Devoted to The Tide

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“That’s the last of it!” One of the salesmen calls out to Bishop and I as they load the last crate of steel and weapons. “Aye, thank you my good man. The captain will be most pleased with the abundance you’ve provided for us.” Bishop says, shaking the man’s hand. He then turns to me as the man departs the ship, resting his hands on his hips, the morning sun beating down on us. “Will all of this be enough?” I asked. “It’ll have to be. We nearly cleaned out the village of Shia.“ I looked over the supply and noticed there was enough for every sailor, but the size of the weapons concerned me. “Do we know what kind of sea serpent we are up against?” Bishop shakes his head. “The captain is good at identifying sea critters but we can’t tell what it is just by the look of them teeth.” I studied the smithing on the swords and the arrows. “If these things are bigger than the ship, then we have that.” Bishop points to the highest point of the ship, a small platform that supported a large crossbow, bigger than a carriage. “What is that?” “We folk call it a scorpion crossbow. It releases spears as big as our damn flag poles. They’re expensive and the arrows aren’t much cheaper. So we only have two. Only used for emergencies.” I take in the sight of the scorpion, watching it already being uncovered by the protective cloth by the other sailors. Word must’ve gotten around to the rest of the crew, because tension was high and we are for sure preparing for a battle. “How is it looking?” Charlie asks as she boards the ship. “Enough weapons to go into every hand of a sailor, enough steel to forge more if we must.” “Aye. When we depart port, I want every man with a sword in his hand. I also want the new recruits to go to other ships. Spread them out of the Gallient.” Bishop nods. Charlie glances at me but says nothing. She just turns to disappear into the captain’s quarters. I watch her close the door behind her, still tense about what she had said to me yesterday. “Trouble in paradise?” Bishop says, his tone teasing and humorous. “Don’t say that like we're a couple.” “Well it's obvious you both have the hots for each other. Just take ya anger out on each other in the bedroom already.” My face contorts to a look of disgust, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over my face. “Oh- gross!” I exclaimed. Bishop laughs as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Gross?! What- you don’t like lasses eh? Prefer a lad to warm your bed at night?” I shake my head sharply. “No! No, no, no. I like women but not Charlie. She’s bitchy and bossy and heartless and just plain out an asshole.” Bishop chuckles once again at my list of insults. “Aye. That’s what makes her a good captain. Can’t get involved in that gushy romance.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek, going through my thoughts. “Do you have a ‘lass’ at home?” Bishop slowly shakes his head as he dawdles to the edge of the ship. “Once. I had a boy too. Left them both when I joined the crew. My boy died of disease and my wife… well, she left me when I wasn’t there for her during her grief.” My heart sank a bit as he spoke about his life, feeling a sense of familiarity to his story. “You just left them? And you didn't go back when you heard your son was sick?” He shook his head again. “When you join a crew as large and powerful as this one, you give up ya whole life. I was in the middle of the Ostaconian sea when I got the news.” I tightened my fists to suppress my anger. “Why would you leave your family like that? Why would you abandon your family?” He snaps his head to look at me. “Abandon them? I left to help them. Do you know how much money us sailors get paid? After every excursion, we walk away as rich as Lords. I have a bounty of gold that was ready for them to pay for every doctor in every kingdom- whatever it took to heal my boy. The trip took longer than expected. I nearly died myself. And by that time, it was too late.” “Did you ever write to them? Visit them?” “Visitation is never guaranteed. Some men go years without seeing their families. Some go only a few weeks. Giving up your life means giving up your life.” I shook my head in confusion and disbelief. “So you left your family for the money.” “I left my family to help my family. You can judge me all you want lad, but until you have a family of your own, you won't ever understand.” “I had a family. My mother and father. But my father left us to join this crew, and I never saw him again. Not a letter, not a goodbye, nothing! Like he was trying to escape from us!” Bishop takes a step closer to me and looks me right in the eye. “Do you think it's easy for Charlie to leave her kid in Shia, especially now that she knows we are all sailing to battle?” I stammered a bit. “Well no I-“ “Do you think it was easy for me to leave my kid and wife? To hear of his death while I was in the middle of the sea? Do you think it's easy for any of us to say goodbye to the lives we were leaving behind, not knowing if we were ever coming back?” I paused, thinking heavily as his questions sunk in. “Well… no, of course not.” “Your father may be a legend on this crew. And you may wonder why it was so easy for him to leave. But we were on our way back to Irongarde before we encountered the blasted Kraken that took his life, among dozens of other’s lives. And ooh- how much he ranted and raved about you. He spoke of his son more times than I could count. How happy and excited he was that he was going to see you again. He spoke about the memories he had of you when you were a wee lad, and he was thrilled to see what kind of man you’ve become. Mentioned how he couldn’t even bear to say goodbye because he knew you wouldn’t understand with your wee lad brain.”

