Ha, ha, ha. Come on, we have a ceremony to perform!”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

For all the frantic preparations before, the wedding went off without a hitch. Justin waited just as he promised in front of the guests and Salena and Dabria made their way down to him, throwing their petal blossoms without a hitch. Tommy and Kiliki stood as First Knight and First Matron respectively. Evyn waited at Justin’s side and Emalia looked like a white angel as she floated down to him. It was a rather long ceremony in Dabria’s opinion, so when the Seal of Love, or first kiss, was officially given, she cheered louder than most. Justin sent a grin her way and then it was back up the aisle again. In her opinion, the best part came next: the food.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Guardian Star's True Captain Chapter 7

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:55:00 +0000

Chapter 7 ~ Sick

Dabria was had just turned twelve when Justin arrived to pick her up from her parent’s, but she was as bouncy as the eleven year old from the year before. It was a scary thought, but what made it worse was her excitement over Evyn and Emalia’s wedding. It wasn’t long before Justin was desperate for anything that would get Dabria’s mind off of the wedding. He had thought joining in on one of his lessons with Maath would provide the perfect distraction, but now he found himself wishing she was back on her wedding kick and leaving his lesson alone.

“So then, firing the bow guns would slow a ship down, but firing the stern-chasers might speed it up?” Dabria clarified.

Maath nodded with a grin. “You got it!”

Justin shook his head exasperated. The three of them and Salena were seated in the Great Cabin. Justin hadn’t changed much about the room since he took over for Tommy. Dabria and Salena where sitting comfortably on the bed, while Justin sat in his desk chair, and Maath had pulled the green chair up to the desk.

They were supposed to be working on strategies by using The Guardian Star’s advantages, but Dabria stopped them so often to ask what Maath called ‘insightful’ questions that Justin considered the entire lesson a waste. What made it worse was that Dabria was catching on much more quickly than Justin ever had and Justin was sure Maath was aware of that fact. Maath’s laughter brought him back out of his thoughts.

“That’s very impressive, Dabria. What do you think, Justin?”

“What?” Justin asked, having completely missed the conversation.

Maath laughed again. “Maybe you should hire Dabria on, Captain.”

Justin growled, but it was drowned out by Dabria’s shriek of delight. He couldn’t wait till she grew out of that shrieking stage. He figured it had to happen eventually.

“Bad luck,” Justin stated firmly.

“Maybe to our captains,” Maath replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Justin asked sharply.

Maath only shrugged, while Dabria and Salena looked on very interested.

“I think that’s all for today. Lesson’s over,” Maath declared, moving his chair back against the wall.

“You mean we had one?” Justin muttered.

Maath turned around. “Come on, girls. I know Namid promised you could steer after we were done.”

Salena hopped up, but Dabria didn’t move. “Go ahead and take your turn, Salena. I’ll be right there.”

Salena looked at her friend hesitantly, but at Dabria’s nod took off after Maath, who was already heading out. Justin noticed all this while he kept himself busy with the imaginary work of rearranging his desk, putting things back exactly as they started.

“You’re mad at me,” Dabria started without preamble.

Justin turned to face her surprised. “No, I’m not,” he denied.

Dabria shook her pixie head. “Yes, you are. Why?” She paused, before asking in a vulnerable voice, “Did I do something wrong?”

Justin sighed. “What makes you think I’m mad, Dabria?”

“’Cause you are. I can tell, but I don’t understand why. Did I say something wrong to Maath?”

Justin shook his head no. “You heard him. He was very impressed.”

Dabria stamped her foot frustrated. “Then what is going on? I can’t fix it if I don’t understand!”

“Why do you need to fix it?” Justin asked, curious now.

Dabria looked at him oddly. “Because I messed up, so I have to make it right.”

“I never said you messed up,” Justin pointed out.

Dabria tilted her head and looked confused. “But I made you mad. I must have done something.”

Justin sighed. ~ How can this twelve year old kid get me so mixed up? ~ “I’m not mad at you, Dabria. I just planned on spending more time on the strategies instead of basic ship facts.”

“Oh,” Dabria thought for a few moments. “Okay, I’ll make sure not to ask so many beginner questions next time.” Dabria shot him a proud smile and exited the room quickly.

~ Next time? ~

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Two days later, Justin had had some very solid lessons and felt he was making major progress. This was probably due to the fact Debria and Salena had not been back to a lesson yet. Maath told him once they dropped off Dabria and Salena he would lead a mission, attacking a pirate ship, with relatively little guidance from Maath and Namid. Justin was anxious to start and couldn’t wait to drop the two girls off.

He looked around the ship and spotted Salena at the rail. He frowned, thinking back over the last two days. Come to think of it, Dabria had not only missed the lessons, he hadn’t seen her at all. He wondered where she was and what she was doing that she had managed to stay out of his sight for two full days. He left his position on the quarterdeck and made his way over to the lone girl.

He was almost beside her before she realized he had approached. She gave a startled gasp when she saw him and quickly dropped into a curtsy, lowering her eyes to look at the deck. Justin’s frown deepened.

“Salena, does Dabria make you act the lowly servant or does she treat you more as a friend?” He questioned.

“It would depended, Captain Falcon. When we are alone I am always her friend, but in the company of others, I am merely the maid,” Salena replied, her voice low and soft.

Justin had lived the life of the lowly street rat too long not to let the sight of the cowering girl affect him. “Salena, please lift your face. I won’t hurt you.”

Slowly, the girl’s eyes rose though they never quite reached his.

“It’s a start. Look, if Debria doesn’t require you to act like a servant with her than I won’t either. Deal?” Justin asked.

Salena’s eyes grew bigger and this time they did meet his. “You really mean that, Captain Falcon?”

Justin shrugged. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but she was acting like he’d handed her a diamond tiara or something. “Sure, act how you want on the ship and speak freely too. All right?”

“Yes. Yes, Captain Falcon, and thank you,” she replied, her face glowing.

Justin had to wonder at the simple act of telling her to be herself. He question what would have happened to all the other girls he had known on the street had someone told them the same thing. They probably would have laughed and not dared. Justin shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked again at the girl standing in front of him.

She was taller than Dabria and had darker skin. Her hair was brown and her eyes looked like the new delicacy chocolate. She also had a small build, though it was still larger than Dabria, but that was no surprise, since Dabria had spent most of her life sick.

“Salena, where is Dabria?” Justin asked curiously.

Immediately, Salena’s head ducked back down. Justin sighed, this was getting frustrating and he really didn’t feel like playing fifty questions. Was Dabria okay?

“Salena, I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about. I just need to know if Dabria is okay,” Justin tried to ask in a gentler voice.

“I do not believe that you would hurt me, Captain Falcon. But I do not wish to betray Dabria’s trust either,” Salena replied in a tone that said she was sorry, but neither was she budging.

“Fine,” Justin muttered. “Is she at least okay?”

Salena shrugged. “She is doing as she wishes.”

“Which had better not mean any damage to my ship or herself,” Justin clarified.

“I will let you know if anything changes,” Salena replied dutifully.

“Yeah, okay,” Justin replied. “I’ll see you later, Salena.”

“Yes, Captain Falcon,” Salena smiled.

Justin shook his head and walked away wondering again what the little pixie was up too.

He found out the following day when, just after the noon meal, a terrified Salena came running up to him. He looked at her in surprise and then turned back to the three crewmembers.

“See that it is taken care of right away.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” the men said before heading down the stairs to the main deck.

Justin turned to Salena and said automatically, “Take a deep breath, Salena.”

The girl followed his instructions and then began a rapid fire report. “Dabria’s sick. I told her she was pushing herself to hard, but she said she wasn’t. And she wouldn’t listen to me, ‘cause she wants to prove she can, and now she is sick and I haven’t seen her this bad in a while, and I’m not sure what to do, since we are on this ship, and I could really use some help.”

“Um, sure,” Justin managed looking at her blankly. He sorted though her confusing monologue and was able to come up with the words ‘Dabria,’ ‘sick,’ ‘bad.’ “Wait, she is sick like her weird sickness sick?”

Salena nodded.

“How did this happen? You really need to tell me what she has been doing for the past three days, Salena,” Justin commanded.

Salena looked at the ground, but Justin could hear her voice clearly, “She has been studying really hard and so she hasn’t been eating and she’s been really worried so I think that helped to set it off. I told her she should take it easy and it wasn’t that important, but she just wouldn’t listen. She can be so stubborn!”

“Studying what and worried about what?” Justin asked as confused as before.

Salena’s chocolate eyes finally rose to his. “She’s been studying ship facts. She was worried she would disappoint you again and she didn’t want that to happen.”

Justin looked at her in shock. “What?”

Salena spoke slowly as if trying to come up with the right words. “You mean a lot to her. You take time out of every year to come get us and take us to her sister and she thought if she learned ship stuff maybe she could somehow repay you. She didn’t want you to get upset again and she didn’t know what else to do.”

“And this made her sick?” Justin asked, still trying to form a clear picture and feeling worse himself by the second.

“When Dabria is very worried or panicked it induces an attack. Once her condition flares up, there’s no stopping it, at least not with medication. The doctors were never able to decide exactly what condition she has, only that it is a very real threat. But we do know she needs to calm down and have the panic or stress reduced immediately or there is the possibility she will die. Kiliki was always the one who would take care of her and bring her out of it. I don’t know exactly what to do though.”

“Maath! Namid!” Justin suddenly called out then turned back to Salena. “You said she wanted to repay me, that she thought that learning ship terms would make me happy. Would it help if I talked to her?”

“I don’t know, a familiar voice helps, but I’ve been talking to her and she hasn’t really calmed down yet. It would probably help if we could just get her fever down first,” Salena said thoughtfully.

“What is it, Captain?” Namid asked as he and Maath appeared from behind Justin.

“You didn’t burn down the ship. What is the emergency?” Maath added.

Justin turned around to face them. “Dabria is very sick. Salena says she has a fever and is in one of her attacks. Can you think of what we should do?”

Maath looked at Naimd, who took over immediately. “Maath, call Cook. Tell him we need cool water and some strips of cloth. I don’t know what kind of problem Dabria has, but some of his tonic couldn’t hurt.”

Maath nodded and turned away to yell for a ship hand, while Namid looked at Salena. “Let’s go down to your cabin and see what we can do, okay?”

Salena nodded and the three of them proceeded to the cabin. Justin cringed as he entered the small room. It held two beds one above the other, a small table, a chair, a swinging lamp, and just enough room for the two girls’ trunks. Right now, the room reeked of sickness. Justin left the door open.

Namid went to the bedside and Justin held Salena back from the bed so Namid had room to work. Namid gently felt her head and then pulled the single cover off of her. He talked softly the whole time, but his only response was a low groaning. He frowned and turned to Salena.

“The captain and I will leave the room. I need you to undress Dabria and then put this cover back over her, okay?”

Salena nodded and made her way to the bed. She turned back. “I will call you when I am done.”

Justin and Namid nodded and left, closing the door behind them. Justin immediately turned to Namid and demanded answers.

Naimd shook his ahead. “It’s not good news, Captain. She is very sick with a high fever. She doesn’t have any other symptoms that I could see, so I’m not sure as to the cause, but we need to get her cooled down fast.”

Justin quickly explained what Salena had told him. He paused only once to accept the cloths from a ship hand. He was finishing up when Maath arrived with the water and a small bottle he carried far away from his body.

“Well?” Maath asked.

Justin let Namid fill him in as he turned back to the door thoughtfully. How had she gotten so sick so fast? Was he really the cause? It hurt to think that the little girl with the pixie face had made herself sick trying to please him by doing something as simple as learning ship facts. He had to speak to her and make her understand that wasn’t necessary. His mind hit an ocean wall when he suddenly realized if anything happened to Dabria, Kiliki would have his head and then some. He was just about to knock when the door opened.

“She is decent again,” Salena said softly, allowing them to enter.

Namid went to work, giving Dabria some of the tonic and wrapping her neck, wrists, and forehead in damp cloths. He explained to Salena how to do it and when each one should be changed. After he was sure she was comfortable, he stepped back and looked at Justin.

“Nothing to do now but wait.”

“I hate waiting,” Justin replied, looking down at the sleeping child.

He had never felt so bad about someone being sick as he did right then. And it was not just knowing Kiliki was going to kill him, but that he had helped to cause this. He had grown to care for the little pixie and her friend as he had taken them across the ocean two times a year. He marveled for a second at the realization that he cared for Dabria like a little sister. He had never had one before, never wanted one either, but he was glad to know that in a small way he too had a family. Now, he just had to make sure he didn’t lose her.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Justin had Salena give him regular updates over the next day and a half as he went about the ship and when he could get away he would sit by Dabria’s side himself to make sure she was as comfortable as possible. He talked about what was going on around the ship, so she wouldn’t feel she had missed anything. Salena had said that a familiar voice helped. Justin wasn’t positive he fell into that category, after all he only saw her for two trips out of the year and the occasional times he would stop at Tommy’s when she was there. But whatever the case, she seemed to relax when he talked, so he figured it was worth it.

“Hi.”

Justin looked at the form beside him in surprise. “Hello, Pixie, you’re awake.”

“Uh, huh.” Her tongue ran over her chapped lips. “Water … please.”

Justin nodded and stood quickly from the chair he had pulled to her bunk side. He took the two steps to the table and poured a small glass of water they had been keeping handy. Returning, he sat back down. “Do you need help?”

Dabria nodded slowly. Her eyes were barely open. Justin took one arm and tucked it behind her body, easily lifting the girl to a semi-sitting position. He held her there as he handed her the glass. She put her small hands over his and drank slowly. She had drunk half when she indicated she didn’t want anymore.

He gently lowered her down, put the glass back on the table, and turned to look at her. “I guess you want me to go get Salena for you, right? She’s taking a nap in my cabin right now, but she’ll want to know you are awake.”

Debria shook head slightly then groaned. “Ow. No, let her sleep. She probably needs it.”

“Oh, well, um, do you need anything else?” Justin asked, suddenly at a complete loss as to what else he should do.

“If it is okay, can you talk to me more?” Dabria asked without actually looking at him.

“Um, sure,” Justin came back and sat down. He had been talking to her for almost two days, but now he couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“Have you been here the whole time?” she asked, her eyes closed again.

“Not the whole time,” Justin hedged.

“But you’ve been here a lot. I listened to your voice and it reminded me of Kiliki talking to me. I couldn’t always understand and it cut in and out, like Kiliki’s did when I got really sick last time, but I somehow knew it was you,” Debria said softly. “What did you talk about?”

“Just stuff that was happening on the ship. I figured you wouldn’t want to miss out.”

That earned him a ghostly smile.

“I told you about some new strategies,” he continued, trying to get another one, but instead she winced. Justin frowned. “What is it? Are you in pain?”

“No, I’m sorry about…” she couldn’t say anything else, because her voice caught as she coughed.

“Please, don’t apologize anymore, Pixie. It’s me who should apologize. I’m the reason you got sick. I never meant for you to make yourself sick trying to study. You’re a really great learner and you should be proud of that, not upset you’re slowing me down,” Justin shook his head, frustrated at not being able to fully put into words what he wanted to say. “I mean, I guess, I’m sorry you felt you had to prove yourself and I know you’re happy I come to get you every year and I like to do it, so don’t feel bad, please?”

Dabria laughed softly. “Okay.”

Justin sighed. “Good. You’ve kinda become a little sis to me, Pixie.”

Dabria smiled. “Pixie? Is that my new nickname?”

“You like it?” Justin asked self-consciously.

Dabria nodded and Justin smiled. “Good, cause you’re stuck with it.” Which only made Dabria laugh again.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“No way. End of discussion,” Justin stated firmly.

“But…” Salena tried again.

“Salena, we are not discussing this. She watches us come into port every time, it will not kill her once to miss it, in fact, just the opposite. She will be carried up when we are ready to disembark and placed in the carriage and then directly into a bed at Tommy’s. End of discussion. Now, do you want to give her the good news or shall I?” Justin asked.

“Oh no. This one is all you,” Salena stated and took off in the opposite direction of the cabin.

“What happened to the quiet agreeable girl?” Justin muttered as he headed for the cabin.

He knocked and entered at the quiet bidding of the girl inside. He opened the door and stepped inside to see Dabria sitting up on the bed and looking at him sweetly.

“No,” was the first word out of his mouth.

Dabria’s face fell. “But I’m better!”

“Yeah, better enough to be carried off the ship and right into a bed at your sister’s house. I’m not taking any chances,” Justin said firmly.

“Oh, I’ll protect you,” Dabria waved her hand in the air.

“Your sister killing me is only half the worry, Pixie. You are still too weak and you know it,” Justin explained.

“Am not,” was the stubborn reply.

“Stand up,” Justin said in a ‘prove it’ voice.

Dabria grimaced and glanced at the floor. “Um…”

“Yeah, not a chance. I’ll come get you when we dock. Promise,” Justin said, giving her a smile and heading out.

Before he closed the door though, he heard her mutter, “Who died and made you big brother?”

Justin laughed softly.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Chapter 6~ Engaging Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:15:00 +0000

I offer my humble apologies for the delay in the posting of this story. Circumstances of life intervened, but that is of no excuse. Please accept my apology along with the immediate posting of this next chapter. The following chapter will be posted on Monday, so it is not as long of a wait! Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 6~ Engaging Lessons

Justin had never been so glad to see Tommy and his wife. The Guardian Star had actually docked and the plank lowered before Justin allowed Sheron to get Dabria and Salena from their cabin. He acknowledged them with a nod, but didn’t speak to them. Dabria’s head hung low. Salena looked at him briefly and stuck close to Dabria, holding her hand. It was a solemn threesome walking down to the dock.

Tommy and Kiliki took one look at the girls and focused on Justin. The girls huddled together while Justin explained in no uncertain terms what had happened.

“Your sister is impossible. She almost got herself killed. It was quite on deck until Salena started screaming. Your sister managed to sneak her way onto the rigging and climbed halfway up it without telling anyone.”

“She did what?” Kiliki interrupted loudly, turning to stare at Dabria, who ducked her head lower, if that where possible.

“She climbed the rigging. She got halfway up before we were able to stop her. And after I told her to come down, she went higher!”

“Dabria!” Kiliki exclaimed.

“She almost fell coming down. She’s luckily I made it up to her on time or you’d be short one sister,” Justin finished.

Kiliki looked shocked for a moment, before moving to wrap Dabria in a very tight hug. After a few moments, they parted and Kiliki immediately smacked Dabria on the shoulder. Her sister grabbed her stinging arm and looked at Kiliki in surprise.

“You ever try that again and I’m going to kill you myself. You have got to learn to think, Bree! If anything happened to you… just don’t let it. Got it?” Kiliki asked.

