I was fuming, I couldn't stand the kid anymore, not even a minute longer, I wanted him off my ship so much I was this close to throwing him overboard:
-Continue Nathan, we do not have all day....
-Right on point captain!
Jhonatan was watching with angering calmness as Nathan was bringing on deck a huge bag with cuffs for legs and hands. I was starting to regret letting them do as they please, I mean I certainly still needed Jhonatan to guide the ship, I couldn't let him die, but there was nothing I could do, not now, my position and pride as a pirate was all I had left, I couldn't show mercy to the weak, that was not profitable for my status.
-Come here, boy, Nathan shouted from across the deck to the place were Jhonatan was patiently waiting, let's have some fun now, shall we?
-If this is your kind of entertaining, I thought you had better taste, but of course we shall proceed!
He was soooo close to Nathan tearing him to shreds, I was sure now, more than ever, that Jhonatan was dying today.
The wind was starting to cool the air, the sun was no longer up in the sky and a pale almost translucent moon was appearing on the horizon, the last hours of a deceased soul that lived in a breathing body, it was calm, serene, no clouds to shadow his past, and now none to cover his future, Jhonatan came on this ship and made everything turn upside down, and now I was simply watching him choose his death for a stupid bet, something wasn't coming together ?
-Now, Nathan said as he closed the last cuff on Jhonatan's hand, prince, he said in a mocking tone, proceed to the sugar room.
The sugar room was were we kept the snakes used to torture prisoners, we named it like that after a princess from another pirate ship was kept there for 3 hours before she chose to talk and all she said was a bloodcurdling scream for her lover whom she pet-named sugar.
-You will be staying there for exactly 30 minutes, Nathan continued to explain, I will bond you to the wall inside through an opening in the ceiling, you will be suspended above the deathly poisonous snakes at a small enough distance so that they can reach you, your hands are tied so you can not climb on the cuffs to get further from the snakes, if you make it out, I will have to accept you as one of my crew, if not, God help you foolish prince.
If you have ever been hunting in the woods you might have witnessed the frightened look in the prey's eyes right before they meet their death, it scares them even though they have no idea or way of rationalizing, they are scared more than out of instinct, its called by psychologists the death generalization, or as an american author explained:"we all see death through the same perspective, and it scares us all, human or animal". As a conclusion I was exepcting to see it in his eyes, not necesarily fear, but a bit of worry, any way of showing he understands the high posibility of him dying, any trick he had before was nothing now, but I didn't see anything, when I looked into his eyes, all I could read from them was passion, he was waiting, preparing himself for greatness, he was looking at us with that kind of vitality I thought no one had on this earth, not anymore. He was more alive than I have ever been.
-Now, Nathan said as he opened the secret door from the deck to the sugar room, you're going down boy.
-Aye, Jhonatan said as he fell three feet down to the hook that kept him now just above the snake's hole, they started moving, not yet understanding or observing his presence, one minute, two, three, I was terrified, I have never waited for death, never knew when it was coming, that made killing easier, I never attacked with the wish to kill, it just happened sometimes to the weaker ones, and I considered it natural selection, but now it wasn't that easy, I was now faced with the fact that I have drained the life from so many before just like the clock and waiting drained the life from Jhonatan's soul and mind, even thought he wasn't showing it, I knew, I was killing him, and this feeling, of murdering, of ending a life, left itself imprinted in my soul.
-Look my lovely fairy
Shall I come and carry
The burden on your soul
The tears you can't control
Shall the road be clear
Shall you laughter cheer
As your heart bewildered
My love never withered
A smile, an outstretched hand, a small dancing bear, the smell of new and old books, a whistle, a smile, an outstretched hand, a dancing bear, I was back there, in the palace, searching for the prince that came to visit, the one that was small and innocent, forced to marry me, a lady he didn't know, I was also small, the palace was so big, nothing was dirty there, it was peaceful and serene:
"-Jhonatan, catch me, catch meeeeee!
-Louise I can't run that fast, you're too fast Louise
-But you said you're manly and grown up, papa could catch me if he was here.
The small steps that were following Louise stopped for a second, the princess was now confused, were would the prince go, he wouldn't have left here there right?
-Boo, Jhonatan said as he jumped from behind the curtains and caught Louise's small hand into his own.
-Oh Jhonatan you scared me, don't do that!
-But I caught you, now, I won, what do I get?
