Cordelia, Daughter of the Sea

style='font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>Chapter 12

style='font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>“Tha’ Can’ Be True”

Cordelia snuck into her cabin without disturbing
Anamaria. She sobbed quietly into her
pillow as she let Jack consume her mind.
He’d been so sweet, so supportive, so…she was under the impression that
he could have loved her. She certainly
loved him…past tense…well, she tried to convince herself that it was past tense
anyway. Despite her stealthy ways,
Cordelia had woken Anamaria.

“Cordy?
Wha’s wrong, lass?” Anamaria asked, making her way to Cordelia’s
bed. The two truly had gotten rather close
over the past several weeks.

Raising her head ever so slightly, Cordelia blurted,
“Jack thinks I’m a whore.”

Anamaria’s eyes widened. “Wha’? Tha’ can’ be
true! I’ve known ‘im for years and have
ne’er seen ‘im look at a lass like ‘e looks at ye.”

“Maybe before,” Cordelia said, sniffling, “but not
now. We were…no, never mind.”

“Come on, Cordy, don’ close up on me.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Wha’ happened?”

Cordelia felt funny asking, but she needed to
know. Straightening herself up,
Cordelia shyly asked, “Have you and Jack?…Were you and he ever?…Did you two…”

Knowing what she was being asked, Anamaria smiled
and said, “No, lass. Jack ne’er bedded
me, an’ I ne’er wanted ‘im too. Jack
and me brother were close, tha’s ‘ow I came t’ know ‘im.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> An’ ye know I’m only ‘ere now ‘cuz he owes
me a ship.” Anamaria shook her
head. “But tha’s all beside the
point. Wha’ happened in Jack’s cabin?”

Cordelia was embarrassed as she spoke.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “We were…that is I thought that we were
going to…and we started to and he was enjoying it…I was being really slow and…”

“Well, lass, ye know pirates ain’ used t’ things
goin’ slow.”

“I know, and I was O.K. with the fact that his past
is full of…that sort of thing. But he
got a bit odd when I tried to take off his shirt. He said he’d never done those things unclothed and things boiled
down to him thinking of me as a whore.”

“Lass, I’d bet me life tha’s not wha’ Jack’s
thinkin’ at all.”

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “If it’s what he’s used to, it is very well
what he’s thinking.”

Anamaria sighed and her tone was much softer than
Cordelia had ever heard. “Cordy, ye’ve
still got so much t’ learn abou’ ‘im.
As much as he tries t’ hide it, ‘e’s a good man.style="mso-spacerun: yes"> ‘E’s got a few quirks, but tha’s wha’ makes
‘im Jack.”

“But how am I supposed to love a man that won’t let
me in?” Cordelia gasped and quickly put
her hand over her mouth.

Anamaria smiled.
“Wha’ was tha’?”

“Nothing…nothing, I swear…”

“Then ye’d be lyin’ wouldn’ ye, Cordy?”

“I…I think I’d better get some sleep.”

“Aye,” Anamaria said, smiling. style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “’Night then.”

“’Night.”