THE SAILS OF THE HIGH SEAS

- Chapter 43 -

How was it possible for Ada to care so much about someone she had just met? Even in the slightest of ways? She did not know how. And yet, she did care about the man who laid wounded in her arms as he clenched his teeth and fists from pain after being shot. But that was not all. She realized that she not only cared about him, she also felt guilty. Why? Because she knew that if she had not looked up and looked toward Lord Guillonk's men shooting at them from the shore of the beach, Tremal Naik would not have gotten shot.

Ada was grateful to Yanez, who jumped out of the boat he was rowing with Sandokan and Marianna to help her. He swam to their boat and picked up Tremal Naik's oars. She may have spent a part of her youth on ships, sailing through the south seas with her father, but she definitely wasn't used to rowing boats. At least, not as expertly as Yanez was. And since her uncle's men were still shooting at them, she was aware of the fact that the further they got away from the shore, the better it was for them. All of them. Especially Tremal Naik.

"I am so sorry!" Ada kept repeating her words as if they were the most healing mantra known on earth. They laid at the bottom of their boat for safety, and she held onto Tremal Naik to comfort him and to make sure he was still breathing. "I'm sorry!"

"For... what?" Tremal Naik replied after a while, hissing from pain.

"This is no time for amusing responses. I am sorry that You were shot because of me," Ada said, unaware that tears began flowing down her cheeks.

"I was in the line for that shot too, in case You did not notice," Tremal Nail tried to make his act of bravery appear less heroic.

"Liar," Ada held his head higher and tried her best not to bring any more pain to him than he already felt.

"Is he alright?!?" Sandokan shouted from the other boat.

"He'll manage!" Yanez shouted back. He had witnessed countless men getting shot in his lifetime. He knew that Tremal Naik was going to pull through from getting shot. But that did not mean he had to let Ada know about it. Instead, it rather pleased him to see that the stubborn and confident Lady Corishant turned to a ball of nerves over someone she just met. And, if he wasn't mistaken, Yanez suspected that the noblewoman was as taken with Tremal Naik as... Tremal Naik was with her. Though, Yanez chose to keep that little observation to himself. For now at least.

"Does it hurt so much?" Ada embraced Treman Naik as gently as she could.

"Does what hurt?" Tremal Naik tried to smile.

"Your dry sense of humor," Ada replied with a bit of spunk in her voice.

"That... never hurts. The... only time it does... is when people don't get it," he offered her a cocky smirk as he looked up into her eyes, but then winced from the pain.

"I wonder if You fire guns as poorly as You fire cheap jokes," Ada shook her head.

"That was... a low blow, considering the bullet in my back," Tremal Naik whispered and chose to bite his lip to stop himself from swearing because of the pain.

"I'm sorry," Ada replied with remorse.

"Don't be. Dry humor looks good on You," Tremal Naik whispered again and drifted to unconsciousness.

"Tremal Naik! Tremal Naik!" Ada exclaimed with panic.

"Ada, what's wrong?!?" Marianna shouted from the other boat.

"He's lost consciousness! I am so afraid! It's all my fault!" Ada cried out.

"Nonsense! He's going to be alright! He's as strong as a tiger!" Sandokan shouted.

"How can we be sure?!? What if...?" Ada could not bring herself to complete the sentence.

"A man like Tremal Naik would not fall from a single shot!" Sandokan shouted back, and realized he was correct when he saw the way Yanez nodded.

"We are close to my ship," Yanez said to Ada. "The doctor will make sure that he gets back to fighting shape in no time."

"Please, come back to us," Ada said through tears. "Please."

"He was right, You know," Yanez advised Ada after a while.

"About what? That it wasn't my fault?" Ada sighed heavily from unimaginable guilt.

"That too. But I was referring to Your dry sense of humor. It looks better on You than Your tears do," Yanez narrowed his eyebrows at her.

"I'm not crying!" Ada fired back.

"Sure You are," Yanez replied.

"No, I am not!" Ada shouted at him, but then immediately fell silent as she raised her hand to her cheek only to discover that her cheek was soaked with tears.

"I find it rather insulting to correct a Lady in her point of view, so I won't," Yanez inclined his head and offered her a faint smile.

"Wise decision, Lord Welker," Ada replied in a dry tone of voice.

"Call me anything but that," Yanez shrugged. "I'm glad You made the decision to come along with Marianna. With us."

"Well, I am sure Sir Tremal Naik would disagree with that," Ada shook her head.

"He certainly would if he heard that You referred to him as Sir," Yanez chuckled.

"Will he live?" Ada asked before she could stop herself.

"He will. You have my word," Yanez nodded.

"And a pirate always keeps his word?" Ada raised her eyebrow.

"That he does. A pirate's word is his honor," Yanez smiled faintly. He turned around to see where they were, and smiled wholeheartedly. "Ahh, there she is."

"Is that Your boat?" Ada inquired about the ship that came into their view as they made their way around a small peninsula.

"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Yanez kept smiling.

"Are You the captain of this boat?" Ada asked, curious.

"That I am. She is my pride and joy," Yanez flashed his pearly whites at her.

"As a captain, was it wise to abandon Your ship for a while?" She asked, wanting to know what Yanez thought about it.

"My dear Lady Ada, a captain must always act as a leader to his shipmates. And if one of his pirates is in trouble, the captain does not sleep and does not eat until all pirates are accounted for and safe," Yanez replied, stoically serious. "But, to answer Your question directly: I would lay down my life for Sandokan. His life matters to us pirates in ways that those British Navy pigs would never understand. So, yes, as a captain I had to make a decision to either leave my ship, or leave Sandokan and Marianna's lives to Fate. I gauge You figured out which one mattered more."

"You are an honorable man, Yanez de Gomera," Ada said softly, but then all of her concentration fell upon Tremal Naik, who moved and regained consciousness. "Tremal Naik!"

"Must You shout my name so loud?" Tremal Naik winced from hearing her voice rather than from pain.

"I am so sorry!" She shouted, and then apologized for shouting. "I am so sorry..."

"Enough with these apologies!" Yanez scolded her, and shouted to his men to throw down some ropes on the side of the ship as they pulled up right beside it. He knew that Tremal Naik would have to be lifted up from the boat due to his gunshot wound.

As they all made it onto the deck of Yanez's ship, Marianna rushed to Ada. Much to Marianna's shock, Ada was covered with blood. It took Ada a moment to ensure her cousin that the blood on her clothes did not belong to her. It belonged to Tremal Naik. It also took Ada a moment to admit to herself that the man who was carried away to Yanez's stateroom had captured a little more than her attention. He may have also captured her heart...