Just got up, so let's get this party starteddd!
Enjoy, lovelies!
xoxo

Alistair

It took us another five days to reach Azul.

And within those five days, Caspian insisted I keep my hands to myself. To which I did.

In a way.

"We'll be porting soon." I whispered to Caspian, pulling his body closer to mine if it were even possible to.

What he responded with was incoherent, yet I still felt the vibration of his words against the crook of my neck as he nuzzled his head further into it. The sun had only just begun to rise but Caspian refused to acknowledge it. He was still content with his place of rest. My bed. Where I provided warmth he had quickly grown attached to.

I had requested he join me in my room from now on, to which he eventually obliged, however he had added stipulations of his own to my request.

One being I wasn't to bed him until after we reached Azul. He insisted my men needed the rest, especially for what was to come. I insisted my men would be fine considering they were my men, but he wasn't hearing it. He had grown fond of them much like they quickly had, him. And I was finding it difficult to argue with this man, them, and Cael all at the same time.

So much so that I willingly slowed our pace to give my crew some additional rest.

"We'll be porting at a more deserted shore to ensure my men can move about uninterrupted." I continued. The hand Caspian had rested on my bare chest, slowly slid its way up around my neck, pulling me closer to him. All I felt was the slight nod of his head still nestled into me. His heartbeat at peace, as was mine.

I found it surreal how he and I had somehow found ourselves here. Molded together, with our bodies complimenting each other down to the very temperatures of our skin. His body kept mine cooled whilst mine provided warmth for him through this otherwise staggering fluctuation of the cold winds.

I found my arms tightening themselves around his shoulder and waist, welcoming the weight of him as he entangled the majority of his body against me. I wanted to touch him in the ways that made his skin flush with warmth, and his heart accelerate to beats I almost couldn't track, but I kept my urges at bay. I was content with this if this was all he was willing to offer for now.

Content with his naked body against my own.

My mind pondered for a moment on what I did know about this white haired man. His merchant ship was dispatched from Azul, which meant he was at the very least somewhat familiar with this land. I wanted to see if I could find out more about him once we docked, but I was also troubled with what it was I might find, and the additional eyes that could be on Caspian in search of a bounty if they caught wind of my inquiry.

He may have been my property, but he was also mine in ways that fully surpassed that. And with my ship and crew now understanding and very freely accepting the nature of our relationship, I didn't want his feet touching any land I wasn't sure of.

He could clearly hold his own, but his naivety would surely find him in the path of danger. The thought of it was something that didn't sit correctly with my heart.

My left hand raised past his exposed shoulders to gently run the fingers of it through his long, freely flowing hair. I heard a soft moan melt into the skin of my neck, urging me to continue.

"You here like this making sounds like that just makes me want you more." I murmured to him, to which the first coherent word uttered back past his lips this morning, and against my neck, was a resounding no.

And so I respected his ridiculous wishes, still combing my fingers through the soft strands of hair. White strands I had long since found comfort of my own with being able to feel on the tips of my fingers.

The marks I had left on his body were still there, urging me to ponder what it was about them that kept the natural state of the healing process. Everything about us somehow felt linked to each other, even if I hadn't buried myself deep inside him for days. Whatever it was we had done, had done something.

Even Ol' Bess now seemed to have more of a mind of her own than she already had, forcing myself to cut the speeds in which she urged me to sail her with, down to a reasonable pace. My men were still working on forgiving me for the sea sickness I had caused them whilst hunting Gaelick.

Cael was a lot of things, but he had also been correct, siding with Caspian. The crew deserved some rest after everything.

Very shortly we would first have to focus on the haul needed to restock, and secondly on the supplies needed for the body of Ol' Bess. Simon had irritated me with requests of these new stringed instruments that had made it to the nation of Azul, to the point that I finally gave in, allowing him to leave the ship once we reached that shore to search for them.

Under the instructions of Cael, we were only to stay one night before setting sail again. In addition to our common less than kind welcoming every time we ported this land, the fact that The Holy Men had been daring enough to send Gaelick for us made him weary. Cael insisted we leave as quickly as we came.

It took some convincing to finally wake Caspian. I was forced to explain to him that no man was excluded from their duties regardless of their rank, or their relationship to me. Every man carried their weight if they were to board and sail Ol' Bess, to which this white haired man eventually agreed. He wouldn't dare admit to it to me, but I could see it on his face as he worked with my men.

He was growing to enjoy it. They had even started to teach him some of the chantey's they sung as they worked.

I offered him a hooded cloak from my armoire for him to eventually put on once we reached Azul, for if he and I were to walk these streets freely, it was best we wear something that concealed us, much like in Sicoria.

I got dressed myself, allowing Caspian to return to his private room in efforts to finish preparing for his duties, while I made my way out of our chambers and back down to the study to meet with Cael.

We had been working on our next course of action after Azul. First we'd need to return to Sicoria to bring The Eye of The Sea to Finnik. His information had in fact led me to Gaelick, which meant that just as he had upheld his side of the bargain, I would uphold mine.

Did I want to thoroughly beat that tiny man into oblivion for not knowing just what that pendant was stored in?

Aye.

Would I refrain myself from doing so?

