A Heart at Sea

Rough Seas, Edges & Reactions

Alby had never been struck in his life on his bottom so ferociously! The only thing that even came close was when he had play wrestled with Paris when he was a child.

Other than those rare moments, he had never been physically accosted.

Tears of confusion slid down his face, that glowing smile now vacant from his face. Instead his eyes twinkled with glistening tears and he sniffled softly. "That...that really hurt. I was not disobedient...I did not try to escape...I was only studying the horizon and..." he lowered his chin to his chest and wept pitifully.

"Dry your tears, boy. If any of my men had dared to touch my private navigational tools, they would have the flesh lashed from their very bones. Do not ever forget you are my captive," Sebastiano cupped the boy's face and glared down into those teary blue eyes.

"I...I wasn't trying to escape! Just last night you...encouraged me to...talk to you...and share my interests...and..." the boy's chest heaved as he seemed to be having a minor attack. It was as if he was unable to fill his lungs as deeply as he needed to.

"Boy? What is wrong with you?" Sebastiano let go of Alby's face and stepped back to give him some space. "I can't...breathe...hurts..." Alby whimpered out as the tears never ceased down his face.

Heart pounding in his chest in confusion, he watched Alby's face turn ashen gray and feared that soon a blueish hue would accompany as the boy continued to struggle for air.

Sebastiano immediately cradled Alby into his arms and rushed out onto the open balcony again. The fresh air was helpful as Alby seemed to calm down. Suddenly the boy arched his back in the captain's strong arms as his lungs filled with fresh sea air.

The tears on his face were cooled by the crisp breeze and Alby immediately slumped in relief as he regained his breath and it resumed to normal.

Captain Mason looked down at his captive with eyes of confusion and slight worry. "Would you mind explaining what the hell that just was, little prince?"

Alby coughed painfully into his hands as his throat burned from taking in such deep breaths and struggling earlier for any type of air. "I...I am prone to attacks when my body feels overly stressed or I exert too much energy. My throat seems to constrict on its own and I cannot breathe..."

"Attacks? What the hell does that mean?" Sebastiano sat in his favorite leather chair and settled the boy's light frame onto his lap, coddling him close.

"Remember I told you I was sent away from the capital because of all the pollution in the air? I have never fully recovered from these breathing attacks – they have plagued me since birth..." Alby eagerly accepted a chalice of icy water from his captor.

Greedily he drank it down as Sebastiano continued to look him up and down, "If this is some type of ploy to get out of your bad behavior earlier..."

Alby frowned and set the empty chalice aside on a side table as he gazed up at his captor, "I wish it was all an act. My throat and body will ache for the rest of the day...I cannot handle such attacks to my body...physically I mean..."

"Attacks on your body? You mean the five swats to your ass?" Sebastiano laughed and it echoed around the chamber.

A few tears of embarrassment slid down Alby's face and he wiped at his puffy eyes pitifully. "I...I cannot help how my body reacts. Those smacks really hurt and you saw how I reacted...that should be more than punishment enough..."

Guilt washed over the captain as he watched the boy's reaction to his cruel laughter. It was exceedingly rare for the pirate to ever feel the emotion of guilt so it confused him greatly.