The memory surged like a tide, dragging Sabrina out of a dream back to the deck of The Resolute. The lanterns swayed in the salt-heavy air, casting fractured shadows across the planks. Robert stood before her, his uniform spotless, the polished brass buttons catching the flicker of light. His aquamarine-lit eyes burned with fury, his face carved into a mask of authority–his familiar mask of control.
"You’ve embarrassed me for the last time," he hissed, pacing before her. Each step was measured, his boots striking the wood like gavel blows. "Do you have any idea the damage you’ve done? The whispers I endure? The way they look at me?"
Sabrina held her ground, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her chin lifting in defiance. “Damage? Embarrassment?” she scoffed, her voice sharp. “Is it because I refuse to settle for a man I could never love? Or because I won’t sit in some drawing room, knitting socks and dying inside? Tell me, Robert–what exactly is it that shames you so?”
Robert froze mid-step, his shoulders stiffening. His lip curled, but his voice was calm, measured, like the lull before a storm. “You’ve made a spectacle of yourself, Sabrina. Refusing suitor after suitor. Playing at being my little shadow while everyone knows you’re nothing more than a spinster with ideas above her station.”
Her laughter was bitter, venomous. “A spinster? At least I’m honest about who I am. I don’t skulk around below decks, preying on scared underlings who don’t dare say no.”
The accusation hung in the air like cannon fire, sharp and deafening. Robert’s composure cracked, his fists clenching at his sides. For a moment, his aquamarine-lit eyes wavered, raw emotion flickering within them before rage extinguished it.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped, his voice tight with barely controlled fury.
“Oh, but I do,” Sabrina shot back, her voice rising. “You think I don’t see? The way you look at them. The ones you avoid and the ones you can’t resist. God, Robert, do you think your lies fool anyone but yourself?”
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His jaw tightened, the tension in his body palpable. “Do you think this life is easy for me?” he growled, stepping closer. “Do you think I chose this? Every day, I walk a tightrope. One wrong glance, one careless word, and I’ll hang for it. Is that what you want? For them to drag me to the gallows?”
“What I want,” Sabrina said, stepping forward until they were nearly nose to nose, “is for you to stop pretending. To stop dragging me into your lies. You hate me because I’m free. Because I stopped playing their game, and you never will.”
“Free?” Robert barked a hollow laugh, the crackle of telekinetic energy rippling faintly around him. “You’re delusional. A woman scraping by as a privateer, sailing under a borrowed flag, thinking you’re untouchable. You’re no more free than the sailors under my command. You’re just too blind to see the chains.”
“And you’re too much of a coward to admit the ones around your own neck,” Sabrina fired back. Her voice trembled with fury, but her eyes were steady. “You’re terrified someone might see you for who you really are. You hide behind your uniform, your rank, your rules. But you’re just as trapped as I am.”
The word coward hit like a slap, and Robert reacted just as violently. His hand shot out, and Sabrina felt an invisible force slam into her chest, throwing her back against the railing. Pain erupted through her as her head struck the wood, stars bursting in her vision.
“You think you’re better than me?!” Robert snarled, advancing on her, his voice low and dangerous. “You, with your fantasies of freedom? You think this life makes you brave? All it does is prove how reckless and selfish you are.”
Sabrina pushed herself upright, gasping for air, her hands gripping the railing for support. Her voice shook with anger and pain as she said, “At least I’ve never pretended to be something I’m not.”
His hand trembled, the faint glow of telekinetic energy flickering around it. For a moment, it looked as though he might strike her again, but instead, his shoulders slumped, and he turned away.
“You’ll die for this life you’ve chosen,” he muttered, his voice hollow. “And when you do, you’ll drag my name down with you.”
Sabrina took a shaky step forward, her voice cutting through the silence like a blade. “And you’ll die alone, Robert, because you’ve spent your whole life driving away the only people who ever loved you.”
Robert flinched but didn’t turn around. The tension in his posture spoke volumes, the weight of her words hitting him harder than he’d ever admit. Without another word, he strode away, his boots echoing across the deck as he disappeared into the shadows.
Sabrina remained where she was, her chest heaving, her throat raw. The ocean spray stung her face, but she didn’t move to wipe it away. She had won the argument, but the victory tasted like bile.