A pirate's promise

3.9. The deal

It all happened very fast. As soon as Derek was distracted after seeing me being threatened, he got stabbed. The man holding me let his guard down, since he saw Derek fall on his knees, in pain. I took out the dagger and stabbed him. He had no time to react and fell off the roof. I threw my dagger directly to the man behind Derek and hit the head. Both men were dead. I jumped off the roof and ran to Derek, worried sick.

- Derek!

I took off his shirt and tore it in long pieces in order to use them as improvised bandages. He was too weak even to talk. I tried to help him get up and hid him somewhere until I could come back with help. I saw a young poor boy that was looking at the market food, probably being hungry. I offered him food and money as soon as he returned with Peter and the carriage. The boy did as I told him and I kept my word.

- Peter! Help! Derek's injured and I don't know if he'll make it...

Peter and the others took him to the carriage and I stood there with him until we got home. He was carried to his room where a doctor was already waiting for him. As soon as the doctor left and told me he would recover in a couple of weeks, since no important organ was damaged, I went to him and sat on the edge of his bed.

- Jasy... Thank you.

- Don't thank me, I wasn't capable of facing two men... Two! And because of me you got hurt- I bursted into tears and covered my face-. What kind of pirate captain am I? My crew would have been disappointed... I don't even know what happened to them.

- It's okay, Jasy. You managed to finish them. You helped me a lot, there were ten men after all, I couldn't have done it without you- he stroked my cheek gently and dried my tears.

- Who were they?- I held his hand close to my face.

- Some guys that were after me for a while. They didn't like me getting to the treasure before them.

- My treasure?

- There was another one, but I spent it on the journeys we went to find the treasure the Crown was after- he explained.

- There are lots of treasures, aren't there?

- Yes, if you want to call them that way.

- And what about the favor you owe that pirate because of me? I owe it, to be precise. I should go in your place.

- I don't want you going alone, Jasy- he frowned.

- It's pirate business, and it was my fault, we can't fail them or else... I fear for you. You need to rest.

- No, Jasy.

- You can't stop me.

- It's not even soon, I'll recover until then, don't worry.

- Alright, I'll wait, but if you don't, I'm going and you won't stop me.

I layed on the bed by his side for a while, resting my head on his chest. He stroked my hair, lost in thought. I had a feeling he was hiding something from me. I let him rest and went to my room. I was worried about him so that week I took care of him until I saw he could move on his own. He still couldn't make a lot of effort or sudden movements, but he was already able to walk and go up and doen the stairs slowly. He wanted to have every meal together in the dining room, but sometimes it was hard for him to leave the room and I went there to make him company. We talked late into the night and sometimes kissed when there was a good mood. I read books to him and even sang pirate songs that would make him laugh.

One day into the second week, I asked Peter to tell me when did Derek have to go to meet the pirates he had a deal with. At first he pretended to know nothing, but as I wouldn't stop telling him how worried I was and that I would leave and get the information myself, he told me.