Chapter 6 Rin ran his fingers along the surface of the small sphere of what he was pretty sure were many people twined into knots. The sphere rested on a typical pedestal in the hall outside his room. They were going to stay one night on the island before escorting Governor Baestar’s body back to Altain Island. Rin tipped his head to the side and tried to follow each leg back to which body it belonged, but hadn’t been successful yet. His room was opposite Bae’s, not a palace room, but more like a Bread and Breakfast Inn beyond its prime. “You should leave that alone,” said Massi, standing across the hall and waiting outside Bae’s door. “I’m trying to figure out who’s leg is who’s.” “It’s an island fertility sphere.” “What’s that?” Massi squinted an eye, it wasn’t really his place to say, but he did anyway. “They’re doing the thing you do to make a baby.” Rin snatched his hand back and frantically wiped it on his coat. “Ew… what’s wrong with you, put it in a closet, why’s it out where people can see it?” Massi shrugged. “You can’t see anything.” “How do you know?” “I’ve looked.” “You need help.” “You were looking too.” “I thought it was a puzzle.” The door opened to Bae’s room and he stepped out into the hall wearing his naval uniform; now pressed and prepared properly by Mrs. Hansson. “Hey, what’s all the yelling out here?” “Rin was counting legs,” said Massi. Bae brushed at some imaginary lint on his uniform. “Remember when we tried to figure that thing out?” Bae crossed the hall and peered at the sphere. “I still think that’s the man’s leg,” said Bae tapping on the sphere with a finger. Massi pushed off the wall and followed Bae over to the sphere. “No, that’s the lady’s leg, and that’s the man’s leg.” Rin, not to be left out leaned in and also tapped on the sphere. “I think this is his leg.” “That’s not a leg,” said Massi. “Oh gross.” Rin wiped his hand on his coat again, then suddenly dropped to the floor and tried to hide behind the pedestal. “What are you boys doing?” asked Mrs. Hansson. Bae and Massi spun around and turned red. “And make it good, you know I don’t like lies you didn’t put any effort in.” Bae looked at Massi, then back to Mrs. Hansson. “We were just discussing pre-tribal art and its influence on early cultural development.” “Well then, you do pay attention in class,” said Mrs. Hansson. “Okay, I’ll accept that excuse. Now, if you really want to know about that art piece, you could always read the fact sheet for new docents kept in the drawer at the base of the pedestal.” Mrs. Hansson frowned. “Rin, get up before you scuff your new shoes.” Rin stood with a piece of paper he was reading. “Hey, this isn’t a fertility sphere, it’s a language sphere. If you hold it in your hands and turn it in different directions, you can see the shapes of the first letters of the first language.” “That can’t be right, Mikai told us it was a fertility sphere,” said Bae. “Who’s Mikai?” asked Rin. “One of my older brothers.” Bae tilted his head, then smacked his forehead. “Wait till I see him again, I’m going to pound him.” Massi flicked a finger at the sphere. “Not if I see him first. We searched that thing for years looking for a…” Massi paused seeing Rin staring intently at him. “A what?” asked Rin. “Never you mind what they were looking for, they both got what they deserved. Come along, boys, you don’t want to be late,” said Mrs. Hansson. Rin ran ahead and checked the other pedestals for the fact sheets. He couldn’t help but notice the carpet was thread bare and he could see the wood floor beneath. The tapestries that hung on the walls were also faded and hadn’t been well taken care of, and the paintings were cracked and the paint flaking away, but some of the art looked valuable. Rin was running his hand over a sculpture of a dolphin and looked at Bae. “Was House Tares wealthy once?” Bae’s eyes flicked to the paintings. “Yes, a long time ago.” “What happened?” “There were gold mines, but my ancestors squandered the gold on luxuries. This mansion was once filled with art and treasures, but now it’s just an old broken down building with everything of value sold off.” “I think some of this stuff is still valuable.” “Did you know that the Tares were the original pirates?” “Really?” Rin looked up at Bae. “You were a pirate?” “My ancestors, not me,” Bae clarified. “But, treasure