Inheritance: Threads of Fate

Chapter Fifteen - Small World

Zumi placed his hand on your arm, "Comeon, there's someone who wants to see you." You motioned for Caspian to come with you, and Zumi led you down the street to the edge of the village, where there was a large corral with camels lying lazily about. Zumi whistled and Abra came trotting out of the barn, snorting happily when he saw you.
"Hey boy!" You gently pet his face as he nuzzled your hands.
"He's been staying here while you've been away. Thought he'd be happier than tied up at the back of my tiny shack." Zumi smiled.
"He looks so healthy." You noted as you ran your hand down his neck.
"Yea, Umont only feeds the best. He's pretty much ready to ride again."
"Sorry I left for so long buddy, I didn't mean to." You spoke to Abra.
"Thanks for taking care of him Zumi. I'll make sure to pay you for your trouble now that we have our ship back." Caspian smiled.
"Nah. No need. It was my pleasure." Zumi shook his head. "Though I wouldn't say no to borrowing him now and again?" He asked you.
"He's as much yours as he is mine now," you offered. "We have to stay a while longer anyway, it seems my father was sold to someone as a farm worker."
"Oh? Did you get a name?" Zumi asked.
Caspian handed Zumi the cloth with the copy of the ledger on it.
"Hm... I don't recognize the name but with all of us here being ex slaves I'm sure someone does. We can ask around at the market tomorrow morning."
"We should get back." You patted Abra's neck one more time. "Raxe was supposed to find some tools to get the shackles off Roisin."
The last bit of daylight was just disappearing when you got back to the hut. Raxe approached from the other side of the street, carrying a box of iron tools.
"Oh perfect." You greeted him.
"I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to need, but short of setting up a whole shop..." He held up the tool box.
"Can we get some torches lit out here Zumi?" You asked "So Raxe can work with some light?"
Zumi nodded and headed around the back of his hut, as you led Raxe and Caspian inside.
"We're back." You greeted Cale and Roisin, who were sitting at the table. "Raxe found some tools." You motioned to him.
"I need to get a closer look at those, " Raxe motioned to the shackles on Roisin's ankles. "May I?"
She nodded and turned around on her chair. Raxe knelt at her feet, holding up one leg at a time, gently turning her foot from left to right. You noticed him hesitating for a moment whenever he had to adjust his hands, moving them up and down her leg slowly. Her eyes didn't leave him once.
"I...uhm..." Raxe cleared his throat. "This pin here... I need to hammer it out somehow." He pointed and looked up into her eyes. "But you're still really sensitive... I mean...your feet are...so I'll have to cushion the inside of them with something to lessen the impact." He spoke to her as if there was no one else in the room.
"Okay." She responded breathlessly.
"Let's get you outside." Raxe stood, and offered her his hand, and helped her up. "Here...uhm. Just..." He tucked his arm under her back and lifted her off her feet with one fluid movement. She wrapped her arms around his neck and you noticed his cheeks get pink.
"I'll get the door." You smiled and held it open for them.
"Will ye come?" Roisin suddenly looked back at you.
"Oh yea. Sure." You agreed. "I'll be right there."
Caspian whispered in your ear after they went out. "They make a cute couple."
You giggled. "I don't think Cale thinks as much." You nodded over to him, still sitting at the table with a stern look on his face.
You grabbed whatever cloths or cushioned items you could find inside, and met Raxe and Roisin outside. Raxe had her sitting on top of a barrel, so he could work on her feet without needing to bend too much. Zumi had lit several torches around the area, so there was plenty of light to work.
"I'll let you guys work. Get dinner started." Zumi excused himself and went back inside.
"Here." You handed the cloths to Raxe. "I'm not sure how much we'll need, so I grabbed what I could."
"Thanks." He took them from you, you could tell he was nervous.
"Make it more obvious next time huh? I don't think Cale could tell what you were thinking as you were caressing his daughter..." You teased him in a whisper.
"Shut up." He chucked. "I just don't want to hurt her."
"Uh huh.." You shoved him. Then turned your attention to Roisin.
"You ok?" You asked.
She nodded, "A bi' nervous."
"You're in good hands, Raxe is an excellent blacksmith." You smiled and offered your hand for her to hold, and she took it.
"Ok." Raxe started, "I'm going to tuck as much cushion in between your ankles and the shackles as I can. Let me know if I'm hurting you?"
Roisin nodded. Raxe took each cloth piece by piece and began wrapping her ankles, pushing it in between each gap he could find. Once in a while she would wince and squeeze your hand but she never told him to stop.
"Ok, That's about all we can get in there." Raxe finally stood back. He grabbed a crate to set his leg up on, and rested her foot on his thigh. "I'll be as gentle as I can." He looked into her eyes.
It was slow going. He had to use the smallest hammer he could to avoid accidentally hitting her. But eventually the pin began to bend and he was able to get a wedge under the gap and pop it out. One down. He repeated the same process with the second ankle. You tried your best to distract Roisin by asking her about her home on the Seven Isles. You learned that her particular island was very green and lush, compared to some of the others which were more rocky. It rained throughout the year across all the islands, so they were able to grow their own food year round. The coast was all cliffs, so they didn't get as many ships as the other islands, but because the waters were all very deep they could host larger ships, like her fathers.
She spoke about her mother, and how her and her father met. That he would come visit regularly through her childhood but after her teenage years it was farther and few in between when he was able to visit. He said it was because he had earned a new title and had more responsibilities to attend to, but that her mother never stopped loving him. The odds that both you and her parents were brought together by piracy was not lost on you. You told her about your parents as well.
"Yer lucky ye are...yer da' gave up piratin' fer yer ma.'" She responded
"Yea... but I didn't know anything about his past. So when I came across this," you pulled out your scale, "I had no idea what I got myself into. If my dad hadn't given up piracy... he also might not have ended up a slave..."
"You also...might not...have been born." Raxe added between hammering.
"Tha' be true." Roisin agreed. "An if tha' were so, ye would ha' never found me."
"You also... would have...never met....Caspian." Raxe stopped hammering, and looked at you knowingly.
"Yea..." You blushed and looked down.
"He's a handsome one." Roisin smiled at you. "Tha' smile be one ta melt fer."
Raxe tightened his grip on his hammer and went back to working, silently.
You suppressed a chuckle at his jealousy. How the tables had turned.

