lie to me → s.d.

.32 | dishonor among thieves

This is the story of how Theodora Thatcher died.

          It hasn't been a sad story, no, but rather one of adventure and passion and the wonders waiting for someone to simply look past the surface of what the earth had to offer. And that was what she had done, hadn't she?

          Standing on the deck of Avery's ship, between the masts still suspending the crest-laden sails and the cannons waiting to be fired once more, felt like standing on the surface of the moon. The feeling, the sensation, of being transported to another planet was only heightened by the water casting teal beams across Theodora's face and stalagmites dripping freezing drops like rain from unseen crevices over head. The wooden deck creaked with aged groans beneath her feet as she turned in a circle to take it all in, the pain coursing through her body forgotten for just a moment or two.

After chasing this, this boat, what it held, since she was a little girl, and now being able to say that she had actually found it, she realized that for once in these last hellish hours, she was eerily calm. At ease, even.

          "Over here," said Sam from across the deck. He motioned her to one of the staircases leading down into the interior of the ship, producing her lighter from his pocket. They ventured down into the belly of the boat, holding only barrels and empty crates, and quickened their pace when they heard the motor of another boat approaching the ship. They were going deeper, cornering themselves, and they knew it. It wasn't as if they really had a plan of escape for when they finally reached the end of the line, because they didn't need one. All they wanted to do was see it. They just wanted to see it, and they would be alright.

          Theodora and Sam descended to the third, and lowest, deck of Avery's ship, and by the flame of the dying lighter in his extended hand, they found it.

          They found it.

          Piles of gold and priceless jewels settled around a trio of skeletons near the far wall of the room, and behind a wall of bars on every other one lay millions more. Treasure set in containers were suspended above their heads from the ceiling like gold-laden chandeliers, and every step deeper they took into the cabin of riches, they sent coins skittering with the tips of their boots. And sitting on a small pedestal, illuminated by the flickering light, was a single golden goblet in which a clear substance waited for someone to claim. The Fountain of Youth. Oh; this was far more than four hundred million. This was some unimaginable amount, the result of the theft of everyone's valuables from the entire city of the Libertalia. This was the result of dishonor among thieves, and the aftermath of what had come from it.

          Perhaps it was the fuzziness seeping into the farthest corners of her mind, or maybe just the excitement, but Theodora's lips parted and without her permission, a bout of laughter escaped her throat that made the gold twinkle and the ship sigh. Sam looked down at her and he himself smiled, grinned, even, and he pulled her body flush against his to capture her lips with his own. It was passionate and intense, a clash of both their exhilaration and sadness with the knowledge that this was it. With the footsteps thundering on the decks above their heads and the darkness getting heavier around them.

          There wasn't any time for words besides the unspoken ones between the kiss, because when they pulled apart, Rafe appeared on the staircase descending from the second deck. From the shadows thrown on his face, thanks to how he was holding both his torch light and his pistol, it looked as though his eyes were sunken deep into his toned face and the juts of his cheekbones were exaggerated like that of a demon's.

          "You know," he seethed, taking slow, calculated steps down onto the floorboards, "the entire reason I kept chasing this goddamned treasure was because I wanted to prove I could do something myself. Without my parents' money. Without some know-it-all thieves to lean on. All on my own."