Family
I grew up, the privileged son of one of the Royal Navy's most decorated captains. I had a happy childhood; with loving parents, an adorable younger sister, and the finest naval education the king's money could buy. I was a good student, my academic teachers raved about me, but it was my talents in another area that brought me the most praise. Since I was a child, I've had the uncanny ability to know exactly where I am, and where I am going. You can blindfold me, place me in the middle of a desert, and within two minutes, I'll be on the shortest path back home. It's not sorcery exactly, more like intuition. My father used to claim that it was good breeding that brought me the gift, but my sister was simply convinced that it was because I was part homing pigeon.
My nifty little trick, as my uncle Loh (who wasn't actually an uncle, but an old academy friend of my fathers) used to call it, made me extremely useful on voyages. There was no fiddling with delicate instruments, or cursing the cloudy night for veiling the stars with me on board. My presence guaranteed safe passage on the most difficult to navigate waters. And so, my young life was spent traveling the high seas, with my father, or occasionally Loh, and in truth there was nothing I would rather be doing. Like my father, and his father before him, the ocean filled my soul when I sailed upon her, and whispered for my return when I left her comforting embrace.
When I was fourteen, the winds of change turned their eye on me, and blew though my life with a vengeance. It was with the promotion of a new admiral, that my world as I had always known it, began to shift. The new admiral was an inept leader. A small man, with large ambitions, he had gained his place with cleverly placed bribes, and even more clever lies. It made my father heartsick to watch his taint spread through the military. Talent, knowledge and honor seemed to matter less each day, and money and lineage more. In the end, it was my father's disagreement with the corrupt politics that almost cost him his family.
My father had never hidden his disapproval of the new admiral, but when he took his worries to the king, after a particularly upsetting dismissal of one of the other captains, the admiral took offence. Two days later, while my father spent the evening with friends, a candle mysteriously tipped over in the kitchen while the household slept. As the flames rose, and the family woke, the doors to the outside refused to open. I finally grabbed my mother and sister, and lead them out the window of the servant's quarters. The following morning, my father returned to find our house nearly burned to the ground, and the doors which had refused to open the night before, nailed shut.
And that was that. Above his kingdom, beyond his honor, and even more than the sea, my father loved his family. He would not stay and fight, only to watch his family pulled into court politics. And so he dismissed our servants, thanking them for their years of faithful service with healthy severance checks, cleared his coffers of gold, and bundled us all onto our uncle Loh's pirate ship that very night. Now my father had no love of pirates, as a member of the Royal Navy, it was his job to keep the trade routes safe of their pillaging, but he very much loved Loh. Loh had been his best mate through their academy days, and even when Loh had left the politics of the military world behind him, for the simple plunder of piracy, they remained close. It was only pure luck that Loh was in port that night. We had expected his arrival in the up coming days, and had planned for him and his wife to stay with us for a bit, but as fate would have it, they became the hosts.
My father knew that he was privy to far too many of the kingdom's secrets to be left alive when not bound to the crown, so we traveled with Loh for a short time, hoping to throw any pursuers off our trail. After all, who would expect a naval officer to travel with the very rouges he hunted? My sister and I loved it. 11 year old Elle was a great favorite among the crew, as she was impossible not to adore, and I was on the ocean again, so what complaint could I have? My father and my mother meanwhile made plans for the future. Eventually they decided on the country of Altador, and planned to settle down far inland. Just the thought of being land logged made me uneasy. I didn't understand how my father could possibly fathom waking the rest of his life, to feel only solid land underneath his feet. When I would ask, he would give my mother an odd smile and tell me that there are some things in life a man loves more than the ocean. Then they would laugh, and promise that I would someday understand, though I was certain I never would.
My parents worried about me, as my distress became more apparent the closer we drew to shore. They argued over it for days, but in the end, it was my mother who made the heart breaking decision. She convinced my father to let me stay aboard the ship with Loh. Wasn't knowing their son was happy, even as a pirate, better than watching him waste away, pining for the ocean that called to his soul? And so he agreed.
We all cried the day we set into port, and my family walked down the gang plank without me. My mother kissed me softly, and took the earrings she always wore, a gift from my father, from her ears and pressed them into my palm. My father wrapped me in a fierce hug, and promised that we'd see each other again soon. And my sister, sweet little Elle hung back, tears of anger rolling down her cheeks as she called me every foul name she had learned in her months with the crew (and there were many) for leaving her, before throwing herself into my arms, and sobbing on my shoulder. She couldn't understand my choice then, but someday I hoped she would.
I didn't see my family after that for many years. I would receive letters from them, and they from me during the rare times that Loh was able to smuggle them in and out of the country, but after a time, even those stopped. I could only assume that they had gone into deeper hiding. After that, I threw myself into pirate life, and hoped that the day I watched them walk away wasn't the last time I would see them.