Raxe got the second shackle off and you all went back inside to enjoy a nice hot meal thanks to Kex and Zumi. The men elected to give you women the "bed" to share while they spread about the room. You laid awake thinking about all the people who had come into your life since you left home. How large of a world, and yet how small it was at the same time. You thought about your father, and what he would think of you inheriting his mantle as a pirate lord, and your mother who suffered similarly at the hands of General Vorsud. You dreamt of being back at home, at the inn. But your parents were there, and your father had never given up pirating. He was hosting a meeting with the other pirate lords. You recognized Rictor, Cale, and Lalin, but the last two lords were sitting in the shadows. They were planning a raid on Calormen...

* * *

The morning light woke you, and you realized you were the first up. You slipped out of the covers, and tip toed outside the hut. The sun was barely rising over the buildings, casting long shadows on the street. You were playing with your necklace, examining every detail of the cut for the first time. It wasn't like any other gem you had seen. The angles were almost perfectly symmetrical, and smooth to the touch. You noticed the sapphire itself was always cold, no matter how long it had been pressed against your skin or exposed to the sun.

"Ha' ye ever hear' the tale o' how the scales came teh be?" Cale's voice startled you from the doorway.
"Yea. Rictor told me." You turned to look at him.
"Ah. Ye know Rictor." He chuckled. "I shoul' offer me condolences..."
You chuckled. "He's definitely rough around the edges."
"Aye. He preten's ta be...bu' he really is o' softee"
"How long have you been a lord?"
"Oh....bout..." Cale looked up to think... "goin on fi'e years now? Co'pared teh Rictor's ten."
"Ten?!"
"Aye. He's ne'er known a life ou'side o' piratin'. Orphaned ye see, at six years old...he s'owed away on teh Phantom, worked hi' way up.... saved hi' cap'ain's life. S' how he earned his Scale."
"Huh. Wouldn't have taken him for a hero."
"A hero? Nah..but loyal...as the day is lon'."
"What about you?"
"Oh, nothin' as impressive. We foun' 'rselves in a mist. Eerie it were... dark...n' green... unnatural... the crew were seein' thin's, their wors' fears commin' teh life. A gian' snake appea'ed on deck, attackin' the crew. It were my fear ye see...I brough' the beas' onta the crew.. so I slayed it...an' it tun'd teh smoke."
"The Emerald Viper..." You responded.
Cale nodded. "Aye. No' sure where i' came from bu' it were real enough... Haven'a ventured tha' far east since..."
"You know, Caspian and his crew took care of that Darkness, before they came to the Lone Islands. They encountered something similar when they faced it."
"He ha' his own crew?"
"Yea...aboard The Dawn Treader with Drinian as his Captain."
"An' he were Drinian's firs' mate?"
"Oh no, he told me as King he can't be...OH."  You stopped suddenly your face turing white, realizing that you just fucked up... "I mean... the king didn't want him to be... uh..."
Cale chuckled. "Lass. I know."
You stared at him.
"Ye think I didna recognize the King o' Narnia when I firs' laid eyes on 'im?"
"What? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Wha' fer? He clearly wan'ed it eh be secre'. An' when ye told me ye' had been cap'urd I fig'red... fer his own saf'ey."
"I've been dancing around the truth this whole time... " You shook your head.
He laughed. "Ye know why I agreed teh help ye in the firs' place? Asi'e fro' the fac' ye were a Lord?"
You shook your head again.
"Ye reminded me o' me dear Roisin." He looked back into the hut. "Yer spiri'. Ye bo' ha' tha' fire. Tha' same fire her ma' had. I would be' me ship tha's wha' the King fell in lo'e wid ye."
You were silent for a while, secretly relieved that you didn't have to keep lying to everyone now. Then you wondered. "What about Lalin?"
"Oh...tha' lad's only been Lord fer...a year er so?"
"He couldn't be much older than I am."
"Nah, he still be a pup ter my eyes. Bu' I knew his da.' Good man. Good pira'e. He's go' big boo's teh fill."
"Well he definitely earned my trust, saving my men, and taking Drinian back home."
"Aye. He wan's teh do good by o'ers. He go' a lo' o' love in him."
"Yea... I noticed." You laughed. "He was expressing a lot of that love to Raxe."
"Aye." Cale chuckled. "Didn' I warn ye? Bu... he'll be sorry ta hear Raxe's go' eyes fer someone else."
You looked over at Cale. "You're ok with it?"
"There be worse men for my girl." He sighed. "I donna like 'nyone makin' eyes a' her bu... I do like the lad."
You smiled. Hopefully Cale's acceptance will give Raxe some peace. You loved seeing that dopey look on his face when he's with her. Seeing him happy made you happy.
"Are we having breakfast out here today?" Zumi yawned and came outside to join you.
"If you want." You smiled up at him. "There's more room than in there."
"Oh I got something for you I think you'll like." He winked and went back inside.
A few minutes later he came out with a tray of fruit and "Coffee!" You exclaimed excitedly.
He laughed. "Caspain told me how much you missed it."