Dabria nodded. “I’m sorry, Sissy.”

“Yeah, I know. Just, never again. Or I will kill you,” but she said it with a smile and gave her another quick hug. “You really climbed the rigging halfway up?” Dabria nodded and Kiliki shook her head laughing. “You aren’t afraid of anything.”

Justin shook his head and looked at Tommy, who was watching the scene with an impressed look. “She faired as well as you.”

“You guys are no help,” Justin complained.

“Kiliki told her not to do it again, didn’t she?” Tommy questioned.

“Yes, but you’re proud of her!” Justin accused.

Tommy looked at him amused. “She climbed the rigging at eleven without fear. You especially should recognize that as an achievement.”

“She’s eleven! She shouldn’t be climbing the rigging!”

“No, she shouldn’t. But you obviously already punished her.”

“I put them both in their cabin until we arrived here,” Justin admitted.

“So, what else do you want us to do to them? They are both safe, and I doubt she climbs the rigging again,” Tommy paused, then amended, “or at least, anytime soon.”

Justin shook his head and then turned to watch the girls talking.

“You were scared, weren’t you?” Tommy asked softly.

Justin stilled for a moment, but then nodded his head. “I saw both our lives flash by me and neither one was long enough. If her other hand had lost its grip she wouldn’t be here, Tommy.”

Tommy put a hand on his shoulder. “But she is. God protected her and we can thank Him for that. He has His work cut out for Him with her, but I like to think He is just as amused as we are with the things she gets into. Remember, her sickness almost didn’t allow her to live. Don’t let her go rampaging, but also do not be too hard on her, Justin. In many ways, she is making up for lost time.”

“Does she have to do it so dangerously?” Justin muttered.

Tommy laughed. “If she wasn’t in some type of danger, I’m not so sure it would be our Dabria.”

Justin groaned.

“You do a good job with her, Justin. She loves traveling with Captain Justin. She looks forward to your trips as much as she does staying with us and this is only her second time. Don’t let this ruin that.” Tommy gave his shoulder a squeeze and then called to his wife, “Kiliki, Aunt Jada is waiting and I have no wish to endure her wrath for holding up the girls’ arrival.”

Kiliki smiled. “No, we defiantly don’t want that. Are you two ready?”

“Their things are loaded, milady,” Sheron answered, coming from behind the carriage.

“Thank you,” Kiliki replied. “Come on, girls, you are not going to believe how big your nephew has gotten.”

Dabria and Salena both let out a squeal and headed for the carriage.

“Are you coming by later?” Kiliki asked, turning to Justin.

“Of course,” he replied quickly.

“Good. We shall see you soon,” she said following the girls.

Dabria had stopped at the entrance to the carriage and was looking back at Tommy and Justin. Tommy nodded to Justin and then headed to the carriage himself.

“Dabria, come here,” Justin called.

Dabria willing walked towards him, but slowly and her eyes were fearful.

Justin knelt down so that they were more on eye level. The girl was still so small for being eleven.

“I’m not mad at you, Dabria. I didn’t want you to get hurt and that is a very good way to get extremely hurt. Understand?” Justin asked.

“You were furious with me,” Dabria said softly.

Justin sighed and nodded. “Yes, but that was because you could have gotten badly hurt and I was scared.”

“You got scared?” Dabria asked, looking at him in wonder.

“Yes, and I’d rather it not happen again. So, you stay out of danger and I won’t have to be. Deal?” Justin asked, putting out his hand.

Dabria smiled and bypassed the hand to give him a big hug. “Deal.”

Justin was taken by surprise, but he put his arms around her and hugged her too. When Dabria stepped back, he shook his head at her. “I’m going to have to watch saying stuff literally to you, aren’t I?”

Dabria shrugged innocently.

“Hmm. Get in the carriage. I’ll see you later,” Justin spoke amused now.

Dabria dropped into a curtsy and then grinned at him. “Thank you, Captain Justin.”

Justin straightened as he watched her run back to the carriage and climb in. That girl was something else.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“And that will work?” Justin asked skeptically.

“Provided you do it right, yes. It is a tricky maneuver because the stern of the ship is moving so fast, but it is possible,” Tommy replied confidently.

“Okay, but what if…”

Justin was interpreted when the door to Tommy’s library flew open. Kiliki stood in its entrance looking completely steamed. Justin swung back around to look at Tommy, who was gazing at his wife, totally unruffled.

“Yes, dear?” He asked amused.

“You two had better get downstairs for supper right now.” Kiliki said firmly, her violet eyes flashing dangerously.

Tommy didn’t seem to feel the need to head that warning. “Why?”

“It’s time for supper! You already missed breakfast and lunch and you will not miss another meal!”

Tommy grinned sheepishly, while Justin ducked his head in case something starting flying besides words.

“Actually, Aradon brought them up to us.”

“Tommy Jacer Brent, you get downstairs for supper right now or I am banning all ship talk in this house for… for a month!” Kiliki yelled.

Justin looked up wide eyed. Jacer wasn’t Tommy’s real middle name, but it was the fake last name he used in his Black Panther sailing days. And banning ship talk for a month seemed more than a little harsh. Tommy grinned at Justin then stood and walked over to his wife, who had her arms crossed defiantly against her chest.

“We are all done, Kiliki. In fact, we won’t even come back up after supper. We’ll spend the whole time with you, Adem, and the rest of the family. How does that sound?” He asked, as he moved his wife’s arms gently down to her sides.

“Well, it’s a start at least,” Kiliki muttered.

Tommy laughed, and put his arm around her, causing Justin to duck his head again, so he couldn’t see.

“Did you really miss me that much?” Tommy asked, in a low voice.

Kiliki didn’t answer for a few seconds then replied slowly, “No, I just figured you needed a good yelling to remind you our lives consist of more than just ship talk.”

Tommy shook his head and laughed. “Do they now?”

“Yes and don’t you forget it! Now get down to supper!” Kiliki’s voice held more amusement than anger now, as she slipped from her husband’s arms and moved down the hallway.

Tommy grinned. “Come on, Justin, I believe we are being summoned.”

“Loudly too,” Justin added as he joined Tommy.

Tommy clapped him on the back. “Yes, but don’t let Kiliki hear you say that!”

“Not if I want supper anymore,” Justin added as the two went downstairs to join the waiting family. Obviously, strategy lessons were over for quite some time.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Dabria watched highly amused as Evyn turned around and entered the garden walls again. She had seen him enter and exit five times now. She was good at keeping track and she was pretty sure he wasn’t trying to get lost inside it as she usually tried to do. That meant he was up to something else. Dabria thought hard as she tried to figure out what her big brother’s secret could be. Making her decision, she raced down the stairs and hurried out the back door. Careful to keep an eye on the garden entrance, she crossed first the porch and then the yard. Pausing against the garden wall, she waited for a moment before slipping inside. She let out a little giggle and then quickly covered her mouth, glancing around. This was fun, but she didn’t want to get caught, not yet anyways. She moved, quiet as a mouse, along the edge of the maze until she heard Evyn’s low voice. He was talking to himself.

“You are the greatest and I can think of no one else who …no, no…I’ve waited for only you…ugh…When I look into your eyes… I am in so much trouble,” he muttered.

He was working on a proposal! The thought filled Dabria with glee. At the same time, it struck her as hilarious and she laughed out loud.

Evyn spun around quickly. “Who’s there?”

Dabria stepped around the corner. “It’s me.”

“Dabria. Well, I guess you heard.”

“Are you practicing for Emalia?” She asked innocently.

“Yeah, I am. I want to ask her to marry me.”

“About time!” Dabria exclaimed happily.

“You and everyone else,” Evyn muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Dabria asked more concerned.

“I don’t know how to say it,” Evyn admitted.

“Don’t you love her?”

“Of course. I love her more than my own life. I would give everything to make her happy.”

“So, why don’t you tell her that? And end with ‘Please marry me and make me happy too,’” Dabria said simply.

Evyn laughed. “Is it really that easy? Will it be enough?”

“Sure,” Dabria stated. “Why? Don’t you think so?”

“I think it’s perfect, Bree. Now, I just have to tell her,” he said thoughtfully.

“Can I watch?” Dabria clapped her hands excitedly.

Evyn smiled and ruffled her hair. “No, but if she says yes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Well, okay.”

“Come on. Walk me back to the house. Then I have to go find Emalia.”

“You’re going to ask her now?” Dabria squealed.

Evyn laughed. “No time like the present. We are supposed to be going for a horseback ride.”

The girl took her brother’s hand and pulled him all the way back to the house. Inside, Dabria quickly found Salena in the kitchen with Tadi. Talking very fast, she explained what was happening. Tadi looked at both as if they had lost their minds when the girls screamed simultaneously.

“I don’t get it,” the boy commented.

“That’s because you’re a guy,” Dabria said exasperated.

Salena just smiled, looking highly amused.

Dabria turned to her friend. “I’m going to grab my drawing stuff and find Kiliki and Adem. Are you staying here?”

Salena nodded. “For a little longer.”

“Okay. Then get your writing stuff and come find me. I have an idea I want to try.”

Salena looked at her suspiciously.

Dabria raised her hands. “It’s good. It’s good!”

Dabria found her sister and nephew in the upper drawing room. Adem was exploring the newest toy his Uncle Evyn had brought him and Kiliki was taking the few precious quiet moments to read. She looked up when Dabria entered.

“B’ee!” Adem called out his own greeting.

“Hello, Bree. Where have you been?” Kiliki asked with a smile.

“Outside, but I got the urge to draw, so I came to find you,” Dabria replied.

“Are you trying family portraits again?”

“No,” Dabria said as she sat down on the floor and put her pad on her lap. “I just wanted to be close to you.”

Kiliki smiled. “I’m glad.”

The two began their separate tasks, but it was only a minute or two before Adem launched the first toy at Dabria.

“Hey!” She looked at her nephew. “You just gave this guy a huge nose!”

“I think he wants your attention,” Kiliki laughed.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Dabria muttered. But she smiled and put down her supplies to play with her nephew.

When Salena and Tadi entered, Salena put her own things by Dabria’s and joined in the fun with the toddler.

It was almost time to head to the parlor to gather for dinner when Evyn and Emalia walked into the room. Dabria looked at Evyn quickly and jumped up. Evyn caught her eyes with his own immediately and gave her a wink. To which Dabria’s only response was to squeal loudly and jump up and down.

Kiliki looked up from her book quickly. “Bree, what on earth…” her voice trailed off as she spotted her brother and best friend. “You did it?” She leapt up out of her chair and her book went flying.

Adem took one look at his mother and started bawling. Kiliki immediately turned to her boy and gathered him in her arms. “Hush, hush, Adem. Mommy’s okay. I didn’t mean to startle you. Hush, little one, everything’s fine.” Her voice was softness itself and Adem responded by calming down and laying his head against his mother. When her child was calm again, she turned back to the couple. “Explain. Did you finally ask, Evyn?”

It was Emalia who answered. “He did.” She walked to her friend and wrapped her and the baby in a hug. “He was so sweet and honest, Kiliki. It was perfect.”

Dabria grinned at Evyn, who bent down and opened his arms. She ran into them and gave him a large hug.

“Thank you, Bree. It went perfectly,” he whispered for her ears alone.

“Told you,” she whispered back.

Just then, the door opened and Tommy and Justin burst in. Tommy went directly to his wife, while Justin surveyed the scene.

“What happened?” Tommy questioned Kiliki, focusing completely on Kiliki and his son.

She smiled and explained. After which, congratulations were exchanged again.

“We must have a celebratory supper!” Kiliki said. “I shall tell Cook to make something extraordinary for dessert at least. Tomorrow, we shall do it proper, so Maath and Namid can attend as well.”

Justin nodded. “I’ll be sure to invite them.”

Tommy groaned. “Aunt Jada will not be happy she is among the last to know.”

Everyone looked at each other as all four adults said together, “You tell her!”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“Ulrich and Jasmine are 500 leagues apart…”

“No, they’re not,” Justin interrupted.

Maath glared at him. “It is an example. Now, listen. Ulrich and Jasmine are 500 leagues apart. Tristen leaves Ulrich at 75 knots and you leave Jasmine at 167 knots. How long will it take for the two ships to cross?”

“Argh!” Justin groaned loudly and dropped back onto his bed in the Great Cabin. “This isn’t ship talk its math!”

“It is ship math and you have to know it,” Maath explained patiently.

“Why? I don’t care! I know already know I’ll beat Tristen in a race any day.”

Maath crossed his arms and leaned back in the green chair. “Oh, do you? The great Captain Justin can defeat any ship on Ula Ocean,” he mocked, using Dabria’s nickname for Justin.

“With The Guardian Star I can,” Justin answered calmly.

Maath shook his head. “You don’t even know what that means.”

Justin sat up, suddenly interested in the discussion. “What are you talking about?”

The older pirate looked at Justin for a long minute, before finally replying, “You need to talk to Tommy about this ship of yours.”

“Why? What don’t I know?” Justin’s voice held the suspicion that something had been kept back from him.

“I think that the BlackPanther…”

Maath was cut off by a large crash and the yells of furious deck hands. The two men looked at each other for a split second before leaping to their feet and heading out of the Great Cabin. On deck, there was a good sized hole in a spot where there shouldn’t have been. Whoever the attackers were, they had over shot. Deck hands were already making minor repairs, as others loaded canons, and still others turned the ship onto a new heading. Namid was at the helm shouting directions.

He waved to Justin and Maath when he saw them, then shouted a new order to a deck hand who thought it was a good time to take a nap. Justin looked at Maath then leapt up the stairs two at a time to reach Namid’s side. Maath shook his head at his young captain and followed more slowly.

“Ho, Captain,” Namid greeted and pointed out to the starboard side.

A ship, waving a black and purple flag, bobbed in the waters. Her deck was alive with scrambling pirates.

“Did we attack them?” Justin asked.

“Well, not exactly…” Namid responded.

Justin swung around to look at him more closely. “Not exactly?”

“It’s the crew we traded insults with back on Dietreick. I guess they figured they would even the score.”

“I remember. They were a bunch of idiots. I thought we’d taken care of that. Don’t they know whose ship this is?”

“The name wasn’t facing them until I maneuvered the ship to avoid their little fanfare. That’s when all the scrambling stated on their deck,” Namid explained calmly.

“Well, let’s give them a reason to be scared. Are the canons loaded?” Justin asked, excitement lacing his voice at the challenge.

Maath nodded.

“Then get in close, Namid, and give the order to fire when ready, Maath.”

The two men nodded and expertly worked both the ship and crew into the perfect positions. Namid glanced at Maath and nodded, then swung the wheel hard to the port side as math called out the fire command. Cannons boomed on the deck as the ship turned. Three of the five balls made exact hits. The forth ball nicked the figurehead and the fifth fell harmlessly into the water. The crew cheered riotously at their success. The other ship faltered in its course, then turned to head away from the famous Guardian Star. Justin grinned.

“The Black Panther wins again.”

Beside him, Maath nodded. “Back to lessons, Black Panther.”

Justin groaned in defeat.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Guardian Star's True Captain

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Chapter 5 ~ Rigging

“Tell me again why I need to know about these,” Justin complained.

Namid gave him a borderline patient look. “As I have explained the last fifteen times, Captain, you need to understand the dangers your crew members face and not all of them come from an enemy ship. Many diseases can be avoided by proper food and cleanliness,” Namid explained yet again. “Besides, you can’t treat something the right way if you don’t know what it is.”

“Right, but isn’t that what you’re here for?” Justin questioned suspiciously, leaning back in his chair. He and Namid were sitting in the Great Cabin. Namid and Maath had taken it upon themselves to teach Justin all the ins and outs of being a captain, including the stuff Justin would have rather not known.

“No, I am your helmsmen. It just so happens that I know about these diseases and how to treat them. We really need a doctor on board.”

“A doctor? How I am supposed to get a doctor to join our crew?” Justin asked in disbelief.

Namid shrugged. “Well, most pirate crews steal them from the ships they attack,” was the amused reply.

Justin groaned. “That isn’t going to work.”

“No, probably not for us.”

“So I really have to learn this stuff?”

“Consumption?” Namid asked instead.

“Argh! Consumption is when he has a fever, doesn’t eat, has chest pain, and couches up blood. Um, there’s nothing you can really do about it. Hard to tell when you get it too, because it sneaks up on you. I’ve heard about that since I was on the streets.”

“Fine. You know about scurvy too then.”

Justin heaved a sigh and tried to think of what he had heard about the disease. “You loose your teeth, swell up, and get diarrhea.”

“What else?” Namid questioned.

“There’s more?”

“There usually is,” Namid replied with a smile.

“No appetite?”

“Good. They also have pale skin and ugly large spots, gums bleed easily, and you will get awful lethargic. Do you know what to do about it or what causes it?”

This time Justin shook his head negatively.

“Neither do I. Though the current cure theory is that it has something to do with what foods we eat. My guess is the stuff that’s hard to keep on the ships.”

“You mean everything fresh?” Justin questioned

“Basically, mostly fruits and vegetables I would guess.”

“But what am I suppose to do about that? We can’t keep large quantities of that on the ship.”

“We can keep smaller quantities and you can stress eating them when we reach port or take them from other ships.”

“And if we don’t, we lose crewmembers. Are any of these diseases not fatal?” Justin asked getting frustrated.

Namid laughed. “Some. Let’s see, we covered yellow fever and dysentery. Oh! You’ll like this one. Parrot’s disease.”

“Parrot’s disease? You must be joking.”

Nope, you will get a really high temperature, pneumonia, and rapid breathing. Once you go down with that either you get better in a few weeks or you don’t.”

“Nice, another one you can die by. Why parrot’s disease?”

“Because ships that have lots of parrots tend to get it. At least, I believe that is the trend.”

“No parrots. Ever,” Justin declared.

Namid laughed. “They follow the ships. You don’t always have a choice.”

“You mean we can stop ships from chasing us, but we can’t do anything about birds? What is wrong with that picture?”

Namid shrugged.

“Fine, what else?” Justin asked.

“I think that’s enough for today. You managed to learn quite a bit. We’ll see how much you remember in a week.”

Justin groaned. “We have to go through this again?”

“Until you remember it without me reminding you. You need to be able to recognize these things if you want to be a good captain.”

“There is way too much to remember. I’d rather be doing stuff.”

“Oh, you will. But lessons first. Just remember to study and you’ll be fine,” Namid encouraged.

“Sure. Study away. Can we go hit a ship now?” Justin practically pleaded.

“If you can find one,” Namid said with an amused smile.

