Chapter Text
”Oh the wind was foul and the sea ran high,
leave her, Johnny, leave her;
She shipped it green and none went by,
and it’s time for us to leave her.
Leave her, Johnny, leave her!
Oh leave her, Johnny, leave her!
For the voyage is long and the winds don’t blow;
and it’s time for us to leave her.”
An orange-haired boy sat on his stool, gazing longingly at the sea view in front of him while humming an old song he had heard the day before some sailors singing on their way to the port. The boy rested his chin against his palm, an open book on the table in front of him, but his attention was definitely not on the history book, nor on the person behind him, talking about some man called Aristotle and his findings in the fine art of philosophy.
”I hate to sail on this rotte-”
The professor whacked him on the back of his head.
”Felix! Focus! You’re not getting out of here before you remember the important events of the ancient Greece!” Felix, the orange-haired boy sighed and averted his eyes from the horizon to the book before him. Meaningless words after meaningless words, why was history so darn important? It wasn’t like they lived in it! They lived in the present! Felix just couldn’t wrap his head around as to why he had to learn these things when he could be learning something actually important, like fencing. Or French. French got you to places, at least according to Felix’s professor.
”Who’s Johnny anyway?” Felix mumbled and slouched against the backrest.
”I don’t know, nor do I care and neither should you. And you shouldn’t be singing those songs, they’re pirate songs. Only God knows what will happen if your father finds out you know them!” his professor scoffed, before returning to his lecture about Aristotle and his apprentices.
Felix’s professor was an old man, born in London, moved to Port Royal in his twenties and worked for the governor as a teacher for his children. Then he had moved to Nassau when Felix’s father had offered him a job as Felix’s private teacher. Maybe his father paid him better than the governor in Port Royal, because Nassau sure as hell wasn’t a better place to live. Well, yeah, it was a nice little town, but Port Royal was the very center of the Caribbean Sea, and everything, literally everything even slightest bit interesting happened there. Not in Nassau. The professor was dressed like any other upper class man in the town – a gray wig, long and curled in the most ridiculous way, ribbons and ruffles everywhere, a royal blue waistcoat, some white breeches and stockings and black shoes with gilded buckles.
Felix was no better. Luckily, he didn’t have a wig on, but he did have a ruffled collar, which felt uncomfortably suffocating in the heat of the mid-day, a white ruffled shirt with even more ruffles on the sleeves, a royal blue waistcoat, black breeches and white stockings, and the same kind of black shoes with gilded buckles as his professor. His coat was hanging from the coat rack next to the door. Felix hated the fact that he had to wear so much clothes just to show everyone else that yes, he was indeed the son of the governor, the only son at that, and he was somehow connected to the royal family. And everyone else was underneath him. In Felix’s eyes everyone was pretty much on the same line, trying to survive with what they got, but no, the whole world thought otherwise and Felix had to live with that.
”Young mister Lee, are you listening to me at all?!” his professor, sir Ainsley practically yelled in his ear.
”Yes! Yes! The ancient Greece was grumbled to the ground and the ancient Rome rose from its ashes!” he answered, way too theatrically, rolling his eyes as he spoke. His professor huffed, clearly fed up with Felix already and it wasn’t even an hour to their daily lessons.
”Well, then. You clearly know the story of the ancient Greece, so you can write me an essay about the Roman empire for tomorrow, then? And now we can move on to French!” Felix groaned, almost hitting his head against the desk. At least it was better than history.
”You need French if you want to join his royalty’s navy, mister.” Sir Ainsley reminded Felix.
”Why would I need French if I’m in a boat full of Englishmen?” Felix had a quite irritating habit of questioning everything, but his professor was used to it. Usually he threw something witty back, or just ignored Felix.
”Because you can never know what kind of situations you may get into, and knowing you, some day you will need to talk yourself out of a French warship’s plank.” Felix snorted and took his French book from the shelf next to the table and grabbed some paper, ink and a quill.
