Somewhere Weaknesses Are Strength

A soft hand brought Sebastian from her slumber, shaking her firmly. Sebastian kept her eyes shut tight, not wanting to wake up. She knew well that Hayley was the one trying to force her to rise; the captain was the only one on the ship that would have such feminine hands. Or the only person Sebastian had met with feminine hands. Hayley could have sent one of the maids in to wake her. But she knew what Hayley's hands felt like by now. She had been touched enough times to know.

"Wake up," Hayley cooed, breath hitting Sebastian's ear.

Sebastian groaned, keeping herself snuggled into the blanket. She wasn't ready to wake up. Sleeping in had been nice for the past couple of days that she was on the ship, she was not in the mood to change that.

"Come on, sweetheart. I need you to wake up so I can get you in your new dress," Hayley tried.

Most princesses that Hayley had the fortune, or misfortune, of meeting would have woken up immediately at the prospect of having a new dress. Sebastian, on the other hand, swatted Hayley's hand away from her shoulder and snuggled closer to the blanket.

Sebastian's actions caused laughs to bubble from the pirate's throat. Everything Sebastian did was just fascinating. She was a mess of contradictions that Hayley found oddly adorable. Though she had been originally intended to be Hayley's personal sex slave, Sebastian had managed to make a place for herself in Hayley's heart. Hayley wouldn't tell her. There was no way she could tell Sebastian. As far as Hayley knew Sebastian was interested in men, even if the princess' lack of spouse said otherwise. Hayley wouldn't push the issue. She would have to be content with Sebastian having the title of sex slave but being treated as something much better than that.

"We'll be on land soon," Hayley stated, hoping to pull the princess from sleep.

As soon as the words left Hayley's mouth, Sebastian shot up to a sitting position. The comforter fell to her waist, as it had done every morning, revealing Sebastian's naked upper half.

Land. Being so close to it brought Sebastian excitement. She would be on land, something she knew much better than the sea. Getting off the god-awful ship was what she had been waiting for. Though it hadn't been just the comfort land brought that excited her; she would escape soon.

"Will we really?" Sebastian asked.

She would have been upset if Hayley was lying to her just to wake her up.

Hayley nodded, a smile stretched on her face as she watched the girl's excitement. Sebastian had obviously been miserable to some extent on the water. Even in Hayley's room, Sebastian seemed to not enjoy the rocking of the waves. It would take years of work to make Sebastian love the sea as much as Hayley. And that would be necessary since Hayley was planning on taking her on all of her travels. She couldn't just leave Sebastian at her home alone. That wouldn't be acceptable.

But it was nice to see Sebastian finding some excitement.

However, Sebastian seemed pretty excited in the tub the night before. The piercing held Sebastian's attention for most of the night. She didn't touch it again, nor did she ask to do so, but she did talk about it.

Hayley's nod sent a feeling of elation through Sebastian's body. In her rapture, Sebastian grabbed either side of Hayley's face and pulled it to hers, pressing their lips together. Hayley's eyes widened at the sudden contact, shocked that Sebastian had found the courage to make such a bold move. She didn't let the state faze her for long; the captain quickly took control of the kiss. Their lips moved in a synchronized rhythm that they had both grown comfortable with over the days. Hayley was the one to break the kiss, tugging Sebastian's bottom lip between her teeth as she did so. Sebastian's eyes fluttered open, immediately entranced by Hayley's hazel depths, one question vibrant in her mind:

What the hell had just come over her?

"You need to get dressed," Hayley stated, standing from the bed and walking to the chest.

Sebastian's eyes followed Hayley's movements, subconsciously appreciating Hayley's every action. Since the incident in the tub, Sebastian had found a new fascination for Hayley, one she just couldn't explain. She didn't know what triggered it or why it stuck. But she accepted it. There was nothing Sebastian saw wrong with having a mild fascination with the pirate. There wasn't anything she could do about it.

But she wouldn't let this fascination get in the way of her escape plan.

Hayley pulled a gown from the chest, turning to face Sebastian again and holding the dress out for her to see.

"Do you like it?" Hayley asked.

The gown was no where near anything Sebastian had ever been allowed to wear before. It was silk, Sebastian could tell that much about the fabric from where she sat, which wasn't unusual in most dresses she wore. The color was blue-green, mimicking the water they traveled over. Again that wasn't unusual in dresses.

What stuck out most was the design. There was no corset. It had been years since Sebastian had been in a dress without one. The last time had been before puberty struck, forcing her body to become womanly. To accentuate her chest, a slit ran down a fraction of the bodice that would show off her cleavage, matching the slit that ran up the side of the skirt. There were three thin straps as sleeves on each side of the dress made to keep the fabric on Sebastian's body, decorated in a set of jewels. The poof skirt Sebastian was used to was not attached to the bodice. The dress was sleek, smooth.

And sexy.

