A Man of Fortune

15: A Thief's End

 "I swear to god, I'm going to save him then kill him myself," I growled, Nate and I making our way inland once more, heading for the distinct mountain.

"Can we just focus on the saving part for now?" Nate requested and I let out a sigh. "You okay?"

"No... after everything we- everything we've done and he still- he still-," I tried to hold back the waterworks when Nate pulled me into a hug.

"I know, I know... we'll get him back though," Nate said.

"Alive?"

"Yes, alive," he said firmly. "Hey look, footprints," Nate pointed out behind me and I turned to see there were in fact a set of footprints in the mud. "We just gotta head to the mountain, save Sam, get the hell outta here... yeah. We'll all be laughing about the whole thing tomorrow."

"That's rather optimistic," I said bitterly.

"A bit of optimism never hurt anyone," he said before swinging across to another cliff side. I followed, us having to scale the sides of multiple mountain sides just to follow the trail of footprints Sam had unintentionally left in the mud for us to follow.

"Hey, what's this?" We came across a skeleton laying slumped against a rock, looking somewhat defeated. Nate approached to investigate as I had a rummage through the skeletons bag, coming across an old and delicate letter. "Oh my god," I whispered as I read it. "This is Jonathan Burnes."

"What? Read it," Nate said.

April 14, 1808

Although I successfully extracted Hayes' bullet from my thigh, the wound festers and the Fever has abated. I long to see what lies on the inside of the mountain, but the pain is too great to bear and I must rest, regain my strength.

With a moments respite, doubt creeps into my mind. Was I wrong to punish the men for breaking their contract with me? I have dedicated my life to finding this place, finding Avery's treasure, and their actions nearly robbed me of my destiny. No. My actions were just.

Tonight, I rest. The fever will break. And tomorrow, I finish my grandfathers journey. Then, upon returning home, I shall write of my exploits here: a book by Jonathan Burnes to sit in the libraries alongside history's greatest adventurers.

At worst I shall loose this leg. But in the end, I will have lived a life worth living. And Claire will be proud of me at long last.

Claire.

Forgive me.

"Wow... wait, so First Mate Hayes shot him?" I asked Nate and he nodded.

"Yeah... I found some more letters when we were separated... sounded as though Burnes was going a bit crazy trying to find Avery's treasure. Was willing to hurt those around him to get to it-,"

"Sounds like someone I know," I said bitterly and Nate sighed deeply.

"Listen (y/n), I know Sam's been an asshole about the whole Alcazar thing. Lying to us, well we have the right to be frustrated, but I don't think he ever intended it to get this messy. It doesn't mean he doesn't care."

"What're you trying to say Nathan?" I asked with a harsh tone as we walked, entering a cave.

"I'm saying he cares about you. A lot. When we were in Libertalia earlier he as good as admitted it to me that he loves you-,"

"I know! I know- thats what's making this harder Nathan, he claims he has these feelings then he goes ahead and stabs me in the back," I said and Nate sighed.