is still in my blood, I can’t help it. I think of treasure and I get all warm and fuzzy inside.” Rin turned around and walked backwards to face Massi following them. “Are you an Altain, or a Tares?” “I’m an Altain,” replied Massi. Bae grabbed Rin by the shoulder and stopped him. “You better walk forward, you’re about to fall down the stairs.” Rin grinned and spun around to follow Bae down the stairs. “How are just the four of you supposed to defend Altain Island?” Bae gave Rin a wry grin. “Nobody wants to attack Altain Island, we don’t have anything.” Rin bounced down the stairs and took off around the corner. “I’m going to get some breakfast,” he shouted. “Don’t you spill anything on that suit, young man,” Mrs. Hansson called out after him.” “I could use some breakfast too,” added Bae. The dining room was in the East Wing of the mansion. Bae could see Rin at a full run and nearly at the end of the hall. The art on this floor was better quality than what was relegated to the living quarters. Bae noticed several paintings from his last visit were missing; more irreplaceable art sold off to keep the House out of bankruptcy. He wondered how much longer it would be before Father would be forced to sell the mansion and move into a modest manor house. Bae was pretty sure he was living the end days of House Tares. That pirate had been right, the aristocracy was all but gone, at least out here on the islands. Bae remembered when he was younger. The mansion had always had people waiting to see Lord Tares, but now the hall was empty. A man Bae recognized stepped out from the ballroom where Lord Tares conducted formal interviews and business. “Your father is ready for you now,” announced the Protocol Officer. “Already? We haven’t had breakfast yet,” said Bae. “It’s best to get the ceremony over with,” said Mrs. Hansson. “Do you remember your lines?” Bae frowned. “How could I, they’re humiliating. I hate this ceremony.” Mrs. Hansson smiled. “I’ll go find Rin. You stall as long as you can.” Bae faced the door to the ballroom and took a deep breath. He watched as Massi took down the long ceremonial spear. Bae hated that spear. The Protocol Officer opened the doors and Massi handed the spear to Bae. Bae took a step into the large room. The news crews were lined up against the far wall behind a velvet rope as usual, but the six men standing next to Lord Tares was something Bae hadn’t seen before. The Protocol Officer stepped forward and pounded on the floor three times with an ornately carved walking cane. “The Rising Bae Star, Lord Admiral of the Altain Navy, Commander of the Altain Armies, Prince of the Altain Sea, His Lordship, Governor Baestar.” Bae’s eyes shifted to the Protocol Officer. He had always only been announced as Master Baestar. All the extra titles were ridiculous. He was Admiral of one Gunboat, 12 sailors, and a Rescue tug. And the Altain Army was just anyone that showed up for the annual training that lasted all of one afternoon, and usually finished with a barbeque on the beach. And the senseless title of Prince of the Altain Sea was as equally useless, how could anyone claim to be a Prince of the Sea? He was pretty sure the ocean wasn’t going to obey him no matter how long he stood on the beach and shouted orders at it. He gripped the ancient spear and walked towards Lord Tares, his father. The squeaky sound of his dress shoes made him cringe with each step. Surely everyone in the room could hear his shoes creaking. He kept his eyes forward as he walked, but the temptation to look towards the clicking sounds of the cameras was difficult to ignore. Bae stopped at a small piece of red tape on the floor; the designated distance, and closest he was permitted to his father – never in his life would he be permitted to come closer than this point. He and his brothers and all the generations before him were the sacrifices House Tares had made to remain in power. There was a pause while his father stared at him. Bae said nothing and remained standing with his head and eyes forward. Lord Tares finally spoke. “We have given the Altain our 5th Son, and yet the Altain still will not kneel before us.” “The Altain are as the ocean that flows around our island. The ocean does not kneel,” replied Bae. “And is our 5th Son well?” “He is loved and cherished among us as