The North's Galleon

Chapter 14: Tale of a Prince

Lawrence glanced at North, pleading for help.

North sighed. "Lawrence, you've got to learn to speak up on your own. I wasn't there, I can't tell you what happened to his Majesty." He rested his hands on his desk. "Edward lied his way onto my ship, claiming to be an experienced sailor and a former noble. I'd have almost believed it, but there was one thing that didn't check out in my head. I decided to test him, have him act as the first mate until the next port. That is, until he led us directly into a massive hagstorm and promptly became feverish. I ended up off the ship trying to keep my crew, and your brother, alive."

Lawrence finally seemed to find his voice. "Edward tried to take the lead...I should have done something. But I hesitated. All of us got captured, except for Gunther and Edward."

Paul rested a hand on Lawrence's shoulder. "We're not...entirely sure what happened on the ship. But Gunther came to rescue us, with the prince's whip."

"I don't understand." Marie was trying to hold back tears. "There had to have been some way to spare him."

"Maybe he did." Paul knelt down to hold her shoulders now. "That whip flames with the power of an elemental. That's why they say it's possessed by one."

Marie turned away sharply. "So Gunther killed him."

"That's what he says. And he won't let anyone else take the fall for it." North spoke again. "I'm not sure if he feels guilty, or if he wants to have all the credit, but either way, that is his burden to bear."

She pursed her lips. "You all keep saying he's the good one, but it sounds like he's not."

Lawrence sighed. "Gunther...he's..."

Then there was a knock on the door.

North sat up straight. "I'm decent, Gunther. And clothed."

"Ha ha, very funny." The door started to open. "One of these days, I'm not going to knock, and what then, North?" Gunther stepped in and looked around. "What, did someone die? What's with the faces?"

"Nothing, Gunther." North picked up a pen. "Just discussing what I'm going to do with you."

"Nothing, you love me." Gunther walked in the rest of the way to stand next to Lawrence.

"Mm." North started writing something down. "You'll be sharing a room with Lawrence until our guest leaves, so I suggest you two learn to get along."

"It's only a few days to the next port." Gunther responded.

"Oh no, Gunther, we're not stopping at the capital."

Gunther paled. "Cap'n, it's two weeks to the next port! We won't have enough supplies!"

"We'll have plenty of supplies. But I'm not dropping a stowaway at a port swimming with Navy. Get over yourself."

Gunther and Lawrence shot each other a dirty look.

"Oh, and don't forget what I told you would happen if you were the reason the Navy was chasing us."

Gunther swore.

"I'm sorry?"

Gunther took a breath and corrected himself. "Aye...Cap'n."

"You and Lawrence will be cleaning this ship until I can see my reflection in the floorboards. I expect that'll take you just about two weeks."

"Aye, Cap'n." They both responded.

"Uh, Cap, isn't there a rule about having them both on cleaning duty at the same time?" Paul grimaced.

"Oh, yes. That's the punishment for the rest of you. Have fun with these two. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll learn to like each other by the end of these two weeks."

"Unlikely, Cap'n." Gunther and Lawrence already looked like they were going to duke it out on deck again.

"Like I said, if you get lucky. But no one's been lucky on this ship in probably ten years."

"You're welcome, Captain." Gunther scowled and finally broke his staredown with Lawrence.

"Lawrence, take our guest down to Gunther's cabin. See if you can find her a change of clothes as well."

"Aye, Cap'n." Lawrence gestured for Marie to follow him.

"The rest of you, return to your positions. It's supposed to be a stormy night tonight."

"Aye, Cap'n." The rest of the crew answered.

"And Gunther, stay right here. I need to speak with you."

"Aye."

Lawrence guided Marie out the door, letting it shut heavily behind him. "Come on, Rendita."

"What does that even mean?" She scowled.

"Rendita? It means 'your majesty.'"

She folded her arms. "I ran away. I'm not...I'm not Princess Marie anymore."

"Good. Because you probably shouldn't bring that up around Gunther. He's still sore towards royalty." Lawrence nudged her down the hall. "Denise then."

"Does he not know?"

"I would hope he's smart enough to have figured it out. But I haven't asked. Not going to either." He patted her on the head. "Chin up, Rendita. You're not going back to some creepy old man, and you know what happened to your brother."

"Not really."

Lawrence smiled, as best as he could. "Well, don't go snooping around. Just sit tight, and we'll get you to freedom."

She didn't answer.

Lawrence let off, and just continued guiding her down the hall.

"So were you and Gunther really only getting along for me?"

"Hm? Oh, no, we don't hate each other. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

Lawrence sighed. "Well, I tried to kill him once while I was an assassin. He's almost gotten me killed more than once, and I've got this thing with nobles. But we've had ten years to put it behind us."

"Right." She looked at the floor. "You were saying something about him before he walked in."

"Oh." Lawrence stared at the ceiling. "Let me put it this way, he's got a stricter moral code than most of us. North is kind to you because he feels he owes it to Edward, and you haven't endangered his crew...much. I've got the highest body count of the whole crew. Millard's job is to shoot first and ask later. Jackal throws fireworks at other humans. Possum's...Possum. Big Man, Paul, and Sebastian have their fair share of blood on their hands. Tommy's here because he murdered someone."

"I get it, you're pirates."

Lawrence chuckled. "Gunther though...he doesn't steal. He's always coming up with the nice way out. The only time he kills is when he has to. For us."

"That's not what it looked like against the Navy."

"Oh, that stupid grin."

"He enjoys it."

"Oh, he enjoys something. Not hurting people." Lawrence smiled. "He...didn't get out much as a noble. He never got to experience pain, thrill, the threat of death... And now that he can, he eats it up. He broke his leg a while back, and he giggled about it. He'd never broken a bone before, and he was happy to have experienced it finally. Course, he whined about it for the whole month it was healing too, but he's just happy to finally experience what the rest of us call life. The only people he'll actually hit with that whip are Captain Vormir and me."

"Why you?"

Before Lawrence could answer, there was the crack of a whip and Lawrence yelped.

Both turned around to see Gunther. "I left my hat down there."

"You don't need your stupid hat."

"Yeah, I do." Gunther rolled his whip up and returned it to his hip as he caught up. "That hat is the only reason we can port without getting in trouble."

"Whatever. Just hustle up. We have a lot of work to do."