“Wow, I feel much better.” Lana said.
“Good.” Dirk replied. “Hungry?”
Lana smiled as she went over and sat on his lap instead of in the chair next to him. “Yeah!”
“What about the rest of you?” I asked. “It’s good.” Naomi smiled as she sat down next to me and started eating off my plate.
“I’ve eaten but you should probably eat something, Cadence.” Jinx said as he offered her a seat next to Seth. “The food is only good for so long.”
She smiled and sat in the chair as he pushed it in for her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, I have to go do some captain related things but I’ll see you later, okay?”
Cadence nodded as he leaned down to her and they kissed each other on the cheek—again.
Seth dropped his fist on the table as his final reaction. “All right, I’ve had enough.”
“Of what?” Cadence asked as Jinx stayed by her side.
“Of that.” Seth answered as he pointed between them.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about him always trying to move in on you.”
“Wait a second.” Jinx cut in. “You actually think that I’m trying to move in on her?”
Seth raised his eyebrows through a pause like it should have been obvious. Cadence, Lana, Naomi and Jinx all looked at each other and broke down laughing instead of arguing it. We naturally sat here confused. We had no idea what was going on.
The laughing continued until a member of the crew came in and broke it up. “Captain.”
Jinx held up his hand for a second and caught his breath. “Yes?”
“I have those papers you requested.”
“Thank you. Set them on my desk. I’ll be right in.” The man nodded and left the galley as the laughing subsided. “Well, I feel an awkward conversation coming on as I regret I’m going to have to miss it. I have some calculating to do but please, don’t hesitate to enlighten me on its outcome.” Cadence nodded with a smile on her face as Jinx left the dining hall.
“So, do you want to tell us what the fuck is so funny?” Dirk asked.
“I still can’t believe you don’t already know.” Lana said.
“Know what?” I wondered.
“About Jinx.” Naomi answered.
“What about him?” Seth asked.
“Are you honestly saying you don’t know?” Cadence asked with a smile.
“Know what?” Seth demanded.
“That you got all defensive for me for no reason, although the thought was sweet.”
“You call everything he’s done for no reason?”
“Seth.” Cadence took his hand like she were ready to share some emotional secret. “You’d never have to worry about him trying to move in on me but I can’t say the same thing for you.”
That didn’t help. We looked at each other and began to understand what she meant.
“Please don’t say that.” Seth said.
“Okay, I won’t. As long as you now know.”
“Well, maybe you should in case we’re thinking of something else.”
“He prefers men over women.”
“Damn it. We’re not. How could you not tell me?”
“How could you not know?” Lana asked.
“Well, you knew him before this.” Dirk said. “We didn’t.”
“Yeah, it’s not like there was any clear signs.” I added. “We saw him as a guy that you were ever so excited to see.”
“Oh, is that what this is about?” Naomi asked. “We should have known you would have seen it that way but then again we thought you already knew and were fine with it.”
“We are fine with it.” Seth snatched. “Now.”
“Well, you know what you have to do.” Cadence said.
“What?”
“Apologize.”
“Are you kidding? Apologize for what?”
“For your boorish behavior. Do you even see how horrible you’ve been? You have to apologize.”
“Right now? Are you coming?”
Cadence laughed. “No. You three have to do this on your own.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be there?” Dirk asked.
“You’ll be fine.” Lana said. “It’s not a disease, you know? If it were, you would have caught it already.”
The girls laughed.
“Don’t joke about that.” I said. “It’s not funny. This is serious.”
“Oh, right, sorry. Just go and get it over with. He’s not going to try and make it awkward for you. He knows you’re with us and being our close friend, he puts our happiness over his own. That should make this easy.”
Dirk sighed. “Oh, sure. Easy for you to say.”
“Just go.” Lana got off his lap and pushed him out of the chair. “I’m sure he’s waiting to hear about it, anyway.”
I sighed and got up with Seth who let out an even heavier sigh. “Not from us.”
“It will be a surprise but he won’t turn away what you have to say.” Cadence said. “Good luck.”
We didn’t reply as we walked out of the galley and headed to the captain’s office.
“I have a feeling this is going to go horribly bad.” Seth whispered as he brought up his hand and knocked.
There was a pause before Jinx answered. “Come in.”
Seth opened the door and walked in with Dirk and I behind him. Jinx’s office was pretty large seeing it in person. It was filled with documents, maps and other memorabilia that took up most of the free space. Then there was his desk which he sat behind and had yet to look up from his work. It was made of polished wood that was eight feet long and curved in a half circle around his chair. He sat there for a moment looking at a map and writing something down as we stood by the door, hesitant to say anything.
“I’ll be right with you.” Jinx said, breaking the silence but still looking down. “But please, have a seat.” We sat down on the adjacent couch and waited another minute. Jinx continued to work and I don’t think he even noticed who actually was sitting here yet. “Sorry, I couldn’t have stayed for that particular chat back there. As I’m sure I can imagine the look on their faces was similar to—” He looked up and saw us. “That, right there. Forgive me. I assumed you to be someone else. You’re the last three I would have expected to see in here.”