“Watch me!” Justin cried already halfway out the door. He could still hear Namid laughing behind him when he reached the top of the steps.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Stacia scowled at Justin from across the room. Justin figured he hadn’t seen a scarier face on any of the pirates he faced and at the moment he doubted he ever would. He sat on the couch and waited silently for Dabria and Salena to enter the room and save him. Stacia had met him at the door and had been glaring at him ever since. He thought he was going to have to physically remove Dabria and Salena from the house, but she had at least sent for the two girls. The fifteen minute wait so far had seemed like eternity. Justin clenched and unclenched his fist in an attempt to keep himself from jumping out of the chair.

“Captain Justin! You’re back!” Dabria burst into the room with Salena on her heels.

Justin turned to the ecstatic girl and smiled. “Just like I promised.”

“Yep! Are we leaving right away?” Dabria asked with a smile.

“As soon as you are ready,” Justin replied.

“Oh good! We can be ready really soon! Come on, Salena, we have to pack!” Dabria cried and turned around.

“Dabria!” Stacia called in a scolding voice. “You father isn’t even here to give you permission to go. You are not leaving with this…. riffraff.”

“Ma’am, I am not riffraff. I am the Captain of a ship and a good friend of the Duke and Duchess,” Justin spouted.

Dabria smiled. “That’s right, Mom. He’s fine. We are going to pack. Be right back!”

Dabria and Salena were out the door, before Stacia could protest farther, but the tightness of her lips and her ramrod back let Justin know she was far from happy. He wished Dabria and Salena would hurry and get back before William showed up. That would only intensify the problem and Justin didn’t need the extra headache.

“You are never to touch my daughter, Captain. She has separate quarters away from you and all your unsavory men and if anything, and Captain, I do mean anything, happens to her, I will see to it that you are hunted down and brought to justice,” Stacia threatened in a low voice.

“She and Salena have always been treated with the utmost respect and chivalry, Mrs. Richerson. I would not have that stop now,” Justin said firmly.

Stacia nodded, but said nothing. It took Dabria and Salena a whole lot less time to pack than it did for them to arrive the first time. Within five minutes the two girls were back and announcing that their bags were being loaded onto the carriage Justin had commandeered for the trip. Justin jumped up and smiled at them.

“Great! Let’s head out.” Justin ushered the girls out rather quickly, calling over his shoulder, “Goodbye, Mrs. Richerson!”

The trip to the ship took about a half hour and Justin thought he had never been so happy to see the Guardian Star as he was right then. Once the girls and their things were on board, Justin ordered the cast off and the girls second full trip board his ship began.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

~It’s as if they have never been on a ship before! ~ Justin thought, not sure if he was amused or not.

Dabria and Salena had once again explored every centimeter of the ship. They had taken the word curiosity to an entirely new level for Justin. They regularly spent time every day steering the ship with Namid and with the cook in the galley, which were the only times when he was sure where they were. The two girls had quickly taken over the hearts of most of the crew, so they were generally under someone’s watch.

Knowing this, Justin was doubly surprised to find Dabria alone in the hold one day. He hadn’t seen a crewmember above and wondered if anyone even realized she was down there. She was in the dark lighting search among the barrels intently and didn’t turn around when he came down the steps.

Justin frowned slightly when his eyes adjusted. The barrels she was searching between where not something a little girl should be into or anywhere near for that matter.

“Dabria, what are you doing?” Justin asked, coming up behind her.

Dabria jumped back and Justin had to react quickly to stop the girl from losing her balance. He waited until she was steady and then released her arms, but just enough to turn her towards him. He studied her tear-streaked face for a moment and then finally pulled her to the stairs, where he could see her better. But once there, he stood at a lose, unsure what he was suppose to do with a tearful eleven year old.

“Um what’s wrong?” He finally asked awkwardly.

“Nothing,” she said, sniffing and obviously trying not to cry again.

“You were crying, right?”

She nodded.

“Why?” he asked quickly.

Her eyes snapped to his and it took a moment to realize he probably sounded harsh. Her sighed and consciously erased the frown from his face.

“Dabria, I’m not upset with you. I just want to know what happened that has you searching barrels in the dark hold and with a tear stained face.”

Dabria reached up her hand and wiped her face, managing to transfer the dirt from her hand to her face. Justine wanted to laugh at the image she now presented, but somehow he held back and instead managed to remember the square cloth in his pocket. He pulled it out and gently placed in her hand. She looked at it for a moment as if confused, but then used it to wipe her face slowly.

She took a deep breath and explained, “Shal told me he kept a rapid dog down here for fighting. He said if he let the dog lose he’d come after Salena and I because he wouldn’t know our scent. Rapid dogs make you sick. I thought if I found him and fed him or something he wouldn’t hurt us. But I can’t find him and I think he might be stalking me,” she finished fearfully, never looking away from Justin’s face and taking a step closer to him.

~ Shal just got himself a walk off a very short plank. ~ Justin thought angrily. He sighed and pulled the shaking girl into a hug. Then he made sure he looked her in the eyes as he stated firmly, “Dabria, there are no rapid dogs on this ship. I wouldn’t allow them, especially with you and Salena on board. Okay?”

Dabria nodded. “I guess I shouldn’t have listened to Shal, but he sounded like he really meant it.”

“That won’t be a problem anymore,” Justin replied, thinking of exactly what he was going to do to the conniving rat.

Dabria gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it.

“There isn’t a rapid dog down here, but there are other things that you don’t need to be around, so try to find stuff to do above the deck, okay?”

“Okay,” she responded. It wasn’t until then that Justin realized she had really been scared, she hadn’t even asked what else she wasn’t supposed to find.

“Right. Let’s head up on deck,” Justin said, letting Dabria precede him up the stairs. It wasn’t until much later that day he realized he never had gotten what he had been looking for.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Justin breathed the deep sea in pure enjoyment. He loved this part of the day. It was just before sunset, there was a slight breeze, and while the deck was busy, it had a calm sense to it. He was the captain of his own ship and he ruled his world.

“Ahh! Dabria!”

Justin jerked violently out of his thoughts and stared at the main deck. Salena was standing by the mast’s rigging and pointing practically straight up. Justin did not want to look up. When he did though, he saw exactly what he had been afraid of.

Justin let out a loud curse as he raced to the steps and pounded down them. Some of the crewmembers that had gathered moved out of his way, the others he pushed.

“How did she get up there?’

“I never saw her on the deck!”

“She’s not on the deck! She’s above it!”

“How did no one notice?”

“I was on the other side!”

“It’s not my fault!”

“How is she going to get down?”

“What if she falls?”

The crew’s cries were coming from all over as Justin came to a stop next to a very frightened Salena and looked up to Dabria who was halfway up the rigging to the crow’s nest.

“Dabria!” Justin’s voice rose loudly above the others, who immediately quieted down. “Get down here right now!”

“But I’m halfway there!” Her small voice called back down.

“Get your prime and proper but down here, before I shoot it down!” He yelled hotly.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it! I’m doing great!”

“I am not joking, Dabria! I want you down here now!” Justin didn’t want to admit he was terrified. It was a long way down from up there and there was nothing to catch her.

“How did she get up there?” Maath asked quietly appearing at his side.

“I just want her down,” Justin responded. “Then I’ll figure out who I’m killing.”

“We were talking in our cabin. She thought it would be fun to see everything from high up. I think I fell asleep, because she disappeared,” Salena managed to explain.

“The girl needs a constant watch,” Justin muttered. He was not amused to see that she had snuck up higher while the discussion had been going on. He had been terrified when he had first gone up at sixteen on a dare, even getting stuck. Tommy had come up after him and creatively gotten him down, while keeping his pride intact, but Dabria had no such fear. He really wished she did. “Dabria, down, now!”

Dabria stopped short at his yell and stood still.

She doesn’t know how to get down,” Inu observed.

~ Oh, right. ~ Justin thought. “Don’t swing, Dabria, just keep it steady. The trick to getting down is to feel the lines. Get a good grip with your hands and use your feet to find the rigging. Then let them guide you and do not look down. Careful, Dabria.” Every bone in his body demanded he go up and get her, but he was afraid the movement on the ropes would prove too much for her.

The crew seemed to collectively hold their breath as Dabria’s leg reached down to search for the rope below her. They released when her foot rested safely there. Her second foot found it much easer. She kept descending slowly. The trickiest part was when her first foot had to go down. Justin was amazed at how well she was doing. It was slow and she was extremely high up, but her footing was pretty sure.

“Captain Justin!” Dabria suddenly cried as her foot slipped.

Dabria had grabbed for the rope above her with her free hand, but missed, leaving her hanging on the rigging with only one hand. I n that moment Justin saw both of their lives flash before his eyes. Both lives were far too short.

“Captain Justin!”

“Dabria!” Justin responded, already halfway up to her. “Hold on!”

“I’m trying!”

“Don’t swing. Hold still and grab on with your free hand,” Justin called instructions, even as he reached her.

She grabbed hold and he put his hand on her back to steady her. It was only then that he noticed Inu was on her other side.

“I have you, Dabria. Inu is going to guide your foot back, okay?”

She nodded and Inu gently took a leg and guided it to the closest rope. Once she had it, she was able to put her other foot there.

“Are you okay?” Justin asked.

Dabria nodded. “Can we go down now?”

“Yes.”

The three proceeded down slowly. Maath reached up and steadied Dabria, while Justin and Inu stepped down. Justin quickly reached for Dabria and brought her to stand in front of him. She looked up at him with a grin, but his harsh frown quickly made her duck her head. Justin could feel himself shaking with anger.

“Was there any thought at all in your head?” Justin asked exasperated.

“You said to stay above deck…” Dabria’s voice trailed off quickly.

“That was not even close to what I meant and you know it. You could have been killed! You’re crazy!” The sight of the tears streaming down her checks didn’t stop his tirade. “You’d never see your sister again! Or me, she’d kill me too!” At this point Maath shooed the rest of the crew away, but Justin barely noticed. “You can’t do stuff like that! I’m serious, Dabria, you ever pull a stunt like that again and you will never step foot on my ship again. No more trips. Get to your cabin. You are staying there for the rest of the trip. You’re lucky it’s only half a day!”

Dabria covered her face with her hands and fled the scene with Salena just behind her. Maath put a calming hand on his shoulder, but Justin shrugged it off.

“That was harsh,” Maath said quietly.

“She could have been killed,” Justin’s voice still shook with anger and fear.

“But she wasn’t. Don’t look at me like that. You have every reason to be furious at her, but yelling like that in front of the crew was cruel,” Maath spoke firmly, but respectfully.

“She needed it!” He protested.

“Justin, you told her she’d never see her sister or you again,” Maath started, but Justin interrupted.

“I just meant her sister would kill me if anything happened to her.”

“I know that, but it was still harsh, especially to an eleven year old.”

“Well, how else am I supposed to handle her?” He asked frustrated and loudly.

“Not like that.”

“You are no help,” Justin growled.

Maath shrugged. “You’ll learn, Justin. It will take time, but you will learn eventually.”

Justin huffed and finally said, “Her sister can deal with her now. I’m going back to steering my ship. And she stays in the cabin.”

Maath looked at him silently for a moment, unreadable, and then headed towards the cabin. Justin took the helm back from Namid, who had wisely secured it during the confusion. He spent the next few hours to Triger in peace… well, except for his thoughts.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Guardian Star's True Captain Chapter 4

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Hello Everyone. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. It was a favorite to write! Here is chapter four. Remember, you can comment here or on my personal blog (the link is on the sidebar)!

Chapter 4 ~ New Brother

Evyn walked into the downstairs parlor and smiled at Kiliki, who was sitting on the couch and holding her little son. He walked over quietly and sat down next to her. Kiliki grinned at him and pulled back a part of the blanket so Evyn could see Jason better.

“Hey there, Little Panther,” Evyn whispered. He laughed when Jason wrinkled his little nose at him.

Kiliki smiled gently and shook her head. “You know, you are going to have to give up that name for him before he understands it. We don’t want him to know about Tommy’s past until he is ready to keep the secret himself.”

Evyn shrugged. “Probably wise. Where is everybody?”

“All over. Em is upstairs, I think,” Kiliki responded mischievously.

“My, you are so helpful,” Evyn frowned, but it only caused Kiliki to laugh.

“When are you going to get off your lazy bum and do something about that girl? She won’t be available forever and I’d hate to see you lose her for some stupid reason.”

Evyn shook his head. “Why is everybody harping on this?”

Kiliki looked at him in surprise. “I didn’t know everybody was. Want to share?”

“No thank you. Forget I mentioned it,” Evyn mumbled.

Kiliki smiled fondly at her brother. “Okay, so what did you want?”

“I have to go back to the estate and check up on things. I thought maybe it would be fun for your sister and her friend to go along.” Evyn hooked his finger into Jason’s little hand.

“Oh, Ev, that would be wonderful! She’s been so upset lately. That is just what she needs.”

“Upset, why?”

“Justin come back yesterday and said that they are planning on leaving in about a week. It’s so hard to believe that it has been three months already. I still feel like she just got here. She doesn’t want to go home anymore than I want her to leave,” Kiliki said softly.

Evyn stopped playing with Jason long enough to look at his sister’s face. “It will be quiet without her here. But Jason will be up and running before you know it.”

“Ug,” Kiliki groaned. “Don’t say things like that! And you had better not encourage him either. I will skin you alive.”

Evyn laughed. “Like I haven’t heard that before.” He paused for a moment and studied her face. “It is so good to see you happy, Kiliki.”

“It feels right having everyone here.”

Evyn nodded. “Just think, if it weren’t for me none of this would be possible.”

Kiliki laughed and hugged Jason closer. “And just how do you figure that?”

“I’m the reason you stayed on Panther’s ship. Without me, you would have hightailed it away. You really ought to give me a medal or something,” Evyn reasoned.

Kiliki shook her head. “You are something else. I think God and Tommy had as much or more to do with it as you. Though I will always be grateful God let me find you, Evyn. Finding the brother I never knew I had has been a blessing I never expected.”

“I knew about you, Kiliki, but I never expected this much blessing either,” Evyn admitted.

Kiliki smiled at him.

Evyn grinned sheepishly and clapped his hands causing Jason to let out a cry at the sudden noise. “So, you think our litter sister will go out riding with me?”

“Your little sister? Claiming her already?” Kiliki asked, soothing a jolted Jason.

“If she’ll let me. Do you think I’ve managed to get past her defenses yet? I know you were worried about that.”

“Yes, she was so scared you would replace her. I think she’s doing okay with it though, but a ride with you would certainly help things along. I want her to feel completely comfortable before she leaves here. We are her family too,” Kiliki spoke thoughtfully.

“I’m sure she will, Sis. I want what’s best for her too.” Evyn looked around. “So where did the little imp go too anyway?”

“I’m right here!” Dabria called out, bouncing out from her hiding spot under the piano where she had been watching the whole scene. Kiliki and Evyn burst out laughing. Dabria grinned at them, while Jason wailed at his nap being disturbed.

“Were you there this whole time, Dabria?” Evyn asked, as Kiliki soothed her little boy.

“Of course,” Dabria replied.

Evyn shook his head, obviously very amused. “Well then, would you like to go for a ride with me?”

Dabria nodded her head. “I’ll go get Salena.”

“Okay, I’ll met you at the stables,” Evyn called out as Dabria raced out the door.

Within minutes, Dabria and Salena were on their own horses and dying to take off. Evyn pulled his horse up in front of the girls.

“Let’s go, you two. We need to get there and back today and I have work in-between,” Evyn called as he raced ahead of them.

“No fair!” Dabria called out, giving her own horse more reign. “At least we get to play in-between!” She teased as she caught up.

Evyn grinned at her. “Are you teasing me?”

“No, I never tease people. That’s mean,” Dabria assured.

Selena laughed out loud as her horse caught up to the other two and she heard Dabria’s comment.

“Ah, it seems that our dear Salena would disagree on that matter. Salena, do you have anything to add?” Evyn asked.

Salena looked at him wide eyed and shook her head no. Evyn smiled at her reassuringly.

“I won’t bite your head off, Salena.”

“No,” Salena half whispered. “But Dabria might.”

Evyn roared with laughter. Dabria stuck her tongue out at Salena and spurred her horse forward. Evyn gave Salena another smile and then urged his horse forward to catch up to Dabria.

“Come on, Bree, don’t be upset at Salena. I know she was just teasing,” Evyn said gently.

“I’m not upset. I’m fine,” Dabria said fiercely, though she could feel her lip quivering.

“You know ‘fine’ is what a person says when he really feels like everything is falling apart, but he doesn’t want to let anyone else in on why.”

Dabria gave him an odd look, thinking that he was actually pretty right. But she didn’t say anything.

“Come on, Dabria, you are almost as big of a tease as I am and we both know it. So that can’t be what has upset you. Can you tell me what is wrong?” Evyn asked, matching his horse’s stride to hers.

“Nothing,” Dabria said sullenly.

“Nothing, huh? So you’re not upset and the sky is full of pink roses?”

Dabria looked at Even bewildered and then looked up at the sky. “What? It is not!”

Evyn glanced up too. “Really? Maybe they disappeared already.”

Dabria shook her head. “You’re silly.”

“Am I? That’s a good thing, right?” Evyn gave her a comical look.

Dabria finally smiled and nodded.

“There is that smile again. I missed it.”

“Why?” Dabria asked, confused.

“Because you make everything sunny when you smile and I like to see my little sister happy.”

“Do you mean it?” Dabria asked, aware that she was scared, but wanting it to be true.

“What? That I want you to be happy? Of course I mean it,” Evyn paused. “But I also meant that you are a little sister to me too.”

“I am? But I’m not even Kiliki’s real sister. You are her real brother. And I’m leaving again and then you’ll have each other and everyone will forget about me… and…” Dabria’s voice trailed off as her tears started.

Evyn reached over and pulled her horse to a stop. Then he took one of her hands in his, so that she focused completely on him. “Bree, Kiliki has told you that you are her real sister. You are sisters of the heart. That means that you are the closest sisters possible. I would never want to come between that. Kiliki’s love just got bigger when she found me, so that she could love me plus love you. I want to be a big brother to you both. So we are a family of hearts. None of us will ever forget the others. That just isn’t possible. You are a great kid and I would be very happy if you would be my little sister, along with Kiliki, and if you would call me your big brother. What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

Evyn put out his free hand to hers the same way he had on the night that they had first met. Dabria looked at it for a long moment. Her thoughts tumbled around each other as she tried to figure out what she was thinking and feeling. Evyn seemed to really like her and she knew he liked Kiliki. He was fun to hang around with too. It wouldn’t be so bad to have a big brother. It might even be fun. She thought back to the dinner when they had first arrived. Kiliki let Evyn get away with a lot of neat things. Maybe this really was a good thing. Kiliki had told her earlier almost the same stuff that Evyn had said. They must be sister and brother. And she was their sister too.

