18 Hawk’s Truth #3
Mara looked back to her, confused. "Me?"
"Yes. Will you return to the sea with us, now that your bargain has been fulfilled?"
For a long moment Mara could only stare at her. Mami's original words echoed in her memory. A biped you shall be, my daughter, until you are loved with true love. "But I'm not..."
Then she looked back towards the boat. Xanne sat in the bow watching her, eyes bright with worry, fingers white as she clenched the edge of the boat.
And behind the worry was the thing that Mara had tried so hard to tell herself was not there, the thing that could not possibly exist. The thing that she could never allow herself to hope for.
Love.
She drew a shivering breath, tears burning her eyes as the beautiful realization washed over her. Finally, she turned to Mami Wata, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek.
"I will stay with the one who loves me," she whispered. "Thank you, Mami Wata."
Then, she turned for the boat, where her heart waited for her.
“We’re going to be so happy,” Silverfin pressed his cheek against Hawk’s and hummed with contentment. “Destitute, but happy.” Beneath the hull of the Orca, the coffer laden with Portuguese gold sank into the realm of Mami Wata.
"Are you certain we couldn't have kept any of it? Even a little bit?" Hawk looked down into the waves sadly.
"Do you want a shark to bite off your leg? Or WORSE?"
Hawk let out a sigh before turning to kiss Silverfin. "There will be other treasure," he said, holding him close. "Right now the only treasure that matters is the one in my arms."
"The two of you are truly disgusting." Hawk lifted his head to find Mara descending the steps down onto the lower deck, shaking her head.
Her hair, now dry, hung in perfect beautiful ringlets around her face again - much like Silverfin's.
How had he not known they were related? Come to think of it, how had he not seen the gills?
"I don't care," Silverfin responded, arms tightening around Hawk's waist. "I'm happy. And I was right. Love exists."
"Perhaps you were," Mara said agreeably, a little smile playing about the corners of her mouth. "But the question now is - will you continue to be pirates and chase treasure? Or treasure your love in a safer life?"
Hawk opened his mouth to reply but stopped.
There were a hundred reasons to stay with the Orca (even if he would essentially have to recruit a whole new crew, his old crew having retired on the Estrela’s riches).
He needed to wage war against fucking England, for Lucas' sake.
He needed the British to realize the mistake they had made.
But to what end? Would vengeance truly right the wrong that had been done?
And even if it could, was it worth the risk of losing Silverfin?
Mara laid a hand on his arm. "Think on it, Captain. If you should decide to take my brother to a better life, well... it just so happens that a much larger portion of the Estrela’s gold may have ended up in my hands than I let anyone believe...
and Elizabeth owes me a favor. Between the two of us, there is more than enough to take us all away from this life.
If you wish it. Think on it, both of you. You know where to find me."
"Mara! Leave those fucking lovebirds be and get down here!"
Mara leaned out over the rail to smile down at Xanne. "Coming!" She called, then grabbed hold of the rope, sliding down and into the waiting longboat with ease and grace.
"Let's go back to the brothel," Hawk heard her purring from the boat. "I would very much like you to tear all my clothes off."
He glanced down to find Silverfin smiling up at him, arching one eyebrow in invitation.
Tearing clothes off sounded like a very good idea indeed.
“So, um...” Suddenly feeling oddly shy, Hawk drew his thumb gently over the cut of Silverfin’s jaw. “Now that I’m yours, because you’ve crowned me... Care to make it official? In the time-honored human tradition?”
“Just so we’re clear,” Silverfin leaned into the touch, “you’re talking about sex, yes?”
“I am,” Hawk murmured against his earlobe.
“Then yes, I’d very much care to.” His eyes shone as Hawk pulled him in for a kiss, before drawing him back into his cabin, an ocean of blue that Hawk would happily drown in again and again.
At the thought of drowning, Hawk’s fingers trembled again as he held Silverfin close. “You’ve already given me so much, my love,” he whispered with reverence. “You’ve saved my life twice and made each new day worth living. And I... I have nothing to give you in return. I am nothing!”
“Stop!” Silverfin’s hand clasped across Hawk’s lips. “Don’t ever say that again. You are so much and everything I desire.”
Hawk gasped for air as those words washed over him like a cold wave. You are so much and everything I desire. He remembered those words, spoken softly to him on a night when all he craved was the cold embrace of a watery grave, the nihil of death and oblivion.
Happiness had been so close, at his fingertips, the entire time, and he was too willfully blind to see it.