A Place Of Ones Own (closed)

Annie had never seen David so excited in the entire time that she'd known him. Their wedding day had been a happy time, but he seemed to have a little more of a spring in his step. She finished packing up the last few things after breakfast and helped him to get the horses loaded down with their belongings.

"I think everything's ready to go, David." She said as she turned towards her husband and gave him an encouraging smile.

David smiled in return, coming to kiss her warmly. "Thanks, Ann. You're an angel."

David had decided to bring three mounts, the third being a lovely warm-hearted donkey who acted as a sort of packmule. "Alright," David nodded, climbing up on his horse's saddle. "I'm ready when you are."

"As ready as I'll ever be." Annie said with a smile as she mounted her horse and then leaned across the gap to kiss her husband. "I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth, David. Just as long as we always come back home."

"I'd never take you away from home and not bring you back, you know that," David smiled adoringly. Little did he know the trouble they were escaping that would be coming that very night.

They set off immediately, and their journey was peaceful all the way down to Dover where they'd be crossing. France and Normandy were a very new world, warmer and generally sunnier, but the overcast and mist of Scotland was still home. They rode past vineyards and groves of fruit trees, richer in sweet things that their homeland had ever been. David took time every so often to stop and enjoy the countryside and whatnot, he'd always wanted to travel.

And next, they came through the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, which thankfully was peaceful with them and cared not what they were doing. It was only after a month and a half of traveling altogether than they came to the Greek shores currently owned by those called the Venetians, but the Greeks were still very much their own people.

This was when David began to have trouble. He spoke rudimentary French that got them through thus far, but now they were at a loss. He searched all around for a translator they could hire, but there were none to be found. So David's last option was his map to find Aros Harbor. It was a day's ride away, thankfully, and upon their arrival, they immediately saw The Windwalker. But as their horses walked along quietly behind them, David was looking around nervously. "This is a pirate harbor," he whispered.

Annie squeezed her husband's hand, looking up into his worried gaze as he spoke about what he saw in the harbor. He suddenly seemed nervous and she let out a little sigh. "David, we didn't come all this way to stop at a little harbor. If your mother is there, we must go."

David nodded only slightly, and they made their way to The Windwalker to see a ragtag bunch unloading a large cargo of barrels onto the dock, and they were taking orders from a slender, athletic, tough woman perched on the forecastle of the ship. She was clad in a long jacket with matching trousers and dark, tall boots, and she carried a rapier and hatchet at either hip.

David saw the woman, and he froze.

Annie still clutched his hand as they moved towards the ship. She bumped into her husband as he stopped, staring up at the woman that looked so much like him. So, it was true. His mother was still alive. Annie found herself looking from the woman that stood so confidently on the ship to her husband.

"Go talk to her, love. You didn't come all this way just to look." She murmured against his ear before pressing a kiss against his cheek. "I'll wait right here if you want to be alone."

"No... come with me..." David said softly. He was afraid to go alone. Slowly, he approached, slipping past the muscled men moving barrels and to the edge of the dock to look up at the woman. "Excuse me!" He called, hoping she remembered English well enough to talk

The woman glanced around before looking down, and she raised an eyebrow at the two of them. "You two are in the wrong place. We don't do charters, we don't make deals, and we aren't taking new recruits."

"I-... I'm not here for any of that. I'm looking for someone... Are you... Ria?"

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she leapt down onto the dock in front of them, crossing her arms with a suspicious glare. "I might be... who's asking?"

"My name is David, I came from Scotland to find you..." David drew her letter from his pocket, and when she took it, her gaze went blank a moment before her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh... my God..." She whispered, and by now, her entire crew had stopped to stare at her in confusion. "David...?" At his slight nod and soft smile, Ria suddenly drew him in tight and buried her face against his shoulder to hide her tears, and David embraced her just as tightly. She stood about Annie's height so the tall man stood well over her.

After a moment of silence, one of the crewmen said softly, "Cap'n?"

Ria slowly pulled away from David, wiping tears away, "Keep up the unloading, Kent."

"Yes'm." Passing on her order to the others, he continued, and Ria looked to Annie.

"And who's this?" She asked as she tried to stop her tears.

"This is my wife Annie," David smiled over at Annie adoringly, and Ria pulled her into a tight hug as well.

Annie smiled at the homecoming that Ria was giving David. She hadn't expected tears, but she was glad for her husband's sake. He needed his spot in the world and it seemed that his mother was more than happy to give it to him. She felt tears prick her own eyes as she saw the happy smile upon his face as his strong arms wrapped around his mother for the first time.

Then she was suddenly wrapped in a hug, her mother-in-law holding her as tightly as she could. It was a little overwhelming, but Annie said nothing and only smiled with Ria pulled away.

"I am very pleased to meet you." Annie said softly as she caught sight of David's silly grin. "And I know David is as well."

"Come," Ria said softly, drawing them both with her back onto the ship and to the large Captain's Quarters where a desk lay in the corner and then a table in the center with four chairs. She bid them sit down and she settled at David's side while Annie was at his opposite. "I never dreamed you'd come find me, David... I thought you'd just forget about my letter and go on with your life... but I hope you were at least happy in Inverness."

"I was, I still am happy with my home. I grew up with the lumberjacks, and I started working with horses when I married Annie."

"I'm glad. I knew the man I left you with would be good to you."

"But Ma... why-"

"Why did I leave you? ... Well, that's a tough story to tell... It started with your father. We never married officially because we could never stay in one place long enough... You see, we were pirates, we had a fleet headed by The Windwalker. When I found out I was going to have you, your father was so excited... you were born on that ship, and you never left it for the first time until-"

"Until I was five years old," David finished. He remembered. Vaguely."

"You remember?"

"Only bits and pieces, but no faces or names."

