As the girl began to stumble, Victor caught her fall, expecting her to squirm right out of his grip as soon as she got her footing. But she didn’t. Her eyes traveled up to his and lingered there. What he saw in them, he thought, was just his imagination. He had possibly seen enough women to look at him like that where he was able to see that longing in any eyes. He was a pirate, a savage. Alice could not possibly want anything from him other than to be brought back home to find a noble man to marry – the opposite of Vic. 

“We, uh,” he started as he propped her back up into a standing positions, “we should be getting back. I have to make sure everything is moving right along with the boys.” His eyes darted away from her and he headed for the trees that lead to the path in the field. Even if Alice did really look at him that way – he could not let her have those feelings for him. She was young, naïve, and was probably just infatuated by a lifestyle she was not privy to before being taken. Letting her mistake those feelings for anything other than what they were would be bad on Victor’s part. He had met these women before; they wanted a break from their boring life, their boring husband, their boring routine. But after they saw the real side of what being a pirate was, they ran for the hills. 

He knew his feelings about her had changed since they had first met. He developed this strong urge to protect her constantly – maybe it was just the curse – and he knew he would not be able to keep to her safe much longer on the sea. It would be selfish on his end to have her there with him on the sea, where she could get hurt or killed. She belonged on the port with the high class society she came from, not with the likes of him.

After they had made their way back to the bustling downtown, Vic approached his men and made sure that everything was running smoothly. After a few laughs and jokes, Vic turned to Alice and forced a smile. “I have an errand to run. I shall not be long. When I come back we will pick something out for you, yeah?” He nodded and walked down the street again to go see George Smith to see if the letter they had been waiting for had finally arrived.