”Knowing me, I won’t get into that kind of situation because my father will never let me join the navy.”
”That is correct, I’m afraid. You’re the only son, and since the King has decided your family will reign as the governors of this little island, you need to stay alive. Until you get your own children, that is.” Felix shuddered at the thought of having children some day. He didn’t want any, at least, not in the next ten years. Or twenty. Or fifty. Children were a no-no at this point. He just couldn’t imagine himself as a father, with some tiny poop-slings running in his feet, eating and touching everything they shouldn’t be. The only thing he could imagine himself was at the wheel of some pretty galleon of the English armada. Even better if it was a warship.
Felix sighed and dunked his quill in the ink.
* * *
Nassau.
It was a fairly nice little town. A little busy, but not too much. Really, it was like any other new port in the Caribbean, pretty dependent of the seas and the traffic around it. Brown. Green. Pretty, but not extraordinarily so. A couple of hundred inhabitants, maybe even a thousand and a half nowadays. Felix and his family had moved there after the first settlers had built the city, so roughly around ten years ago. Nassau had grown fast, now it was one of the bigger ports in the Caribbean along with Port Royal and Havana, but it was still relatively quiet compared to those two. Usually sailors on their way from Mexico to Europe stopped by and vice versa. Felix didn’t really mind, though. Small traffic meant less pirates to worry about. He knew Port Royal and Havana were under attack quite often, but since Nassau was still small, it was left alone. And then there was of course the pirate port, Tortuga. It was on the way from Nassau to Port Royal and sailors under the flag despised that cursed, lawless town.
Felix had only heard stories of its filthy streets and uncivilized occupants. Then again, what could he expect from pirates and other criminals? Not law and order, the least, according to Felix’s father. Still, Felix was a little intrigued. Just a tiny bit, he would never ever consider becoming a pirate, but he would love to see what that famous ’pirate’s life’ actually was. And what kind of port was Tortuga? And what on earth was in the pirates’ heads, what made them become criminals, thieves, murderers, even? The thought of having to actually face a pirate made his blood turn cold, though, so maybe he wouldn’t ever stop by Tortuga. But maybe he was a little interested. Just a tiny bit. A healthy amount of curiosity. But if he were ever to become a sailor of the English navy, despite his father’s wishes, he would be able take down those filthy rats, and take down Tortuga, turn it to a beautiful port, a lawful little town under the English colors.
”What are you thinking of, so focused?” Felix snapped out of his thoughts, looked at the woman sitting in front of him. His mother, Amelia Lee, an upper-class lady from Port Royal, born to a former governor and a sailor. Amelia Lee was a proud woman in her late forties, proud of her family, proud of her status, proud of her country. She wore a peachy colored corset dress and a ridiculously huge hat full of different kinds of laces and roses. The dress took half of their space in the wagon. Felix and his mother were making their way to a family friend living the other side of the town, the carriage swung from one side to another following the dips and crevices on the road.
”Nothing, mother.” His mother shot him a knowing look. Felix had been staring at the sea from the carriage’s little window, again.
”You know, your grandfather was quite a known sailor. One of the first ones to survive from the Bermuda and to sail to India and back. It’s in your blood, the crave for the sea. If it wasn’t for your father, I would let you join some voyagers already, but you know your father. He hates the idea that something would happen to you.” Felix’s mother looked at him with a sad smile. She had told Felix about his grandfather, yes, but Felix was quite sure it was deeper than that, there had always been this little tone of longing in her voice when she spoke of his father’s journeys. Maybe Amelia Lee also had a craving for the sea, a craving she couldn’t ever fulfill since the ships only recruited men.
”I know.” Felix answered.
The way to their family friend’s house, also known as the Smith family, was kind of long. Not really long, but they did have to cross the whole town, drive through the town center. Felix didn’t really mind, but he hated the fact that everyone stared at their carriage, some even mockingly bowed as they drove through the cobblestoned main streets. The sun was beginning to set, seeps of sunlight still reflecting from the sea that glimmered between the wooden buildings of the town. The last rays of sunshine made the inside of the carriage almost glow, the red velvet of the seats gleaming beautifully. The little golden details around the door and window shined.
