The Sea Orb

CHAPTER 16

Next morning.

Knock Knock

"Marin?" Renne called out before opening the door to Marin's room.

"Ah! Renne, Can you tie this for me?" Marin spoke frustrated as some of her hair was stubbornly standing out. Renne chuckled and walked towards her.

"Everyone's out for breakfast, I came to call you," Renne spoke as carefully pulled Marin's hair in a ponytail. Looking at Marin's hair Renne knew she never took care of it since it was rough and had knots. She slowly took out the knots while Marin hummed a tune.

"It's been long since I tied your hair up like this," Renne spoke while Marin closed her eyes.

"I still remember the little girl who used to pull at her hair and make a mess." She spoke chuckling.

"Not that now is any different," Renne spoke while Marin let out a chuckle. There was silence for a while between them but that wasn't awkward but peaceful.

"Just remember not to get hurt anymore, you can't imagine my shock the day you came to my house," Renne spoke tightening the hairband while Marin blinked her eyes.

"I won't get hurt this time," Marin spoke.

"You better not." She added a little sternly then eased her expression and walked out of the room. Marin looked at Renne's disappearing back and muttered to herself-

Not anymore...

~.~

At the heart of the town.

"That's the Arena," Marin spoke while Elijah nodded his head at her.

"First let's sign up and see if there are any matches today," Marin spoke while Elijah nodded his head again expressionlessly making her chuckle loudly. Elijah raised his brow while Marin shook her head.

"Come on brother El." She spoke tugging him towards the entrance.

"Next!" A boorish looking man spoke as he wrote the names on the parchment.

"Umm, Is this where we sign up for the fight?" Marin asked while the man looked at her and Elijah beside her.

"Yes, name?" He asked straightforwardly looking at Elijah.

"Elijah." He spoke while the man nodded his head.

"Age and strengths." He spoke while Elijah stood silent for a while.

"31. Fist fight." He spoke while the man wrote it down too.

"Since you are new I will explain the rules to you." He spoke looking at Elijah who looked at Marin.

"Ahem Ahem!" Marin coughed with a big fake smile as ire grew in her.

"Marin, age 20, strengths - fighting with both fist and sword." She spoke while the man just looked at her in astonishment.

"What?" She questioned while the man nodded in a no and scribbled off in the parchment.

"Let me explain the rules," The man spoke scratching his head at the awkward moment.

"The fights in the arena are of three types. One, private duels where you can arrange the one you want to duel against. Two, Random duels, as the name suggests the duels are chosen randomly according to skill. Third, Power duels where you can challenge the top-ranked people." He spoke while Marin frowned.

"Top-ranked?" She asked while the man looked at her and sighed.

"Here there is a ranking system. The rankers are only from 1 to 100. Right now you fellas are called no rankers." He spoke while Marin widened her eyes at that.

"Which is the fastest way to earn money?" Marin spoke without batting an eye.

"Well, you have two ways. One, if you win 20 successive matches in Random duels you can earn 100 bills. The second one is challenging the rankers." He spoke while Marin pursued her lips.

"Any more questions?" He asked looking at Marin who gave him a fake smile and spoke No.

"Which match would you like to participate in?" He asked.

"Random matches," Marin spoke while the man scribbled off on the parchment again.

"Ok then, you can come tomorrow and receive your match list." He spoke shooing them away while Marin and Elijah walked towards the side.

~.~

"I need salt," George spoke while the shopkeeper nodded his head with a big smile.

"How much would you like sire?" He asked while George rubbed his chin.

"35 pounds." He spoke while the shopkeeper widened his smile. He quickly ushered his servent to get the bags while Dominic looked at George in horror.

"I will be 3 gold and 75 silver." The shop keeper spoke while George handed him 4 gold.

"35 pounds..." Dominic muttered in a low voice ignoring them and looked at his thin arms.

There is no way he would be able to lift it.

~.~

Kailum looked at the big ship in front of him in astonishment.

When they called him he thought it would be a normal boat or some kingdom's ship but seeing a Pirate ship in front of him after a long time he felt weird.

"Finally!" Jonathan spoke as he walked towards Kailum from the ship.

"I never thought it would be a pirate ship." He spoke truthfully while Jonathan chuckled.

"Isn't she beautiful?" He spoke patting the hull of the ship while Kailum nodded his head.

"She is, indeed," He spoke while moving inside. After some 15 minutes of sightseeing and checkup of the ship, Kailum sighed.

"How's it?" Jonathan spoke with a worried gaze while Kailum sighed again.

"That bad?" Jonathan muttered while Kailum nodded.

"First, the c***k is too big for the ship. We need to replace the wood, the gears need to be tweaked and oiled. There are scratches on the ship. That's all for now I guess." He concluded while Jonathan sighed in relief.

"Ha! Ya scared me." He spoke slapping Kailum's back who frowned at him.

"I guess you didn't notice but the wood of the keel is a little greased up too. It's weak and can cause long term problems." Kailum spoke while Jonathan frowned.

The people last time didn't point it out or maybe it was still good at that time.

Jonathan thought while Kailum still looked at the ship.

