Work Text:
Erik leaned over his desk, palms flat against the map that had been sprawled out over the mahogany. Charting his ship’s course had been no small task, but he was quite certain with the path that he had chosen that his crew’s getaway would go unnoticed. At least, not until they were miles away, just as he had meticulously planned. Still, he ran a hand over his naked face and released a frustrated sigh.
What if something went wrong? He could hardly stomach the thought of something happening to one of his crew, especially since his first mate was involved in this scheme. Nadir Khan had stuck with him though thick and thin, and Erik would be hanged before he let something happen to the man.
But Nadir Khan had been on many similar errands for him before, and he had yet to face permanent punishment. With his quick wit and charm that came almost too easily, he had been able to get himself of out many a scrape in the past. He was a shrewd, silver-tongued bloke, and it was for this reason that Erik had chosen him as first mate in the first place.
Have confidence in your crew, Erik chided himself, the muscles in his forearms tensing below his rolled-up shirtsleeves.
If all was going according to plan, his crew would be back safely with their bounty in tow, and they would soon be able to set off for the open sea. Back to safety, just as had been carefully arranged. It wouldn’t be long now.
Twenty minutes or so went by before he heard three solid knocks on his chamber door. At last! The signal that they had returned.
In response, Erik threw a drinking glass against the barrier, taking pleasure at the shattering sound of impact. “What have I told you about bothering me? Go back to your duties!” he bellowed, all according to their agreed-upon plan. “Tell Buquet to man the wheel! I want Khan in here on the double!”
He reclined in his chair and kicked his booted feet up onto the desk, pouring out two glasses of brandy from his decanter. He picked up one glass and swirled it for a moment before taking a long sip. He swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand as he set the glass back down, then grinned when his first mate opened his chamber door and stepped inside.
“I take it you were successful?” he asked.
“Yes, quite successful. She didn’t exactly put up much of a fight once I explained to her what was going to happen. She is now being kept under guard in my quarters,” Nadir said with a nod, lifting the untouched glass off the captain’s desk. “Still, she’s a little spitfire, that one. It took more than a few threats from Firmin to shut her mouth.”
“You better not have let him touch her. We want her intimidated but unharmed, and if all goes as it should, this unsavory business should be over with before she knows it. She’ll be back with her doting father and loving betrothed, and we’ll be twenty thousand pounds richer,” Erik replied as he swung his feet off the desk and pulled himself to his feet. “I take it you’ve warned her of my temper and my coarse nature? We wouldn’t want her getting any ideas that I’ll go easy on her.”
“Naturally. We can’t sour The Ghost’s fragile reputation,” Nadir teased with a quiet chuckle. “She’s been made aware that she will only have to meet you once, unless it’s deemed necessary that she meet you again. And that she doesn’t want it to be deemed necessary.”
“Lovely. Thank you, Mr. Khan,” Erik said with a nod, clapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’ve done good, as usual. You will be getting your fair share of her ransom, I assure you.”
Nadir gave a nod. “Thank you, sir,” he replied, quickly finishing off his drink. “We were blessedly unnoticed, and I left your note on her pillow, just as you asked. They won’t be discovering it until she doesn’t come down for breakfast in the morning.”
“And we will be long gone, having slipped away under the cloak of night,” Erik replied as he moved to fill his glass again. “Can I top you off?”
“I should be returning to the helm to make sure Buquet stays on course. One of us has to be sober.” Nadir chuckled quietly, setting his glass down. “Thank you, my friend.”
Erik waited for his first mate to leave before downing the second glass of brandy, swishing the liquid around his mouth to be sure his hostage would be able to smell the alcohol on his breath. All part of the show, he told himself.
He pulled down his cuffs and straightened his waistcoat before tugging his black jacket on. In just two paces, he stood in front of a cracked mirror to check his appearance, pointedly keeping his one-eyed gaze from his deformed face and false eye and focusing fully on his outfit. He was quick to slip a black mask over his face, which obscured everything except his eyes and mouth from view, not wishing to have another woman die as a result of seeing his face. One had been enough.