"Well... his name was Harlan Spiro, he was a Scottish man who chased me all the way here after I made a journey to Inverness and met him there when he helped stock my ship. He came and joined me on the seas, he stole The Windwalker from the Roman Empire to give to me to prove his good intentions toward me, and I took him on."

"... How did he die...?"

"Romans had attacked us on a rough night, they tried to steal you away to use you as bait once they learned you were my son. He gave himself up to them, lying and saying I'd be more likely to come for him than you. Once you were back in my arms, he... he killed himself so that I wouldn't come and fight to get him back, because they'd set a trap for me. You were seven years old... You had no idea."

David's throat felt dry and tears brimmed in his eyes. "You gave me up to stop anything like that from happening again?"

"I gave you up to keep you safe, as well as my crew. The older ones are all like your father, they'd sooner die than see you or I hurt in any way."

Annie held her husband's hand as she saw the tears in his eyes and she squeezed it gently when they all heard the sad story of his childhood. Her childhood had been sad until her Da had brought her back from Ireland, but she couldn't imagine what David must have gone through. She looked up at her husband and let out a soft sigh, reaching up to brush away the tears that came.

"What kind of man was David's father?" Annie asked softly, wanting him to hear just who that man was.

"A gentleman among pirates, particularly a believer in chivalry. He adored simple things, but he was very refined for a common man. He spent years teaching the crew all manner of things. Reading, writing, drawing, and whatnot." Ria smiled at the thought of him. "Harlan could do just about anything he fancied."

Annie smiled as she heard that David's father had been a good man and she squeezed his hand tightly, letting him know that she was there with him. She knew that he doubted himself much of the time but she hoped that he would take what he was hearing and come to embrace the man that he was.

They spent several days there with Ria, and she adored them both and they all got on famously. That was until the day some soldiers cam through, and half the town disappeared on their ships into the sea to await their passing, as these people were pirates. When David and Annie woke in Ria's second cabin on her ship, they saw out the window that they were no longer in the port. David brought Annie to talk to Ria.

"Ma, what's going on? Why are we at sea?" David asked tiredly.

"The soldiers are in town."

"Why are you afraid of them? You're not a pirate anymore." At Ria's silence, David paused. "... Are you?"

"I have to be," Ria sighed. "It's how I survive. How we all do on this ship."

"Then why not go somewhere else and become honest people again?"

"Where? My face is known by every officer in Europe. I'm a wanted woman, sweetheart, nothing can fix that."

"Come to Scotland."

"No."

"Why?"

"Your king will find out who I am, just like all the others, and try to have me and my boys imprisoned."

"Brogan's not like th-"

"Enough, David."

Annie didn't like the idea of being out at sea, no matter what Ria said. It brought back bad memories of her boat rides from Ireland when her mother had died. Listening to Ria, she let out a sigh, knowing that her mother-in-law was right about hiding from the law.

"My Da would welcome you with open arms, Ria, but you have your own reasons for wanting to do this." She said softly. "You have nothing to worry about in Inverness. Certainly nothing like this."

"Brogan..." Ria sighed softly. "I remember him. Last I saw him, he was a widower and he certainly didn't like the look of me. Practically ordered me out of Inverness when he found out why I was there."

"Wait... Brogan knows you?"

"While I was there, yes, and when I visited the town when he was a boy."

"You met him after my Ma died." Annie said, knowing that her father had been a bear of a man back then. "But my stepmother, Julia, has done wonders on his personality. He's much more welcoming of everyone. Please, Ria, we would love to have you back in Inverness with us."

About that time, a shot was heard across the water and suddenly the boat was tilting to one side. Annie let out a scream as she was rocked off her feet, sliding across the cabin as the sounds of men crying out about a cannon sounded outside.

David caught Annie before she hit the floor, and once she was steady, he reacted to the situation like he had been born for the life of a sailor. Ria remained only a moment to look to Annie, "Take cover in the cabin, dear." Then she hurried out on deck as well.

Annie clung to her husband as he grabbed her before she hit the deck but suddenly he was gone, leaving her alone with Ria. Then she was told to take cover and suddenly she was alone, watching as her husband jumped into the life of a sailor like he had been born to it. Annie wasn't certain how she felt right then. This wasn't the David that she'd come to know and love. That David wouldn't have left her alone in the middle of a fight...

With those heavy thoughts weighing her down, Annie turned and made her way into the captain's cabin.

The battle was loud but very short before Ria managed to get the ship away to the safety of a nearby strait, and David returned to Annie with blood running down from his temple and a long gash on his arm that he'd crudely wrapped up for the moment. "Ann?" He asked softly.

Annie glanced up from her spot, taking in the sight of her husband, battered and bruised. She felt tears gather in her eyes. She'd never seen him like that before and remembered the warning that her father had given her about marrying a soldier. She didn't know if she could stand knowing that her husband might die in battle one day.

"You're hurt." She murmured numbly, standing to pull him into the chair that she'd just given up. "Let me help you."

"I'm okay, love," he answered. "You must've been terrified... I know I was." He pulled her in tight to hug her. "I'm sorry about all this..."

Annie hugged her husband tightly, burying her face against his chest. "You left me behind." She said quietly, still unsure how she felt about the entire situation. "And you promised my Da that you would never go off to fight."

"I wanted to protect you... I couldn't do that staying in here." David looked down at her. "Ma needed all the help she could get." He kissed her forehead and sighed quietly.

Annie was quiet for a long moment as he kissed her forehead and explained why he had done what he had done. Her dark eyes took in the worry that he had and she let out a sigh, pressing her cheek against his chest again.

"I don't like you fighting, David." She told him honestly, her voice sounding shaken. "I've seen my Da injured too many times and I'm not going to lose you."