The Pirate King Ch. 13

We headed towards the mess hall. When we reached the door, Sneg paused. "Take a deep breath while you can," they instructed. "Don't breathe in the smoke."

Then they pushed open the door, letting out a small cloud.

When the room cleared enough, it became possible to see three men kneeling at a makeshift altar, bowing and waving incense to small idols. I turned and raised a brow at Sneg, who merely shook their head. Later, then. The gestured us forward, motioning that we each take one of the seemingly oblivious men.

I turned to see if Ichor was following and noticed that he was breathing normally, his chest rising and falling. I had a moment's thought towards all the stern warnings about how important oxygen was in this realm and caught myself just before sighing. Still, his eyes were sharp, and he seemed unaffected by the smoke so I decided to keep an eye on him and continue as planned.

The men were pliant, and willing, their pupils massive and reverent looks on their faces. I tuned out the nearly wordless chanting as I steered my charge through the halls and up into the night air, where Val was waiting for us.

"You're clear," he told me. He frowned to see the man in my hand. "What the fuck?"

"Narcotics in the incense." Sneg put their captive next to mine and pulled out a thin stick. "Replace their stock with this, then when they light up, or you can light up for them, they start seeing visions. Hearing voices. They go to the altar to light more incense." They shrugged. "The devout are predictable."

Val looked at the three men, a little lost. "Now what?"

Sneg moved forward, speaking to each man in turn. They pressed a small bauble into each man's hand. Their conversation was lost the the sounds of the ship.

Sneg stepped back. "Blessed be."

"Blessed be," the man in my hand muttered. Ichor, right beside me, grinned widely. I tried to get a look at his pupils but it was impossible in the dark.

They turned to Val. "They'll follow you now. Just tell them that whatever you're doing is part of their pilgrimage. And eventually get them to a Temple."

"Uh." Val was eying his swaying charges with some misgivings. "Any temple in particular?"

Sneg shrugged. "They seemed to like the gods of the sea."

"Right," I told everyone. I had been watching Val's men bring our essentials on-board; they were finished, and so were we. "We'll be off then."

Val was not. "Well I can't step foot in there!"

"Then leave them on the steps." I moved forward and enveloped him in a hug before he could delay any longer. "I'm sorry you are not coming with."

"I'm not." Val squirmed in my arms a moment before giving in. "Fuck your boy good for me."

I gave him another squeeze before letting go, letting him the expression on my face that would have communicated how not amused I was to most men.

Val was not most men. he barely seemed to notice. "Write, brother."

I shrugged. There were faster ways to communicate. Val nodded his understanding and headed down the gangplank, three worshipful men singing his praises at his back.

I took a moment to enjoy being back on a ship. Just existing at sea, the ways my soul settled instantly into the creak and dip of the ocean's swells.

"Yo." I opened my eyes; I hadn't even realized I had let them drift shut. Sneg was leaning on the railing, standing out starkly in the dark landscape. "We going or what?"

I smiled. "Let's go get the Captain."

Ichor surprised me by sitting down on the deck, his hands held up. He slowly laid his naked form down on the deck of the ship, his eyes on the sky. "Blessed be," he said to the stars, smiling. "Blessed be."

I turned to look out over the waves, where I knew my Captain was waiting. Yes, I thought. Blessed be.

***

Sneg watched the two large, scarred men descend into the depths of the ship to coax the anchor up from the depths. The sails were already primed in a way that they could be deployed at a moments notice; they were leaning on the railing, feeling the first push of the tide that signaled their time to move.

They had been running their leader's words through their mind over and over again, trying to determine their precise meaning. Now, they sighed. "Are you telling me," they asked the naked man lying on his back beside them, "that we did all of this, got ourselves a ship, and we still don't even have a Captain on board?"

The man reached up towards a star.

"Oh," Sneg said sarcastically, "yeah. Blessed fucking be."

A shout came up from below deck. Sneg pushed away from the railing and grabbed a rope.

"Should have stayed in the fucking mountains," they muttered to themselves as the first of the sails began to unfurl, catching a summer breeze that soon pushed them from the harbor and on their way.