Dabria grinned and reached out clasping her little hand in Evyn’s. Evyn beamed at her and pumped her arm up and down wildly. Dabria laughed.

“Come on, Salena! We have to beat my brother to the orchard place!” Dabria cried as she let go of Evyn’s hand and took off like a shot.

Salena yelled her agreement from somewhere close to Evyn and soon followed her friend. Dabria heard Evyn howl his indignation at being left behind and she laughed happily. It was good being with her family and friends.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Justin walked towards Dabria silently. In a few hours they would reach Yakecan’s port and she would be back home after her first three month stay with her sister. When Dabria had first come on board, she had been bubbling with information about her newborn nephew, Jason. Of course, most of it Justin already knew, since he had been there for the birth, but he enjoyed Dabria’s version of the events.

Now, as he walked towards her, that girl seemed a distant memory. This girl stood at the rail and listlessly watched the sea. He glanced around for Salena, but failed to spot her. That in itself was unusual since the two were rarely apart. Justin closed the distance between them quickly and leaned on the rail next to her.

“What’s up, Dabria?” He asked a little concerned.

“Oh, nothing,” Dabria answered, and then lapsed into silence.

Justin nodded, taking her at her word and turned his mind to a problem he was having with an unruly crewmember. She sighed eventually and spoke, breaking into his thoughts.

“I can’t bear the thought of going home. Kiliki needs me. Jason is only a month and a half old. And it’s so boring at my own house,” she finally admitted.

“Ah, afraid you won’t have anything to do,” Justin summed up.

“Not really, I’ll have plenty of parties to go too,” Dabria answered.

Justin looked at her sideways. “I thought you said you’d be bored.”

“I never said the parties were fun. I mean, I use to think they were, but that’s all there is and there is only so much fun stuff to ease drop on,” Dabria admitted.

Justin laughed. “So, what would you rather be doing?”

Dabria turned to look at him her eyes roamed over his face. “You really want to know?”

Justin nodded, wondering idly what she would say.

Dabria opened her arms wide and twirled in a big circle. “This. I want fun and adventure,” she stopped and looked at him. “Just like Kiliki.”

Justin laughed at her antics and the thought that she was more like Kiliki than she knew. He managed to stop when Dabria gave him a sour look and said seriously, “You know, I’m coming to pick you up again in nine moths. I’m going to come for you every year, just like Kiliki wanted and she never got to do something like that.”

Dabria seemed to think about that for a long moment. “Yes, I guess that is true. But Kiliki did have a great adventure.”

“Sure she did,” Justin agreed readily. “Still, you’re only ten. Kiliki didn’t have her adventure till a whole lot later. She’d probably be the first to tell you that you can have an adventure any day of your life. And you have a long time to do that.”

“And maybe one day I’ll have a really big adventure too?” Dabria asked hopefully.

Justin grinned. “Maybe one day.”

“Till then, you’ll keep coming for me, right? Then I can have an adventure every year too.”

“Promise,” Justin pledged, with a straight and serious face.

Dabria nodded her head satisfied. “You know, you’re a really neat guy, Captain Justin.”

Justin laughed. “You’re pretty neat yourself, Dabria. And don’t you forget it.”

“I won’t,” Dabria grinned mischievously. “Promise.”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Gaurdian Star's True Captain

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:57:00 +0000

Enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter 3

Baby Threats

A month, and many late nights snacks, later Dabria and Salena were again up after they were suppose to be. It wasn’t late enough for their usual late night snack and this time they weren’t headed to the kitchen at all. The two girls made their way instead to the door of Kiliki’s room. They paused outside when they heard voices.

“I don’t get it. He’s going to drive me mad,” Emalia’s voice came through the slightly opened door.

“You have me. I don’t know what his problem is. You’d think he’d have done something by now!” Kiliki responded, obviously frustrated.

“What is he waiting for? A jeweled invitation?” Emalia asked.

“No, but it probably wouldn’t hurt,” Kiliki’s voice responded.

Emalia groaned as Dabria pushed open the door and entered the room with Salena behind her.

“What you talking about? Is it Evyn?” Dabria asked.

Kiliki and Emalia looked at the two girls in surprise. Emalia turned in her seat by the fireplace to look up at Kiliki who stood on her right. “We need thicker walls.”

“No, you need better doors. Closing them wouldn’t hurt either,” Dabria responded helpfully.

Kiliki groaned. “Why are you two still up?”

“You said we could spend time together just the four of us,” Dabria pointed out.

Kiliki gave her sister an amused look. “We spent all day together a little bit ago. Or do you not remember going to the lake with the horses and a picnic lunch?”

Dabria shook her head no, but answered, “That was before. We want to do something together again.”

“And what to you propose to do at bed time?” Kiliki asked, definitely amused now.

Dabria looked around the room seriously, before turning back to Salena. “You don’t look so good. Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m tired, Bree. We’ve been playing with Tadi all day.”

“What have the three of you been up too?” Emalia asked, rising to stand next to Kiliki.

Both girls assumed innocent expressions. “Absolutely nothing.”

“That usually means absolutely the opposite,” Kiliki observed.

“You really do look sick, Salena,” Dabria said importantly. She saw Kiliki shoot Emalia a knowing look, but she ignored her older sister. She looked around the room again. “You shouldn’t be standing up. You’re too weak.” Suddenly, she marched over to the bed and yanked down the covers. “Bed. You need to rest.”

“But Dabria, I’m…”

“Bed,” Dabria commanded in a ‘don’t you dare argue with me’ voice.

Salena meekly followed her orders and climbed into Kiliki’s bed. Dabria carefully tucked her in.

“There, now don’t you feel better?”

“Oh, much,” Salena answered from underneath the covers.

“And, um, now what do you propose, Dabria?” Emalia asked, barely holding back her laughter.

“I guess if Salena’s going to bed, so should I,” Dabria’s voice held disappointment. She turned to the door and immediately turned back again. Kiliki simply gave her a look. “I’m too scared to sleep in my own room without Salena,” she announced.

“Dabria, you have always slept in your own room by yourself,” Kiliki pointed out.

“But this is a strange house. Something might happen. Besides, Salena’s too scared to sleep without me too, right, Salena?” Dabria asked, turning to her friend.

Salena nodded her head. “Oh, yes, Miss. Kiliki,” she said, looking at Kiliki. “Really I am.”

Emalia tried desperately to hide her laughter, but Kiliki didn’t bother. She laughed hard as she gasped out, “Don’t call me miss,” and watched Dabria climb into the bed next to Salena.

“That’s better,” Dabria said cheerfully from the bed.

Kiliki grinned at her. “And just where is everyone else suppose to sleep?”

“You and Emalia can sleep here too,” Dabria invited.

Emalia shook her head and Kiliki laughed again. “Dabria, Tommy sleeps with me.”

“What? Why?” Dabria asked.

Emalia lost it then. Kiliki groaned, but she replied to her sister, “Because that’s what you do when you’re married. You sleep together. Your mom and dad do that.”

Dabria thought for a minute. “Yes, but their old.”

Emalia had to sit down then and Kiliki took the chair opposite her, both in desperate attempts to catch their breath. That was when Tommy walked in on the scene. He surveyed the room with a glance, before his gaze finally rested on his gasping wife.

“Kiliki…” he said starting towards her.

She put up a hand to stop him and smiled. “It’s okay, Tommy. Really, I’m fine.”

He gave her a look and then glanced at the bed. “It seems there are too many people in there.”

“We are having a sleeping party,” Dabria informed him.

“Without the sleeping,” Tommy replied looking again at Kiliki. “You need to rest.”

She smiled at him. “I’m fine. I promise. They are just having some fun.”

“I can see that, but how many do you plan on sleeping in that bed? You are already carrying an extra one,” Tommy’s voice was light.

“What about us?” Dabria called, refusing to give up her well-earned spot in the bed.

Emalia had finally stopped laughing and now she stood up. “Anyone who can make it to my bed in the next thirty seconds can sleep there. Otherwise I am sure it will shrink to a size far too small.”

Her announcement was met with squeals and Dabria and Salena raced excitedly from the room. They could still hear all three adults laughing when they were halfway down the hallway.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

After the pillow fight and three large glasses of milk, the three females were finally in bed and sleeping soundly. Not even the commotion from outside their door awakened them. Dabria finally bolted up when the door to the room crashed open and Tadi yelled loudly, “Miss Emalia! Miss Emalia!”

Both Emalia and Salena woke up quickly after that.

“What is it Tadi? What’s wrong?” Emalia asked, already climbing out of the messy bed.

“It’s Milady! She’s yelling something awful! I think she’s dying! And Milord, he’s furious and ranting too. Hurry, Miss Emalia, hurry!” Tadi urged still shouting.

“Tadi, calm down. Kiliki is giving birth. Is Aunt Jada up?” She waited for Tadi’s nod, then continued, already half way out the door, “Then go wake Alicia and get warm water and lots of clean cloths. And move, Tadi!”

The boy raced away as Dabria and Salena sprang out of the bed. Emalia called back to them, “Stay out of the way, girls!”

“Of course,” Dabria replied though Emalia couldn’t hear her. She turned to Salena. “As long as I’m in the room too. Come on!”

The girls sprinted down the hallway. They passed Evyn’s room on the way and could hear both Evyn and Captain Justin talking to someone. Dabria figured it must be Tommy, but she didn’t stop to find out. Her sister needed her.

The two girls entered the room quietly. Inside, Aunt Jada was trying to keep a cloth on Kiliki’s head and demanding she breathe. Emalia was down at the bottom of the bed arranging the bed sheets a different way. Kiliki was yelling at the top of her lungs.

“This is his fault! Where is he? I’m going to kill him!”

“Now Kiliki, he didn’t exactly do this all by himself. Breath, dear,” Aunt Jada reasoned.

“Oh, yes he did! This is all his fault! OUCH!” Kiliki screamed. She breathed hard for a minute than panted, “I am going to kill him for this. Never again!”

“Yes, yes. Breath,” Aunt Jada responded, placing a new cloth on her niece’s forehead.

“I’m serous, Aunt Jada. When I get out of this bed, I’m killing him!” Kiliki groaned, before her face scrunched up in pain.

Dabria watched in fascination, ready to go kill Tommy herself. At least, that’s who she figured Kiliki was so mad at.

“Of course, dear. But once you hold that little one in your arms, you will have done all the hard work and it won’t matter that it was Tommy’s fault,” Aunt Jada replied.

“Oh, yes it will! I’m doing the hard work and he gets off with nothing! This is his fault!” Kiliki yelled again as another wave of pain crossed her face.

“Aunt Jada, will you please stop trying to reason with her,” Emalia pleaded from the end of the bed.

Aunt Jada grinned. “But why? It’s so much fun.”

Emalia groaned loudly, just as Tadi came careening in. He dropped the bucket of water and cloths on the floor at the display in the room though.

“Tadi, out!” Dabria yelled, knowing he wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Oh, Tadi we needed those!” Emalia cried coming over. “Where is Alicia?”

“Um, coming I think. Can I go now?” Tadi asked quickly, keeping his eyes away from the bed where Kiliki was still yelling death threats at Tommy.

“Yes, but send in Alicia with new cloths and warm water.”

The boy moved out of the room faster than he had come in. Dabria was impressed.

“Argh! That hurt!” Kiliki complained.

“Contractions usually do, dear,” Aunt Jada responded.

Dabria crossed back over to the bed. So the painful things were called contractions. Dabria filled the word away for further use.

“Just wait till this kid comes out! I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!” Kiliki groaned.

Aunt Jada laughed. “Kiliki, dear, when you are holding that little one, nothing else will matter. And Tommy is going to be so proud of you both. I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing him hold his own son.”

“Oh, no! No way!” Kiliki spouted. “I’m doing all the hard work! And he gets to hold him? Not a chance! He can come push!”

“Oh, so now the baby is definitely a him?” Aunt Jada asked.

“He’s too much trouble to be a girl!” Kiliki cried out, just before another contraction hit.

Emalia and Aunt Jada laughed at that comment, but Dabria couldn’t figure out why the both glanced at her. She wasn’t any trouble.

“Um, when is the baby coming out?” Dabria whispered to Emalia.

Emalia looked at her in surprise. “I have no idea. I’ve never done this before. The doctor will have to tell you that.” Emalia gasped and looked at Aunt Jada. “The doctor? Did anyone send for the doctor?”

“Of course I sent for him! That was the first thing I did! Aradon should arrive with him at any moment. That’s why we decided to move back into town after all.”

“Ug. Well,” Kiliki ground out, “he had better get here soon.”

Dabria nodded her head and looked at Salena who agreed with her eyes wide.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“What is taking so long?” Tommy asked for what must have been the hundredth time in Justin’s estimation.

Evyn, who was being no help at all, laughed. “Panther, it’s only been about an hour. These things can take all night.”

Tommy stopped his rapid pacing. “All night? Do you hear her screaming in there? She’s in pain! She can’t last all night!”

“I believe she is yelling death threats at you. She’s fine,” Evyn remarked obviously quite amused at the thought.

Tommy glared at him and went back to pacing. “What if something goes wrong? What if something happens to the baby?”

“What if we get hit by a freak lighting storm and all get blown to another country?” Evyn put in.

Tommy shot him a second glare. “I can’t wait till this happens to you.”

“Oh, I can. Besides, I’m not even married yet,” Evyn said causally.

“Why aren’t you married yet?” Justin put in suddenly.

Both men turned to look at him. He was the only one seated in the room, choosing the edge of Evyn’s bed as his perch. Tommy was pacing the floor in front of the fireplace and Evyn was watching his movements with great enjoyment from his spot near the middle of the floor.

Evyn finally shrugged. “Not the right time.”

“When is it ever the right time for anything?” Justin asked.

“Sometimes it comes. I’ll be ready when it does,” Evyn promised. “Quite questioning me and help me torture Tommy some more.”

Justin threw a look at Tommy, who was currently looking steadily at the fire poker. “No thank you. I have had my life threatened too often by him.”

Evyn laughed, but Tommy said, “Wise choice.”

A commotion from the outside made Tommy rush to the door and yank it open with Evyn and Justin right behind him. The doctor stood in the hallway ready to enter Kiliki’s room. Aradon stood behind him.

“Doctor? How is she? Is everything okay? Will it take much longer?”

The doctor gave Tommy a long-suffering look. “I will know, Lord Brent, as soon as I actually see the mistress of the house.”

Evyn howled with laughter as Tommy nodded his head firmly and closed the door. Justin backed up to the bed and sat down again, warily keeping an eye on Tommy. He glanced at Evyn to see him almost on the floor.

“Evyn,” he called out in warning, when he saw Tommy pick up the fire poker and study it.

Evyn glanced up and took a step back. “Now, Panther, you have always had firm and calm emotions. Don’t do something you might regret.”

“I have no idea what you are muttering about, Evyn,” Tommy said, quite calmly.

Evyn shot him a distrustful look. “Sure.”

“Justin, do you remember what you should do to someone mutinies on the ship?” Tommy asked evenly.

“Well, usually you hang them from the yardarm. Though if they are your best friend, I hear, you can put them under the lowest person on the ship,” Justin replied, glancing between the two men.

“Very good, Justin,” Tommy replied.

“Tommy,” Evyn’s voice was warning, though Tommy seemed to take no notice of it.

“You can also have them challenge you for the right to rule the ship,” Tommy lectured.

“You mean a duel?” Justin asked.

Tommy nodded. “That’s right, and then the offended party is usually marooned somewhere with a single shot in his pistol. That way, when he starves, he always has the option to end it.”

“Tommy,” Evyn’s voice had gotten lower, as he watched his friend warily.

“Yes, Evyn?” Tommy finally asked, playing with the fire poker in his hand.

“What you doing?” Evyn questioned.

“Nothing at the moment,” Tommy replied, and then took a step forward to Evyn, who moved back slightly. “But sometimes, Justin, sometimes, a well placed threat with intent behind it can be just as effective.” Suddenly he turned and lightly threw the fire poker at the fireplace. It landed with a clang.

Justin let out the breath he was holding and Evyn straightened.

“What was that all about?” He demanded.

Tommy shrugged. “Just seemed appropriate.”

“I ought too…” but his voice trailed off when Tommy looked at him. Evyn sat down in a close by chair. “Never mind.”

~ What was that all about? ~ Justin wondered. But everyone seemed to be off in their own world and he didn’t dare ask.

The door to the room opened then and Sahen entered. He looked around the room slowly with an interested look. When his gaze crossed Justin’s, he ducked his head.

“Hmm, exactly what is going on in here?” Sahen asked, but no one in the room answered. “Tommy, I asked a question. Did you not hear me?”

“I heard you, Sahen, but you can plainly see nothing is happening,” Tommy answered.

“Tommy, I want a straight answer, please,” Sahen finally said.

“I dealt with the mutiny,” Tommy answered at last.

Sahen’s eyebrows rose and he turned to look at Evyn, who for once in his life didn’t say anything. Sahen looked at Justin next, but he closed his mouth more firmly. If Tommy and Evyn weren’t talking, he certainly wasn’t going too.

“It seems then that we have reached an impasse if no one will explain what is going on, I am obligated to figure it out on my own. Justin seems scared, Evyn is ashamed, and Tommy is in one very dark mood. With the reference to mutiny earlier, I would say that Evyn used his mouth in a less than Christian way and Tommy retaliated to regain control in a fashion Christ would not be proud of. Meanwhile, Justin watches two grown Christian men act like little five year-olds. Do I have it about right?”

The fire crackling in the fireplace was the only sound in the room. Justin stared at Sahen in absolute amazement.

Sahen laughed. “I see from Justin’s expression that I am correct in my assumptions.” He took a moment to glare at both Evyn and Tommy. “Now, you two listen well to what I say. Kiliki is in the other room giving birth to the firstborn son or daughter in the next generation of the Brent family and the two of you are in here fighting. The baby does not need this exciting story for his or her birth. The two of you ought to be ashamed. The Good Book tells us not only not to provoke one another to anger but also not to act out in anger either. Now then, I believe you both have something that needs to be done.” He looked between both men respectively.

“Come on now, act like grown men please,” Sahen finally protested.

“I was only trying to help,” Evyn finally muttered.

Shane raised an eyebrow at him. “Do tell us how, please.”

Evyn shrugged. “He was so angry he wasn’t upset about Kiliki anymore.”

“That’s not true,” Tommy said, from his spot on the chair. “I never stopped worrying about her, your attitude was just added to the list.”

“Fine, I’m sorry then, but you have to admit I distracted you even if it was only a little,” Evyn half apologized.

Tommy sent him a glare, but finally nodded. “Agreed. I’m sorry too.” Tommy glanced at Justin. “I’m sorry you had to witness this whole thing, Justin.”