Sebastian's parents would have a fit if she ever wore a dress like that in public. But Sebastian couldn't help finding an attraction to the dress. It was something new, a sort of sign of maturing.

Plus, her parents weren't there to tell her not to wear it.

"Yes," Sebastian replied," I do like it."

Hayley let out a breath in relief. There had been no dresses like the one she was holding in Sebastian's closet. No, that had been full of dresses with corset bodices. And those did look just fine on the princess, making her breasts perk up nicely for Hayley to see. But Hayley much preferred a dress that showed Sebastian's curves. She took the chance of Sebastian hating the dress when she had it made.

Not that Sebastian's opinion had much relevance in whether or not she wore it. Hayley would have forced Sebastian to wear the dress regardless. Sebastian had no choice in the matter.

"Think you can stand up long enough for me to put this on you?" Hayley asked.

The waves were a tad more violent today. Hayley didn't know if Sebastian could hold her own at all on the floor.

"Maybe," Sebastian answered.

Hayley slung the dress over her shoulder, as well as a bra that bore no straps, and strode to the bed. Like normal, she held a hand out for Sebastian, which the princess took without thinking to stand. Hayley handed Sebastian the bra, allowing the princess to position in on her naked chest.

"Ready for me to let go?" Hayley asked.

Sebastian nodded. Hayley released the princess' hand, snapping the bra in place quickly. She took the dress from over her shoulder and pulled it over Sebastian's head. With a few tugs, the dress was situated properly on Sebastian's body. Hayley turned Sebastian toward her and took a step back to look at the dress on Sebastian. The silk glided down Sebastian's curves, resembling a controlled version of the waves of the sea. Her chest demanded attention with the cut of the cleavage.

"Turn around," Hayley commanded.

Sebastian did as told, exposing her back to Hayley. In any captive situation, leaving her back unguarded was against the rules. Sebastian had been taught that. It was a concept that was quite clear to Sebastian. Many situations had been played out for her in lessons to show her the repercussions of turning her back to her enemy or captor. But she willingly turned around for Hayley. The pirate wasn't going to hurt her, she knew that.

Hayley let her eyes wander down Sebastian's unkempt hair, sleek back, to her prominent behind. The dress did the job Hayley was hoping it would: showing off Sebastian's assets. She was very pleased with the sight.

However, she wouldn't be able to let Sebastian leave her range of vision while they unloaded the ship. She couldn't allow the princess to get hurt in any way. She would likely attack anyone who tried to make a move on her princess.

That's right, her princess. Sebastian was hers and no one else would have her.

Hayley grabbed Sebastian's hips, tugging the girl's body to hers. Sebastian squeaked at the sudden movement, turning slightly to grip onto Hayley's neck and avoid falling. Hayley chuckled.

"Are you ready to get presentable?" Hayley asked.

Sebastian nodded once again. Hayley sat Sebastian on the edge of her bed, pulling a hairbrush from one of her drawers and climbing in bed behind Sebastian. Carefully, she ran the hairbrush through Sebastian's hair, taming the blonde mess.

"When we get to your home, will you continue treating me like this?" Sebastian asked.

She had been wondering for some time about how Hayley would treat her in her home. There was no better time to ask.

"Like what?" Hayley asked.

"Like I can't take care of myself."

"The things I'm doing for you are things you've never done on your own," Hayley responded, "I feel its best that I do them for you."

That may have been true but Sebastian didn't need Hayley to do everything for her. She could figure out how to take care of herself. She wasn't completely defenseless, though she knew she came off that way.

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"Believe it or not, I find your weaknesses cute. I don't want you to change them to the point where you're completely self-sufficient. And it's not necessary for you to be that way when I can do things. When we get to land, I'll have someone to take care of you while I'm working," Hayley answered.

"I'm your captive. Helping me should be the least of your worries."

"But I do worry about helping you. Taking you as a captive put us both in danger the second you were brought on the ship alive. You more so than me. You're not a normal captive in that sense and I don't see a reason to treat you as such. If you'd prefer, I can stop helping you and make you do things on your own."

Sebastian let the information sink in, the ending offer mulling around in her brain. She did like the pampering. Though she was leaving the second she got the chance, she wanted to keep that level of help. It was comforting to know that she wouldn't be completely on her own when Hayley couldn't help her. She would have had to learn a whole new home, a new way of doing things. If she had to stay long at Hayley's home before attempting escape, she would like the pampering.

Not to mention she found it sweet that Hayley found the need to pamper her.

"No, I like the help," Sebastian answered.

As a ruler, Sebastian's answer was completely unacceptable. But she was over being an unfit ruler now. It didn't matter anymore.

"Good. Now let's get a little makeup on you, put your shoes on, and head to the deck," Hayley said.

"On deck?" Sebastian asked, alarms sounding off in her head.

There was no way in hell Sebastian was getting on deck.