Pirates
I took to pirate life almost uncannily well. It went against my nature at first, to steal what wasn't mine, but Loh's logic on the subject made an odd sort of sense. "The merchants," he told me, "are all heavily insured. When we hit them, they roll into port, and pick up a nice little check to compensate them for the loss. So who are we really stealing from my lad? The banks? Hah, you've seen those bankers, fat with their own wealth? If you ask me, a little bit here and there don't really hurt anyone." I found that it is easy to suppress your guilt, one just has to find the right sort of logic.
My special talent and position as Loh's surrogate nephew/ward afforded me a unique place among the crew. I was supposed to be a lowly cabin boy, a lowly cabin boy who had his own cabin (a coveted thing on a crowded ship), and a finer education than most of the crew would ever see, but a cabin boy none the less. As I grew however, so did my responsibilities, and position among the crew. I had no place to order the men around, but when Loh, or his first mate were not on deck, the men seemed to look to me for guidance. I didn't understand the change in the men's attitudes until years later, when I realized that Loh had been grooming me as his successor all along.
I sailed with Loh for three years, before one fateful day shortly after my 17th birthday, while sitting down to dinner, Mary, Loh's wife, as well as the ship's cook, announced that she needed an assistant. Loh had protested, always weary to allow someone new onto the ship, but she had pierced him with that glare, that made starving pirates set their napkins in their laps, and say a prayer before digging into dinner, and insisted. Loh of course folded and agreed.
The next week, we found ourselves at our biannual stop in Caverntown. We were a little late, as rains and bad weather had set us back a bit. So there didn't seem to be much hope of finding a cabin boy, as most of the activity that bustled while we were there during their busy trading weeks had departed for other locations.
The final day of our stay, I had gone ashore to check on some last minute supplies. I returned late in the day, tired and extremely irritable, as the merchants I had been visiting had tried to take advantage of our late arrival and doubled the price of our order. The scene that awaited me near the ship did little to improve my mood. Loh was standing in front of the gangplank, grinning and shaking hands with a young red kougra who looked to be my age, or a bit younger. I approached the two cautiously, a little wary of what I was about to hear. Loh smiled at my approach, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "This," he told the boy, "is Baestien. Baestien, this is Aki. He'll be staying on a few months until with hit south Merridell as the new cabin boy." The boy- Aki, smiled expectantly at me, then narrowed his bright green eyes as I asked for a word with Loh.
What is it Baestien, was there a problem with the order?" Loh asked as we moved a bit away.
No-yes, but that's not the point. Are you really serious about hiring on that boy?"
Of course," he said, and then looked at me sideways; "You've got a problem with him?"
I sighed, "Not really," I said, "but look at him. He's skinnier than a girl. Looks like he's never done an ounce of work his entire life."
Loh laughed, "Well then he's about to get some experience aint he?" Loh did that sometimes. He was raised with a wealthy family, went to the same school I did, where I am absolutely certain they grilled into him proper grammar, but when something amused him, he slipped into that rough common speech that he thought was so funny. It simply annoyed the hell out of me, particularly when it was directed at myself.
He doesn't belong here Loh."
And why not."
I lowered my voice. "Look at him, you really think a kid like that would knowingly hire onto a pirate ship? What are you going to do when he finds out that we're not merchants like everyone thinks we are?"
So that's where all this is coming from." Loh stoked his chin, examining the boy. "Well, when he finds out, he's going to have a choice to make. And if he is as clever as I think he is, he'll make the right one. If not…" he let his voice trail off.
If not?" I pressed.
Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that," he said evasively. Then making no effort to keep his voice low, he clapped me on the shoulder, and laughed, "Besides Baestien, you wouldn't have me disappoint the missus would you? She's sore with me already, I don't want to think about what she'd do if I found her a cabin boy, and then chased him off."
I just shook my head, and watched him escort the boy onto the ship, his large frame dwarfing that of Aki's. Someone like that had no business being on a pirate ship, and I was going to do my best to make him leave.
Aki settled into ship life with relative ease. Despite his fragile appearance, he did his job well, and Marry glowed every time someone mentioned her new cabin boy. I hadn't given up on getting him off the ship, and encouraged him to do so every chance I got, but he was strangely resilient to my bullying. He'd simply nodd his head as I spoke, then smile and ask, "But then how will I get home?" One couldn't help but admire his steady manner, and I found myself drawn to him. When he was done with his work in the galley, he would come on deck and stand at the rail, watching the sea. Before I knew what I was doing, I would find my feet moving to stand beside him. I forgot my purpose sometimes, finding myself instead, laughing with him, and sharing stories of our time at sea, listening to his own. Having a friend was a novelty for me, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to give it up, regardless of the risk to him. I hated myself for those thoughts, but it didn't make them go away.
Three weeks later, Aki learned the truth about our occupation. It was the first take of the season. Loh spotted our prey, and gave notice. The crew went wild, after a month and a half of inactivity; they were ready for some fun. I spotted Aki in the fray, standing near the railing, watching the proceedings, with a curious -disallowed_word-Birthright Green).
Quizilla.com Search: Black Jewels
|
