ardent | gleam

After Baekhyun locked Cirrus in her new room, the first thing the princess did was walk towards a window and stare outside. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the ocean up close, and couldn’t help but be fascinated by the endless stretch of blue before her eyes.

Cirrus heard the sounds of a key being inserted into her door, followed by the slow creaking of the door opening. When Ardent saw that the princess had been inside the room, his eyes widened a bit. He exited the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Then, he knocked on the wooden door.

“Come… in?” Cirrus spoke, unsure of her own words.

Ardent allowed himself into the room, wearing his signature childlike smile. “If I had known you were in here, I would have knocked from the start.”

“Well, I’m not living in the palace anymore and I’m a prisoner now, so I don’t see why you’d have to knock in the first place,” Cirrus said bitterly.

“You’re still a princess, aren’t you?” Ardent asked, surprising Cirrus. “Baekhyun told me to adjust the sliding door.”

“Ah yes, so I won’t be able to spy on him,” Cirrus turned her back to the first mate and rolled her eyes.

Ardent chuckled and brought his toolbox over to the sliding door. He used his tools to remove the wooden board, then added a thinner board with a doorknob on it in its place. The doorknob of the plank faced Baekhyun’s room. As Ardent began attaching metal bars on Cirrus’s end of the wall, he said, “You’re talking an awful lot today.”

“And you’re awful courteous for a pirate.”

Cirrus didn’t understand Ardent. He was a pirate, and first mate no less, of the infamous Lux Pirates. She had imagined him to be cold, ruthless, and violent like Chanyeol’s crew had been, yet here she stood in the room he had fought against Baekhyun for just so she wouldn’t have to stay in the prison cell.

“You don’t really believe that all pirates are bad, do you?” Ardent chuckled amusedly.

“Well aren’t you?” Cirrus asked carefully, remembering that she was still standing on thin ice. Any phrase out of line could send her walking on the plank.

“Not all kings and queens are good, right? There are such things as dictators out there,” he pointed out as he finished attaching one bar. “The same can be said about pirates.”

Cirrus stood in the centre of the room, trying to process what Ardent had just told her. He spoke the truth, and yet she still was reluctant to believe him. “So what are you saying? That you’re a good pirate who’s in it for the adventure?”

“You bet, love,” Ardent replied immediately. “Truth is, Baekhyun’s also in it for the adventure.”

“You, I can mildly believe,” Cirrus started. Then, crossing her arms she added, “But Captain Lux? I don’t see it, and I refuse to believe it.”

“What you believe is up to you,” he replied.

“What’s next? You’re going to tell me that I can trust you and the captain of this pirate gang?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Not one bit,” Cirrus replied coldly.

“Well, I trust you,” Ardent said as he finished attaching the last metal bar. He gave the structure a good knock to make sure it was sturdy. “We all trust you. We trust that you’ll be able to give us the correct translations we need to find the lost treasure.”

And what if I don’t? the princess fought back the urge to ask the question aloud. She had to remember who she was dealing with. It wouldn’t be a smart play on her end if she purposefully made the crew doubt her credibility.

When Ardent finished his job, he bid the princess farewell and exited the room.

.::.        .::.        .::.

The moon was high in the night sky, and Baekhyun was at his desk. With an oil lamp at his side and a copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” in his hands, the captain indulged himself in the book that he had read for what seemed like the nth time.

It was then that he heard the sounds of whimpering coming from the other side of the wall. He stood up, wondering where the origin of the sound was coming from. As he walked around his room, he stopped in front of the small, rectangular sliding door. The sound was strongest just on the other side of the sliding door.

Curiosity got to the better of Baekhyun, or maybe it was the fact that he was tired, but the captain gently opened the sliding door. Princess Cirrus was curled up in her hammock, her eyes closed with tears streaming down her face. He figured she must be crying in her sleep, probably because of a dream.

She really does cry in her sleep, he thought to himself as he remembered the time Ardent told him about it. When she still resided within the prison cell, Ardent checked in on her several times throughout the day, and he often stumbled upon her while she was sleeping. He had reported that she was found crying often, and concluded that she was becoming depressed.

Not good.