“That’s quite all right.” Seth replied.
“I’m sure it is but what do you want?”
“We’ve come to apologize.” I answered.
“Yeah.” Dirk added. “We realized that we wronged you and we’re sorry for our, quote, boorish behavior.”
Jinx sat back in his chair and laughed to himself. “I’m sure the girls told you that, didn’t they? Women always seem to think they’re right even when most of the time they’re really not.”
“Isn’t that true.” Seth replied. “I’d love to see you say that to their face though.”
“What are you kidding? I may act like I am but I’m not crazy. I bet not even you would dare say such a thing. They’d kill you for sure.”
“Hence, why we don’t.” Dirk added.
Jinx laughed to himself. “That’s smart. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of them, believe me. Now, before I forget, I need to file this. Excuse me.”
He stood up from his chair as he rolled up a map and approached a bookcase. He put his hand on the outside of it and simply pulled it towards him, popping open the disguised door and revealing a concealed room on the other side. Of course we were curious as to what was back there.
We found ourselves leaning forward to get a better look when his voice startled us. “The view is better from the inside, you know?” We looked at each other unsure and Jinx looked out it. “Well, are you just going to sit there and wonder or do you really want to know?”
He turned back inside the room and we got up to follow. The room was filled with display cases of artifacts, maps and weapons of all kinds.
We were al
l in awe and Jinx smiled by our reactions. “This is where the real magic happens. That out there, just a decoy. In case we were ever caught up in a raid, that’s where they would first look for anything of value but it’s all worthless. This is where I keep everything that is.”
“This is incredible.” Seth said. “I’m sure there’s a story for all of this stuff.”
“Of course there is. Everything has a story. If they didn’t then they wouldn’t be of much value to me now would they?”
“Well, what about this?” I stood in front of a wall of weapons and battle gear, looking it over. “What is the story behind all of this?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s my past in war.”
“You were in the war?” Dirk asked.
“As short as it was. I fought in Kalu with the girls and these are reminders of my kills. Count ‘um, ninety-seven.”
“Shit, I lost track after like, fifty.” I said. “And I don’t have a single thing to show for it.”
Jinx laughed. “It’s an obsession. I had to but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten some because after I heard about Lana’s disappearance, I just seemed to push everything else aside to look for her. Then when I heard she was alive, I finally got the chance to sleep and, you know, out of all the places we’ve looked, my mother finds her and I didn’t even think to look there.”
“Wait a second.” Seth said. “Sharlet is your mother?”
“Yes.”
“We didn’t know.”
“I try not to tell anyone but I guess it didn’t help that you already knew her. One can never get rid of the past no matter how hard they try. I was just thinking earlier that Naomi is going to have a similar issue when we reach the docks tomorrow.”
This caught my full interest. I guess it didn’t matter if he was Sharlet’s son or not now. “What do you mean?”
“You do know what’s in Hintus, don’t you?” I shook my head. “Really? She’s never told you?”
“Told me what?”
“About Blake.”
“Wait a minute.” Seth said as he took a step forward. “Cadence’s brother, Blake?”
“The Prince, yeah. She never told you, did she?”
“No, never mentioned a word but you know?”
“Yeah, I know all about it. I was there and I think maybe you should know just so you’re not surprised come tomorrow.” Jinx turned and we all left the back room. He then closed up the bookcase and we took our seats back on the couch while he sat back at his desk and put up his feet. “So, where to begin? Ah, yes, this all started about five years ago when Blake sailed to Kalu for a getaway trip, I guess. He stayed with his sister and that’s when he met Naomi. It was like a two week fling they were on until he had to go back to Hintus, never seeing Naomi again because all the training started up eventually and other things.”
“So that’s it?” Dirk wondered. “He just left?”
“Pretty much. I don’t want to worry you, Bryce but when he sees Naomi all grown up, he’s going to try and claim her.”
“I’d like to see him try. I won’t allow that.”
“Now, before you go attempting to defend her, you must understand how strict Hintins are. The women there are only objects to be owned and traded, nothing more. You cannot go around trying to save everyone as that will only get you killed and you must remember that the royals there are not anything like what you’re used to seeing. They’re cruel and savage to any who show resistance. You don’t want to stir up trouble but know that Blake will provoke it so he gets what he wants. He always gets what he wants.”
I was ready to ask more. Jinx seemed to know an awful lot about them but before I could, the girls rushed in, screaming loudly. “Jinx!”
“What’s wrong?”
“You might want to come see this.” Cadence said.
We all left his office to the upper deck and the girls led us to the pool and stood on the bow, looking forward. There was a severe storm growing in the west. The skies looked as dark as night and we were headed straight for it.
Chapter 24
Seth
The clouds were almost black and rolling towards us. I’ve never seen a storm like this but this is also my first extensive trip by ship. Was this a normal thing? I at least knew it wasn’t good and Jinx took immediate action when he turned away. “I want all hands at the ready! Batten down the hatches and secure all lines! Make fast! We’ve got company, boys!” The crew rushed around to their stations and started to fasten up the ship as Jinx quickly made his way down the stairs and up the other side to the helm. “Miles! I want a tight grip on that at all times! Don’t let her sway! We’re going straight through this thing!”