Aye, unfortunately.

There was only so much that short man could possibly know from his position. A position so close to the ground, may I add.

What I would be discussing with that man however, was whether or not he had known Gaelick's intentions for his men attacking mine. For if he had, I would be deserving of at least one hit. That paled in comparison to the torture I myself endured to discover this information on my own.

"We're porting soon." Cael informed me as I soon joined him in the study. He was already sitting in the chair I usually sat in, continuing to draw the roots I had started to map the night prior. "Coop called for land shortly before your arrival." I nodded to the man who had now since seemingly forgiven me. He looked well rested, I noted, as did the men I passed who greeted me on my way down here.

"Aye," I nodded, "I assume the men have created a list of things for themselves?"

"Aye." Cael nodded. "Those who will leave the ship are as follows: you and I, Snips, Finn, Hobbs, Gilly, and Caspian. Oh, I suppose Simon now too."

I nodded to him as his eyes glanced up briefly from the old map to meet mine.

"Simon seems a bit excessive." He added with just a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"Well I sure as hell will not be scouring the streets of Azul looking for a bloody instrument. Was this your offer to?"

Cael scoffed in return. "Fine. We only stay for one night, however. And everyone returns to the ship by nightfall. I know we've paid owners of the Inn's in the past to maintain their silence, but we'll be visiting during a tense time with the selection, and the ceremony that will follow. Since The Holy Men have decided you a threat worth pursuing, I say it's best we keep to the ship for when it's time to lay our heads."

I nodded again, watching as Cael continued to draw lines across the paintings of a sea he had started to know exceptionally well, even without the lending of his magic. And I was proud of him.

"Caspian and I will make a few rounds. I have interest in some items that were generally housed in Azul's markets. There's also an old antique shop that below the floors, conceals a shop of ancient relics. The Holy Men may have found it by now, but it's worth looking into."

"Aye," Cael nodded, "below the shop named Paria, owned by Dyneras?"

"Aye." I replied. "It was one of the last few shops that once withstood their mass purging. I want to see if Dyneras is both, well, still alive, and still in business."

What I hadn't mentioned to Cael, for I had still failed to detail it in the recounts of my time aboard Gaelick's ship, were the chains Gaelick had managed to possess. The chains of Kilaidreon, that should have otherwise perished in the fires with the rest of Azultia, and the palace itself.

I wanted to know if there were other things perhaps collected amongst the ashes. If that was the case, there could be something there that still had ties to the old ways. Something that could prove itself useful against The Holy Men if they had weapons of their own that held that kind of magic. Old magic.

"So be it," Cael nodded. "After Sicoria, I say we make west. There are still some self governed islands we could port to give us time to work on the ship uninterrupted. Patch her holes. Polish the floorboards. The men would also most likely appreciate some place warm considering the weather this fortnight has been as consistent as your actions. Forever shifting, and uncomfortably so."

I ignored that sly comment he had slipped into his analogy, however Cael was right. The cold fronts brought upon us as we made north for Azul, caused for a chilling journey. The weather in Azul would prove beneficial however, considering most of my men would be in thick, charcoal colored cloaks to hide their pirate attire.

Sicorian heat had made that decision horrible to live through, but we had no choice then.

Now at least our clothing would match what would be commonly worn by the people of Azul to avoid this cold.

There were some of my men who didn't need to conceal themselves much, such as Simon. He was a good musician, and a decent pirate... but he definitely favoured the attire of a musician over a pirate. And I paid both it and him not a single thought.

I told him he could clean these floorboards naked for all he wanted, to which he gave me a genuine smile, and we had since left things at that.

Hobbs on the other hand needed to be fully covered. Both him and Gilly both bore scars on their faces and across their arms and legs from their life before joining my crew. I hadn't bothered to pry for information, for it simply wasn't my business to. When they joined my crew, I explained to them that the life they lived before did not carry over to the life they'd now have at sea. All my men received a clean slate, for I knew it would be hypocritical for me not to do so.

And when most of these men followed me into the depths of hell itself, they made another choice then too. Another wiping of the slate by my hand, as they were propositioned to either leave or stay with me.

Not a single one chose the former option... which brought me back to the words Snips had spoken the night Gaelick's men had tried to attack. Those few moons ago now.

I had asked him if he had regretted it.
Regretted following me to the depths of hell itself.
And when I thought of his response, I found a smile slowly spreading across my lips. He had known me the best, for he had known me the longest. And he was the only man who truly understood what I accepted that fateful day. What all my men had.

We had changed, as had my ship. Her beating heart revealed to me with the magic forced into these veins.

And perhaps it would've been been best in the sense of rationality, to dig deeper into the lives of these men before then, but in that moment, with the sacrifices they were willing to make, and for I nonetheless, I didn't care.

They had proven their loyalty, something I gave them my word I would spend as long as the sea allows it, protecting.

Some twenty years later, surrounded now by every man who accepted me that fateful day, and the men that had joined since... I had never wavered with the word I had given, and kept.

For my word had, and would always be my bond.

A bond solidified in blood itself.

A bond tied to my soul that was kept, but not by I.

And a bond I hadn't yet known would soon come to be tested as we dropped our anchor on the shores of Azul.

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