Felix had always considered himself closer to his mother than his father. His father was always with the city council at the town hall, rumor had it he wasn’t as faithful to his beautiful wife as he was supposed to, so it wasn’t all that surprising Felix preferred the company of is mother. Even though sir Ainsley was in charge of his education, Felix had still learned more from his mother as well. More as in about actual life, not some stupid history facts. She had told him stories about his grandfather’s voyages and adventures, she had told him about the faraway lands, the art of sailing and everything about ships that she knew. She had taught him to navigate from the stars, and she had taught him to sew his torn clothes (because apparently Felix also had a habit of stumbling to every single rock on his way and breaking at least three pairs of trousers in a month and his mother, and the servants, were sick of patching up his clothes). Felix also looked more like his mother than his father. Small build, narrow shoulders. A rather round face, the doe eyes, small nose and small chin. Orange hair, a little curly. Upper lip thicker than the lower. Freckles. Felix hated his freckles. They made his face look dirty, especially with the tan the sun brought with itself. And you couldn’t avoid the sun in Nassau.
The wagon halted to a stop, and soon the door opened. Their coachman helped Mistress Lee out and Felix followed after her. They were at the Smiths’ house, almost at the front door. The house was magnificent, almost bigger than the Lees’ house. It was styled like any other villa back in London, a white stone building with Greek style pillars and huge windows. A thick bush fence surrounded the house and its garden, keeping the lower class out of Smiths’ area. Some chit-chatting could be heard coming from behind the house.
”Amelia! And Felix! So nice to see you!” Mistress Smith, a large woman with a sky-blue corset dress and a reddened face. Perhaps the cause of some wine to make the evening go faster?
”Linda! It’s been a while!” It had been two weeks, not ’a while’. Felix’s mother and Mistress Smith hugged, and then Felix was going to be a gentleman and kiss the back of Mistress Smith’s right hand but instead the woman took him in a hug. She smelled like lavenders and musk.
”No need for such chivalry! I have known you since you were in a cradle.” Felix smiled at the woman but stuck to the etiquette;
”You look stunning tonight, Mistress Smith.”
”Thank you, Felix, but save your pretty tongue. I am old and my best days have left me a long time ago, the other ladies in the garden are much more stunning than I am.” Felix’s stomach dropped a little, he knew exactly what Mistress Smith meant. However, he continued with a small, friendly smile on his face;
”Well, the days have only made you justice.” Mistress Smith giggled.
”You’re even worse than your father! But come on now, the evening tea is brewing. Charles arrived half an hour ago.”
Charles Lee, Felix’s father, the governor of Nassau. A strict man who only had a heart for those he loved, and there weren’t many people he loved. Felix followed after the two ladies to a beautiful garden behind the house. The apple trees were in full bloom, flower beds decorated the ground next to the pavement that lead to a patio on which a table and stools were set. Two men and two girls sat around the table. The trees casted a shadow over the patio, blocking the sunlight a little and making the temperature pleasantly warm.
The view was amazing, the sea sparkled underneath the setting sun and some birds were singing their last notes of the evening. The bay looked calm, a few ships were tied to the pier. The house was quite close to the strand, leaving the whole town behind them. Well, actually to their right side, since the town center was only a few blocks away from the pier and the road from the dock to the marketplace was straight uphill, leading to the town hall. All of the houses were built around that road, leaving the upper class’ houses either far from the center right next to the sea or right in the center. The Smiths, like the Lees had chosen to live next to the sea, far from the stir of the center.
The Smith’s butler was lighting candles on the table that was full of different kinds of pastries and cakes and cookies. A steaming hot jug of tea was placed in the center of the table.