-OK, OK, a bet is a bet
Louise raised on her tiptoes with her small figure and kissed the blushing prince on the cheek, she knew that was what beautiful princesses did in the fairytales to turn the frog back to a prince or to gift the winner of a competition, or to show friendship, or love, Louise felt a bit of all, this was a new universe to her, friendship was something new to begin with, but this was different, the small boy that followed her everywhere just became something more for the small beautiful princess."
-WHAT?
I heard Nathan ask furiously as I was waking up from my daydreaming, I didn't know if the memory was true or not, I didn't know if that was Jhonatan or someone else, I was confused, but I felt it, the deep hidden feeling from this dream, I felt at home, something I didn't remember for decades, I was back there, in Rosenbury, I felt a tear escape my eye so I straightened my back and looked around checking the situation, and if I had been amazed before in my life, nothing compared to this, it was so strange, so unexpected, so baffling I hardly belived it was true, I thought my eyes were playing pranks on me, I imagined all the possible explanation, but none were true, the only truth was right in front of me, and to my own confusion, I was more than glad to witness it. Jhonatan was just hanging above the snakes that all brought their heads up next to his, none were biting, none were murdering or poisoning him, they were balancing their heads from left to right following the melody that Jhonatan was humming, he wasn't uttering a single word, he was just crooning, singing like a mute, with a soft and husky voice, with his eyes closed and his heart peaceful, he wasn't even noticing the snakes, the hole, the trial, the ship, nothing was there for him, it was just him and this song. The strangest part though wasn't the melody, nor the snakes, it was the fact that in my daze and daydreaming I felt as if this whole softly unspoken message was directed to me, as if in his darkened and closed up world there was only big enough space for my soul to rest, in his universe, in his melody, in his heart, body, and soul, there was only enough serenity for one person, and in that sole moment, that person was me.
-How, Sally muttered, she was never impressed by anything, her facial expression was unphased by the world around, nothing changed her state of mind nor her composure, but this moment made her react, it made everyone react, ask questions or simply stare, but Nathan was the moved one as he commented more to himself than towards us:
-He broke them, he fucking broke the chains, we're free!
I didn't understand a word, but right after Josh announced 30 minutes passing and Nathan brought Jhonatan back to the deck and fastly regained his composure:
-Prince Jhonatan of Hepburn, I accept you as my friend and comrade on this ship, you shall be welcomed, he stated while proudly looking the prince in the eyes and shaking his hand, then he let go and went back to his place.
A few minutes of silence were spent contemplating the features of the only person that ever escaped from the snakes unharmed, he wasn't showing any emotions, he just watched us watching him, as we were studying him. After I stood up trying to announce the next member not yet back from the shock Jhonatan came closer to me and asked:
-The prize?
-Prize? I said, not knowing what he was talking about.
-The promised kiss, milady
I was astonished, did I promise that, what was I supposed to do? Was it so unusual for a 20 year old pirate to have never kissed someone, everyone was staring at me, I tried to find a way out but nothing came to my mind until I felt Jhonatan's hand on my waist:
-The captain to whom I promised my loyalty would never run from such a simple promise, in her life! he said but I didn't get the time to respond, his lips came impossibly close and then softly touched mine, he put his other hand on the middle of my back and kept me in place as he did nothing but softly touch my lips with his, it wasn't a hungry, passionate or demanding kiss, it was a sweet loving one, just like a story, as if he tried to tell me through this small gesture that something from himself is pieced back together when he holds me like this, as if our lips were made to never be separated, like a puzzle.
But my fellow readers, I wasn't living the life he did, so after he got his prize and I respected the bet I raised my hand and slapped the inappropriately close to me new member as hard as I could. Prince Jhonatan stood one feet away from me holding his chin and as he was smirking and smiling he said:
-Louise, captain, you have no idea what those lips can do for a weakly willed poor little prince like me.
I knew he wouldn't change, my mind just wandered around for a few moments, that was all, I was sure...
-HELLO THERE EVERYONE
Thank you so much for reading and I am waiting to hear from you darlings, what do you think? what do you want to happen next, criticism, anything, I can't hear to read your opinion and thus be able to improve my writing skills, feel free to comment anything you want as long as it's related to the book, and its characters, thank you very very much again for following the story and putting up with my bad English skills, I will try to post more often since now it's holiday, hope you like what I've written so far, thanks again and love you all.