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Chapter 17 Despite the warm tropical day outside the wall-city that surrounded the Tares Castle, the interior was cool, and even chilly in some places. A wide central corridor ran the entire circle of the city on each of the seven levels with thousands of rooms to each side. The rooms facing the ocean had boltholes the residents had used to defend the island, and the rooms facing the lagoon had wide balconies that let light into the city. Rin poked his head out a window on the second floor of the city. He could see the rowboat he’d used to come across the lagoon tied up at the dock below. The sailing and tactics classes were over for the day, and he wasn’t on K.P. for the dinner meal, so he had wanted to explore. He saw Bae swimming off the Broken King with his brothers and waved, but Bae didn’t see him. Rin ducked back inside to continue his exploration of the abandoned city. Each room Rin entered was a fascinating time capsule of artifacts from the ancient past. He’d found furniture draped in blankets long gone to decay, tables laden with the crudest eating utensils he’d ever seen, most having been carved from wood and stone. There had been a few rooms that had obviously belonged to wealthier individuals. He’d found treasure chests full of gold coins and gems, but he remembered what Bae had said about taking things from a historical site and let the rare gems slip through his fingers and back into the chest. By the time he’d found the fifth chest of rare treasure, he was starting to get angry. House Tares was constantly skirting on the edge of bankruptcy, yet here was a fortune in gold and gems they must know fill their ancient castle. He went back out to the main corridor; there was so much to see. Against the walls were rotted crates and barrels, and some of the barrels were filled with cutlasses, sabers, epees, broad swords, and bows with their strings hanging in rotted bits. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs, and from the size of some of the spider webs, he half-expected a giant spider to crawl out of some hole and start chasing him. Sconces attached to the wall and spaced twenty feet apart were dark and hadn’t seen a flame in a hundred years. Rin found an old lantern and shook it, not expecting to find any oil in it. He was surprised when the sloshing sound inside indicated it was full. There was a piece of metal and stone attached by a little chain hanging from the lantern. He wasn’t sure what they were for, but it didn’t matter, he couldn’t use the lantern because he didn’t have a lighter or even matches. He followed the corridor, poking his head in various rooms, until he came to a rope stretched across the hall. There was a sign hanging on the rope that read: Danger, unsafe. He peered through the dim light trying to see what was unsafe. There was some scaffolding and ladders against the wall and piles of big stones stacked up in the center of the corridor. He backtracked to some stairs and went up to the next floor, but again there was a rope across the hall. Whatever the damage was, it went all the way to the top. He backtracked again and went down to the bottom floor. The bottom floor was better lit and easier to see because of all the doors that went out to the docks that lined the interior side of the city. He heard voices and stopped to listen. It was just a faint murmur of many voices. He couldn’t make out what the voices were saying. Kale had said nobody was living in the city, so his curiosity peaked and he followed the sound of the voices. The voices grew louder as he reached a long open section with benches and tables filling a room in long rows. He walked among the tables and picked up a few of the old metal plates and mugs laid out on every table. It looked like everyone had been having dinner, and then just got up and left. The murmuring of voices was all around him now, but there was nobody here. At the far end of the room was an ornate archway that led into another room. He looked up at the arch covered in strange letters he’d never seen before. He walked through the arch into the second room and… “Make way, make way,” shouted a man holding a tray laden with bread and meat. Rin jumped aside. The room was hot and smelled of fresh bread and cooking meat, and there were people everywhere rushing around with more trays filled with food. Ovens against the far wall had pots and sizzling meat. The ovens were an odd oval shape and made of stone. He could see flames under the ovens. Boys kneeling next to the ovens were shoving wood into the fires. He backed up in confusion and ran into someone coming through the archway. “Watch where you’re going, boy,” a man growled at him. Rin spun around, the other room was now filled with at least a hundred people, maybe more, sitting at the tables and eating. It occurred to Rin that they all were dressed in old clothes like in the movies; they all looked like pirates. Someone came from behind him and spun him around, then shoved a tray with mugs of something sloshing over the tops of the mugs at him. “Don’t just stand there, boy, there’s a thirsty palate aplenty to go around.” Rin reflexively took the tray. The person that shoved the tray into his hands spun around and marched off to a stack of barrels against the wall. Rin couldn’t think of anything else to do, so he carried to tray of mugs to the nearest table. The men at the table grabbed the mugs and slid them down to their companions. “Keep the ale flowing, boy, we got a mighty thirst built up,” a man with hoop earrings and a hat with a feather told him. Rin wanted one of those hats. Rin