Jewel of the Sea [Black Sails]

Chapter Twenty

(Charles)

Alira's giant of a brother summoned her shortly after our chat with Captain Low, they were planning to leave for a prize. I went about my business deciding to look more into the matter of Captain Low. Part of me believed it was to protect Eleanor, though we were through and I'd moved on, I wished for her happiness, and Low threatened that. I didn't believe my desire to remove Low as an obstacle was solely for Eleanor as Alira seemed to dislike him too. Though I knew Alira was quite capable of taking care of herself as she'd proven time after time, if I could do something, anything, to make her feel more at ease, I would.

I headed into town, to the brothel now being run by my former shipmates, Jack and Anne. The former whore, Max, was now a keeper of secrets and I hoped she'd be able to help me uncover some secrets about Low and the prize in his cargo so I could help Alira and Eleanor without crossing my crew. As I headed toward town my gaze was drawn to the beach to the camp of the crew of The Atlas. I didn't see any movement in the camp and suspected they'd already left. It would have been nice to see the fiery Alira before she'd left even if it was just a glimpse.

My gaze drifted out to the bay, I spotted The Atlas in the water, there was no one on board, the sails were still tied up, the anchor cast. I felt an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach and thought to hurry with what I had to do before going to check on Alira.

After meeting with Max and agreeing to fix the black mark on Jack's name so he and Anne could sail under their own banner, Max found the information I was seeking and I was on my way. The ordeal had taken longer than I'd anticipated. I made my way toward the beach to Alira's camp.

As I stepped into the camp, I noticed how eerily quiet it was. Moving through the tents, I felt my heart drop as I spotted a body near the long dead firepit. It was one of Alira's shipmates. I ducked into the nearest tent and found more bodies. Kicking the sand around the camp I realized there were globs of blood and gore all around the camp that someone had covered with sand. A massacre had taken place here.

Frantically, I darted through the camp searching every tent for any sign of Alira. I found the body of her giant of a brother and his first mate in the largest tent. It looked like it had taken several men to take them down as they were both littered with stab wounds. There was no sign of Alira. As I turned to leave the tent, the giant lurched with a ghastly wheeze, his eyes fluttered open.

"Alira." He called her name in his deep thickly accented voice.

I rushed to his side and clasped his arm as if we were brothers, "who did this?" He wasn't going to make it, there was nothing I could do for him, and I needed to find Alira.

His dark eyes filled with clarity as he looked upon my face. He grimaced but I had a feeling it was more for the pain in his heart than the physical pain he was in, "save her."

"I swear, I will, tell me who did this." I squeezed his arm.

He nodded though it appeared to take great effort, "Low."

I was going to cut that bastard's head off if it were the last thing I did. "He will die." I vowed.

The giant of a man squeezed my arm tightly, "promise me you will care for her and keep her safe, always."

I bowed my head, "always." I vowed.

His grip on my arm slackened as he expelled his last breath and collapsed, dead, to the ground. Rage burned through me. The cargo meant noting, this was fucking personal, now. I returned to the fort my strides quick with determination and rage. I informed my men about Low's cargo, they seemed interested, but when I added that Low and his men had killed Alira's crew and taken her captive, they were all ready to make their move. They all let out a battle cry that seemed to mold into one loud voice that would strike fear in the heart of any man.