“Aye, captain.” Miles replied.
“Sail trimmers to your stations!” Jinx shouted as he turned to the rail and looked over. “Come up with all sails! Get them off her!” The men quickly started to climb up into the rigging and settled on the spars, supporting the sails so they could be raised up. “Miles! Scope!”
Miles handed him the scope and Jinx headed down the stairs, up the other side where we were and to the head of the bow.
“What are you doing?” Cadence asked.
Jinxed rested one leg up on the side as he opened the scope and looked through it towards the storm. “It’s pulling us in. We have no choice but to see it through and it’s approaching quicker than I hoped.” The winds picked up and the waters became rapid surrounding the ship after he said it. Jinx closed up the scope and secured it on his belt as he turned to Cadence. “I need you to get below deck. You cannot be up here.”
Cadence was about to reply when a member of the crew came over and shouted through the roaring winds. “We’ve taken down all the sails we can, captain! The severe winds are making it impossible to reach the last two sky sails without risking life!”
Jinx looked up as high as he could. “Nothing is impossible on my ship!”
He hurried off in the other direction and started to climb up in the rigging himself onto the foremast.
“Jinx!” Lana shouted. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking them down myself! Just get below deck! That’s an order!”
Everyone looked around at each other and started to turn but I didn’t feel right about it and looked up at Jinx. “Wait! He’s not going to get to all of them alone! We have to help!”
“Why do you always try to be the hero?” Cadence asked. “You don’t know a thing about sailing a ship!”
“Maybe not but I do know a thing or two about loyalty and I will not allow him to risk his life for us! You can go below deck but I’m helping!”
I hurried down the stairs and started to climb up the riggings of the mainmast toward its sky sail. I wasn’t alone. Dirk and Bryce started to climb into the rigging after me so they could help while the girls went inside.
The winds have picked up the further we climbed and it made it harder to hang on. Jinx reached the top of the foremast first and started taking up the sky sail but saw us climbing up the mainmast. “What are you doing?! You shouldn’t be up here!”
“Neither should you!” I shouted back, getting a comfortable setting. “We couldn’t let you do it yourself! There’s no time for that! It’s getting worse out here!”
“All right but make sure it’s secured tightly! If it comes undone, it’d be bad for the structure of the mast!”
I nodded as Dirk and Bryce reached my side. “Good! Help me with this!”
They got into a sturdy position on both sides of me and helped me pull up the sky sail as the winds were blowing it all over the place. The three of us got it tied up just as Jinx finished with the one atop the foremast and we were ready to climb back down as the rain started to fall.
“Easy does it!” I shouted as we slowly made our way down. “Don’t rush it!” The rain soaked everything quickly, making our grip on the lines slippery as we tried to hold on through the wind. I know I could jump and make it. Bryce would be in pain for a moment but he’d live. It’
s Dirk that possibly wouldn’t if his head hit anything on the way down and I was there to do it with him so none of us would fall.
We finally stood under the mainmast after we reached the bottom and Jinx came to us. “Good work! I think it should do! Now, we just have to wait it out and make sure this storm doesn’t take us!”
“Tell your men to get below deck!” I shouted. “We can tame this weather but they should not be here!”
“Brilliant thought but weather can’t be tamed!” A wave came up over the starboard side of the ship and pushed everyone to the port side rail like it was trying to prove a point but I knew otherwise.
“That’s not true!” I explained while trying to keep to my feet. “You know our greatness goes beyond just physical skills with a blade and we can prove it! Just get your men to safety and we’ll to the rest!”
Jinx soon gave in and headed up to Miles at the helm. “All hands below deck! Secure all floating material into the cargo hold!” The men quickly scattered and followed orders by going below deck and Jinx took the wheel. “That means you too, Miles! I’ve got it from here!”
“Aye, captain!” Miles replied as he left his side and joined the others below deck.
“Get the girls out here!” I shouted to Dirk and Bryce. “We’re going to need everyone on this!” They nodded and headed to the galley to get them as I went up to Jinx at the helm. “Keep it steady! It shouldn’t take long before we’re out of this!”
“So, what’s the plan?!” Cadence asked. “Somewhat like last time?!”
“Let’s try and make this as simple as possible!” I explained. “Bryce, I need you to be my eyes! Position yourself ahead of the bowsprit and navigate through the storm! Lana, I need you to turn into something big, really big that can swim fast and create a current under the ship to keep us moving forward! Cadence, I want you to channel the wind out around us so we have a straight shot through while I divert the rain and balance the waves! Dirk, you take second position on the helm with Jinx and keep it steady and directing straight forward! Don’t let it pull off course!”
“What do I do?” Naomi asked.
“You’re skill is better for hiding I’m afraid.”
Despairing Tides (Fate's Intent Book 12) Page 11