“Why? It’s been interesting,” Justin admitted.

“But it was not how two Christian men should be acting even under stress. We should have been better examples,” Tommy explained.

Justin grinned. “So you are human.”

Tommy laughed humorlessly. “Yes, we are that.”

Sahen smiled at the group. “I’m glad that settled. Now, Tommy, you know God watches over the lilies of the field and the sparrows of the sky, why is it that you cannot trust him to watch over your Kiliki and newborn? They are much more valuable to him then either the lilies or the sparrows. Remember, He loves your Kiliki even more than you do.”

Tommy nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. It would be easier to remember if she wasn’t screaming in pain one room over.”

“Birth pains only. She won’t remember them once she holds her little child,” Sahen assured.

“I wonder if she’ll remember her death threats against you,” Evyn commented out loud.

Justin laughed and then covered his mouth quickly, but Tommy grinned at his friend.

“If she does, you can stand buffer.”

Evyn winced. “Ouch! No thanks! I’ll hold the kid at a safe distance for you.”

“I highly doubt the little one is in any danger whatsoever. You, Tommy, might be a different matter,” Sahen said thoughtfully.

“Why, thank you, Sahen. That is so helpful,” Tommy commented amused.

Justin looked at Sahen in surprise, but Sahen smiled and winked. Justin shook his head. ~ That baby has no idea what he or she is getting into! ~

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“Thank you, God!” Dabria exclaimed when the doctor knocked and then entered the room.

The doctor smiled at her and glanced around the room. “We seem to be busy in here.”

“Doctor, you’re here!” Emalia said.

Aunt Jada looked up from her spot next to the furious Kiliki and smiled a welcome. “Doctor Orin, it is so good to see you. I have been wondering when you would arrive.”

“Hello, Jada,” Doctor Orin replied.

“Doctor, help me! Get this thing out!” Kiliki cried.

Aunt Jada put another cloth on her head. “Breathe, dear.”

“I am breathing! I can’t talk if I don’t breath!” Kiliki exclaimed.

“Yes, dear, but perhaps your concentration could be better spent pushing,” Aunt Jada said calmly.

“Doctor!” Kiliki groaned.

Doctor Orin laughed. “I’m going to examine you now, Kiliki. Emalia, could you help me, please?”

“Of course, Doctor,” Emalia said, stepping out of his way at the end of the bed.

Dabria watched in fascination and disgust as the doctor examined her sister. ~ Babies are an awful lot of trouble to get. They are cute afterwards, but this is just not worth it! ~

“Ow!” Kiliki grunted. “Make it stop!” She cried when she could breathe again.

“I wish I could, Sissy!” Dabria cried going to her sister’s side and grabbing onto her hand.

Kiliki managed to smile at her and squeezed her hand. “How much longer, Doctor?”

“You are almost fully dilated, Kiliki. I would say a half hour at most.”

“A what!” Kiliki gasped. “I’m not going to make it that long!”

“You will, Kiliki, just like every other mother,” the doctor said calmly.

“Can’t we do anything?” Emalia asked.

“It is really a waiting game until the baby decides it is time. When did you start having contractions?”

Kiliki thought about it for a moment and waited until a contraction passed before answering, “I was having contractions in the evening, but it wasn’t until after we went to bed that they started more regularly.”

The Doctor nodded. “Did you do anything that might have speeded up the process?”

Kiliki frowned. “I don’t think so.”

“We were laughing really hard when the girls came in,” Emalia put in.

Kiliki stared at her. “That’s right. The contractions started becoming more persistent after that.”

“Oops,” Dabria said guiltily, moving back to stand with Salena out of the way.

Aunt Jada laughed. “It’s not your fault, Dabria and Salena. The baby would have come tonight no matter what. But why didn’t you say something earlier, Kiliki?”

Kiliki shot her aunt a look. “And have Tommy up in arms all day? No thank you.”

The people in the room laughed. The doctor took a moment to describe his scene with Tommy outside the door and that caused another round of laughter.

“Poor Tommy,” Aunt Jada said with a fond smile.

“Poor Tommy?” Kiliki exclaimed. “All he has to do is worry and he shouldn’t even be doing that! He has the easy part…ohhhh,” Kiliki’s voice trailed off in a moan as her face screwed up in pain.

The doctor examined her again. “Kiliki, next time the contraction hits I want you to push. This baby is almost ready to be made known.”

“Well, it’s about time,” Kiliki panted. “This kid has been ignoring all my orders to get out!”

“Just shows how much she loves you,” Aunt Jada commented with a grin.

“She?” Dabria asked.

“I can’t decide if he is a boy or a girl, so I’m switching back and forth until I know,” Aunt Jada explained.

“Oh,” Dabria said, turning to Salena. “I guess that’s a good idea.”

Salena looked at her, eyes still wide, and shrugged. Dabria had the feeling Salena would agree to anything she said at the moment.

“ARGH!!!” Kiliki screamed.

“Push, Kiliki!” The doctor ordered.

“Hmph!” Kiliki pressed her lips together and scrunched her hands on the sheets as she tried.

“Breath, while you’re at it, dear,” Aunt Jada reminded her, wiping her face with a cool cloth when Kiliki relaxed for a moment.

“I don’t see you pushing,” Kiliki complained.

“Oh, no I have already been through it once and that was plenty. Besides, I had to watch Faye go through it as well.”

“You were with Tommy’s mother when she gave birth?” Emalia asked.

But she was interrupted when Kiliki began to heave again. The doctor gave orders and soon the contraction had passed. Aunt Jada continued as if there had been no interruption at all.

“Of course, Faye and I were the best of friends. I have missed her dearly. She didn’t have the easiest pregnancy or birth. This is quite a snap compared to that.”

“A snap! You think this is easy!” Kiliki ground out, staring at her aunt.

“Now, dear, I said comparatively. Births are never totally easy on the mommy. But as I mentioned earlier you’ll forget it all as soon as you hold your little boy.”

Dabria grinned at the switch in gender again, but Kiliki was less than amused.

“When I get out of this bed…” Kiliki screamed as the doctor yelled, “Push hard!”

A few seconds later, the doctor exclaimed, “He’s crowing!”

Dabria looked at Salena. “He’s wearing a crown? How’d she get that in there?”

Salena shook her head. “That can’t be what the doctor means. Can it?”

Aunt Jada laughed at them, apparently having heard the discussion. “Crowning means that the head of the baby is showing. It won’t be long now a few more pushes I think. Why don’t you have a look?”

“No thanks!” Both girls exclaimed.

Aunt Jada laughed, but she was quickly interrupted when Kiliki grasped her shoulder and squeezed hard enough for her knuckles to turn white.

“Ouch, Kiliki, dear, I am not as strong as you. I don’t mind being here, but sharing the actual pain is not something I had in mind.” Aunt Jada said as calmly as possible, while she focused on removing Kiliki’s death grip. She motioned to Dabria who slowly came over. Jada placed Kiliki’s hand in her sister’s and moved back slightly. “Now, you may squeeze as hard as you like,” she said cheerfully.

“A few more pushes, Kiliki. This little one is suddenly anxious to come out,” the doctor called.

A few more pushes seemed to take hours to Dabria, but she braved the pain in her hand and held onto her sister. Kiliki had threatened everyone in the room with a fate worse than death, including Evyn and Tommy, when the first ear splitting cry hit the room. All else went silent as the doctor ordered Emalia to get the clean clothes and scissors and the tiny infant cried for all to hear.

Kiliki gasped for breath as the pain subsided and she was able to focus again. She looked at Dabria questioningly, but Dabria could only shrug. She had heard the baby crying, but with the sudden slurry of activity, she didn’t have any clue what kind of baby it was.

“Doctor?” Kiliki whispered finally.

But it was Emalia, who stepped to her side a small bundle in her arms. “He’s a boy, Kiliki, a perfect boy.”

Dabria gasped and Kiliki had tears in her eyes and she let go of Dabria’s hand and reached for her son. He was wrapped in a black and purple blanket that Aunt Jada had made for the little one’s arrival. It covered him completely and Kiliki pulled back a corner to see his face.

Dabria leaned over to examine her new little nephew. He was the tiniest thing she had ever seen. His face was pudgy and his little nose was smaller than her smallest button. He had a mouth that didn’t seem to know how to close either. His little face was all scrunched like he’d been swimming too long as he continued to make sure everyone heard his voice. Kiliki made hushing noises and rocked him gently. Within moments, he had calmed down and looked up at his mother with startling blue eyes.

“He’s really cute,” Dabria declared suddenly.

Kiliki smiled at her fondly. “He’s perfect, isn’t he? You’re going to enjoy being an aunt. I can tell that already.”

Dabria grinned, already planning adventures with him.

Kiliki moved her finger up to stroke his little cheek. “You are so sweet, my little Jason. Welcome to our world.”

“Hi, Jason. I’m your Aunt Dabria,” Dabria paused. “That sounds weird.”

The adults laughed.

“Would you do your first auntly duty and go get Tommy?” Kiliki asked.

Dabria wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to leave now that the screaming has stopped. But I guess if I have too. Are you sure you still don’t want to kill him?”

Kiliki laughed. “Not at the moment. But I’m still thinking of different ways to make him pay for all that pain I had to go through.”

“Kiliki, you are impossible,” Aunt Jada exclaimed.

Kiliki grinned. “No I’m not. Besides, I’m the one with Jason.”

Aunt Jada was still shaking her head when Dabria scampered out of the room and down the hallway. She knocked on Evyn’s bedroom door and opened it to find all four men standing up and giving each other instructions on swordplay. Sahen was the only one without a sword in his hands.

“Oh! You’re going to be in trouble! Just wait until Kiliki finds out what you are doing!” Dabria half taunted and half exclaimed.

“Is she okay? Has the baby been born?” Tommy asked, breaking away from the group.

Dabria nodded, keeping a suspicious eye on the sword in his hand.

“Yes to what?” Tommy asked, handing his sword over to Justin, but keeping his eyes on Dabria.

“Both. She wants to see you, but you are still in trouble!” Dabria had to call the last part out, because Tommy was already past her and down the hallway. Not about to miss a moment, Dabria followed quickly, with the other three men not far behind.

Inside the room again, Tommy moved to Kiliki’s side as everyone else got out of his way. He looked down at Kiliki for a moment, taking his own time examining her. She smiled up at him and then looked back to the bundle in her arms.

“Tommy, I want you to meet your son Jason.”

“Jason was born,” Tommy whispered, shifting his attention to the bundle and missing Kiliki’s affirming nod. He reached down a hand and touched Jason’s little face with his finger. Dabria went around the other side of the bed to see Jason tilt his head a tiny bit to look up at his father. “Hi, Jason.” He looked at Kiliki. “May I hold him?”

“No way,” Kiliki said with a tired grin.

“What?” Tommy asked.

“I do all the work and you reap the rewards? God needs a better system,” Kiliki complained.

“Are you going to hold out until He gets one?” Tommy asked, amused.

Kiliki snuggled further down into the bed. “I might.”

Tommy sat down on the bed next to her, and moved her chin so that she was looking directly at him, but he didn’t say a word.

“No fair. I hate it when you pull that,” Kiliki protested weakly.

A few seconds later, Jason was in Tommy’s arms. A small smile crossed Kiliki’s face and then her eyes slid closed as she snuggled next to her husband and baby.

“Okay, everyone out,” Aunt Jada whispered, making shooing motions towards the door.

“Yes, baby and mommy need rest now. They will both be just fine. Jada, I’ll give you some instructions outside,” the doctor said as he helped to shoo the watching audience away. Dabria tried to protest when Emalia caught her hand and led her out, but suddenly the girl found she was without strength. She had been up all night and now as the rays of sunrise hit the windows of the room, she suddenly found she was too exhausted to do anything but crawl into bed and dream about little baby boys.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

The Guardian Star's True Mark Chapter 2

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Hello again.
As promised, here is chapter two! There will be no chapter next week, as I will be in Disneyworld! However, I will try to post the night I return. Meanwhile, enjoy!

Chapter 2 ~ Reunion

Dabria watched the shoreline intently. Captain Justin had told her yesterday they would be reaching the main land sometime today and Dabria didn’t want to miss a thing. She bounced excitedly as she watched. It had been so long since she had seen her sister and she couldn’t wait to get a great big hug from her. She wondered briefly what it was like to be pregnant and then she wondered if Tommy, her new brother, had changed her a lot. She had sounded okay in her letter, but you could put anything on paper and make it sound good. Dabria knew that for a fact. Her thoughts moved on to the problem of Evyn next. He was Kiliki’s real brother. Kiliki had said that just because Evyn and her were blood sister and brother, didn’t mean she loved Dabria any less, but what if she kinda did?

“What are you thinking?” Salena asked from her right side.

“About Evyn,” Dabria answered.

Salena nodded solemnly. She had been the first one to tell Dabria that Kiliki was not really her sister. It had slipped out by accident. Dabria’s parents had taken Kiliki in when she was one and had raised her as their own, never telling either girl of that fact. When Kiliki had been forced to run away or marry against her will, she had met Evyn, who had been searching for her. Evyn proved that they were siblings and when Kiliki had finally returned to Waverton, Dabria’s world had been thrown upside down. Her parents had never even adopted Kiliki as their own and greatly favored their own daughter above the girl they had taken in. But that had mattered little to Kiliki and Dabria who shared a close sisterly bond.

“We were always so close. Do you think Evyn will change that, Salena?” Dabria asked quietly.

Salena shook her head. “No way, Bree. Kiliki came back to help you when you were so sick, even though it meant she’d have to marry stupid Thanos. If Evyn had changed something, she never would have come back.”

Dabria nodded slowly, staring out at the sea.

Salena put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Besides, she sent for you just like she promised, didn’t she? And she wants your help with her baby. She has to still love you lots, Bree, she has too.”

Dabria took a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah, you’re right. I get to help with the new baby.”

Salena grinned at her.

“You too Salena, and we get to see Emalia again too!” Dabria said, speaking of Kiliki’s maid and a big sister to both girls.

“Land ho!” The call came down from high above them.

Dabria squealed and looked out, but she couldn’t see anything but more ocean.

“Don’t worry, Dabria, you’ll be able to see it soon,” Captain Justin’s voice said from behind them.

Dabria turned to him. “How much longer now?”

“Not too much. A few hours at most.”

“A few hours!” Dabria exclaimed. “But that’s forever!”

Captain Justin laughed. “No, it just seems that way. Promise, you’ll see the shore and then Kiliki real soon.”

Dabria huffed and turned around to watch again.

When the shoreline did come into view, Dabria stood at the rail, ready and waiting to get off. Behind her, her luggage as well as Salena’s was waiting for a quick off loading. Dabria bounced high and would move up and down the rail to make sure she didn’t miss seeing a single thing. Salena stood in one place, but her quick moving eyes brought all to her attention. It was she who called out first and pointed to a carriage waiting at the dock. Dabria’s high squeal brought many of the crewmembers to a stand still, but most shook their heads a second later, and went back to work bring in the ship to dock.

A half hour later, the gangplank was lowered. Captain Justin had to grab Dabria’s hand to hold her on the deck until it sat firmly on land. Only then, did he release her to go flying down it and towards the carriage. A man was helping her sister down from it as she ran up.

“Dabria!” Kiliki called at the exact moment Dabria hit her full force.

“Sissy! Sissy! I’m here! I made it! It was so much fun! And Salena’s here too! And Captain Justin was so nice! And are you really pregnant?” Dabria’s tirade stopped as she stepped back to examine Kiliki’s belly. “Yep, you sure are!”

Kiliki laughed. “Yes, I’m very much pregnant, Bree. Oh, it is so good to see you!” She wrapped her sister in another hug, much to Dabria’s delight. “Welcome to Triger, Dabria.” She paused and Dabria looked up to see her looking over her shoulder. “And you too, Salena.”

Dabria turned to see her friend standing off to the side with the luggage. She gave her a strange look, but Salena ignored it. Kiliki released Dabria, to put her hands on her hips.

“What? No hi?”

“Hi, Miss Kiliki. It’s so good to see you again,” Salena said softly with a smile.

Kiliki shook her head and grinned. “That is not the greeting I wanted Salena. Come here, I want my hug.” She held open her arms and within seconds Salena was in them. Kiliki held her close and whispered something in her ear that Dabria couldn’t hear. She’d have to ask her friend about it later. Kiliki let go of Salena with one arm to bring Dabria close to her again. “Now, you two listen, things may have changed a lot, but the one thing that will never change is how much I love the two of you. That goes for Emalia too. You both understand?” She waited until the girls nodded. “Good, now stop all that worrying. This is a fun trip! And now there is someone I want you to meet.”

Kiliki stood up and the man that had helped her out of the carriage came to her side. “Dabria, Salena, this is my husband Tommy.”

Salena curtsied and Dabria took a moment to study him as she followed suit. He was big. Taller than Kiliki and he had long brown hair. Dabria didn’t think anyone but pirates had that long of hair. Justin had long black hair. Tommy’s eyes were sharp too. They were gray, she didn’t think she had ever seen that color of eyes before, but then she didn’t always pay attention to that stuff either. He had a nice face and he was smiling. Dabria decided he had lots of stories to tell.

“Welcome, Dabria and Salena. It is good to finally meet both of you. Did you enjoy sailing on the Guardian Star?” Tommy asked as he put an arm around Kiliki’s waist.

Dabria nodded. “It was lots of fun. It’s so big too!”

Tommy laughed. “Yes, it is that. Are you both ready to go home now?”

“I haven’t seen Justin!” Kiliki protested before either girl could speak.

“I’ll ask him to drop by later, if he wasn’t already planning to. You have been standing for too long now, and I want you in that carriage and resting.” Tommy replied calmly, but firmly.

Kiliki stuck her tongue out at him, making both girls laugh. Tommy just shook his head and helped his wife to get into the carriage. She went without another word. Once seated, she called back out, “Come on girls! We have lots more chatting to do!”

Dabria grinned at Salena and Tommy quickly helped both girls inside. They sat next to each other on the bench across from Kiliki.

“So, tell me all about your trip!” Kiliki demanded with a grin.

Dabria immediately launched into a full description of the ship. She was just getting to the cannons when Tommy reappeared and climbed in. A few seconds later the carriage started to roll. Kiliki looked at her husband, who smiled at her and promised Justin would be by as soon as he finished a few things on the ship. Satisfied, Kiliki turned back to Dabria, who continued her description, with Salena filling in whenever she was needed.

She had managed to describe all but the final two days when they pulled to a stop. Dabria and Salena looked out the window and then at Kiliki who smiled.

