The Silver Isles Kingdom

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Alexis woke up early. She expected that Jacque would be ready for departure anytime soon, but she found him sitting in the dining hall soaked from his being up all night in the rain. He leaned into the palm of his hand as if he were pondering, or sleeping. Alexis walked to a chair opposite him and watched, still leaning into his hand and sat doing nothing. Jacque didn't even look up at her. Clearly something troubled him, more than just lack of sleep that much she could tell. It wasn't like him to be up all night. As she sat watching him, the chef, also the cook from the pirate ship, entered the room with a plate of hot cakes and eggs which he placed in front of Jacque. The cook gave the same meal to Alexis and left.

"One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. My father made it a lot. John came to enjoy eating it as well," Jacque said, still not looking up.

"And you had the same thing made for me?" Alexis asked, curiously.

"Yes I did," Jacque replied with a sigh. His fatigue was clearly written all over his face, though he barely did his best to hide it, it would be obvious to anyone. "It also reminds me of home. Lo Bon mainly."

Alexis picked up her fork and started to eat. Jacque didn't start until she had taken five bites. Not that it mattered, Alexis just wanted to see how long he would sit as he did. Usually, Jacque was quite the healthy eater, but he ate slowly and enjoyed his meal at a slow pace. When they were nearly finished, Gold Tooth walked in and sat at the head of the table. He was given a slightly larger meal, given the size of the man it was no surprise to Alexis he would eat so much. And like Jacque on a good day, he ate his meal quite quickly.

"Enjoying the meal your highness?" asked the old pirate in a jolly tone.

"Yes, it's quite enjoyable, thank you," Alexis replied with a smile.

"And you Jacque? How is yours?"

"Good as it's always been Capitan," Jacque said without looking up from his plate.

"Capitan? What happened to calling me plain old Gold Tooth?"

"Meh, no reason. Just thinking of other things I guess," Jacque said, still looking at his plate.

Gold Tooth looked at the princess with a quizzical look. In response she just shrugged, she had just walked in with him the way he was, not saying much and barely looking up. Something was clearly wrong and both she and Gold Tooth could tell. Without either of them asking, after Jacque finished his meal and swallowing the juice provided him earlier, with one gulp he finally spoke what was on his mind. "Had a vision last night. Though it seemed only minutes to me, it lasted the whole night."

"What was it about?" Alexis asked, worried.

"Lo Bon. It's going to be under Veshua's control soon," Jacque rarely had a sad tone in his voice, but this time he had.

"What?!" Alexis practically screamed, "He's going to take Lo Bon?"

"I don't know, but it's a sure probability," Jacque said, knowing the feelings Alexis had were the same as his, "Forgive the oxymoron, but it either is soon, or sometime when we can't reach it and we'll be too far away."

"No need to worry my friend," Gold Tooth said with a grin and positive tone, "My pirates and I will see to it that each island you regain under the control of the kingdom will remain that way. You have no need to worry. With the new spirit among the crew surely we'll succeed."

"I appreciate the offer, Gold Tooth. But leave Lo Bon for the time being. I'll be sure to let you know when you can go that way, but for now, leave it."