The Sea Orb

CHAPTER 17

Jonathan walked through the crowd with William in tow. It was late in the afternoon. Some of the workers were all set to head home while some of them were opening their stores. The sky looked as if it was covered with a reddish veil.

"I think this is it," William spoke looking at the store in front of them. There was a wooden board beside the store with letters "Swordaholic"

"That's quite a name," Jonathan spoke with a grin and entered without waiting for William.

"Welcome to Swordaholic, what would you like to see?" The man spoke respectfully while Jonathan rubbed his beard.

"I would like to see a few swords." He spoke changing his dialect while the man nodded his head asked them to follow him.

"Here there are 128 kinds of weapons. The last area has swords, left to it are guns, and right to it are explosives. We have 39 different kinds of swords, you may choose from them, the rates are fixed and written on the walls." He spoke gesturing them into the warehouse. Jonathan walks towards the swords.

"You sure they are good quality?" Jonathan spoke lifting one of the swords while the man nodded his head.

"The swords come from the smiths directly without any glitches." He spoke while Jonathan carefully eyed the swords.

"William, come." Jonathan beckoned him who immediately walked towards him.

"Let's see, Elijah is more of a fist-fighter.... hmmmm...." He hummed eyeing the swords with a frown.

"Do you have any fist load weapons?" Jonathan asked the man while he gestured towards the wall on the left side of the guns.

"Ahan!" Jonathan exclaimed happily looking at the Tekko Kagi on the wall.

"This one." He pointed at it while the man took it off the wall and gave it to Jonathan who put it on his hand to check it.

Tekko Kagi was a claw-shaped weapon with 4 iron nails like a bear's claw attached to an oval ring where the bearer puts his hand. It's both defense and offense weapon.

Jonathan grinned happily and gave it to William who looked at it in confusion.

"This is for El?" William asked looking at the metal claw while Jonathan ignored him in his excitement and went back to the swords.

"Do you have any daggers?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, we do. Do you have any specifications?" He asked.

Renne cannot handle swords but she has her way with small knives.

"I need it to be small. The blade should be the size of the palm." He spoke while the man looked through a box of daggers and took out 4 daggers. One was very thin, while the other three were like normal Knives.

"I will take them all," Jonathan spoke while the man smiled happily.

"Psst-" William called out to Jonathan who looked at him in annoyance.

"Are you really gonna buy them all?" He asked while Jonathan nodded his head.

"Old man we need to buy for everyone." He stressed the word everyone while Jonathan frowned in realization.

"Alright alright, I will check carefully next time." He spoke while William shook his head.

"Now, for Dominic." He spoke looking around.

Maybe I should buy a bow?

Jonathan thought considering that Dominic stays in the crow's nest all the time.

"Show me some bows," Jonathan spoke while the man bought them towards the bow section. There different types of bows on the walls, long, short, wide, thin.

Practically everything.

"Let's see." Jonathan rubbed his beard while William looked bored.

"How about this one?" William pointed at the huge bow which looked heavy.

"Hah! That guy wouldn't be able to move it don't think about lifting." Jonathan spoke laughing while William pouted.

"This one," Jonathan spoke after a lot of consideration. It was a crossbow. Even Dominic could use it.

William also nodded in an acknowledgment.

"Now, I need a few explosives too," Jonathan spoke while the man bought them back to the explosives section.

"This one and this one," Jonathan spoke while William picked them up.

"Wait I didn't complete yet."

"I need 10 of them each." He spoke making William almost drop them.

"Of course, of course." The man spoke and called out to the servants to get them.

"Lastly, I need three swords. I already chose them. Now, bill." Jonathan spoke gesturing towards them while the man took a parchment and wrote everything on it. He tallied the rates.

"The Tekko Kagi was 22 gold, daggers were each 7 gold, the explosives are normal type so they are 3 gold each. Next, the crossbow was 25 gold. Two of the swords were normal type so they come for 10 gold each but the third one is 50 gold." The man spoke huffing.

"So how much?" Jonathan asked.

"2 bills and 5 gold." The man spoke satisfied with the amount.

William paled at the amount. They had 2 bills at hand. Where would they get 5 gold?

5 gold meant half a year worth meals in a peasant's house.

"Alright, Here." Jonathan stretched his hand with the two bills and then rummaged his sack to get the 5 gold.

William looked at him in confusion while Jonathan just chuckled at him.

Jonathan took hold of the three swords and tied them to his waist, and then carried the sack full of explosives out, William followed him with the Daggers, crossbow and Tekko Kagi.

"Old man! Did Captain Mari give the extra gold to you?" He asked keeping up with Jonathan.

"Nah, those are my saving." He spoke while William frowned.

"Then you shouldn't have given them away," Williams spoke since he knows how hard it was to earn gold.