“We have been staying at Aunt Jada’s townhouse until the baby is born. We want to be closer to the doctor in case something happens. But maybe Evyn could take you girls on a trip out to see the estates while you’re here. Next time you come up, we will be living out there again.”

Dabria shared a glance with Salena, then smiled at her sister and nodded. She was still nervous about meeting Evyn.

Tommy helped the girls climb down then led the procession up the steps. Dabria had to admit the house was pretty. The outside had lots of decorative woodwork and the color was mostly white with a blue trim. It also had two large bay windows and a large stained glass window above the double front door, behind which the chandelier could be seen. Three steps led up to a small white front porch. Tommy opened the door and ushered them all inside. The parlor was on the right and Tommy led them into it.

Dabria and Salena took a moment to look around. Two couples sat waiting and talking. Sitting on a couch to their left was an older woman and man. Across from them were a younger man and Emalia.

“Girls!” Emalia cried as soon as she saw them, jumping up.

The two younger girls raced towards her and threw their arms around her waist. She gave them both long hugs. “I have missed you both so much!”

“We missed you too,” they both said at the same time, which caused some of the others in the room too laugh.

Kiliki came up to stand next to them. “It feels so good for us all to be together again,” she said with a smile.

The other three nodded their agreement.

“Why don’t I introduce you to the rest of the people in the room, okay? Later, we’ll find some time for just the four of us,” Kiliki promised.

Dabria nodded and took her sister’s hand possessively. Kiliki gave it a squeeze and then led her over to the older gentleman with Salena right behind.

“Dabria, Salena, this is Sahen. He was Tommy’s first mate on the Guardian Star, but agreed to stay with us when we came to the estates. He lives on the Brent estate with Evyn now.”

The older man took their hands one at a time and gave them a warm smile. “I have heard much about the two of you girls. I am looking forward to spending time with you both.”

Dabria and Salena smiled at him. Dabria felt more at ease. He seemed like a nice grandfather type.

Next, Kiliki took them to the older woman. “This is my Aunt Jada.”

Aunt Jada smiled at them. “I’m Tommy’s aunt. So, that means I am your aunt too. I have got great plans for us! I was thinking a tour around town, shopping, of course we must go horseback riding, and I can’t wait to hear all your stories about Kiliki. I’m sure you both have some great ones to tell!”

Dabria and Salena laughed, while Kiliki groaned. “Let them settle in first!” She exclaimed.

“Nonsense, settling in is boring. Exploring, now that is fun!” Aunt Jada exclaimed.

Dabria grinned. Her new favorite person was Aunt Jada. She saw Salena cast her a look and realized her friend knew trouble was on the way. Dabria decided to ignore her for now.

She tightened her grip on her sister’s hand when they turned to the last person. There was only one person in the world this could be and Dabria was still unsure she wanted to meet him. This time Kiliki sat on the sofa, next to him and smiled at her sister.

“Bree, Salena, this is my brother, Evyn.”

Dabria gave him a small smile, behind her she felt Salena take a step closer to her.

“So this is the infamous Dabria and her sidekick Salena. It is indeed a great honor to meet two people as famous as yourselves. Would you mind sharing some of your trade secrets with me? I understand you are excellent eavesdroppers and I really need to brush up on my skills. Please, please help me!” Evyn put his hands together in a pleading motion.

Dabria couldn’t help laughing at him. She could feel Selena behind her shaking slightly and knew she was giggling too. Kiliki smacked her brother on his arm, but he ignored her and kept looking at Dabria with lost puppy dog eyes.

Dabria grinned at him. “I’ll help you if you tell me your trade secrets too.”

Evyn gave her a huge smile. “You’ve got a deal!”

He held out his hand and the two shook, firmly sealing a great new friendship.

Over the next few hours and milk and cookies everyone caught up on what they had missed. Kiliki told her sister what had happened after they had parted ways and both girls were sworn never to tell anyone that Tommy had been the Black Panther before Justin. Dabria rather liked being in on such a large secret. Dabria and Salena returned the favor of news by informing them on everything they had overheard at the latest parties. Their descriptions kept everyone laughing.

Dabria was surprised when a boy about her age came into the room to announce that dinner was ready.

“Thank you, but where is Aradon?” Aunt Jada asked.

“Calming the cook down, Milady,” the boy said sheepishly.

“And what did you do?” Tommy asked the question.

“It wasn’t my fault!” He replied quickly. “I didn’t know the mouse was under that barrel.”

Evyn laughed out loud as the boy scurried out the door. Aunt Jada shook her head smiling and quickly ordered everyone into dinner.

“Who was that?” Dabria asked Salena, but her friend shook her head.

The two followed everyone into the dinning room directly across the hall. Tommy sat at the head with Aunt Jada on the left and Kiliki on his right. Next to Aunt Jada sat Sahen and then Evyn, and finally Salena. Emalia had the spot next to Kiliki and Dabria sat next to her. As soon as they were seated and Tommy had said grace, Dabria turned to Emalia.

“Who was the boy?”

Emalia smiled fondly. “That was Tadi. Aradon, the butler, is his father. He can almost be as big of a handful as the two of you,” she said, smiling across the table to Salena.

“We are going to have to meet this kid,” Dabria decided out loud.

Salena nodded her agreement, but she didn’t say anything because she was busy chewing on her food. Dabria decided to follow her example, now that her curiosity had been appeased, she was starving.

They were almost halfway through dinner when Captain Justin appeared in the doorway protesting, “I tried to leave them behind. But they flat out refused! Sorry.”

Dabria looked behind him and saw a grinning Maath and Namid. Jada promptly clapped her hands together and called out, “Oh, goody, more people for dinner! Aradon, we need three more places!”

Aradon and Tadi came into the room and within seconds three more places had been set. Dabria watched it happen amazed. Everything moved so quickly that she realized it must be a normal thing for them.

“Sit, sit! Tell us all about your trip!” Aunt Jada exclaimed waving them to their seats.

Captain Justin ended up next to Dabria and he grinned at her. “So, how are you enjoying your trip so far?”

“It’s amazing!” Dabria replied happily.

“Good, pass the chicken please,” Captain Justin smiled.

Dabria did so and then let the conversation flow around her as she observed everyone at the newly enlarged table. Maath had been seated next to Justin. She liked him. He was fun and teased her, but he let her do anything she wanted on the ship and she’d learned a lot from him. Namid seemed wiser to her, but she knew he could tease as well and she had seen him have fun on the ship. Both were helpful and kind to her and they both seemed to know what to do in any situation on board.

She glanced at Justin who sat next to her. He was okay too. She was glad he had come to get her to bring her too Kiliki’s. She had had so much fun on his ship and she couldn’t wait to get back on it, except that meant she was going home, and she could wait for that part. Still, Justin was too serious a lot of the time. She wondered if there was a way she could make him smile more. She decided to think about it later.

She smiled across the table at Salena, who sat directly across from Justin. She was so glad her friend was with her. It made everything more special and fun to be together. Movement next to Salena caused her to turn and look at Evyn.

He was concentrating hard. He had claimed everyone’s glasses who had finished and was attempting to make a tower out of them. He winked at her when he noticed she was watching and she smiled back.

“Evyn!” Kiliki called suddenly. “You are going to break something!”

“Only if you startle me,” Evyn said calmly, putting another glass on top.

Dabria glanced at her sister, who as shaking her head. She grinned and went back to watching Evyn. He couldn’t be in that much trouble if he was going to continue.

“You know, it’d be sturdier if you made a pyramid instead of a tower,” Kiliki pointed out a few minutes later.

Evyn cocked his head to the side and examined his creation. “You’re right. Thanks.” He promptly started to disassemble it.

Dabria looked at her sister in surprise, but Kiliki just shrugged.

“He’s not going to stop. At least this way there is less of a chance of them breaking,” Kiliki said softly.

Dabria laughed and watched Evyn begin to reassemble it. Emalia pointed out that it looked better with pink tinted glass on top and Evyn gave her a smooth grin. Dabria watched Emalia blush and grinned herself. She quickly got Salena’s attention and pointed out Emilia’s face. Salena’s eyes got wide for a second before she glanced quickly down at her plate to smother a giggle. They were going to have fun with that later on.

Dabria’s thoughts where interrupted when the peach pie was set in front of her. Evyn’s tower was quickly abandoned as he dug in. Dabria noticed Emalia watched him for a second before beginning on her own piece. She smiled. She was glad Emalia was here. Emalia had always been another sister to her, especially when Kiliki was gone. It wouldn’t have seemed right if she wasn’t with them too.

Evyn covered a burp and muttered excuse me as he want back to his tower, this time with Justin and Maath adding their own cups and helping hands. Dabria watched for a few more seconds, before turning to watch Sahen. He was older, and Dabria got the feeling everything he said was treated with respect. He was serious too, but in a grandfather way, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. During the course of the evening, Dabria had recognized a few Bible verses he used without really trying. She wondered if she could stump him on one.

Aunt Jada laughed at something he said then and Dabria grinned. She had a feeling there was more going on between them. And even at ten, she usually wasn’t wrong when she guessed that. A fact she was proud of. Aunt Jada was the best. She was funny, and active, and neat. Dabria wondered if she really went horseback riding or if she was going to watch. Dabria didn’t really care as long as she could go. Aunt Jada called a question down to Namid, who smiled and answered. Aunt Jada hadn’t stopped smiling since Justin and the others had come in. She had quickly realized that Aunt Jada was the happiest when there was a large rowdy crowd for dinner.

Dabria smiled as her gaze past her sister and fastened on Tommy. Of all the people she had met so far, he was the only one she still didn’t know what to think about. He could put expressions on his face at will. Sometimes he looked happy or something, and then his face would be totally blank. She wished she could figure him out more, but it was obvious he loved Kiliki. And that was the most important thing, that and getting the last piece of pie before Evyn noticed there was one.

She was just reaching for it, when a hand shot out and took it away. She looked at Justin in surprise.

He grinned at her and asked, “Do you want to split it with me?”

She nodded her agreement and accepted her half of the juicy peach fruit pie. She was defiantly going to like being a part of this family.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Dabria motioned for the already silent Salena to be quite. She nodded her head anyway. The two sneaked out of their room at the front of the house and quietly passed the doors to Emalia and Kiliki and Tommy’s rooms before gaining the stairs.

They had been sent to bed a half hour ago because of their long day, but they hadn’t had a chance to corner the Tadi kid and Dabria wanted that done before she could go to sleep. So, Dabria had decided to find him. They made their way downstairs without incident and paused at the bottom to listen for voices. Laughter came from both the parlor and the library, so Dabria motioned to the dining room. Salena squeezed her hand in response and the two skirted into the doorway. They crawled around the long table and poked their heads into the kitchen.

All was quite, and Dabria crept forward. A clang on the left caused both girls to freeze. A soft gasp made them glance at each other. Dabria stuck her head around the large table in the center and saw a dark head duck out of sight. Dabria looked at Salena with a grin.

She stood up and walked around the table. “Hello Tadi.”

The dark skinned boy whipped his head around. “Oh! Miss Dabria! I um, I didn’t know you were here.”

She grinned at him. “I could tell that. How old are you?”

“Um, eight and a half,” he replied slowly.

“You’re not sure?” Dabria asked smiling.

“No, I’m sure,” Tadi replied. He looked over her shoulder to Salena.

“Oh, this is my best friend Salena,” Dabria introduced her.

Salena gave him a smile and a small curtsy. Tadi’s eyes got wide.

“You’re a servant too?”

“I am Dabria’s personal maid,” she replied calmly.

“Oh,” Tadi finally replied.

“What are you doing?” Dabria asked, looking up to the top of the cabinet.

“Cook usually hides the leftover desert up there. And there are always leftovers. I wanted a snack,” came the explanation.

“Don’t you need a chair?” Dabria questioned.

Tadi shrugged. “I wouldn’t have if the empty pot was the one with the pie. She must have put it farther back.”

“Let’s get a chair and get it then,” Dabria said, already looking around.

It took her a moment to realize Tadi hadn’t moved.

“What?”

“You’re going to help me?” Tadi asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Of course, we can’t have any pie if we don’t,” Dabria stated matter-of-factly.

Tadi swung his gaze to Salena, but she just offered a shrug. “This is normal, get use to it.”

“Wow,” Tadi commented, before going to get a nearby chair and placing it under the cabinet. “Okay, if one of you steadies it, I can climb up and get the pie.”

Salena grabbed onto the chair and Tadi climbed up. By standing on his tiptoes he was able to successfully reach the pie, but when he stepped back his foot slipped and he came crashing down. Dabria grabbed the pie out of harm’s way but it was Salena who broke Tadi’s fall when he landed on top of her.

“Oaf,” Salena head as the air was forced out of her body.

Tadi sat on top of her stunned for a second before scrambling off of her lap.

“I’m so sorry, Salena. I tripped. Are you okay?” He offered a hand and the girl stood up slowly.

When Salena finally smiled and nodded she was fine, Dabria declared, “Good, now let’s eat some of this pie.”

She laid it on the long table and Tadi brought a knife. He cut off three small sections and handed one to each of the girls before taking one himself. The three quickly enjoyed the pie of their labors.

“This is even better than what we had at supper,” Dabria decided out loud.

“That’s ‘cuz we had to work for this one. Least, that’s what my dad is always telling me,” Tadi replied, around his own mouthful of food.

“It is really good,” Salena agreed.

“Tadi, do you do this often?” Dabria asked suddenly.

Tadi swallowed and answered, “Whenever I get hungry. I have to be careful though or Cook gets mad at me. Then I’m not allowed in the kitchen for forever.”

“What are you thinking, Dabria?” Salena asked suspiciously.

“Nothing. Just that we should do this more often. Like once a week, or something.” Dabria answered thoughtfully.

“Once a week? Why?” Salena asked.

Dabria shrugged. “’Cuz its fun.”

Tadi grinned. “It’s okay with me. Then if we get caught Cook might not punish me with you two down here too.”

Dabria laughed. “Well, I don’t want to get punished, but I usually don’t get caught either.”

“Wish I didn’t,” Tadi muttered.

Dabria threw an arm around his shoulder. “We’ll teach you, Tadi. Just you wait.”

Tadi shrugged his shoulders with a grin. “Sounds good to me.”

Dabria looked at Salena, who just shook her head. “You know if you do it, I’ll be right with you.”

“It’s a deal then. We better put the trays back. Staying in one place too long gets you caught,” Dabria informed Tadi importantly.

Tadi nodded solemnly and with the girl’s help managed to put the kitchen back into shape. Dabria put her finger to her lips and whispered, “Until next week.” Then the three kids snuck back out of the room, all three looking forward already to next week’s late night snack.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Hello All! I am changing the course of this page slightly. While it will still occasionally deal with entertainment issues that interest me, it will focus more on writing and books. In doing so, I hope to provide more insight into this fascinating world, as well as bring you some reading enjoyment.

Many of you followed Aiden faithfully (the link to his story is on the right) and now I offer you the chance to follow yet another character on his journey of self-finding. If you have read my book The Guardian Star's True Mark, this is a character you will well be familiar with. His name is Justin and when we left him at the end of that book he was all of sixteen, a new captain of a remarkable ship, and ready to find his way in the world. It is now time for him to do just that. If you have not read The Guardian Star's True Mark, I would encourage you do to so, however, you will be able to enjoy this story regardless. If you would like to purchase it or others I have written, simply click on the link to the right, titled Books, to buy a copy.

I will post chapters of Justin's story, titled The Guardian Star's True Captain, here and you are welcome to comment as you like! I love to hear your opinions. I have through chapter 10 already written and after that I am working on some editing as I write in new chapters. I will attempt to post every week on Monday. On weeks I cannot I will attempt to let you know about the delay. So, shall we begin?

The Guardian Star’s True Captain

Chapter 1 ~ New Beginnings
“Fire!” Justin Falcon shouted over the boom of the other ship’s cannon.

The Guardian Star fired off a volley, but it fell short of its mark. Justin muttered a curse. This shouldn’t even be happening. He had been minding his own business when the other ship had started firing. No one fired on the Black Panther’s ship, unless they were ignorant or too furious to care. Of course, that could mean it was any pirate who operated on the Ula Ocean. The Black Panther had made enemies of most of them and now Justin had to deal with every one. His predecessor had left quite the legacy to follow.

Justin swore again. “Who is that idiot?”

“Someone who doesn’t realize who he is dealing with,” Namid, the helmsman and Justin’s appointed guard, answered grimly.

“Or else he does,” Maath, the first mate, replied to Namid from Justin’s right side.

Justin swung to look at him. “Impossible, no one knows Tommy retired. This idiot thinks he is fighting the real Black Panther.”

“Which you are now,” Namid reminded him.

“Well, yes,” Justin admitted hesitantly as he watched the other, still nameless, ship drawing closer.

“Conversation for a later time. The problem now is you don’t have the Black Panther’s experience,” Maath rapped out.

“No kidding. That’s why I have you two,” Justin said, just as the other ship launched a second volley. “Quit firing on my ship!” He yelled out angrily.

“Yeah, they heard that,” Maath muttered.

Justin swung around to him. “I’m open to suggestions!”

“You are not ready to deal with this. We need to run,” Maath answered calmly.

“Not happening. The Black Panther doesn’t run, he wins,” Justin returned. “Namid?”

“Maath is correct, yet so are you,” Namid answered.

“So helpful,” Justin muttered. “The Black Panther would get under their range, right?

Maath shook his head. “You might be right, but that’s presenting too big a target than I really feel like giving them right now.”

“What if we…” Namid took a hand off the wheel to make an odd motion with it.

“That might work. Can you time it precisely?” Maath questioned.

Namid scoffed. “Of course.”

Maath shrugged. “Then let’s do it, we can teach that arrogant captain a lesson and keep the ship and the Black Panther’s reputation in tack at the same time.

“Which, of course, is the point,” Namid clarified.

“Obviously,” Maath answered as he turned to start calling commands to the deck below.

Justin looked from Maath to Namid and back again. “What just happened?”

“You came up with a plan,” Namid replied in his calm manner.

“I did?”

“Yes, the crew believes you are giving all the orders through Maath as is the normal operation. Therefore, you came up with the plan.”

“But I didn’t. You did,” Justin protested.

Namid shrugged his broad shoulders. “They don’t know that.”

Justin shook his head and watched the action unfold. Namid turned the ship so that they where directly facing the attacking ship. Meanwhile, Maath had all the cannons pulled back, leaving only the front ones in place. They waited as the other ship pulled closer. Suddenly, Namid turned the wheel all the way so that the ship banked hard to the port. As soon as they were abeam to the attacking ship, Maath called ‘fire’ and just as quickly Namid was yanking the wheel in the opposite direction. Justin watched as all free hands dropped anchor on the side that Namid was turning too. Again, as soon as the starboard was facing the other ship the Guardian Star fired. The crew hauled the anchor back up as Namid used the ensuing momentum to continue the churn and shoot the ship straight past the attacking shop. As they went past, the back cannons, which Maath had moved back into place, fired all at once. Just that quickly, the Guardian Star was out of danger and leaving an incredibly damaged ship behind. The crew let out a robust cheer as they began to assess and repair their own ship. Justin tuned to stare at Namid in amazement.