"That's all," Kailum spoke interrupting Jonathan's thoughts.

"So much do you take?" Jonathan asked while Kailum smiled at the name of money.

"Well, since it's only checking, it's 50 silvers." He spoke while Jonathan handed him a gold coin who scratched his head.

"I don't have 50 on me." He spoke while Jonathan chuckled.

"Cut it when you come to repair." He spoke while Kailum grinned.

This old man isn't as bad as I thought.

~.~

It was mid-afternoon. Xavier sat in his chair dragging it near his window and he looked out dazedly. After breakfast, the crew went out again. By their talks, he could make out that the ship had incurred some damage so they were currently stationed near land. It must have gotten hit by something but what? He had no clear idea.

He was bored out here. In Amaris, though he was the only prince he still had his set of responsibilities but now he had nothing to do. He was a prisoner after all but he was more willing to lean on the temporary crew side. His father must be worried sick by now. The search parties would have been initiated.

And his uncle. That was another thing he had to worry about. Most importantly, the crown was missing. He did remember abruptly pushing it into his coat inner pocket that night. Someone must have taken it.

He just needed to ask. But who? He thought and just as soon as he did a green-eyed woman's image came into his mind startling him.

The sounds from outside disturbed his chain of thoughts. He needed to talk he thought as he walked out of his cabin.

~.~

Marin was back to the ship along with Elijah who straight away started conversing with Jonathan regarding the ship repairs. Her eyes then traveled to a weary-looking Dominic who was sprawled on a chair looking like his soul had left his body. She chuckled looking at him. Renne moved towards Dominic and gave him some medicine for backache.

"This is for stiff muscles... You can apply it normally too. But having a massage will greatly reduce your ache." Renne spoke eyeing Jonathan while he nodded and announced rolling up his sleeves "Well lad it's your lucky day today... Let me give ya that massage."

Dominic looked at him horrified which made Marin stifle a giggle "I would opt for no massage please."

"You should have let the shopkeeper's servants do the work," Renne spoke while Jonathan moved towards Dominic.

"That means extra money and Dominic suggested we carry it himself." George pushed the blame while Dominic just looked at him with open mouth. Jonathan pressed Dominic's shoulder all of a sudden.

"Ooowww!" Dominic howled making them laugh.

Seeing their banter Marin smiled. It has been so long since she smiled like this but with this crazy family of her's smile doesn't seem like a chore anymore in fact it almost became involuntary for her. She had, by now, fully accepted the change in her life and she loved every bit of it.

She was in her own world when she felt someone clearing his throat behind. She rolled her eyes and spoke turning "What now your highness?"

Xavier showed her his hands frowning "Look what happened to my wrist. I am a prince for god sake you can't keep treating me like this."

Marin snicked " How about a No?" She was about to leave when he again came in front of her making her groan. "What now?"

"Listen I know that you think I will be escaping for here if you remove the rope." Xavier spoke but was interrupted as Marin added "THINK?"

Xavier sighed as he continued "Ok fine you know that I will escape but how long are you planning on keeping me like this?"

"Until we say otherwise." Marin spoke in a duh tone "Will you let me leave now?" She finished. "Fine, one last question where are my belongings? Look it's really important for me," He spoke. He needs to find the crown.

Marin looked at him and gestured to come with her. He followed her until they entered her cabin. She walked towards her desk and opened the drawer to see a few rings, a broach, a golden necklace, and a shabby looking crown. He quickly moved towards her and picked up his belongings sighing in relief while Marin looked dumbfounded at him.

"You know for once I thought you really had something important. And that you were a serious person. But now you have proved that I was right about you. You are nothing but a snobbish big-headed prince who is used to glitters and flattery. You can leave now." She spoke sternly.

Xavier looked at her with a hardened expression. Never in his life had he ever cared about someone's opinion of him. He was used to people's talks. He showed the people that he was a big-headed narcissist prince and they judged him on that.

He never made any efforts to correct their judgment about him too. He didn't want to. But now seeing her judging him oddly didn't sit well with him. He wanted to change her opinion of him. This thought made him unsettled. He dashed out of the room without looking at her.

Marin looked at his disappearing back with a hint of disappointment. For some reason, she really thought it must have been something important for him to ask her. But Jewels? she thought in disbelief. What would he even want to do with those? Clearly, Xavier Atkins was beyond her comprehension.

She remembered the time when she entered the castle to know the soldier's layout. His first meeting with him. He was like an entirely different person. Serious. Intellectual. Calm and composed. Did they perhaps kidnap the wrong prince? she thought but quickly shook her head. Ridiculous. He was an only prince.

But still, she was finding it hard to believe that it was the same person. Though this shade of him seemed more real. The prince she heard then had such a distant tone in his voice that it made others feel how detached he was from everything.

~.~

After entering his room and quickly sprawling the contents on his bed and he picked up the crown. Finally, he found it. More like she gave it but either way its finally with him again. It was very dangerous for it to be left there in the palace without him.

He didn't know anything about this crown. The only thing his uncle spoke placing it in his hands was to never let anyone take it away. In the hands of someone powerful, this can cause the destruction of a kingdom.

~.~