Page 19 of Found at Sea
“There you go with all the questions again,” Alek said with a twitching lip, failing to hide his amusement.
I playfully shoved him away before leaning on the railing of the ship. Looking down at the water, I saw fish swimming near the hull, creating a current of vibrant colors. I’d never seen fish quite like that before, varying shades of orange, red, yellow, and even one that was purple.
The yelling of a man ahead caused me to snap my head back up, and I was stunned at what I saw.
Stonebridge was unlike Helmfirth in basically all aspects. The people wore different types of clothing, more colorful and some wore none at all. A man walked around with his erection on full display, not seeming embarrassed at all, and a woman standing outside of a merchant’s tent wore nothing but a thin skirt, rubbing her bare breasts as men passed her. The place screamed of sex and debauchery.
Even the buildings were different—arched in places where the ones back home had been flat.
There was so much I hadn’t experienced, things I’d never seen, and it was then I truly understood how big and mysterious the world was. As if I’d just been living in a small corner of the world my whole life and now my eyes were open to wonders beyond my wildest imagination.
Most of the crew was already off the ship. The only ones who remained were me and Alek, and probably Horace, who’d gone below deck an hour or so ago.
“You comin’?” Alek asked.
And even though I was afraid of facing the unknown, I nodded and followed him.
We left the ship and began walking through the town. A group of—what I could only assume were prostitutes—reached out to me as we passed, caressing my arm and down my side. I moved closer to Alek.
“Just stay by my side,” he whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Should I have stayed on the ship?”
Alek chuckled. “No. That’d be worse, I reckon. You’d be alone so anyone could find you. And believe me. Ya don’t want to be found by most of the folk here.”
“I’ve never asked you before, but where are you from?” I wanted a distraction from my nerves.
Alekdidhave some kind of accent, though, and I’d often been curious about it. The ends of his words had a lilt at times, and they ran together when he spoke too fast. It was a cadence I’d never heard.
“A place you won’t know,” he answered after thinking on his response. If I wasn’t mistaken, he even looked a bit wary. And untrusting. “It’s called Black Hallows. Or it was.”
“Was?”
His blue eyes flashed to me. “It matters not. Let’s find something to eat. I need something besides dried fish and questionable meat.”
I nodded and continued walking with him through the town. Talk of his home had put him in an odd headspace, and I instantly regretted asking him about it.
Seeing a tavern up ahead, we headed that way.
I searched the area for the captain, but didn’t see him. Heaviness settled in my belly as I concluded he was probably in the pleasure house. Itshouldn’thave bothered me, for he wasn’t mine. He hadn’t even said two words to me since I’d been on his ship.
I had no claim to him.
But I realized that maybe he had one on me.
***
Once I’d gotten some food—and many mugs of mead—into me, my apprehension about Stonebridge was all but forgotten. So what if there were large, burly men who snarled at others and always looked like they were preparing for a knife fight? So what if a said fight actually broke out?
I was minding my own business, and as long as I continued doing so, I’d be fine.
Alek and I sat at a table in the corner of the tavern, talking and laughing about anything that entered our minds. That was…until other desires arose. Alek had his fill of food and drink and now had his eyes set on a beautiful woman who’d entered the establishment.
Her dark hair was pinned back, with just a few strands hanging in her face, and her dress—although covering her body—was so thin that it didn’t exactly leave much to the imagination.
I observed her, too, and wasn’t surprised that I didn’t feel any sort of arousal for her. In fact, theonlytime I’d felt such a thing had been around Captain Flynn.
Alek watched her over the top of his mug as he took another drink. His blue eyes seemed to have darkened a shade.
