A Pirate Melody

Chapter 12

The day came where I had to demonstrate my powers. I am feeling pretty proud of myself since I was doing pretty well the previous day. I was able to make the prisoners dance, make them stand completely still, and have them just spin in a circle. 

I enter the captain's office and I notice that one of the men who kidnapped me is sitting in the chair. It is the littler one of the two. He has his mask and hat off, so I can get a good look at him. He is younger than I expected. He seems to be just a teenager, 16 or 17 years old. His hair is shaggy, and it is scattered with small braids. He is pinching his temples and the conversation they were having stops when I enter the room.

"You seem to be up earlier this morning."  The captain says motioning for me to close the door behind me. The other person huffs when I enter the room.

"I just don't understand why she is worth all of the trouble." The person mumbles loud enough for us all to hear him.

"As I told you before, Sammie, she is worth more than what we would get from that merchant."  He speaks slowly as though he is speaking to a small child.

"Ahhhhg! It is Sam! I haven't gone by Sammie since I was like six years old." He lashes out. The captain raises one eyebrow and leans closer to him with his hands on the desk.

"You did not just talk back to your captain, did you?" The captain adds a low guttural sound to his voice. Sam shrinks back into his chair making himself as small as possible.

"No, sir. Sorry, sir."

"That is what I thought." He diverts his attention back to me.

"Now, back to our businesses." While the Captain is speaking, Sam stands up to begin to make a quiet exit.

"Sit back down, we need you here as well." He commands. Sam sits back in the chair.  He continues.

"Were you able to accomplish your goal, Lucia." I give a nod.

"Yes, I was able to do everything that you needed to."

"Good. Good. Now, I don't want you to show me on the same people you have been practicing on. I need to make sure that you are able to use your gift one anyone. So, we are going to use ... Sam ... here to practice on." Sam squirms around in his seat and his eyes widen. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish, but no sound manages to come out. The captain puts these chrome devices over his ears. He nods and then speaks at a louder volume.

"I would like to see him kneel before me." Before I even get a chance to sing my song, Sam gets down on his knees before the captain.

"Get back up!" The captain says with annoyance. "Come closer to me Lucia. Sam, stay there."

I walk around the desk, so that I am right next to the captain. He pulls me in closer so that my back is against him. His one hand is planted on the side of my waist while his other hand pushes my hair behind my ear. He leans forward and I hear his voice whisper in my ear.

"First, I would like you to have him jump up and down." I nod my head and take a deep breath. I focus my attention to the boy. He is intensely staring at the wall. Trying his hardest not to look at us. I let out a soft chuckle. I guess this position would make us look like actual lovers. I feel the captain's hand get tighter against my waist which causes me to focus back to what I am doing.

I think back to the command the captain wanted me to give. Jumping up and down. Then, I begin my song. The enchanting song sounds like it is echoing throughout the room. Sam's eyes glaze over and it looks like there is a fog clouding his irises. He abruptly stands up and hops up and down.

"Excellent, Excellent!" The captain says loud enough to be heard over my song. He moves his head so it is back at my shoulder and whispers again.

"Now I want you to make him look over at the wall, and make sure that he does not look at me."

I continue my song, and I add in the element of directing attention away from the captain. Sam turns and begins to intently stare at the wall.

"Sam! Sam!" The captain shouts over me. Sam seems to fidget a little bit, but he does not look over at him. The captain releases his grip of me and walks over to Sam. He moves to stand at the wall where Sam is staring. Sam rotates to make sure that he does not look him. The captain actually smiles at this and continues to move around Sam, which causes Sam to hop around in a circle. Then, the captain begins to shout at Sam.

"Hey Sam! If, you look at me right now, then I will promote you to first mate!" Sam does not even budge at this.

"Well, this is great." The captain looks back at me and walks over. He puts a hand on my shoulder. "You did amazing work, Lucia." He stares at me with such warmth that it surprises me and causes my song to stop. Sam puts his hands on his knees and catches his breath. The captain leans forward and whispers in my ear once again.

"Now make him forget what just happened here, then have him fall asleep." I start up the song once again. Almost immediately, Sam goes on the floor to lay down. Then, he falls asleep. Once he is deep in sleep, I stop singing and look at the captain.

"What should we do about him now?" I ask. It will probably look weird to carry his unconscious body out of the office. But I am sure that all of the crewmates would end up looking the other way.

"Just leave him. I will deal with him once he wakes up. Just go and take a seat.  I have a matter I would like to discuss." I go back to the chair and look at the captain. He seems pleased. He has a little smirk on his face, and he is relaxing in his own seat.

"I am glad that you were able to learn how to use your powers so quickly. Now we can move onto the next steps." I shuffle in my seat. I knew that he was going to make me do something, but I was hoping it would not be right away. Maybe it could have been after I made my escape.

"What is it that you are going to have me do?" I ask as stoically as possible. I do not want him to sense my nervousness.

"It is simple. I need you to attend a party with me."

"A party?"

"Yes, a party. I will sign you up to preform a song for the party and I need you to make sure that the people dance and do not look at me while I complete my business there."

"Why do I need to be there? Can't you just preform a stealth mission with your crewmates? "

"Well, doing this allows me to accomplish a multitude of things. One, I will be able to complete the business that I need to get done. Two, this will allow me to test you some more before I move on to the main thing that I will need you to do. Three, it never looks bad to arrive to a party with a lovely jewel like yourself" He gives me a little wink at the last statement. I roll my eyes at his wink.

"When will we be doing this?"

"We will arrive tomorrow afternoon and then it is a day's journey to the city. " I give a curt nod as a response.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Yes. You should go now. I will give you more details when we get closer to the date of the party."

I stand up and give a quick curtsy and  rush out the door.