backed away from the table, dropped the tray on the ground and fled for the corridor to the sounds of laughter behind him. The corridor was no longer empty, or filled with cobwebs. People were moving about on whatever business it was they were about, and all of them were dressed as a pirate might. Rin turned and ran back the way he’d come. He saw a man behind a wooden table filled with small vials of green goo. “Guaranteed to cure the scurvy, the wiggles, the black lung, and anything else that might ail you,” shouted the man to a small crowd gathered around the table. Rin made a wide circle around the man, but was stopped by three boys blocking his way. He tried to go around them, but the boys moved to stop his retreat. “Where do you think you’re going, slave boy?” said the oldest of the three. “I’m not a slave,” replied Rin. “Where am I, what’s going on?” “Aye, look at the way he’s dressed,” said another of the boys. “He’s a noble boy for sure, probably fresh off the ships and still dazed from the conk on his head when they took him.” The first boy nodded. “Waiting for your kin to pay the ransom, are you? You got a long wait, it’ll be a year or two before your ransom arrives.” “I’ll wager he’s got coin,” said the third boy. “Do you, noble boy?” asked the oldest boy. He opened his hand and threw a set of dice on the top of a barrel. “Aye, bad luck for you, two Lady Death’s and the Reaper it is you rolled.” The boy grinned at Rin. “You owe us ten coppers.” Rin shook his head in confusion. “I didn’t bet anything.” “Are you welching on a bet, noble boy? I supposing it’s our duty to be teaching you a lesson.” Rin narrowed his eyes. Now he understood at least what these boys were all about. They were just bullies looking to cause trouble. “Have you ever used a toothbrush?” Rin taunted the boy. “Your breath stinks.” The boy’s face turned red. He balled his hands into fists and charged. Rin had already anticipated what the boy would do. Rin turned to the side, stuck his leg out and crouched. He grabbed the boy’s arms and rolled him over his hip. The boy flipped in the air as Rin intended, and slammed hard onto his back. Rin heard the rush of air spill out of the boy’s lungs as he struck the ground. It was the same maneuver he’d used during the fight at the Tikimart parking lot. The other two boys moved in and grabbed Rin by the arms from behind. Rin had also expected this. He was still in a crouch and locked his arms to his chest so the two boys couldn’t let go. He pushed hard with his legs and launched up and over the two boys as one might flip over the parallel bar on a jungle gym at the playground. As he came down behind them, he pulled their arms back and took them off balance. The boys stumbled backward. Rin gave a hard tug and both boys fell on their backside. Rin smiled to himself that all the hours his old bodyguard had put him through learning self-defense was finally paying off. The first boy gasped for breath as he pushed himself to his feet. The boy snarled and pulled a knife from a small sheath on his belt. It wasn’t a fighting knife, but more of a knife you might cut your steak with. This too was something Rin could deal with. He’d never wanted to take the epee classes, but his father had insisted it was a family tradition. There was a barrel of swords against the wall, the same barrel that he’d looked at earlier, but was no longer covered in cobwebs and the swords now shiny and new. Rin grabbed an epee and took a fighting stance. The boy made a mistake and hesitated. Rin lunged forward, keeping his sword-hand leg even with his sword, but had no intention of stabbing the boy, instead he flicked his wrist and caused the blade to smack the boy’s wrist hard enough to sting. The boy dropped the knife and wailed. “Murder!” shouted the boy. “Not even close,” said a man that had stopped to watch. “You three run along now and find a weaker mark before this lad runs you through.” Rin turned his head to the man. He was the very image of a pirate with the long doublet, open shirt, a sash at his waist with a cutlass hanging from it, and a tricorne hat with an outlandish feather stuck in it. Rin really wanted one of those hats. The boy bent to retrieve his knife. “Leave it,” ordered the man. “You don’t know how to use it.” The three boys scrambled away. Rin lowered his sword, unsure what he should do next. The man frowned at him and held his hand out. Rin handed him the sword. “What ship brought you in?” asked the man. “I don’t know, I don’t remember,” said Rin. “Hmm… did you get hit on the head when your ship was boarded?” asked the man. Rin shrugged. “I don’t know.” “Well, for you to be walking around free, you must have taken the oath to behave until your ransom arrives. You would have been given the option to find a tradesman and live quiet until then, but you have forfeited your oath by taking up arms.” “I’m sorry,” said Rin. The man walked over to the barrel and put the sword back. He pushed the swords around until he found one he was looking for, then handed it to Rin. “That epee is a gentleman’s sword, and too long for you. This one I think will serve you better.” Rin took the sword he was offered. The new sword had a thicker blade, but still bore some resemblance to an epee. The man took a sword belt down from a peg on the wall and tossed it to Rin. “Do not ever apologize for being what you are, now show me your stance.” “I don’t know what I am,” said Rin. “You’re a boy about to get cuffed upside the head if you ever make me tell you something twice again,” said the man. Rin quickly took up his fighting stance with the sword. “Good, it fits you well, but we’ll need