He had to figure out a way to stop her from plummeting into depression. Granted, making her happy was not his goal but depression often led to sickness, and he couldn’t afford her getting sick. That, and he needed the silence in order to read his book.

.::.        .::.        .::.

A few hours after the Sun had risen, Baekhyun rapped his knuckles on the wooden surface, unlocked the door and strode into the room where he found the princess staring out the window. Cirrus certainly wasn’t expecting an upgrade in her meal, let alone an upgrade in the person making the delivery. He dropped the metal platter carrying a glass of water, two slices of bread with jam, and an apple onto the desk.

And she certainly wasn’t expecting new clothes. Baekhyun waltzed out of the room and re-entered, his arms carrying a simple olive coloured dress and a pair of shoes made of cloth. “Eat, and get dressed. I can imagine you’d want a fresh set of clothes.”

Cirrus stared at the captain with wide eyes, too surprised for words. She was starting to get suspicious of the sudden act of kindness. Before anything got out of , Baekhyun added, “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Back for what?” she gulped nervously, assuming that it was time for her to translate the text on the map.

“For a tour,” he said simply, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as he left, Cirrus started to eat. She was famished, but unlike the palace where she could get a maid to fetch her food whenever she was hungry, here the meals came thrice a day whenever the pirates felt that she needed food. After she finished eating, she slipped out of the clothes Rose had given her, folded them and placed them on top of the desk. She dressed herself in the new olive dress and shoes, wondering where on earth the captain got his hands on the clothing.

In exactly an hour, Baekhyun returned. He unlocked the door and knocked against the wood before making his entrance. He observed her in the new garments; the olive green complimented her dark chestnut hair, which he noted had been roughly combed and left to frame her face.

“You knocked,” she mumbled quietly, not having noticed that he had knocked the first time as well.

“Why? Do they not teach manners in the palace?” he smirked.

Despite the few encounters she had with him, there was something about Baekhyun that got her blood boiling every time she met him. His snarky comments and arrogance never failed to make their presence in each conversation they had. “Quite the contrary,” she huffed. “I didn’t know pirates knew to knock.”

“He’s not a bad guy though.” Ardent’s voice rang in her head. “A bit twisted, sure. But does he have a black heart? No way.”

“And I didn’t know princesses knew to dress themselves,” he replied wittily, clearly mocking her. “Yet here we are, me having knocked and you fully dressed. Bravo to the both of us, hm?”

Cirrus was beginning to question whether Baekhyun’s attitude was a means of testing her patience or if he was a natural born obnoxious bastard. Either way, she forced herself from not saying anything in retaliation that might offend the captain.

“Follow me,” he ordered as he whizzed out of the room.

Baekhyun had shown Cirrus the ship from top to bottom. He began with the hallway they were standing in, then they made their way to the kitchen and showers. There was a small medical room, a strategy room, and a few empty rooms. When they reached the deck, Cirrus welcomed the warm Sun with open arms and took a breath of the salty sea air.

Baekhyun’s amused stare broke Cirrus out of her trance. “I’ve never seen anyone hug the air before,” he smiled. “This is a first.”

“This might as well be a first time for me too,” the princess said under her breath, hoping that Baekhyun didn’t hear what she had said. Every member in the royal family has a role. My role happened to be one where my world consisted of what I saw in the palace. A part of her wanted to tell someone, even if that person was Baekhyun, about her experiences in the palace. With the exception of Suho, she had told no one else about the hardships she experienced, and she felt a hint of exhilaration at the thought of being able to share these feelings with another.

The other part of her reminded the princess about who she was currently dealing with. Even if she told him, the pirate wouldn’t even care. He had only one purpose for her, and that didn’t include listening to her problems.

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness upon ‘em,” the captain said in a voice that didn’t quite sound like his own.

Recognizing the familiar quote from Shakespeare’s famous “Twelfth Night”, Cirrus instinctively responded with, “Thy Fates open their hands. Let thy blood and spirit embrace them.”

Baekhyun, completely caught off guard by her response, stood in silence. Cirrus then continued, “And, to inure thyself to what art thou art be like, cast they humble slough and appear fresh.” The two stared at each other briefly when Baekhyun cleared his throat and forced himself to turn to look at the ocean. Cirrus, on the other hand, continued to stare at Baekhyun in disbelief. Never in her life had she met someone who knew Shakespeare’s quotes as well as she did. Suho had tried, and failed miserably, while Cumulus had never taken a liking to Shakespeare in the first place.