”Amelia, my dear! And Felix!” Charles Lee rose from his stool and pulled out a chair for his wife. Felix nodded to his father as he went to shake Mister Smith’s and her daughters’ hands. Mister Smith was a greyed man in his late fifties, and he was in charge of the finances in Nassau. So, a tax collector. A very strict one, and if Felix was being honest, he was quite scary.
”Margaret, Annaliese”, Felix nodded at the girls. Margaret was his age, Annaliese a couple of years younger. It was no secret that Margaret fancied him, and their parents had plans on betrothing them. Or, at least Felix was pretty sure of it since there weren’t any other girls his age in the upper class of the island. Well, there was one, but Felix was quite certain she would move to London or Port Royal when she got the chance. Who would want to stay in Nassau anyway?
Felix sat down on his stool next to his mother, opposite of Margaret. The conversation turned immediately to the upcoming summer carnival, which was meant to bring people from surrounding islands to visit Nassau, perhaps even get them to move in their little town. Apparently some fancy people all the way from London were coming to see the carnival. Mister Lee and Mister Smith were talking about the costs, the ladies were talking about the new fashion trends in Europe that had finally reached Nassau.
Felix remained silent. Of course he did, Margaret was blushing madly in front of him and Felix didn’t have anything to talk about. He couldn’t join his father’s conversation because Mister Lee would only push him away, knowing him he would just say something along the lines of ”You’re too young to understand, Felix”. Not that Felix actually understood anything about finances. And he didn’t know jack’s shit about fashion, so he just sat there silently and stared at the table, fiddling the hem of his sleeves.
Soon the butler arrived, and everyone got their steaming cups of evening tea. The sun had finally set, the town underneath their feet was slowly quieting, getting ready for the night.
”So, uhh... Felix. How are your studies?” Margaret’s voice was quiet, not wanting to interrupt the adults. She always opened the conversations the same way.
”Normal. Sir Ainsley is going to lose his mind soon if I don’t start taking history lessons seriously.” Margaret giggled. She was a pretty girl, if Felix was being completely honest. Not in a breathtaking way, but in the sort of ordinary way. Golden hair, big eyes, long nose. Dressed in the latest fashion in a light blue corset dress. Felix had had to change to a red waist coat, white shirt and black breeches. And stockings, never forget the stockings. And the damn ruffle collar. Thank god the shirt was ruffleless.
”But history is important! And interesting.” Margaret lightly argued back, smiling. Annaliese was in her own thoughts, zoned out.
”Nah. It’s boring. Fencing is interesting.” Felix smiled back.
It had only been a couple of years when Margaret and Felix had still been really close friends. Felix missed it. He missed their long walks, their small trips to the other side of the island, their little jokes that only they understood. Back then there was no blushing or sweet talk or pressuring gazes from both of their parents. Now there was a one-sided crush and Felix knew he would never be able to answer to that. But he had to play along, or his father would get mad. And when he got mad, well, Felix got a stinging red cheek that slowly turned to different hues of blue and green and yellow.
”So… how are your French studies?” Felix asked Margaret.
”Normal. It’s easy, and Annaliese is better than me, so she helps me.” Felix nodded at her answer. The conversation died, an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Felix took a sip of his tea and stuffed some meat pie in his mouth as an excuse not to talk. The pie was delicious, so he wasn’t really complaining.
”Well, Felix, have you found yourself a lady yet?” Felix almost choked on his cup of rosehip tea. He most certainly had not expected that. Mister Smith looked at him with an expecting glint in his eyes.
”I- uhh… not really?” One gaze at his father and Felix knew he had given a wrong answer; ”M-maybe?” Felix glanced at Margaret, who looked a little disappointed, but tried to hide it.
”Well, that is nice to hear. Not too many choices on this island, are there?” Mister Smith continued. To him it was light banter, to Felix it was humiliating and almost suffocating. This wasn’t the first time Mister Smith had asked him the same question, though. Felix hated this, he hated the fact that he was going to be nineteen soon, and that he would have to find someone to marry. Or his parents would do that for him. Felix kind of hoped they would choose him someone from London or Liverpool or Port Royal or anywhere else, really, then he wouldn’t have to do that himself and he could just play along as he always did. Or that he would just dissolve into thin air before that.
