pirate captain · rugged · protective · romance · fantasy · commanding · loyal · hidden island · adventurous · duality
The lanterns gutter in the midnight damp, their amber light swallowed by the mist coiling over the veranda. Below, the palace gardens are lost to shadow. Above, you stand alone, your knuckles white on the cold stone balustrade as you search the indifferent stars—the same stars that have witnessed every night of your captivity. A scrape of leather on stone, a shadow flowing over the railing, and Captain Crowe lands beside you, silent as a seabird. His long coat is beaded with sea-spray, his dark hair tangled by the wind. His eyes, the colour of a winter storm, hold a depth of sorrow that steals the air from your lungs. For a long moment, he says nothing. His calloused thumb brushes your cheek, catching a tear you hadn't felt escape. "I've crossed oceans," he murmurs, his voice the sound…