“How… Where did you learn that?”

Namid laughed. “The Black Panther used that trick once a while ago.”

“Yeah, it scared everyone senseless when he did it. But it is a trick you do not easily forget. You need experienced hands to pull it off though, which, luckily, we have. As soon as I told them to pull back the aft cannons and put all extra hands on anchor, they knew exactly what they were doing,” Maath explained as he stepped off the quarterdeck steps and took his place next to Justin.

“Wow. I have got to talk to Tommy! He’s been holding out!” Justin exclaimed.

Maath and Namid both laughed. “Kid, you have no idea,” Maath eventually managed to say.

Justin had the feeling he was right. He walked to the front rail and watched silently as his crew worked. Yes, he had much to learn and he would learn it all. It had taken him only a few weeks to learn how to live by himself on the streets. This would be no different. He watched two crewmen doing something complicated with the sails. Well, it might be a little harder, but that meant he would work harder. He was no longer the street rat that was a worthless nobody. He owned this ship. He was in command. He was the Black Panther…. The Black Panther, just like his idol.

Tommy had been the best pirate on the seas, feared and hated even by other pirates. Now he was retired with his wife, Kiliki, and he had given his ship and title to Justin. That moment had defined Justin more than any other in his life. Tommy believed in him enough to give him his own ship. Without exaggerating, it was easily the fastest ship on the Ula Ocean. Justin’s only goal was to prove himself worthy of Tommy’s trust. He would be the best pirate on the sea. No one would ever call him street rat or worthless again, no one would dare. Justin grinned as scenes from the previous battle floated through his mind. Not only would he be the best, but he would have fun and adventure doing it. This he vowed.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“This is ridiculous,” Justin muttered as he stared up at the intimidating house. It was a large two-story white and sky blue house. It had three white wrap-around steps, which led up to the large front porch. The porch itself had a grand bay window on both sides of the main double door. Four white pillars held up the stately porch roof. The second floor had a balcony with double doors in the middle and a large bay window on both sides. The roof had a black gate going around it with a dome in the center. On both sides of the house there was a verandah with a second story balcony on top. The right balcony he knew used to be Kiliki’s. The left veranda had a large bay window and the one on the right side had a glass double door. On the left side of the house, there was an addition that had only a single window on the second floor. The left wall of the addition faced Ula Ocean and was covered in clinging ivy, which hung gracefully down the entire wall. “Why did I ever agree to this? What was I thinking?”

It was a rhetorical question, half because there was no one with him and half because he already knew the answer. Kiliki had asked him to as a favor to herself and Tommy. Justin sighed now. He should have said no, but it had seemed so easy at the time. However, now that he stood in the front of the plantation house ready to take the young girl away from irate parents he wasn’t so sure. Kiliki had said forewarned him at this was not going to be easy.

Justin pulled his cuffs uncomfortably to straighten it and started reluctantly up the steps. He had promised after all, and in the long run it was better just to get it over with. He only hoped Dabria would not be as much trouble on the ship has her older sister, Kiliki, had been.

He checked one last time for the letter from Kiliki explaining his visit to her sister’s parents and then knocked loudly. It was only a few minutes before a young girl opened the door. She looked up at him expectantly.

“Hi there. I’m here to see Dabria and her parents.”

The girl looked at him in surprise, then supposition, but she finally opened the door enough to allow him to enter. He followed her into a large foyer with a wide staircase in the center. The girl scurried off to the left, and a few minutes later a different maid appeared to escort him into the first door on the left, which turned out to be the main parlor.

“The master and his lady will be down in a few moments,” she informed him politely.

“Thank you,” Justin replied.

She gave him a strange look and glanced him over before nodding and exiting.

Justin looked himself over trying to figure out what the maids seemed to find so offensive about him. He had purposefully put on his best clothes so that he would be free of the pirate look, but perhaps he hadn’t succeeded. After all, his black hair was still long. He wore it in a ponytail, the same way Tommy did and Kiliki had often commented that his green eyes told that he had been through a lot in his years. Still, he had on a white cambric shirt with laced drawstrings, black breeches, Hessians boots, and a cardigan, which was like a frock that buttoned down the front. He also wore a tri-corn hat with a Benjamin, a loose topcoat worn for traveling. He desperately wished for his own normal clothing, anything to be more comfortable. He had even left his sword behind, but only because Maath and Namid had insisted. It had to do with something about being intimidating. Justin figured he’d have to be intimidating if they were ever going to let Dabria go with him.

The door opened and two figures walked in.

“Who are you?” The man spoke in a tone that said he felt Justin as beneath him.

“My name is Captain Justin Falcon,” Justin replied calmly.

The woman looked from her husband to Justin and finally spoke, “This is my husband William Richerson and I am Stacia Richerson. We are the Lord and Lady of this house,” she said rather unnecessarily, Justin thought.

“What is your business here, Mr. Falcon? You said something about our daughter,” William spoke loftily and slowly.

“Actually, the title is Captain, Mr. Richerson, and yes, I have come about Dabria. I have been commissioned to escort her to her sister’s house in Triger,” Justin explained.

“Kiliki sent you?” Stacia asked incredulously, dropping her haughty façade.

“The Duke and Duchess are anxious for her to visit,” Justin said putting emphasis on the titles.

“Duke? Duchess? Then it is true,” Stacia whispered.

Justin looked at them in surprise. Tommy and Kiliki’s marriage and Tommy’s assumption of his title last year had been the biggest news in Zerlinda for years. “You have to be kidding!” Justin paused and started again, “I mean you must have heard the news.”

“We heard the rumors of course. But who was to say it was our former ward?” William responded.

“You ‘ward,’ as you call her, has done very well for herself and, not that you care, but she is very happy. Her only request is to see her sister and I have come to see that it is fulfilled,” Justin spoke, barely managing to keep the dislike for the pompous people from his voice.

“You are not taking our daughter anywhere. Especially to that…” William thundered, but trailed off as if he couldn’t think of a word bad enough to call Kiliki.

“Kiliki wants to see her sister and I’m not leaving until I have Dabria,” Justin stated firmly.

“Yeah! I’m going to see Sissy!” A new, young, and very excited voice broke in.

A small girl followed it. Justin knew she was nine, indeed almost ten, but she looked much younger. She had a very petite build and could only have been a few inches above five feet. Justin guessed by measuring to his own height, which was slightly taller than six feet. She had fair skin that was made paler by her white blond hair and light blue eyes; the latter were bright with excitement. Justin thought she looked like a little pixie he had heard tales about.

Dabria come to a stop between her parents and Justin. She looked up at him expectantly and suddenly seemed to remember her manners. She curtsied quickly. “Are you the one who will be taking me to see my sister, sir?”

Justin smiled. “Yes.”

“No,” both her parents said firmly.

Dabria turned to them. “What?”

“There is no way you are going with this man anywhere. We don’t even know if he speaks the truth,” Stacia said as if that settled it.

“Oh!” Justin said suddenly. He held out the letter. “I almost forgot. Kiliki wrote to you to explain everything.”

William and Stacia looked at the envelope as if it held poison, but Dabria plucked it from his hands.

“That was smart of her,” she said, tearing it open.

“Dabria, no!” Stacia exclaimed, but it was too late.

Dabria already had it open and was scanning the contents. “She did remember her promise. Oh, you use to work for Tommy. How cool! Aw, it’s only for a few months. Good, Salena can come too.” Dabria’s commentary flowed as she read. “Ahh!” She screamed suddenly, causing everyone to jump. “She’s having a baby! I’m going to be an aunt! How cool! She wants me to help!” Her eyes shown as she looked at her parents. “Oh, you can’t say no. I have to go. She needs me. Please, Mother! Please, Father? Don’t say no.”

Stacia looked stunned, but William was already shaking his head no. Dabria looked at them crestfallen.

“But…”

“No, Dabria. She is a bad influence for you. I will not have my daughter gallivanting across Zerlinda to be with...her,” he finished.

Dabria held the note out to her parents. “Read it,” she asked pleadingly.

William didn’t move, but Stacia took the note slowly. She read so slowly, Justin was beginning to get antsy and was desperately wishing he was back on his ship by the time she was done.

“Well, she certainly thought of everything,” she commented as she handed the letter to her husband. “However, nothing had changed. She is not your real sister and you have no obligation to go to her.”

“She is my real sister.” Dabria insisted as her eyes filled with tears. “I have to go to her. She needs me and she’s ex…ex’pect’n…me...”

Justin watched the drama unfold silently. He had known this would not be easy, but somehow he hadn’t imagined this either. Especially since he had the feeling it was just getting started. He had almost thought Dabria was trying to hold her tears in, but suddenly there seemed to be no stopping them and the girl could not breathe.

“Dabria!” Her mother practically shrieked. She rushed to her and sat her on the couch. “Salena! Now!”

A new girl, the same age as Dabria by looks, appeared at the doorway. She took one look at Dabria and raced away. She was back in a few seconds with a glass of water and rag.

“Here, miss,” she said as she placed the glass in Dabria’s hand and put the cloth on her head.

Dabria focused on the young maid’s face and seemed to gather strength from it. Her breathing became less frantic and she was able to take a sip from the glass with her mother’s hands steadying her own. Justin realized the maid must be Dabria’s famed partner in crime and her best friend.

“I feel sick,” Dabria managed.

“I know, sweetie, drink slowly,” Stacia answered, her face grave.

Dabria obeyed until the water was gone. She sat silently for a second then looked up at Justin with a worried face. “I’m okay. You’ll still take me to see Kiliki, right?”

Justin knelt beside her, knowing not it would be almost impossible to convince her parents, but he had made a promise. “Of course I will.”

Dabria grinned relieved,” Oh, good.” She turned to look at her father. “Daddy?”

“You are far too young to be in charge of my daughter,” William muttered as he crumpled Kiliki’s letter in his hand. He looked at Dabria, sitting on the couch, still weak, and then at his wife, crouched undignified, in front of her. He looked at Justin, then to Dabria again and muttered, “Yes.”

Dabriea squealed. “Salena, we are going to see Kiliki!”

And that it seemed was that.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

It had been three days, there were six left, and the girl had been all over the ship. It was highly doubtful there was an inch of the ship she and her maid had not seen. Justin had a very hard time believing this was the same girl who had been sick enough for Kiliki to rush home to over a year ago or the one who could barely breathe just a few days ago. He had seen many people faking it during his years on the street and knew the difference. She had truly been sick. Justin wondered idly where the sickness had gone.

He watched her race across the main deck again with her maid and friend, Salena, not far behind. He went back to his musings as he watched. Today alone she had: inquired Namid on how he steered the ship, asked Maath if she could help swab the decks, explored the sweltering room with the cannons, and begged him to allow her to climb the rigging. But perhaps the worst part was that she hadn’t slowed down. Justin had explored the ship all over when Tommy had first brought him on board, but it hadn’t even taken two days. Justin was worried how she was going to occupy her time for the next six days. The following day he found out, when she attached herself to his side.

“What happens when the rudder breaks?” Dabria asked.

Justin looked at her in surprise. ~ She comes up with the oddest questions. What does happen when the rudder breaks? ~ Justin shook his head. “It doesn’t break.”

“But it could. You are in fights all the time. A cannon ball could hit and then what would you do?” Dabria persisted.

“We fix it,” Justin finally answered.

“In the middle of the ocean? How?” she asked.

“Don’t you have a book to read or something?” Justin asked, exasperated.

Dabria shook her head. “No, we finished them all.”

Justin looked at her amazed, and then slid his glance to Salena, who was standing behind her. Salena nodded her agreement with a shy smile. Justin swung his gaze back to Dabria. “When did you manage to do that?”

“We’ve been on the ship for three days. And we do need to save some for Kiliki’s house,” Dabria replied practically.

“Right,” Justin finally said. ~ Now what? ~

“Ship off the starboard bow,” a voice from the crow’s nest called.

“Neat!” Dabria exclaimed, looking around wildly.

Justin laughed, “Try looking over there.” He pointed to the right side of the ship.

The two girls raced to the rail and scanned the sea line. Dabria soon turned back to face him with a disappointed look. She looked so sad Justin almost wanted to laugh again. Instead, he smiled and walked to her side.

“You can’t see anything?” he asked sympathetically.

She shook her head and looked at him hopefully. He reached into the pouch at his waist and produced his spyglass. He pulled it out to its full length and searched the horizon. He soon spotted the ship. Once he had it located, he handed the glass to Dabria and helped her angle it the right way. He knew she had spotted it when she let out a small squeal. In a few minutes she handed the spyglass to Salena. As she watched, Dabria turned to Justin.

“Wow! That was so much fun. Thank you,” Dabria smiled at him.

Justin looked down at the pixie face and smiled back. ~ Maybe she isn’t so bad. ~

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

CBS’s Own Criminal Ally

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:11:00 +0000

Many of us don't actually look at the Television ratings. After all, as long as our favorite show is still on, who really cares, besides those that are making the money? Still, there are some of us dedicated fans who want to see how the score is running against our shows and it is usually interesting to see what type of shows are making it big.

Of course, if you're at CBS, it is no mystery. CBS seems to have farmed out its own little niche for crime shows that beat out all competitors. Even their newest show, The Mentalist, is determined to crush the competition and doing quite well at it. To the American people today there is something very satisfying in knowing at the end of the procedural drama we are going to win, according to Shane Brennan, executive producer at NCIS (quoted in Entertainment Weekly). It is a winning formula when we know the bad guy will be caught and during the procedure we get to look into the agents lives and enjoy a life that's not our own. What more could one ask for?

Not much according to the ratings. NCIS, The Mentalist, CSI, Numb3rs, and Criminal Minds are trouncing their competition and it doesn't seem to matter the popularity of the show they are up against. Other shows that use to perform well, such as Heroes, Pushing Daises, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles (from Fox, NBC and ABC) are all falling behind in performance. Speculation is that it has to do with the writer's strike. CBS was quick to finish out their seasons with good finales, while others didn't bother. Now it may be hurting them.

Whatever the reason, CBS has made itself the Crime Broadcasting System and it is doing extremely well.

Zac Efron: Can He Make It?

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:09:00 +0000

High School Musical fever seems to never stop raging. With the upcoming premier, fans everywhere are anxious to see this Disney phenomenon hit the big screen. It seems this show franchise only has to options: love it or hate and more and more are getting into the 'love it' boat.

The first one hit the waves with an unexpected riptide and no one could slow down it's force. HSM2 wasn't quite as lucky, but still added to the seeming adventure. Though while the first was a musical the second seemed more to be a music video with lines inserted between. Hopefully, senior year will be better. Let's face it most of the teens aren't going to see the show as much as to gaze longingly at the stars such as Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, and Ashley Tisdale. The first of whom was the subject of Entertainment Weekly's Photo Showcase.

It was a rather impressive article for a Disney child star trying to transition into the adult world of actors and actresses. Not an easy task for any child star, yet Zac unlike some of his other co-stars, just might have the ability to do so. He pulled of a non-Disney performance for Hairspray gathering more fans and he's failed to fall into the trap of going into the music biz just cuz its offered. His actions showing deep thought for what he can and can't do best.

Getting the advice of others is never a bad idea and Efron wants to pick the brains of the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp, saying, "They do it because they love it, not because they enjoy being famous. You have to have good foresight and be really careful. If you don't adapt and learn at a very young age, you can really mess up." Well thought out, but can he follow it?

Disney stars have a long track record of ups and downs and some fall rather far, Brittany Spears, anyone? Still, that doesn't have to be the norm. It would be nice to see Zac Efron be the exception. One who keeps morals in mind and can still act in movies that cover the wide range of entertainment. Efron is going to be a model for teens for a very long time and after that, perhaps for adults? Who knows, being compared to Cary Grant and Brad Pitt, expectations are high, but he just might do it.

Do you think Zac Efron has what it takes? Do any of his cohorts? Whose chances are best?

Heroes: What happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:41:00 +0000

I'll be the first to admit that Heroes on NBC is one of my favorite shows. When it first appeared on television it was a far cry from anything else playing, especially with the crime shows all rating so high. Even so, the premier for Heroes last night was a quite the little shocker. First of all, it was a three hour event! An hour worth of countdown and then not one, but two new shows! As ecstatic as I was to see all the fun, overkill wouldn't be a huge overstatement. Apparently, the viewers agree with me, at least if the numbers are close.

Season 3 did not fair quite so well in the number category, breaking around 14.1 million viewers, which for all the hype wasn't any larger than its original season premier. NBC, apparently before the numbers were known, decided to combine last night's number with a second viewing of the premier on Saturday. It is all possible due to a little loophole in Nielsen's ratings. A show can combine their numbers for two showings as long as the same commercials are aired each time. Hence, the final number of Heroes season three premier will be larger than what it was in reality. Nielsen has also said that more homes are using things such as TiVo and that could be affecting the numbers as well.

As for the show itself, the countdown promised surprises and the show delivered, maybe the biggest one being the teaser for the next show. I won't ruin the show for you if you haven't see it, but suffice to say changes were made that were more than a little unexpected. While all will probably make for a more interesting show, I wasn't happy with many, as characters I use to like become ones I'm no longer routing for. Bummer. And some things (Tracy??) need some major explaining. We still haven't seen all of the characters return either and some returned we thought were gone. Interesting…

I mentioned at the beginning that Heroes started out as a show far different from anything else on TV, well, TV is catching up, so Heroes it out pacing in another way now. Heroes has taken television viewing and interaction to a whole new level is the use of their website and text messaging. Now, texting isn't really new, but unless it's a reality show, most don't let you determine the fate of characters. And when was the last time you visited the Heroes website? From e-comics, to 'webisodes', and behind the scene action, to entire websites based on the show. Mohinder has a site based on his father's book: Activating Evolution, the Nakamura Family's sight for their company is Yamagato Fellowship, and of course you can't forget about Primatech Paper. Plus, there are quite a number of tricks hidden in all areas of the main page from NBC. NBC has done a very good job of making Heroes a world any person can simply fall into if they want. Still don't believe? Go to http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/ and find out for yourself or take a trip to www.primatechpaper.com and well, follow the instructions if you dare.

If the show doesn't pull you in, all the action on the web will. I just hope I'm not disappointed with all the characters by the time this Villain season is done!

