Je Suis Prest || Outlander

Chapter 15

The ship's parritch was terrible, and the hard tack they passed off as bread was even worse. Fergus and I ate breakfast together as man and wife for the first time. It was not how I imagined it, and smelled a bit more like dead fish than I would have liked, but it was enough for me. "We need to ask for his blessing again."

"Who, Milord? I am sure he will give his blessing now."

"I bet that whore is turning him against me. You should have heard the way she spoke to me last night, husband."

"I doubt she meant to offend you. Please, Marsali, you promised you would try to get along with her."

"Fine, I will be civil. But you have to understand, Jamie was our Da, even when he and Ma were not together. His infidelity towards her, was a betrayal to us as well. Hmph, there they are." I led Fergus unwillingly by the hand to where Jamie and Claire stood. "Fergus told me everything. I'm not so naïve to think he has not been with lassies and now we only want to be with each other." I nudged Fergus in the stomach with my elbow.

"We hope that you will bless our union."

Jamie did not say anything, and to my surprise it was Claire that spoke up, "Perhaps you should give it a chance." She annoyingly pulled Jamie to the side to speak to him in hushed tones, as she was wont to do. "I'm trying to help you, if you let them continue their infatuation it might fizzle out." Fizzle out. I looked at Fergus, searching for meaning, but he had his head bowed. Does she mean I will not love him anymore? She was damned wrong.

~~~~

"I want off this damned boat, Fergus," I moaned after failing to keep supper down again. He sat in my cabin and held me, wiping sweat soaked strands of hair out of my face.

"Only a few more days, I promise. And then we will be in Jamaica. And we will be married. We can start making babies, right away. How many do you want? Five, six, ten?"

"If ye dinna stop talking it'll be none at all." The ship had been motionless for days. I feared running out of fresh water and food, but my most pressing concern was the constant rocking of the ship in place that made my stomach so unsettled.

We were startled out of our reverie by a skirmish on deck, "Jump, Jonah!" a chorus cried out. Fergus peeked out of the door, cautiously because he was not supposed to be in my cabin alone.

"Milord! Milord!" he rushed out the door, leaving it open. I stumbled out after him.

"Da!" I picked up my skirts and ran to Fergus' side. "Why is he climbing the rigging? Who is Jonah?"

"That's one of the men from Ardsmuir, stay here." We all gasped when the man, who I soon realized was not named Jonah, fell and was hanging by Jamie's grip. Fergus began to push through the crowd to reach the ropes Jamie had climbed.

"Fergus, no!" Claire yelled. I resented her attempt to stop him. Although I had not been wanting to see my new husband climb over the vast blue ocean, I knew he could. He looked at me for approval, and I nodded. He could do it, but he did not have to. The Chinese man they had known in Edinburgh, Yi Tien Cho began to ring the bell furiously. Fergus rejoined Claire and I, and kissed my temple. The man launched into a speech, so poetic, yet so descriptive it caused my ears to turn red. I kept glancing back at Fergus, to see if this was out of the ordinary for the man. He just shrugged and continued to listen to the man's tale. Finally, we all realized what his game had been when he tossed his papers into the sea and they were picked up by a steady breeze. Wind. Thank the Lord, we would be continuing on to Jamaica. I slumped against Fergus and breathed a sigh of relief. Now every day would bring us closer to our marriage, instead of closer to a death by thirst or hunger.