Empath Onboard

Introduction

              Ivan Lisle Kristaski had been born into all the luxury and wealth of being the only Kristaski child. He was a wild and rambunctious boy with a taste for adventure and learning that grew into a promiscuous and confident adult with long crimson locks and fire filled emerald eyes. He sought to learn everything that caught his attention, from Sword fighting to survival, Greek mythology to engineering. Raised by his Uncle Iccan after his parents' passing, the man indulged Ivan's every whim and said nothing when the boy began to sneak about with the other boys in town. He lived a life some men only dreamed of and he was quite happy.

              As always, happiness is short-lived. Shortly after Ivan turned 26, Iccan passed away at an early age of 42. Ivan, truly alone for the first time since his birth, found himself unsure what to do with his life. He found himself searching desperately for a way to settle down, hoping for stability. It wouldn't be until a year later that Ivan stumbled into a young woman named Miriam. Soft mahogany curls around a delicate face with soft blue eyes, she was a sight that could set any man's heart racing. After a short courting period, the two married as was expected of them in society. But, Ivan felt far from settled. Sure, Miriam was a wonderful woman and a loving wife, she made a wonderful friend. That was where it ended and neither of them were happy. Ivan stayed with her, holding her hand through the birth of their twins. Two precocious little boys that had the same energy and excitement as their father gave life to the old Kristaski manor, filling it with laughter and light that had been absent before. But Ivan and Miriam only continued to grow apart, misery becoming the norm. That was when the discussions began, searching for a solution that would give them all the happiness and closure they needed.

"I will leave you here, Riam, with the boys. We'll tell the town I am going away on business and then in three months time you'll receive news that the ship I was on went down in a storm, or that is what you'll tell everyone. Everything here will be left to you and the boys as is stated in my will." Ivan said as they sat together over a late dinner, both Roddie and Davy already sound asleep in their beds.

"I don't want you to have to sacrifice everything for us like this. Sell the workshop, sell extra land, but don't go off with nothing, Ivan. I love you like a brother, I couldn't bear it knowing you were out there alone with not a stitch to your name." Miriam begged him, reaching out across the table to take his slender fingers into her own, stroking the familiar scar across the pale palm.

         Ivan gazed at her for a long while, thinking over the request before nodding faintly. Even after nearly a decade of marriage, he still couldn't deny her requests. What they had may not be the love of husband and wife, but it was a love nonetheless.

"Things will be better this way, Riam. I'll be embarking on a grand new adventure and you'll be safe here, raising our sons in the lap of luxury. Teach them or have them taught everything that catches their eyes. I will write to you, under a new pseudonym, of course." Ivan promised her, releasing her hand to drink from his wine glass. For the first time in ages, it tasted like freedom on his tongue.

*****

It would be another two months before the rest of the plans were laid. With the workshop and all business class land sold, Ivan finally set out to find a ship to board with nothing but the clothes on his back and a satchel containing nothing more than his uncle's journal, his journal, and enough coin to buy his way out of any sort of trouble. Luck seemed to be on his side for once as, in the dead of night, he met a blonde man with a dinghy at the shore. It was a long shot, but a man in his right mind wouldn't set sail in a dinghy lest there were a ship for him to meet. Ivan would soon come to realize that Stede Bonnet was anything but a man in his right mind.