The Pirate Prince of the Ice Sea (Book 1 of The Legend Of Kaleania)

Chapter 15

"Good evenin' to ya, laddie," said Aka. He wasn't the same man that used to make jokes about me. "Have a drink." He offered me a mug of rum but I shook my head. I turned to Kara and slowly moved her away from the group.

"Kara, what in Kerala's Firealm is going on?" I asked.

"We're havin' a celebration for you. So relax and have a drink," she said. She definitely isn't the girl that is calm and collected that I know, I thought. She went back to the group and Kuala and Harlock were singing some drinking song while Aka and her were having some drinking competition.

"Is it just me or is this what the crew really looks like when they're throwing a party?" I asked Sarngika.

"Nope, this is what the crew of the Black Diamond is like at a celebration." he answered.

"What did Derek do when this happened?" I asked. I knew it was silly but I was just curious.

"Well, he won a couple drinking competitions and then at the last one, he passed out."

"What is this celebration for?"

"While you were resting, Kara and the crew decided to throw this because it would probably be the last time anyone would be this happy and having fun." I knew what he meant. Tonight, the pirate captains and lords would be preparing for war. If today was going to be the last time to be carefree, then I might as well join in. I ran up to Aka and said, "I'll take that, thank you." I grabbed the mug from him and gulped down the whole thing. It was smooth with it gently sliding down my throat and it was the best drink I've ever tasted.

"Airon, how many rums can you drink without passing out?" shouted Kara.

"Are you challenging me to a drinking game?" I asked.

"Aye, whoever loses will have to owe his life to the winner in battle, got it?" I shrugged and I think she took it as a yes. She called to all the men to ready the barrels and they nodded. "Ready and go!" She took her first mug and started gulping it down fast. I took mine and did the same thing but slowly.

A couple of hours later, Kara was starting to slow down and I was still at it. I've heard that you could get drunk when you drink too much but I drank twelve mugs and I felt nothing out of the ordinary. She only drank about eighteen and she looked like she was going to pass out. I set down my glass since I knew that she was going to pass out. Her head fell onto the table and her hand dropped the rum and it fell onto the floor with a crack of glass. "I guess I won," I said. I noticed that it was getting dark so I called that we needed to get to the Pirate Hall. They saluted me as some of them cleaned up and the rest were putting the rowboats into the water. I asked Kuala to carry Kara since I was still weak to carry her. The men soon gathered into the rowboats with me, Kuala, and Kara. Harlock was about to go but I ordered him to stay with the ship since no one would be here to guard it. He understood as I climbed into the boat and sailed toward the Pirate Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We arrived at the Pirate Hall late at night. When we walked in, I saw so many pirate captains and they all were looking at me in disgust. What did I do this time? I thought. Or why are they looking at me like that?

Tasumah stood from his chair and asked, "So, will or will he not join the war with us? And tell me and the others in complete detail." My heart beated louder against my chest telling me that I wasn't ready for this but I have to because everyone is depending on me, I thought. I told everyone about the trip to Akaenia and that Kan was the new king and he still believed that I was still Arak.

"But once I told him who I really was, he ordered my execution. In the dungeons, I learned from the kitchen servant what happened in the last month which felt like only a few weeks. But instead of killing me the next day, Kan came and decided that he would kill me immediately. I told him that he didn't have the guts to do it. He drew out the dragon dagger that I believed that Nekian gave him to kill me and stabbed my gut. He said that he would prove to his father that I was nothing but a worthless animal and if I was still alive when he got back, then he'll think about joining but if I was dead, he would get my bird. I asked him if that was what he wanted. To show proof that I did deserve to die. So he left but when he got back with Kara, I soon realized that I got stabbed with a poisoned dagger."