our own son,” Bae repeated the words spoken by every Baestar since the first sacrifice that had ended the Aristocracy Wars, at least on the Islands. “In this only we lay down our spears and accept the offering of peace.” Bae held the spear out to his side, then let it fall. The spear clattered against the hardwood floor. Lord Tares lowered his voice. “Our heart breaks that we cannot take our son into our arms.” Bae smiled weakly, those last words were not part of the ceremony, but the early Chieftains of the various islands had not objected to that one small mercy to a heartbroken father that would never be allowed to hold his children. “Are you well, father?” asked Bae. Lord Tares raised a hand. “We can speak of more pleasant things later, but for now we have an unpleasant business that must be dealt with.” Lord Tares nodded at one of the men to his right. The man was holding a folded piece of paper and came forward to Bae. The man held the paper out. Confused, Bae took the paper. “Lord Governor Baestar, you have been served,” said the man. Bae looked at the paper in his hand, then up to Lord Tares. “Father?” Lord Tares gestured to the men. “These gentlemen are the owners and investors of the Charter Boats you have ordered pressed into Altain service. You had no legal right to have done that, they have filed a lawsuit against you. However, I have interceded on your behalf. If you willingly rescind your order and publicly apologize in front of the news crews, they will drop the law suit. Bae’s mouth dropped in shock at the betrayal. The order had been sound, his people would starve without those boats. Bae stared at his father in disbelief that anyone could be so uncaring not to see what hardships this would cause to the Altains. Bae’s anger rose in his throat and he was about to respond when a familiar voice cut across the room. “Wait for me, wait for me,” shouted Rin. “I got lost. Did you know there’s a whole room of green plates with flowers on them? Did I miss the ceremony? I wanted to see it? Can you do it again?” The news crews wasted no time. They would normally have remained silent, but this was Rinathian Lothan, 1st Son to one of the wealthiest Houses in the world, and if Rin was going to give them an opening in the chaos he was causing, they were going to take it. “Master Rinathian, can you tell us about your ordeal?” shouted one reporter. “Where you scared?” shouted another. “Have you spoken with your father yet?” shouted yet another. Bae turned his head towards Rin. Rin waved at Lord Tares. “Hi, Bae’s dad,” shouted Rin, and then diverted towards the news crews. “Hi, everybody.” Bae’s eyes widened. Had Rin really just referred to Lord Tares as, Bae’s dad? Bae looked toward Mrs. Hansson standing near the door. He expected to see her having a fit that Rin was so flagrantly breaking protocol, but she wasn’t. Mrs. Hansson had her arms crossed and was glaring towards Lord Tares. Bae whipped his head around to watch Rin. Oh no, whatever Rin was doing, Mrs. Hansson was in on it. Rin stopped at the velvet rope in front of the news crews. “Can I say hi to my mom and dad back home?” asked Rin. “Of course,” replied one of the reporters. Rin broke out his widest smile and waved at the cameras. “Hi mom, hi dad. I’m okay.” “Master Rinathian, I’m sure the Lothan people would like to hear about your adventure,” said a reporter. “We’re on a live feed, they’re listening if you’d like to speak to them.” Rin let his smile evaporate and dropped his head. “It wasn’t an adventure,” said Rin softly, almost a whisper. “It was terrible. I was scared.” “What happened?” asked a reporter. Rin nodded and looked up at the camera. “I was in my bed on the cargo ship, because I wasn’t feeling good. The ship was rocking all over the place.” Rin gave the camera a heart wrenching half-grin. “I’d already thrown up a few times. The hurricane was really bad. My bodyguard came in and told me to get dressed, but I was already dressed. He put my life vest on me and told me we were going up on deck to wait near the life boats.” Rin paused. The cameras clicked. The reporters leaned forward. And Bae was certain now that Rin was about to spin a story, but he wasn’t certain what he was up to, but the pause was effective, even Lord Tares was listening raptly to the story. “We were almost half-way to the