Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 26

Up in the crow’s nest, so high that no man’s gaze dared to linger there for long, Kade Skyler’s piercing eyes scoured the ocean before him. The waves were close to hypnotic, undulating and lurching rhythmically to the beat of an unseen drum, and as the sea spray whisked across his cheek, he let out an exhale full of the type of release you only find when your heart is at home. His breath was taken up by the wind, lost into a song of wordless lamentation to which Kade closed his eyes. Silently the universe played the ballad of the lovers and the lost, one that he completely understood.

“It’s like belonging.” The sound of a voice arose from behind him, short puffs of breath from an intruder reaching his sun-browned ears. “The sea listens, but she never judges. She just knows, and she’s never wrong.”

Shen hauled himself up onto the wavering platform with surprising ease and agility. Once standing, he allowed Kade the space that he desired, remaining respectfully behind him as he shared in the exhilaration. There was just something about being up high.

“What do you want?” Kade asked after the passing of time began to seem unclear. He intended for his voice to be sharp enough to pierce to the heart of the matter, but all fury seemed to vanish, coaxed away by the gentle currents of air.

“The same as you. To belong.” Shen replied, stepping up to lay a pair of calloused hands on the railing beside Kade. Silently, for the duration of a single moment, the hearts of a broken pirate and a lost creature beat in harmony.

Then, Kade remembered the way Shen gazed at Evanora. The lust and longing the shadow creature portrayed were as clear to him as the silvery surface of a mirror, reflected only in the expression of one other- himself.

Kade wanted to hate the man at his side, but a part of him refused to allow it. After all, Shen could have allowed Kade to throw himself overboard when the Tridacna Imago attacked; he could have used his misled emotions to feed on, but for some mysterious reason he’d saved his life instead.

“I need to come clean.”  Shen broke the apprehensive silence. As he spoke, his jaw clenched and his throat constricted, as if he were attempting to force words along a throat lined with nails. “But it’s not easy.”

For a fleeting second, Kade’s own troubled thoughts rattled the bars inside of him, wondering if there was a way to find solace whilst confiding in the likes of this competitive stranger. His mind reminded him that when rivalry was cast aside, he had not disregarded the bravery and duty needed to perform such roles as Shen had recently taken upon himself.

“I must speak too.” he said.

“Well then, it seems that we can help each other.” Shen concluded.

Kade answered him with a curt nod, clutching the railing as if his outpouring of unspoken words would escape should he release his grip.

“Do you know why I came aboard?” Shen began his confession. When Kade said nothing, he continued, unfazed. “I came aboard to wreak havoc. I wanted revenge and would not have cared if every last one of you died as a result.”

A spark of interest ignited in Kade’s eyes. Awkwardness forgotten, he turned on the shadow creature, exuding new accusation from his stance alone. Even so, Shen wasn’t to be dissuaded.

“I admit to planting the idea of mutiny, though the way things played out was not how I expected. And I would lie if I didn’t explain that in the beginning, I only saw the crtew as a collection of targets, a ship full of satisfaction. After my family were murdered by pirates for bounty, I relished in the death of every buccaneer. In every way I was the man who deserved your attack on the night you first saw me.”