”N-no, not really...”
”Has your father taken you to the town hall yet? I think it’s time for you to learn how to manage our little town.” Mister Smith winked at Felix’s father.
”Not yet, Mister. I wish he would.” Felix looked at his father and smiled. He didn’t wish that. He didn’t want to become a governor. It was far too much responsibility and it required all of the skills Felix didn’t have, like actually understanding something about finances and economy.
”Charles! You need to take Felix with you!” Mister Lee just shook his head, smiling.
”Oh no, Matthew, I shall not yet. I can’t bear the fact that my son is no longer young.”
The evening was warm, a hint of wind shook the apple blossoms. It was a nice exception to their daily routine; usually Felix would just sit in his room, read some book or play chess with his father (which he was incredibly bad at, at least according to his father, but Charles Lee insisted on playing until Felix would win, increases your logical thinking, he’d say). Or stare at the sea and wish for a ship to take him away. Really, his normal days were pretty boring. Up at eight o’clock, get dressed, join parents for a breakfast. At nine Mister Lee would leave for work and sir Ainsley would arrive for his and Felix’s daily lessons. History, mathematics, astronomy, French, all that jazz. At afternoon some fencing or horse riding, or both, in case of a pirate attack, apparently. After that Felix would just hang around, visit the town with some servants or go to the beach, or do something with his mother. Overall his life was pretty boring, at least to him.
Felix was often described as rather odd, at least by people who knew him. He had a problem with authorities, he didn’t like to be ordered around or follow any rules. That had got him in many troubles before, his father most certainly didn’t like it when Felix failed to obey his commands. When he had been little, he had often snuck out of the house and run off either to the city or the inland hills, just to explore the island with his best friend, Eric, who had moved to London roughly a year ago to study. And then his parents had had to chase him with servants around the island, look for the lost boys, who weren’t actually lost at all. He would do that nowadays, too, but most of the people recognized him and… well, not everyone in Nassau was loyal to their governor. In fact, most of the lower-class people didn’t like Felix’s father at all. Felix couldn’t really blame them. But he did sometimes ride to the other side of the island which didn’t have any inhabitants, just to relax and be at peace, stare at the wide sea before his eyes and maybe take a swim, too. Sometimes he brought his other friend along, but usually he was busy. A blacksmith’s son, of course he was busy. And from lower class and Felix’s dad didn’t like that at all, but the boys from the upper class were right now at the seas or had moved to bigger cities to study.
But even though he had a problem with authorities, and he didn’t like following rules or orders, he had an even bigger problem with those who went completely against the rules of society. Those who did everything as they pleased, destroyed homes and murdered people. In an island like Nassau it meant pirates, naturally. Felix had heard enough stories about those filthy rats to know that he would always despise them, and that was one reason he wanted to join the navy. To fight against them. To sink every single pirate ship in the Caribbean Sea. He was kind of glad pirates only harassed the bigger ports, though, but if they would ever dare to set a foot on Nassau, he was more than ready to stick a sword through their skulls. Or not.
”Have you heard the news, Charlie? The brethren are gaining more and more seas, and Medusa and Euryale have been seen only a few miles away from our island.” Felix’s attention snapped back to the conversation. He noticed Margaret was also listening, while their mothers were still talking about the newest bobbing lace techniques from India.
”I doubt they will harm us. We are a small port, nothing to steal here. I’m sure they are just passing by. Probably off to Havana again.”
”But they have attacked smaller towns too, haven’t they? It has only been a few weeks since they raided Port-au-Prince.”
