Page 17 of Found at Sea
When I’d killed mermaids in the past, I had taken their hearts and sold them to the highest bidder. Something about the hearts held great power when mixed with certain elixirs and dark magic. Maybe I needed another heart, given freely? However, the merfolk loathed me, and it was preposterous to think they’d ever willingly sacrifice themselves to save someone like me.
No. There must be something I wasn’t seeing.
Frustrated, I knocked the papers aside and stood from my desk. I walked to the small window in my cabin and peered out into the night.
The moon shone off the dark water, creating shadows and a sinister feel. It was such a stark contrast to the vibrant blues and greens shown in the daylight. Strange how something so full of life could appear cold and ominous.
I supposed that disparity was a lot like me as well; ever changing like the tides.
My mind would keep me up for several more hours, so I left my cabin and walked out onto the deck. The stars shone brightly that night, and I peered upward before inhaling deeply. The scent of the sea surrounded me, calmed me. Pulling my journal from where I kept it in my coat, I flipped it open to the map I’d begun of the stars.
Many nights, I’d mapped them, and sometimes I’d have my compass with me as well. My soul—if I even had one—was searching for something.
The crew thought I was leading them to some legendary treasure, but the truth was, I didn’t know where I was going. Before we’d set the course for Stonebridge, and even before then to Helmfirth, I’d done this exact thing. Endless hours of stargazing.
It was how I’d found Helmfirth; such a small town in the middle of nowhere. But I’d been drawn to steer the ship that way, as if some unseen force was guiding my hand.
***
Tig climbed the main mast to check the rigging before swinging down off the ropes. His small frame and lanky limbs allowed him to move swiftly and squeeze into places most of the rest of us couldn’t. Dax was perched in the crow’s nest, keeping an eye out for other ships or signs of land.
We should be approaching Stonebridge soon.
The deep booming of Horace’s voice as he yelled at some of the crew made me look that way. He’d been part of the crew for many years and had served under the former captain—the man who’d been the closest thing I’d ever had to a father. Horace somewhat filled that role now.
I tried to stop myself, but alas, I could not and searched for Fletcher. When I spotted him, I suppressed a smile.
Fletcher scrubbed the deck, stopping occasionally to wipe at his sweaty brow. He’d taken off his shirt and wrapped it around his head to keep the hair out of his face, but some of his hair poked out at the bottom anyway. His bare torso lacked strong muscle definition, he was thin and could do well to gain a little weight, and yet I couldn’t look away.
He was beautiful in his innocence and alluring in his fiery spirit.
In the time he’d been there, his once pale skin had grown a shade darker, but he was still the lightest one of us all. At one time his skin had been pink with sunburn, but it’d since healed.
The sun didn’t seem to like him, or perhaps it was he who didn’t favor the sun.
There’d been legends about his kind before—men and women with hair like fire and skin as white as snow. They were said to be forged by Hephaestus, the god of fire, and were usually skilled craftsmen, excelling in carpentry, blacksmithing, and sculpting.
In the midst of my thoughts, Fletcher looked up. As our eyes met from across the main deck, that tugging in my chest happened again—one I couldn’t place.
The night I’d met him continued to play over in my mind; how he’d seen me fucking, followed by my pursuit of him. I yearned to speak to him, to touch him. But most of all, I wished to feel the fire of him once more. The way he’d challenged me that night on the hill was seared into my memory.
Stop this, I demanded of myself.He is nothing.
I narrowed my eyes at him before looking away.
I was a man who denied himself nothing, but no good would come from succumbing to the lust of the auburn haired spitfire. When we arrived in Stonebridge, I’d satiate my lust with a whore or two and perhaps that would rid me of my desire for him.