to work on your form,” the man stated. “Someone taught you a gentleman’s stance, and that will get you killed. Alright, come with me, and put the sword belt on, you can’t walk around waving a sword about.” The man set out at a brisk pace. Rin had to jog to keep up with him. He stuck the sword under one arm and fiddled with the sword belt until he got it fastened. Rin was starting to get an uneasy feeling he knew what was going on, but his rational mind kept telling him it wasn’t possible. There were plenty of movies about this sort of thing, but it didn’t happen in real life. “Where did you learn that fancy way of fist fighting?” asked the man after Rin had caught up with him. “I umm…” Rin wasn’t certain what to tell the man. “You’re a nobleman and had a man-at-arms, didn’t you?” The man asked but didn’t wait for an answer. “The only men-at-arms I know that can fight like that are from the east. Was he killed when we boarded your ship?” “Yes,” Rin half-lied. Mr. Raun had been killed when the cargo ship sank, but it was probably better to let the pirate think what he wanted. The man watched Rin from the corner of his eye. “Your father must be very wealthy to commission an eastern mercenary. Did he teach you more than those two moves I saw?” “He was with me since I was born,” Rin replied with a shrug. “My father wanted him to teach me self-defense, but it isn’t like I was getting belts or anything.” The man stopped and tipped his tricorne hat up to scratch at his head. “Your father never gave you a belt? How did you keep your breeches up?” Rin giggled. “He gave me belts, but not like a Black Belt.” The man looked confused. “Does the color of your belt matter where you are from?” “A Black Belt is a rank in martial arts,” explained Rin. “Well, here you may wear any color belt you wish,” said the man, obviously not understanding what Rin was trying to explain. “And who taught you swordsmanship?” “I had a fencing teacher,” replied Rin. The man gave Rin an odd look. “And building a fence has what to do with swordsmanship?” Rin’s mind whirled and he felt dizzy. Fencing had been invented two hundred years ago, but if the man didn’t know what fencing was then… but how? Time travel didn’t really exist, it was science fiction – or was it? If the Tares Pirates had a time machine, the man would have known Rin didn’t fit in this time period. Rin thought for a moment. House Tares were the most famous of the pirates and had collected treasure from all over the world. What if they had found a time machine and didn’t even know they had it? But where would the time machine have come from? Space aliens? Rin realized the man was still waiting for an answer. “Fencing is what we call swordsmanship in my country.” The pirate put his hat back on. “You are a very strange boy from a very strange land, check those chests over there and see if there isn’t some proper clothing, those clothes you’re wearing are disturbing to look at.” The man turned away without waiting for Rin and headed down a side passage. Rin looked down at his blazer and shorts. What was wrong with his clothes? He hurried over to the chests stacked against the wall. There were at least fifty or more chests, the kind you might store clothing inside. He opened the first one and found womans clothing. The next three chests were also womans clothing. The fifth chest was man’s clothing, but for someone much larger than him. It finally occurred to him that he was looking through the stolen possessions of people from ships the pirates had seized. It also occurred to him that some, maybe all, of the people that these chests had belonged to might have been made to walk the plank. He felt uncomfortable at the thought he was going through dead people’s possessions. The twelfth chest he opened was boys clothing. He sincerely hoped whomever the boy had been hadn’t been made to walk the plank. The reality of what a pirate really was wasn’t as much fun as his make-believe games. There was also the other side of the coin and Rin thought about that as well. These murderers and thieves had formed what would become the Tares nation, full of all the wonderful people that had been so good to him. And even Bae, whom had saved his life. Rin grabbed what clothing he thought he could use from the chest and slipped into a side alcove. There was just enough room in the alcove, and blocked from view by the stacks of clothing chests, that he was able to change into his new clothing. The shirt was five times too big with voluminous sleeves, and the breeches gave him a great deal of trouble until he realized there was no zipper, but instead had buttons and strings on the sides that had to be cinched tight. The legs of the breeches tied off just below the knees, but something felt wrong. He slipped back out of the alcove and watched other boys going about on their errands. Some of the boys wore long socks… no, not socks, they were different than socks. Rin remembered from a book he’d read, the socks were called stockings. He went back to the chest and found the stockings and a set of tall boots. Once he’d finished dressing, he looked down at himself. Something still wasn’t right. Of course! He was missing the doublet and tricorne hat, and a sash. He went back through the men’s chests and found a doublet small enough for him, and the hat, but it didn’t have the fancy feather like his pirate friend had. He looked in the women’s chests again and found a feather and a long piece of silk that could be used as a sash. Now he was ready. Rin ran the direction the pirate had gone. There were more crowds of people here, all carrying crates of food, barrels of gunpowder, and