My stomach turned at all of this new information. My father actually did think about me. He wanted to see me. He wanted to come home. “Then… Why did Charlie say he never mentioned he had a son?” “Ha, he probably didn’t mention it to her but he surely told every soul on this crew. Wouldn’t shut his bloody mouth about ya! But he never told Charlie, perhaps it was because Charlie actually has the largest heart I’ve ever seen and if she knew her First Mate had an entire family back at home, then she would have gone soft on him. Demanding him to stay home more often. Convince him to leave the crew, no matter what it took. Look how she treats Caspian? Knowing he’s the father of their lass, she keeps him out of trouble as much as possible. She protects him at all times to keep him alive so their kid would have a father.” Every word felt like a punch to my gut. It cut up my heart as I realized I had it all wrong. Everything I’ve assumed were false, and I in fact was clueless about it all. “Us sailors have hearts, lad. Even the toughest ones. But you have to protect your heart, if ya want to protect the ones you love.”

…

I had spent that entire day thinking about everything Bishop had told me. I felt like I started to look at Charlie in a different light. All of this anger and resentment I started to have for her, would fade ever so slightly every time I looked at her, every time I heard her speak. She was cold because she had to be. It all started to make sense.

I stared out at the view of where Shia used to be getting smaller and smaller as we sailed further away. But it's been several hours, and the village was out of sight. Luckily, the Gallient was less crowded since some of the men were placed on other ships. So there weren’t so many disturbances on the main deck, interfering with my moments of peace under the stars. The moon shined brightly, lighting up the waves of the sea as we sailed, and illuminating the ship. Laughter and music could be heard from below deck as the men ate supper together, but my appetite had greatly declined.

“You're missing supper.” A calm and familiar voice snapped me out of my trance, forcing me to turn my head to look at Charlie, who stood at a reasonable distance. “I’m not hungry.” I say plainly before looking back out to the horizon. She takes a few steps to join me, standing beside me and rests her hands on the edge. “You will need your energy. I have no idea where the nest is. We could encounter it at any moment.” I stayed quiet, ignoring her comments. We haven’t spoken in over a day and to be frank, I didn't really know what to say to her. Even though I looked at her differently because of what Bishop had told me, I still felt the pain from her cutting words she said to me last. How I was pathetic and a disappointment to my father. How much I don't belong here.

“Or you can starve. That’s up to you.” She adds. My grip on the railing tightens. “Is there something you are commanding me to do, captain? Or is there something else you want from me? If not, then I would like to be left alone right now.” I had expected her to protest and bite back but she just fell silent, her gaze still fixated on the moonlit waves. “I just want to make sure you’re prepared for what is yet to come.” “I’ll be fine. And if I die, then consider my service to be fulfilled.” She turns her head to look at me, her brow furrowed. “The goal is to not die. And thinking like that is foolish.” I turned my whole body to face her, only a few inches from her. “Did you come here to pick a fight?” “No, I-“ “Last time I checked you didn’t care if I were dead or alive, so why do you insist on bothering me now?” I could see her face fall, almost like she was trying to hide her hurt with anger instead. “Gods- fine! You know what? You’re right! Die! Jump overboard right now for all I care.” She goes to turn, her brow furrowed and jaw clenched, but stops herself as she looks overboard. I avert my gaze to follow hers, looking into the water. “Yeah- I get it! You want me to-“ “Shut your bloody mouth.” She hisses, still looking overboard. We both stand there in silence, my demeanor now changing as I look over as well. Soft high pitched purring, could be heard faintly beneath the water, similar to a whale call. Charlie looks over the other side of the ship, scanning the water quietly. I followed her, scanning myself. A large snake-like tail with sharp fins flipped above the surface, splashing water high enough over the side of the ship onto the deck. “Gods be good.” Charlie mutters.