”I suppose they have. But we’ll be okay, I’m certain of that.” Felix glanced at Margaret, who looked a little panicked. He knew she feared pirates more than anything, Mister Smith often told stories about his days as a sailor and the times he had had to face pirates. Felix’s father had also had his fair share of meeting pirates in his past. Probably one of the reasons Felix was so against them. Oh, how easy it was to influence a young person’s mind.
Felix noticed something odd in the midst of the conversation. While his father and Mister Smith were talking about the pirates, Mister Smith kept hurriedly glancing at Felix underneath his bushy grey eyebrows. Was there something on Felix’s face? Was it because of Margaret? Did he want Felix to talk more to her? Or had he said something inappropriate earlier? Felix bit the inner skin of his lower lip, a little confused.
”And besides, those two haven’t even been seen anywhere else in a long time. The only one that has been terrorizing the ports has been the Wicked Wench.” Felix knew something about those ships. The Wicked Wench was quite an old one, led by a former English navy sailor. The reward for his head was already 5 000 bucks, set by the King of England himself. The other two ships were more unfamiliar. The only things Felix knew were from rumors. Medusa’s and Euryale’s captains were brothers, and if the tale was true, there was a third brother. It would make sense, since Medusa and Euryale were sisters in the Greek mythology and the third sister was called Stheno (not so useless those history lessons now, were they?). But why were they here, when the rumor had it Medusa had last been seen in the shallow waters of Spain and Euryale had been anchored in Singapore?
”You’re right. But it is kind of suspicious.” Mister Smith glanced at Felix once again, before taking a sip of his whiskey the servant had just brought for him. Only for adults, of course.
”It is. We shall only hope that there isn’t going to be some sort of gathering of the Brethren of the Coast.” Felix shivered. The Brethren were some sort of loyalty-based agreement of some of the pirate lords of the Caribbean Sea. That meant they wouldn’t sink each other, and they would help each other to, well, terrorize other ships and towns. Collect riches. If the Brethren had all gathered in the same place at the same time, that meant only harm for other people. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the Spanish royalties had decided to bring their whole armada in the Caribbean Sea, and England was going to do the same.
The night had completely fallen, and the town was quiet. Felix could hear the waves crashing against the cliffs of the bay. It was peaceful, except for the chit-chatting, of course.
”What do you think?” Margaret quietly asked from Felix. She looked like she was about to jump from her seat at any second now.
”I’m sure it’s nothing.” But Felix was most certainly not sure. In fact, he was probably just as jumpy as Margaret. Felix wasn’t… scared, but he was a little… nervous. Yeah, nervous, that was the word. On one hand he wanted to beat as many pirate’s asses as he could if they were to get close to their little town, but on the other hand… Felix didn’t really have any experience in actual sword fighting. Or pirates. And he was afraid of them.
”Who wants some more tea? Felix?” Mistress Smith inquired. Felix nodded, just out of politeness. And he wanted something to do with his hands. Soon he got a new steaming hot cup of tea in front of him and the chat turned to Margaret and Annaliese and their daily life. Amelia was very fond of the girls, and Felix was quite sure she had also hoped for a daughter. He had never dared to ask why he was the only child.
It didn’t take long for Felix to get sleepy in the dim light of the night. He let his mind wander, listening to the on-going conversation with only half of an ear. Yes, Margaret had done some very beautiful cross-stitch works and Annaliese had picked up Spanish alongside of French and Felix was just a dumb boy compared to them (Amelia had a habit of comparing Felix to every other child, but Felix had got used to it, though he didn’t understand why she would constantly compare him with others yet still claim to love him but maybe it was one of those adult things Felix didn’t understand yet, and probably never would). The teacup clanked against the plate as Felix put it down. All of a sudden he heard a quiet shout and snapped out of his sleepy trance;
”Fire in the hole!” Fire in the hole? What the? Who would yell that? Maybe some children were still out playing? Or maybe he had fallen asleep for a second. Yeah, probably that, it had been a long day, and his stomach was full and it made him drowsy. Yeah.
A whistle.
Felix’s head snapped to the direction of the sound. Nothing.
An explosion.