other supplies. He dodged and weaved and got jostled and shoved more than a few times. There was something about the smell of the saltwater, fish, and the ringing of bells along the warf that excited and fired his imagination - He felt that he belonged to this world. “Watch out, boy, you’re going to get trampled,” shouted a man. “Make yourself useful, carry something,” shouted another man. Rin grabbed a crate of bananas. He didn’t know where the bananas were supposed to go, but quickly found out. There was a large opening to the interior of the island. A pirate ship was docked alongside the Warf that surrounded the interior lagoon side of the wall-city. He walked to the stern and looked up at the large white letters painted on the ship. It was the Storm, one of the ships of the Captains of Nine. But the last time he’d seen it, only a half-hour ago, it was docked under the castle and not much more than a waterlogged wreck barely afloat. His eyes followed the docks around the large wall-city. He could see the other eight ships also docked. Rin cocked his head to the side listening to all the shouting. The ships were getting ready to sail. Rin realized the city was split into nine sections, each belonging to one of the Captains of Nine. A voice shouted. “Well, boy, what are going to do with those bananas?” Rin looked up. It was his pirate friend standing at the railing of the ship. “I like bananas,” said Rin with a grin. “What’s your name, boy?” asked his pirate friend. “Rin, Sir.” The man turned his head and looked down at the gangplank. A thin man was making marks in a book with a quill as supplies were loaded onto the ship. “Mr. Lovett, would you be so kind as to enter Mr. Rin’s name in the ship’s log as the Captain’s boy with pay at one-quarter share until he is blooded, upon which he will be promoted to Captain’s Man-at-Arms and receive one and one-half share.” “Aye, Captain,” the thin man shouted back. Rin went over to the thin man, he had a hard face and eyes that Rin was certain saw everything. “Mr. Rin is it, you’re mighty small for a man-at-arms,” said the thin man. Rin stuck his chin out. “I’m as fast as a cheetah, strong as a lion, and clever as a fox. I’ll best any man that says different.” Everyone within earshot roared with laughter at the little pirate’s boast. “And a tongue as quick as a snake, I should think,” said the thin man. “Where did Captain Baestar find you?” Rin’s eyes widened. “Captain Baestar?” “You do not know whose ship you signed onto?” The thin man laughed and was joined with more laughter from those crowding around. “Get aboard, little fox, we sail within the hour, a merchant convoy was spotted, it will be good hunting today.” Rin walked up the gangplank and deposited his crate of bananas with other crates waiting to be stored, then went and stood next to the man that was Bae’s ancestor. And it was good hunting that day, and all the days that followed. The days slipped into weeks, and the weeks into months, and the months into years. Rin sailed to many adventures with Captain Baestar, and buried a great deal of treasure all throughout the islands. Captain Baestar began to show his years and Rin was given command of The Storm. He often visited Altain Island and staked out where the harbor town was to be, and even laid the first stone. He might have dressed as a Tares pirate, and lived as one, but he was still a Lothan in his heart and building empires was in his blood. He marked out where each of the plantations would be on each island, cleared the land, and prepared the foundation of what would become the Tares Nation. Captain Baestar in the fullness of time passed away and Rin’s heart grew heavy. He was lonely without his old friend that had rescued him on that first day he’d arrived. Rin passed command of The Storm to the next Baestar in line and spent his autumn days walking along the beach and remembering all that was. The nights seemed cooler now and he’d taken to sitting next to the fire in the dining hall. Someone had brought a big cushioned chair for him. He lowered his old bones into the chair and a boy brought him a mug of hot ale. Rin closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him. A group of young men at one table were talking of a ship they’d recently taken as a prize. Another group spoke of young women, and another, a Captain and his First Mate were carefully counting out the shares of gold they’d recently taken from a Kings Galleon. He also heard the hushed whispers. “Who is he?” whispered a young boy. “That is Captain Rin,” replied an older man. “He commanded The Storm and was one of our greatest Captains.” “Is he going to die?” asked the boy. “Hush with that talk,” said the man. “Go see if he needs some more hot ale.” Rin heard the boy approach. “Captain Rin… Captain Rin… Are you okay?” The voice grew dim… “Rin… Rin… Are you okay? Hey Rin.” Rin opened his eyes, a boy was standing over him. “Rin, are you okay? Everyone’s been looking for you.” The dining hall was dark and all the people gone save the boy. “Bae?” “Did you fall asleep?” asked Bae. Rin sat up, the chair was much larger than he remembered. “I…I…think I did. I was dreaming.” “It must have been a good dream, we’ve been shouting our heads off looking for you,” said Bae. “It’s easy to get lost in here.” “I don’t remember,” said Rin, the dream already fading to a vague memory as dream do. “Come on, everyone’s worried,” said Bae. Rin stood. Bae held a lantern up and led the way. Rin followed out to the main corridor. He looked back at the dining hall and felt that he was forgetting something very important. He shook his head and followed after Bae.