Besides that, he didn’t want her in any way harmed, and there had been few people who had seen his face and lived to tell the tale. There would not be more innocent female bloodshed on his hands this evening.
It was truly unfortunate, really, that the young woman had to be a pawn in this affair, but having a governor for a father and Earl Raoul de Chagny for a betrothed made for far too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they had been so close at the time of the betrothal announcement. Seeing as how he had a crew to feed and pay, as well as expensive tastes he didn’t intend to give up, he couldn’t exactly afford to turn down such opportunities.
Reaching over to his mattress, he plucked off his black captain’s hat and placed it atop his head, the ostrich feathers adorning the article only adding to his already generous height. Another glance at the mirror confirmed what he already knew: he looked like death incarnate.
Good.
After tugging on a pair of black leather gloves, Erik left his chambers and stalked toward the door to his first mate’s bedroom. The crew members guarding the door, Gilles André and Ubaldo Piangi, stepped aside for their captain, who knocked on the door twice before entering.
Erik smirked when he was greeted with a scowl. “Good evening, Miss Daaé. Terribly sorry to disturb your rest,” he remarked in a casual tone, his arms clasped behind his back.
“My father will have your head for this, and he’ll display it on our mantle,” Christine said with a sneer, seemingly unfazed by his appearance entirely.
It would be a lie for Erik to claim he wasn’t more than a little impressed. He had made several men three times her size wet themselves with a singular glare. Either she was unaware of his reputation—which seemed quite unlikely, given his notoriety—or she was truly unafraid of him. Either way, it was a shame to see her flawless beauty twisted into such an ugly sneer.
“That would be a truly unfortunate prize for him indeed,” he remarked, deciding that intimidation would not get him far with this one. “Would you like me to untie your bounds?”
“Don’t you dare touch me!” Christine firmly replied, her blue eyes ablaze with hatred.
“Suit yourself.” Erik gave a casual shrug and took a seat in his friend’s desk chair. “I suppose you want to know why you were unceremoniously ripped from your bed in the middle of the night and dragged onto a ship.”
“Let me guess, I’m being kidnapped?” quipped Christine with a roll of her eyes. “It doesn’t exactly take a scholar to guess why, given my status.”
Erik gave a clapped slowly. “Congratulations, you’re smarter than most in your situation,” he drawled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Would you like to know the terms of your visit, or do you have an attitude about that as well?”
Apparently seeing some merit to this, Christine remained silent and inclined her head, gesturing for him to continue.
“Good. You’ll be permitted to leave your chambers once we’re far enough away from shore. We’ll give you something to wear besides your…undergarments. And you’ll be fed, of course. We can’t starve the daughter of a governor, can’t we?”
“Nightgown, not undergarments,” corrected the hostage. “And allow me to get one thing straight here. You’re going to ransom me for money, yet you intend to sail off into the proverbial sunset before my father can even respond to your demands? How do you expect him to pay your sum, one tuppence per carrier pigeon?”
“Your father will be receiving one of my specially trained ravens tomorrow afternoon with a second note, asking if he and your betrothed agree to my terms. If my bird returns with their acceptance, he will be meeting in a place of my choosing with a few of my men. I get my money, he gets his daughter back, and in the meantime, you get an adventure. We all win,” Erik replied as he moved to kneel beside the foot of the bed, producing a knife from his belt.
“What are you doing?” Christine inquired, fighting against her restraints to put distance between them—the first crack in her icy façade.
“Releasing you. I’m a pirate, not a barbarian,” replied Erik as though it were obvious, sawing at her ropes. “A thief and murderer, yes, but not a barbarian. I have standards.”
“They are decidedly low if you must resort to kidnapping innocent women for money,” Christine mumbled as she rubbed at her newly freed wrists.
Ignoring the remark, Erik drew himself to his full height, looking down his nose at her. “Make no mistake, Miss Daaé, that my kindness has its limits. I am granting you a certain level of freedom, but I will not hesitate to have it revoked.”
He could practically see the gears turning in her mind as she weighed the price of another quip. Apparently, though, she decided against it and softly replied, “Noted.”