“I didn’t know pirates knew Shakespeare,” she let her thoughts slip out of .

“And I didn’t know princesses hugged the air,” Baekhyun said amusedly. His face was still turned towards the ocean, but he glanced at Cirrus through the side of his eyes. “We’ve both learned something new today, haven’t we, princess? We’re heading back.”

Baekhyun turned and began walking towards the cabins. Cirrus chased after him, slowing her pace when she was mere inches away from his back. “Where did you learn that?” she asked, still surprised by the fact that he had perfectly quoted Shakespeare.

“From his own work, obviously,” he replied nonchalantly.

“I know that, but you quoted ‘Twelfth Night’ perfectly! How did you do that?”

“Does it surprise you to know that I read?” Baekhyun rolled his eyes at her.

“Reading and being able to quote phrases perfectly from memory are two different things,” Cirrus replied.

“Well,” he suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing Cirrus to run into his back. She quickly removed herself from him and shimmied a few paces backwards. Baekhyun turned around and leaned towards the princess, with only a few inches between them. He continued, “Let me ask you this then. How are you able to quote Shakespeare perfectly?”

“I spent all my time in the palace,” she began to explain, trying to hide the flustered feeling that arose due to their proximity from showing on her face. “I had a lot of time on my hands, so I often read books from the palace’s library. Shakespeare’s plays happen to be my favourite.”

Seeming satisfied by the answer, Baekhyun stepped away from the princess, causing Cirrus to let out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding. When he began walking away, Cirrus ran after him again. “You never told me your story,” she exclaimed.

“I don’t feel the need to answer to you,” he replied snidely before adding in a more docile tone, “There’s one more place I’ll show you.”

He led her back to the crew cabins, stopping in front of the door labelled “Captain Lux”. He unlocked the door to his room and stepped inside. Unsure whether or not to follow, Cirrus stood by the doorframe. When he noticed she hadn’t entered, he told her, “Come in.”

She nodded her head slowly, then took a few steps into the room. The princess wasn’t sure why he had decided to show her his room, so she decided to take precautions. Every step she took was slow and careful, as if she were standing on thin ice. She analyzed his room; it was large and adorned with vases, maps, rugs, a spacious desk, and a bookshelf.

Baekhyun leaned against his desk and cocked his head towards the bookshelf that she was blatantly staring at. “You are allowed one.”

“Pardon me?”

He sighed and rubbed his temples with one hand. “I said, you are allowed to pick one book from that bookshelf.”

Cirrus made her way towards the short bookshelf. It had five levels and each row was filled snugly with books. She scanned the titles until her eyes landed on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. She remembered she had been in the midst of re-reading the book in the palace, and removed the famous play from the third shelf.

She quickly skimmed the book to find where she had left off at. When she reached the page, she noted the worn out edges of the page and the fainted ink. Every so often, a page contained a stain, a rip, or fingerprints. Cirrus re-examined the spines of the other books on the shelves and found that each one seemed battered. It was evident that the books had been read countless times.

“Romeo and Juliet?” Baekhyun raised a brow at her when he read the title of the book she had selected. “Good choice but not his best work.”

“How… how many times have you read these books?” she wondered aloud, her eyes still glued on the bookshelf.

“I lost count,” he shrugged. “Does it really matter?”

“No…” her voice trailed off. It dawned on her that Baekhyun had been the sole reader of these books. She continued to stand in silence, deciding how she should process the newly discovered similarity they shared.

The pair exited his room and Baekhyun unlocked the door to the neighbouring room. Cirrus walked inside her room, and before he closed the door Baekhyun said in a low voice, “When you’re done with that one you can borrow another one.”

A/N: Ardent is such a little precious bean (imo). Also, if you can't tell already, I'm a pretty big fan of Shakespeare myself, which is why you'll find Cirrus and Baekhyun quoting Shakespeare in the near future. Also, I'm aware "ardent" can mean a whole bunch of things, but the one I fancy most is "gleam" :P Do comment/subscribe/upvote! <3 And see ya'll in the next chapter!

\\ xoxo