Series TV Premiers Are FINALLY Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:37:00 +0000

It's time to go back to school for all the children of the world and its time for the rest of us to see what's new on the tube this season. Series premiers have finally launched. I watched my first one last night, Bones on Fox. It was pretty good, though it's the first time I've really watched the show and for a first timer it didn't do a good job of reintroducing the series for me. But there are many more to come!

Here is a list of shows of I'll be keeping an eye on:

	8pm	9pm	10pm
Monday	Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox)	Heroes (NBC, 9/22)
Tuesday	NCIS (CBS, 9/23)	The Mentalist (CBS, 9/23) Fringe (Fox 9/9)	Without A Trace (CBS, 9/23)
Wednesday	Bones (Fox) Knight Rider (NBC, 9/24)	Criminal Minds (CBS, 9/24)
Thursday	Smallville (CW, 9/18)	Supernatural (CW, 9/18)	Eleventh Hour (CBS, 10/9) ER (NBC, 9/25)
Friday	Crusoe (NBC, 10/17)		Numb3rs (CBS)
Saturday		Knight Rider (encore)

Note: Those without a date premiered this week.

Other fan favorites such as Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Better, One Tree Hill, CSI, CSI:NY, CSI: Miami, House, and Prison Break have also returned, although some have claimed a new timeslot. It promises to be an interesting season this year, which will be a relief for some of our lackluster seasons in the past. I am personally looking forward to it, as I spent all of last season in the country of Iraq and missed out on my favorite series, Heroes, Nubm3rs, and NCIS. This season is also important to fans due to the writer's strike of last year that cut so many series very short.

Many series last year ended shortly and some with surprises that left us rather unhappy, such as our favorite NSIC team being completely slit up. How will Gibbs bring his team back? I don't know, but he had better! Then there was Nathan being shot on Heroes. Why can't Peter save him with his own blood? Wild guess, but I think we'll find out. And which of our favorite heroes will turn villain? Greg Gungburg, Matt, said he hopes his character will! Clark is lost on Smallville and the Green Arrow and friends are setting out on a mission to find the Superman. Cameron is the one might be gone on Sarah Conner Chronicles and John, Derrick, and John are facing new problems, including whatever is happing with a certain FBI agent. Numb3rs has Charlie's career with the FBI in jeopardy and Megan gone replaced by an adrenaline cruising Nikki. Criminal Minds left an explosive impression last season and we can finally found out who was in it. One privileged viewer who has seen it said he had tears in his eyes after an emotion goodbye! ER is one to watch if only because it is the final season and we will say goodbye to this long time running show. While I personally, had given up on ER, I'll be tuned in to see this final season. All of these shows have their own unique flavor that draws you in and keeps it coming all season long. I am especially into shows that focus on characters and a special nod to NCIS and Numb3rs, who do an exceptional job on that.

There are also some new shows that seem they will make the cut. I'm hoping that The Mentalist will have the wit of NCIS and the quality of its genre proven shows with a little twist. It seems it will at least be interesting. The Fringe is using a sci-fi itch not often used and playing the huge card of being created by Transformer's producer and in the vane of X-Files. It certainly had an interesting preview, but I'm holding off judgment as of yet. Knight Rider comes from a well loved tradition for a new generation. If it lives up to the original, it will do very well. It is the one show with an encore date, so if you can't make one night, the second is available! I couldn't really get being the book Robinson Crusoe, although my brother loved it. However, the show, Crusoe, promises to keep to the book and bring it to life. I'll be watching as much for the educational value in literature as for the entertainment value. Hopefully, this one will do well for its 13 week run. If you can't get the kids to read the book, at least get them to watch this!

There are my 2008-2009 season picks! How do they measure up to yours? Whatever your favorite show, I hope it lives up to expectations this year and you enjoy!

Boxing Gloves On! Batman vs Iron Man

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:22:00 +0000

VS.

It seems the drama surrounding THE DARK KNIGHT will never cease! It is amazing to me that after so much time, this movie continues to make headlines beyond that of every predictability. Of course, only so much has to do with the movie itself, which is an astounding feature. I was immensely pleased to see that it lived up to every part of its hype. Both characters and action were of the highest quality and I was greatly relieved that one was not sacrificed for the other.
That this movie has risen so high in the stratosphere of influence for movies, really should not be a huge surprise, though I know that is passing so many great movies in ticket sales it certainly was at first. Now, it ranks among the three highest selling movies ever. Of course, this is in terms of money and not tickets due to all our lovely inflation. However, the accomplishment is no less significant.
And then there were the allegations against Christian Bale being accused by his step-mother and sister that he hit them. My first reaction to this news, was it came at a rather convenient time for them as Dark Knight was so huge and still climbing in its sales. (Only just recently having been surpassed by Tropic Thunder, of all movies, as the weekly number one box office seller.) That nothing came of this little accusation number was no surprise to me and I doubt to anyone else.
Still, I think the greatest amusement to me of all, is the current headliner on Yahoo's front page. I'm sure you've seen it. It's the one about Robert Downy Jr. or should I say "Iron Man" trashing The Dark Knight. I must confess that when I was finished reading his comment, I was laughing out loud. I'm guessing in all the mumbo jumbo he spouted that he did have a point? Or was it that his comment was more confusing than the movie he was trying so hard to blast? Granted, The Dark Knight was a complicated movie and required one to pay attention to detail, but then the Dark Knight's history requires that itself. Is perhaps Tony Stark feeling a little jealous that Iron Man didn't do quite was well? No matter what his personal feeling on the matter, Robert Downey Jr. is now an icon and a representative of the superhero Iron Man, just as Christian Bale is for Batman and that should bear some weight on the type of language he uses. Despite the accusations against Christian Bale, he handled himself very well, the same can't be said for Downey Jr. Come on, guys, you are now literal superheros to thousands of teens and kids. Is it too much to ask that you act like it? I think not, although with Tony Stark's reputation...
One last heads up to Jr. The two movies had a very, very different flare to them. Iron Man had more laugh out loud moments and The Dark Knight had more in your face moments, but then isn't that how the two comics are betrayed? I won't go into which is better, DC or Marvel, I have my issues and loves for both. But I will say this, Jr., should The Dark Knight and Iron Man go up against each other... well, we already know who will win in the movies.

The Gotham Knight

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Well, I'm about as excited as one can get for a movie premier. That's right, The Dark Knight comes out tonight and this chick has a ticket for the first showing. The hype has settled in, reviews have been read (or written!), previews and trailers watched, and tickets bought. There's only one thing left to do. In order to be properly ready, I have just popped by Blockbuster and rented a copy of The Gotham Knight.
What? You haven't heard of this one yet? Let me put it this way: 6 interlocking stories, 6 directors, and one Batman, even voiced by the acclaimed Kevin Conroy, who many will know as the original voice for Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. David Goyer, , Josh Olson, and Alan Burnet all join forces to animate Batman and chronicle his journey between his first time crime fighting days in Batman Begins to his heroic days of The Dark Knight. Or so the story goes.
The first one is animated in a style that will be mostly unfamiliar to lovers of American cartoons. And if you haven't seen some of the more underground and Japanese attributed cartoons, it tends to be a little distorted. The story, however, depicts the myth of Batman in the awe and terror of the public getting use to their new hero as three teens tell of their encounters with the hero. I won't spoil the show by telling you who who or what they make Batman out to be. It has an amusing ending however.

Episode two is a much more familiar view, animation wise. It hits closer to home for those that adored the animation series, though still completely Japanese, with angular jaws, more expressive eyes, different angles and colors. Of course, this is deliberate and will be for all of the episodes. Now, comes the cops point of view of the so called hero. When two cops get caught in an all out gang crossfire will their opinions of being errand boys of a vigilanty change? Batman doesn't say much, but his lines make a huge impact and he has some great looking still shots.
When you see Bruce Wayne in the third episode, your immediate reaction will be "Woah!" Or "THAT'S Bruce Wayne?" His looks are certainly anime style and without apology. Here, you get a chance to see Bruce being a playboy, and checking out new gear, then see him use it as Batman, including the consequences that means. Batman has to grow in his thoughts and become the superhero he truly can be.
The classic Batman posing as a gargoyle and then responding to the Bat signal starts of the next episode. At this point, the new looks for Batman are getting a little old though. And one viewer commented he missed 'his' Batman, ie the Batman from the Animated Series. With the fear toxin added into this episode, freaky is a very good description. The color hues are so blatant its almost hard to get past them and see the episode for what it is, a representation into Batman's intelligence and perseverance.

At this point, I must admit, I was distracted during most of the episodes, analyzing them and such, but with the final two I had to stop and fully pay attention. The first happens in flashbacks with Cassandra as Bruce learns how to deal with the pain he cannot escape and the second is more in the vane of the original series with the final insight into Batman/Bruce's soul. The first had a depth to it that was lacking in all the others. Here at last, Batman surpassed myth, legend, and man. You were riveted to the story and didn't want to miss a moment of it. The second brought back the action so sadly missed from the original series as well as those final moments, when you know you saw into Batman's soul and were once again reminded of why you love him.
The first episodes were interesting, but the final two make this a show not to miss. The best part? I'm even more hyped now to go see the Dark Knight! 12:05 can't get here fast enough! I've already been to Gotham once today, but tonight, I'll meet the Dark Knight once more. Will you?

Hulk and Hancock

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:56:00 +0000

HULK
We visited the movie theater for Hulk over a week ago, so this review is a tad on the late side, but still applicable. This movie was a pleasant surprise. I had said before I was holding off judgment due to the last movie, but I was rather pleased with this result. This version did have a storyline that far outpaced the one before it. While its predecessor lacked much of any kind of story, this one came with a good direction and a strong idea on how to get there. What was more impressive was that this is truly an action film, where the action makes sense and is not just to show off the Hulk's raging strength, although it accomplishes that quite impressively too.
"Thuderbolt" Ross gave the story a much better twist than last time and his character is well thought out and played. The Abomination has a good start, though not quite true to the comic, he is a evil character that is easy to root against, even better is Emil's degrade into the Abomination. Edward Norton did indeed prove he could make the Hulk more than just a stark raving monster and gave him quite a lot of depth and imagination. His eyes were especially fun to watch in this film as they were filled with expression that something else was going on inside the Hulk's mind.
In keeping with the new comic genre this movie also pulled out some very good one-liners. Some things do happen a little to conveniently, but hey, its a comic, give it some slack!
The most impressive thing about the film, however, and really nothing to do with the Hulk himself, but rather the insight of the creators. The beginning of the film, involves quick flashes that give you a really brief backstory, inside those flashes are some hidden surprises. One such, is that Nick Fury is mentioned, name stamped boldly across a sheet of paper. The other is in the form of a Hummer (HMVV) made by Stark Enterprises. Comic book fans can quickly catch on to the meaning of this one!
The surprise scene, usually after the credits, was moved up and pasted to the tale end of the film, so that no one could miss it. Bold move.
***SPOILER ALERT*** In It Thunderbolt is buying a drink when Tony Stark - Yes, Robert Downy Jr. - walks in and says he might have a solution to his problem. See, he is helping to put together a team.... That had me sit back in my seat for a few minutes. It took some creative planning and quick thinking on the directors and producers parts to come up with that little flyby.
All thoughts that the Avengers movie might not happen are a thing of the past. The question is, besides Hulk and Iron Man, who will be in it? They have done a very good job of setting up both the movie and the fans for the movie. This will be so much fun to watch play out.
Back to the Hulk's movie. It was a good action movie, with a much better story, decent characters, and a pretty good Hulk. While The Incredible Hulk is not as good, in my opinion, as Iron Man (which gets an A+) it does qualify its self for a solid B.

HANCOCK
My siblings and I took a trip out to see Hancock with Will Smith last night (opening night). The theater was sparsely populated, however, the crowd was enthusiastic for a good movie. When the lights dimmed and the opening credits rolled, so was I. What I got was an interesting feature.
Hancock is a down on his luck, don't care about anyone, wannabe superhero and Will Smith played the part to perfection. He did a great job with each stage his character went through, making the transitions believable and had everyone rooting for John Hancock to find his place in the world of superheros... eventually.
In comes the PR rep, his son, and wife, the latter who is obviously hiding something. The twists of their story and their facial expressions, especially for Charlize were quite good, though nothing to write home about. As Hancock fights to reveal his backstory it is an interesting one that was put together with just enough information to make it semi-believable and not to hard to understand.
The movie had quite a few laugh out loud minutes which had even this sparsely populated theater ringing. My personal favorite takes place in the kitchen with a quite a few handy kitchen objects, but I won't spoil that surprise.
I did have one major problem with the movie. It was rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence scenes as well as language. The language needed a higher rating. Hancock, in tune with his character, used quite a few words the teen audience could have done without, but even that wasn't the biggest problem. Hancock had sort of a code word that pushed him over the edge, every time he was called by it. I'm sure I don't need to mention what it is. However, this two part word was said extremely frequently throughout the movie. When one movie goer was told the rating, he looked shocked and commented they had really lowered their standards. Hear is my issue, it wasn't needed. They are other words that could have very easily been substituted and worked just was well. No, I'm not being overly sensitive. A second code word in the movie was 'crazy.' It provoked the very same angry reaction from its subject that Hancock gives for his, but without the curse.
All in all, it was a good movie for laughs, but not serious entertainment for the mind, enjoy this one just for fun. If you do have an issue with language, this is one you are going to want to skip and warn the teens don't use that language at home! Overall grade: B-

LIL SHERWOOD IS HERE

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:10:00 +0000

It is officially finished! Lil Sherwood my first written book has now been published and is available for your very own purchase! You don't want to miss this fun fantasy adventure!

Listen to the main character thinks about her story.

Did you ever have the capability to destroy a world simply because you knew it existed? Or perhaps you’ve had to choose between your family in one world or your very survival in another? These were the matters that I had to deal with when I fell into and lived in Little Sherwood. It was then that I discovered a new world with limitless possibilities and a life I had lived but never knew existed. I have memories, abilities, and feelings from this unknown life and the only thing I brought with me is the one way to destroy Robin Hood. I don’t know the answers anymore. There are no guarantees in this life, always has no meaning to me, and perhaps far worse, my head and my heart are becoming entwined in Lil’ Sherwood. My name is both Kristy and Leia and this is my story.

You can own it today! Simply push on the Charissa Taylor's Story link in the right hand column!
Happy Reading!!

Summer Movies Must Sees

noreply@blogger.com (Charissa Taylor) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:11:00 +0000

Being over in Iraq for so long, I'm eager to get back into the movie scene and this summer promises to be a hot one, especially if you're into the hot shot, superhero movies. I've been looking forward to most of these for a while and I'm please to say the trailers are producing an exciting momentum. Based on some past superhero and sequel movies, I was understandably concerned. Of course, final analysis will have to be saved until after the full movie viewing, but for now, let's check out some of those Top Ten trailers!

It is my opinion that May cannot get here fast enough with 4 on my must see list.

Iron Man has a release date of May 2nd to start the month off with a bang and Tony Stark (Robert Downy Jr.) seems poised to deliver. The trailer shows a fast, fun, and witty super hero movie that promises to deliver on the lines as much as it does the action. Iron Man has never been a huge favorite of mine, but if Downy Jr. can pull this off, it just might start to rate up there. This is one I'll be keeping an eye on.

Speed Racer slips into the next available slot (5/9). The duo from the Matrix may be behind this movie, but the style is altogether different. Your head is still spinning at top speed after getting a look at the extreme action in this live action version of the much loved anime. Anime's are always tricky to move onto the big screen, so this will be an interesting sell. The trailer shows so much heightened action, but the only actor looking to get the job done seems to be Speed himself. Don't go to see this one for the seriousness of the storyline, but if your looking for something fast and fun, Speed Racer is ready on the track.

Prince Caspian is second in The Chronicles of Narina series and third to be released in May (16th). This trailer leaves you gasping for more. The visuals alone are stunning, but of course Narina doesn't stop there. Again, this movie adapts well and stays on track with C.S. Lewis' book, just as its predecessor The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe did. The young actors from the previous film are also back, which lends to the timeless realism and they again do an amazing job, adding Caspian to their force. This one is sure to be another classic that you are not going to want to miss. Make sure you get there early so you can go back again and see it more than once!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pulls my final vote for a May (5/22) must see. If Harrison Ford is in go see it no matter what! Also appearing is the up and coming star from Transformers Shea LaBeouf, who is added as Indy's son, named only Mutt. Obviously, Indy's wit and winsome personality will not be lacking from this newest installment. The trailer promises the fun action scenes that are so well loved will be abundant as well. I'm falling for Indy all over again!

The Incredible Hulk starts of June's attempt to catch up to May's blockbusters. The Hulk was not known for his great start the last time he made his way to the big screen. Hopefully, this movie will do better. The trailer does seem to have a better story line, which the original was lacking, but how much better is not to be seen. Edward Norton, takes on the role of Bruce Bannner and from what can be seen in the trailer does a good job of making the Hulk more than just a ravaging monster. The question is, will it be enough? I'm holding off judgment, but still looking forward to seeing this movie's release.

Wall - E is Pixar's next big hopeful hit. It seems to have a lot of the fun elements that we all have come to expect from Pixar and the storyline is definitely different from the normal. The little robot star is enough to keep anyone entertained for the whole movie and laughing after it is over. This one should be fun to watch and knowing Pixar will have as much for the adults as the kids.

Wanted proves the last powerhouse for June. Starring Angelina Jolie back in an action film, most guys will go simply for that! Morgan Freeman staring adds a new dimension as well. Still this movie looks to have some added spice with fun dialog, an interesting storyline, and high flying butt kicking action. Probably not for the intense thought provoking movie going, but for an action flick with high flying fun, this looks like one to see.

The best for last!
The Dark Knight is easily the most highly anticipated movie of the summer and not just because it deals with Batman, although that will catch most anyone's eye. This movie has much more than the average Batman movie going for it. Action and art for this movie have surrendered nothing, adding very effectivly to the overall effect of Gotham City and its story. The story will be the most interesting part of The Dark Knight, seeing how well it sticks to the original and mow much it needs to branch off. But based on Batman Begins, I have high hopes we are in for a real treat of superhero legend. Christian Bale again handle's both Bruce Wayne and Batman as if he truly were both, balancing the identity with the truth in a superb manor. Yet it is Heath Ledger who is the star of this movie. His unfortunate and sad death lead to unrivaled search for his name and the Joker on Yahoo's search engine. His new version of the Joker is being hailed as brilliant by those lucky enough to have watched more than just the trailer a hundred times over. Together, the two power houses have created a must see event that will have everyone clamoring to go again and again and buy the first edition and any special editions on DVD that come out.

So, what is your opinion on the upcoming summer movies? Let me know and I'll see you at the movies!