“Good,” Erik said with a nod, mindlessly adjusting his cuffs. “Have you any requests before I go?”
“None at the moment,” Christine replied, her tone softening slightly. “Thank you.”
Erik gave a nod to acknowledge the statement. He tilted his head to the side to observe her for a moment, only to narrow his gaze when he noticed a growing red stain on her otherwise white sleeve. “You’re bleeding. Why?”
Quickly, Christine moved to cover her elbow, angling the injury away from him. “I fell when your goons were rushing me here. They were in quite the hurry, no doubt at your orders.”
“At my orders, they were not to hurt you,” Erik replied with a frustrated sigh. He disappeared from the room briefly, only to return a few minutes later, much to Christine’s confusion, with a bowl of water, a cloth, and what appeared to be a bandage.
“What are you doing?”
“Righting the wrongs of my crew. Let me see your arm.”
Christine’s brow creased, though she found herself slowly moving her injury toward him when he pulled the chair over to the mattress. His touch was surprisingly gentle as he pushed back her sleeve and began to clean the wound. “You’re not as scary as people claim,” she decided after a few moments of quiet contemplation, observing the captain. “Perhaps you should work on that.”
“You haven’t been on the receiving end of my cutlass. I can give you the names of several men who would disagree with you,” Erik replied in a matter-of-fact tone as he dabbed away the blood on her skin.
He kept his eyes focused on the task, telling himself it was because he didn’t want to hurt her and not because of the fluttering in his chest when he gazed upon her lovely features. Gently, he wrapped the scrape and tied off the bandage, then promptly removed his gloved hands from her skin and cleared his throat. “That should do for now,” he muttered.
“I’m sure that will be sufficient,” replied the young woman, the malice finally gone from her voice. “I…appreciate the your assistance.”
Erik gave a nod but fought against the small smile that came to his lips. It had been so long since he’d spent an extended amount of time in the presence of a woman, even longer since he’d shared a moment so gentle, so tender. Surely not since…since someone he had long tried to forget.
With a bit of a start, Erik realized that his hostage had been staring at him, and he lifted his gaze to meet her eye, only to pause anew. He had seen eyes of blue before, but these were certainly special. Otherworldly, almost.
His eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise when he realized that the fire he’d seen before had been something else entirely. Rather, what he saw in her eyes was something that he had seen only a handful of times before: the sparkle and sway of the ocean itself.
Siren eyes, he realized.
But how was that possible? Her father, Governor Gustave Daaé, was a gentleman of the land, a human, and their features were so similar that there was positively no question that Christine was his daughter. So how could this be? How could a human girl have the eyes of a siren?
Erik had not a clue, though he intended to find out. If she possessed a siren’s capabilities, she could be of great use to him.
Abruptly, he stood from his seat and left the small bedchamber, immediately pacing back toward his own. “Khan, come here, I want you!”
No sooner than the door had shut behind him did Nadir come hurrying through. “Is something the matter, my friend? You sounded urgent.”
“I want you to find out all you can about the late wife of Governor Gustave Daaé,” Erik replied as he tore off his hat and mask and tossed both aside. The next to be abandoned were his gloves. “That girl is half-siren, I’m certain of it. She has the eyes.”
“Half-siren?” Nadir’s eyebrows lifted, not missing what his friend was after. “Your curse, Erik. She could help.”
“I could walk on land again,” Erik breathed, incredulous. “I had never dared to hope after…after Giovanni sought his revenge for Luciana’s death.”
“We aren’t out of the storm yet, my friend. Let’s not put all our pearls in one oyster,” Nadir cautioned, carding his fingers through his thick hair. “Still, this is…this is something. If the Daaé girl can break the siren’s curse, you could live the life you’ve always wanted. Abandon the sea.”
Erik nodded, a faraway look in his natural eye. “Yes…yes, I could.”
“I will see what information I can find, sir. As soon as we make our next stop, I’ll make some inquiries.” Nadir set a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I promise you, my friend, we will figure this out. You will walk on land again.”