upper decks when the ship rolled onto its side. My bodyguard caught me from falling and carried me the rest of the way, but water was coming in from somewhere and the hall was filling up. It was so cold. Then the lights went out and the emergency lights came on. We made it to the stairs, but there was so much water pouring in, we couldn’t get out. My bodyguard then carried me down another hallway to a hatch, or a door, something. He opened it and a lot of water started coming in. He shoved me through the hatch and told me to swim away from the ship. I did, and when I looked back, the hatch was underwater. I never saw my bodyguard again.” Rin paused again. Bae heard a few sniffles and was pretty sure they were genuine. “My bodyguard’s name was, Mr. Raun,” continued Rin. “Father, would you make sure Mr. Raun’s family is taken care of, Mr. Raun is a hero.” Rin swiped at the tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to continue,” said a reporter. “I want to, it’s important,” said Rin. “So, I was outside now, and it was raining, and the wind was so loud, and the waves were awful. I swam and swam, but I didn’t know where to go, then I saw a lifeboat and tried to swim to it, but I was so tired by then. If it wasn’t for the life vest Mr. Raun put on me, I would have already been dead. The waves pushed me away from the lifeboat, and that was it. I was too tired to go on. I knew I was going to die. Then, out of nowhere someone put an arm around me and said, you’re safe, I’ve got you.” Rin turned around and pointed. “It was Bae, and I’ll never forget those words, I’ve got you. Then he was swimming and pulling me with him. We swam forever, I saw the lights from another ship, and then they were gone.” Rin turned back around to the reporters. “Bae had lost sight of his ship because of the waves.” Rin took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something, and I swear it’s true. Bae stopped swimming for a second because we couldn’t see his ship. I twisted my head around to see him from the corner of my eye. His head was right next to mine, so I heard what he said. Bae looked up at the sky and said, Bae Star, help me, I offer my life for his.” Bae kept his expression neutral, but that wasn’t what he had said. Rin was now embellishing the story. “Right after he said it, I heard music,” continued Rin. “And then a huge sea monster came up next to us. It had a huge eye and water was spraying up out of the top of the monster. Then Bae looked right at the monster and said, ‘show me the way’. And the monster did, it swam in front of us and Bae followed. The monster took us right to Bae’s rescue ship.” “You must have been terribly frightened,” said a reporter. “I was, until Bae said, I got you, then I wasn’t scared anymore. After the storm was over, Bae took me out onto the beach of the island where we were anchored. He showed me how to find treasure. See?” Rin pulled a chain with a copper ring out from under his collar and showed the reporters. “And then we had a picnic, and Bae gave me papaya to try, and it was good. I’m going to buy all the papaya Bae can sell me.” “Master Rinathian, are you announcing a major trade agreement with House Tares?” said another reporter. “Oh, yes, Bae and I are partners.” Rin paused for just a brief second and narrowed his eyes dangerously. “You guys like Bae, don’t you? Anybody that doesn’t like Bae wouldn’t be my friend.” The reporters fell silent as the realization that they had been baited, hooked and set by the adorable ten-year old prodigy of House Lothan. The threat was clear, every eye shifted to the six men that had just served Bae a summons to appear in court. The reporters could smell the blood in the water; the shark was circling and none of them wanted caught in the coming carnage. Rin turned away and trotted back towards Bae. “Hi, Bae’s dad,” said Rin again as he walked past the large man. Lord Tares bowed his head. “Master Rinathian.” Rin looked down at the spear lying on the floor. “Oh, you dropped your spear.” Rin bent down and picked up the spear, then thrust it into the air a few times. “This is a nice spear, we could use this against pirates, huh.” Bae gave Rin a small shrug and grin, unsure what chaos Rin was about to cause next. Rin suddenly spun around, leveled the spear at the six wealthy investors and lunged