"Even if they stay with me it's not like they are going to double. Everyone's doing their part and this was mine." He spoke chuckling while William gazed at him with full of admiration.

"Old man! I am going to follow you, teach me how to select weapons." He spoke while Jonathan laughed heartily.

"I don't only select weapons I even make them," Jonathan spoke looking at the sky which was turning bluish-black.

"Then can I make them too?" William asked with expectations clearly visible on his face.

"You can. Maybe..." Jonathan trailed off while William grinned.

"In a thousand years." Jonathan completed his sentence and laughed happily while William pouted.

Thankfully they arrived safely back to the ship without anyone robbing them.

~.~

Two days passed since the fateful night.

The throne room was almost empty with only a few of them left. Alexander was seated on his throne distressed. The news of the missing prince has spread like a wildfire and now he was getting continuous letters from neighboring countries asking about the situation. Nothing about the prince being found though. Most of the letters though looked like consolation had an undertone to them. They were more worried about their own safety. Worried that something like this could happen with them too.

Alexander looked around the room. Everyone was busy discussing ways. Ways to find at least some loopholes to get to the prince. But it was all futile. Nathan too was starting to get worried now which meant that the issue was going out of their hands. Alexander closed his eyes with a sigh.

Suddenly the cheerful face of his son came into his mind. He was still a young prince then. The memory was a little faded but it must have happened before his wife died. That was his last memory of his son being happy. But as time passed, his kingdom grew and so did their distance.

The only interactions they ever had was in this room. Like a king to his prince. The strings of their father and son relation had weakened after her death and now it was at its breaking point. Neither of them tried to mend things. The wounds were just covered. Lost and forgotten.

And now the two days of not knowing his whereabouts had stirred his heart in a way his years of presence couldn't. We could only learn the real value of someone when there are gone. And that did it. For him.

It made him see things clearly. Not as a king but as a father. Which he should have been long back. This was his chance to mend things and he will. And there is no going back now.

His thoughts were interrupted by Nathan. "Did you find anything?" He asked with a hint of desperation in his voice. It was becoming hard to pretend anymore. Another weak shake of Nathan's head and he knew the answer even before he voiced it out. They couldn't find him.

"None, for now, your majesty. No news of him taken to other kingdoms also. That means he must have been in our kingdom. But if he was then we would have found him by now. The whole kingdom has been searched thoroughly by our guards but still, we found nothing. Damn, there must be something we are missing. But what? there have been no messages asking for ransom, nothing from the captives. I see no motive behind this kidnap. They haven't asked for anything. Why?" Nathan spoke his heart out. He tried thinking of every possible motive behind this but nothing seems to add up. There is a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something's amiss. But what? Neither of them had an idea.

"I will investigate further. don't worry we will find him, your majesty." Nathan tried reassuring him but his voice wavered at the end. This was difficult for him too. A lot more. Since he was always there for his nephew. He was the closest to a father figure in Xavier's life and so his absence unsettled him harder than his sister's death.

He was about to walk away from there but was stopped by the king's voice "Wait! Nathan."

"Your majesty?" He spoke turning around. "Did you check the sea routes?" The king spoke which led him to widen his eyes. He didn't. Mainly because there has never been any ship moving from the port. It was a stranded port. But the face of a familiar green-eyed person made him regret not searching there before.

How could he have not seen it? The girl was full of rage that day. She even tried to kill the king and then she disappeared. She was stripped of her title as a commander. After that fiasco, she was the only one who would be vengeful enough to kidnap the prince. And above all, she is a pirate. Which was more than enough to figure what must have happened?

With this revelation, the gears in his head had started turning. It was a whole new development but still one in his control. He just needs to act quickly. And this time, he will.

"No, your majesty. But I will check it right away," He spoke with newfound confidence while the king nodded.

"Do whatever you need to, but find him." He spoke while Nathan nodded his head at him.

"By all means." The king added.

~.~

The meeting seemed to have taken a whole new direction with the abrupt news brought by the prime minister. And just as he dreaded they had found out about Marin. And are now planning to look at the sea routes and investigate all the ship ports across the kingdom.

As the general, he was given the investigation task. He could buy some time with this investigation. Anything that could help her. But one look at Nathan and he knew he would not be pleased if the results won't come soon. In fact, he won't be surprised if he would himself come along for investigating.

Everyone in the kingdom knew how much the minister doted on the prince. He was the only living family for him. The mirror image of his late sister. And so him being all worked up right now was normal for them. The most he could do right now was to send a message to Marin. She needs to be careful.

The chase will now begin. She has to wrap up the things there or else it won't take long before the king finds out about her. And everyone involved with her. They still haven't managed to find him so he was safe. But for how long? he had no idea.

~.~