31. Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Dominick

“ Y ou are not going anywhere till I say so, do you understand?” I told Peter as I watched him stroll over near the rail of the ship, staring at the island before us.

“I have to go. I have to find her.”

“Because you love her?” I turned to see William, the old captain, laugh. He saw my glare and quickly put his hands up. “I have no desire to take over the ship; it was too heavy a burden, anyway.”

“You better not,” I threatened.

He nodded.

I was satisfied.

“You sound just like my mother,” Peter groaned, turning to William. Something pierced my heart, hearing a reference to “Mother.”

She has a relationship with Peter–not with me.

“Well, she may be onto something. We can all see it, except for you ,” William said with a chuckle.

“Gwendolyn is my best friend, Will. I have to save her,” Peter said, rather determined, looking upon Pixie Isle as if it were all the hope he had left. It was written all over his face, how deeply he felt for that Gwendolyn person.

“You really think she is here?” I asked, stepping up beside Peter.

“I’ve looked everywhere else. This makes the most sense. We were looking into pixies, together, before she went missing.”

“Or, perhaps, she ran away to another kingdom to get away from her betrothal,” William said with a loud thwack against Peter's back.

“Betrothal?” he looked at William in surprise.

“She was betrothed to Sir Anthony, just before she disappeared. You really did not know? I thought you were not talking about it because you were ignoring it or something.”

“Sir Anthony, that bore?!” he said with irritation. “Perhaps, she did run away. I do not know how I missed that.”

“She did not tell anyone. I only know because her brother, Michael, told me before we left. Most likely, she fled the kingdom.”

“Whether she left of her own will or not, irregardless, pixies make the most sense.”

“Truly, it seems very unlikely,” William said. “But, I am here till the end, whatever end that may be.”

“Do not sound so hopeless,” Peter grunted.

“You should tell the crew that you will take with you onto the Isle what you know about these pixies,” I said, pulling William’s and Peter’s attention back to me.

They both nodded.

“They are harmless, really–”

“Unless they kidnap the maiden you love?” I asked.

“Who said anything about love?” Peter asked, looking at me, then over to William who was covering his laugh with his hand. He was very unsuccessful.

“Mooning after her, eh?” I asked with a shrug and a smirk.

“She is my best friend.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” William said with his hand over his mouth, still trying to hold back laughter. Peter gave him a dark look, and he only laughed harder, bending over.

“Some friend you are,” Peter mumbled. “Anyway, well, they are known for kidnapping, but we are already in their lagoon. I doubt they will kidnap people who are already here–counterproductive.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“They have this pixie dust stuff, and I hear it has magical properties. They make it by crushing up stars.”

“ Stars? Like in the sky?” William asked, the curiosity sobering his laughter for the moment. It was clear that they had not spoken much about their endeavor.

“That is all I know; I do not know any more,” Peter shrugged. “Oh, and obviously, they are a bit mischievous–as is their nature, although it is said that they have good intentions. From their perspective, they believe they are helping their victims.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Well, they are a bit dim, but they want to help people, so maybe they were drawn to her because of her unwanted betrothal, and maybe they thought taking her away from it would help her–” Peter trailed off. “The legends say that they intend to help, but they usually just get it wrong; they misread the situations they observe.

Peter may not have believed he was a man in love, but it was clear as a clear blue sky that he cared for that maiden deeply.

“Okay,” I said in annoyance. Those pixies seemed horrid. I did not need to deal with those troublesome magical creatures. I needed to move on past that island; there was nothing there that I was looking for. But I would let Peter complete his search.

You are so weak. Veeto’s words echoed in my head. It had been a while since I thought of him . I quickly shoved those thoughts away.

I am not weak. I just do not do things the way you do.

“We need most of the crew to stay aboard the ship. Tell the others what you know about these pixies, about how they really just deranged kidnappers.” I paused, looking over the crew that I was responsible for. “I do not need the crew being tricked by them. After you brief them thoroughly, we will assemble a group, and we will go and search the isle,” I said.

“I thought I was choosing the group?” Peter asked.

“I am not sure I trust your judgment,” I said with a smirk as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Alright,” Peter said with a sigh as he shoved William in front of him, and they walked across the deck.

I watched him as he walked away. It was still odd to have my brother there with me–something I never would have expected.

“Nick,” Sands came from my left, clearing his throat.

“Yes?” I asked.

“It looks like the waters are rather deep all the way around the isle. There are no beaches, at least not on this side. If they want to go onto the island, they will have to climb up the sides of the rocky cliffs.”

I looked out at the island, squinting my eyes as best I could to make out the other side, opposite from where we were.

“Well, we need to travel the entire coast to make sure. It does look like cliffs over there, too,” I pointed out, “but let’s make sure.”

“I will let the crew know,” Sands said, then he hurried off. I walked to the port side of the ship, my hands pressed against the railing. The idea of exploring something new always excited me, but for some reason, having Peter and also Meria with me, that excitement was not the same. I felt responsible for them both. If anything happens to them –I gulped and closed my eyes, trying to let the sea breeze calm and soothe me. I couldn't decide which was better, having Meria with us as we went into the unknown, or her staying on the ship without me to look after her. Both held risks. Overall, I felt like if she were with me, at least, I could do all in my power to protect her. I looked down at my hand and arm, which she had healed. Most likely, she would sacrifice herself again in order to save someone. I did not wish to control her, but she was so naive to the ways of humans, and she was so sweet, innocent, and kind. I had such a fiery passion to protect her from anything that would leave her with scars.

“I gave the crew all the information about the pixies,” Peter said, moving up beside me, and I was startled by his sudden appearance.

How long have I been standing here in thought? I wondered .

I looked out and noticed that we had, indeed, arrived at a stretch of beach where we could safely land for Peter’s rescue mission.

“Good. Now, Meria, Sands, myself, William, and Richard will accompany you,” I said.

“I am surprised that you will bring Meria.”

“She knows of magic, and I can better protect her if I am with her.”

“Sounds like you have feelings for her.”

“Don’t be a fool. I have no feelings in all my being warm enough for that–only room for pain in my heart.”

“So you say–and yet–”

“Enough,” I snapped.

“See how it feels, big brother , to be teased?” Peter said mockingly.

“Fine, I shall stop if you do. A truce?” I held out my gloved hand.

Peter shook it and smiled wide.

“Now, to find Gwendolyn. She will be really interested to meet you,”

Before I could say anything, he’d turned and walked away with determination in his gait. It was so interesting, the easy way we had begun to converse after he was released from the cell. Why was it so easy to speak with him? Tease him? It was as easy as pestering Sands. Hope rose inside of me that I could have a relationship with the brother I had lost when I was forced aboard Veeto’s ship. I was going to get revenge on my mother, and I knew that no relationship could ever exist between her and me, not only because I wanted nothing to do with her, but because she felt the same way about me. But even with that, maybe, I could have my brother in my life–even if just a little.