at them. The men jumped back to avoid the attack. Rin struck such a dramatic and dangerous pose that even Bae stepped back. The cameras from the news crews clicked furiously to capture the image of the attacking boy. Lord Tares didn’t budge, he had already guessed what was coming next, and approved. Rin was going to do what his hands had been tied and unable to do. Rin was defending Bae. That was why Rin had gone to the cameras first. Rin knew his father would be alerted immediately that his son was on live television, and anything the investors said, they were saying to Lord Lothan. “Arr, ye scurvy pirates, be ye friend or foe,” Rin shouted in his best pirate voice as he waved the spear back and forth at them. Bae almost laughed at the frantic expression on the six men’s faces. Bae also noticed his father was suppressing a laugh. So his father hadn’t betrayed him, he had just been unable to do anything to help. Bae wondered how much of this was Mrs. Hansson’s plan, and how much was Rin making it up as he went. The man that had handed Bae the summons spoke. “I assure you, Master Rinathian, we are certainly friends of the Altains. Perhaps we were too hasty and didn’t fully understand the state of the emergency the Altains have found themselves in. We will do everything we can to assist.” “See to it, ye dog of the sea, or I be making ye walk the plank,” said Rin. Rin raised the spear and turned back to Bae. “Hi, Bae’s dad,” said Rin, as he walked past again. Rin stopped in front of Bae and snatched the summons from his hand, crumpled it in one hand, and threw it on the floor. “All done, you’re welcome,” said Rin, then walked past and back towards the door. Rin raised the spear in the air as he walked away. “Can I keep this… I’m keeping this… you never know when pirates might attack again.” Bae looked to his father. “Let him keep it, we can make another, just make sure he doesn’t stab anybody with it, go on now, we’ll talk later,” said Lord Tares, then turned to the six men. “Get out.” *** Meanwhile in the Lothan Boardroom on the mainland… Lord Lothan stared at the television screen as his son played out his comical antics. “Can anyone tell me what a papaya is?” “Yes, Sir,” said a man at the long boardroom table. “I sail out to the islands every year, it’s a wonderful sweet fruit, but you can’t get it here on the mainland.” “And why is that?” asked Lord Lothan. Another advisor raised a hand and spoke. “Sir, the Tares are a joke, they’re always on the verge of bankruptcy. Nobody will give them a line of credit, or bother trading with them.” Lord Lothan stood and walked to the screen. He smiled as Rinathian lunged at the investors with a spear and threatened to make them walk the plank. It wasn’t an approved technique, and certainly not one he’d taught the boy, but it was effective. “Sir, that right there is the whole problem,” continued the advisor. “A ten year old boy is running circles around them. Lord Tares looks like a deer caught in a headlight.” Lord Lothan waved a hand. “Rewind this back to the beginning.” The video rewound and started over. “Freeze it there. Look, Rinathian came into the room with that woman. She’s saying something to him, and then he starts his act. Continue the video.” The video rolled forward for a few more seconds. “Stop, there it is. See how she’s glaring at Lord Tares for not protecting his son. The man is a fool, but she has the brains to know what to do, and Rinathian is more than willing to play his part. I believe the friendship between young Baestar and Rinathian is sincere, but that woman is the one we need to negotiate with. Prepare my plane, I want to be on Tares Island in four hours, we’re going to corner the papaya market.” “Sir, shouldn’t we do a market study first?” asked the advisor. Lord Lothan glanced at the man and chuckled. “Have you ever attempted to get a ten year old to try a new food? If Rinathian likes this papaya fruit, I guarantee you there is a market for it. Rinathian has found gold, and he knows it. Where’s my attorney?” “Here, Sir,” a man called out as he ran into the boardroom. “Sorry, I just got out of court, the monopoly suit against House Lothan has been dismissed.” “Well done, now review this video. The six investors my son squares off with lied to him, you can see it in their eyes. Crush them.” “Yes, Sir.”