Pieces of Jade (Pirates of Orea) (27 page)

I could almost see my ancestors there, transparent but living phantasms, bustling about their day’s work as the children played. The empty houses filled me with an indescribable sorrow. How sad that a plague had destroyed all who once lived here. Then my eyes landed on something in the house nearest to me, something I must be imagining.

I stumbled toward it, my eyes fixed on the spot of dull white reflecting grimly in the sun. I braced myself against the rough stone that framed the door and peered down at the floor, lost in revulsion.

The skeletons of an entire family lay there. The father, I would guess, lay across the threshold of the door, as if to protect his family. But that’s not what had drawn me here. It was the sword still stuck through the bones of his ribcage, pinning what was left of his corpse to the ground. Time had eaten away his flesh, and the sun had bleached the bones of his outstretched arm, leaving it a much lighter shade than the rest of his skeleton. The rest were huddled in a corner, the arms of a larger skeleton enclosing the frames of three smaller ones in an embrace. The skull from what had to have been the mother rested several feet away, its empty eye sockets staring up dully into the roof of their home.

Someone had murdered this family.
But why? And why had no one buried their remains? How could they find peace in the next life without burial?

The captain appeared at my side. He kicked at the sword’s hilt, making it tremble in the air. “That sure doesn’t look like death by epidemic.”

The sounds of footsteps crunched behind me, and I heard William swearing as he absorbed the scene in front of him.

“Come with me, Sheridan,” William said at length.

“We can’t leave them like that. Their souls aren’t at rest until they’re buried.”

“I know. We’ll do it before we leave.”

“Thank you,” I said meeting his eyes.

He ducked his head and nodded. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” I asked.

“The palace,” the captain said, and pointed to a building glistening through the trees. “It has to be there.”

The castle itself was small, much smaller than the one I grew up in, but still beautiful. With such a favorable climate, the roofs had been constructed with openings that let the sunshine pour in. Detailed frescoes lined the walls depicting dolphins, octopi and other creatures from the sea. Mosaics of precisely cut stones created floral patterns beneath our feet.

I shuddered as we walked through its silent halls. The remains of the family I had seen refused to leave my mind and I feared with every turn that we would run into more remains. After all, the whole population had died and I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle seeing.

We exhausted several hours wandering around the palace and through its grounds. William and his brother paged through every scroll or scrap of paper they found, skimming their contents. They inspected various artifacts and searched for hidden compartments, without any luck. Since I had no idea what they were looking for I couldn't help, nor would I have wanted to. Both William and the captain’s pace slowed and their shoulders hunched with each passing room.

I hated seeing William helping his brother. It reminded me he was a pirate.

When they discovered the entrance to a cave, William patted his brother on the back. “Maybe this is it.”

“If we're lucky,” the captain said. Pulling his sword from his scabbard
, he motioned me inside the tunnel-like opening.

The walls of the cave shone with jewels—topaz, emerald, and diamond—which gleamed in the sunlight coming through the shafts that appeared to have been drilled to permit light and air. Were these gems the treasure they sought? The cave narrowed before opening into a vast cavern, the size of a banquet hall. Its ceiling reached skyward in what seemed an almost unnatural formation, more geometrically square than naturally round and ragged.

Above me, a mezzanine level of overhanging alcoves had been chiseled from the stone walls, with stairs and corridors to connect them. Benches lined the perimeter of the walls, made from the same rock but polished smooth. It was obvious that this space had been highly significant since such care had been taken in carving it out of solid volcanic rock.

“This is beautiful.” William whistled, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling.

“It has to be here.” The captain started up the stairs. “But where?”

A deep, clear pool of water graced the middle of the cavern. On the bottom, jewels reflected the dim light. Behind the pool stood an altar of smooth white stone, a sharp contrast to the black stone surrounding it. A shaft of sunlight fell on the altar’s surface, making it seem illuminated from within.
My feet carried me to the altar.

Its polished surface reflected like a looking glass, and I peered down at my reflection, startling once again at my aged disguise. I dropped to my knees in front of it, reverenced by its sacred beauty.

A pearly white gem, the same shape as my medallion, protruded from the top. My hands rose to touch it, but jerked back in surprise at the heat emanating from it. I still longed—no, needed—to touch it. My hands stretched out, caressing the emblem. Heat scorched through me and I gasped, pulling my hands away. As I did, unseen points snagged my fingers, pricking each one, so that ten drops of blood, one from each finger, fell onto the clean stone. The blood soaked into the altar, leaving the surface as gleaming and pristine as before.

The cave began to vibrate, grumbling around me like a child being roused from a nap.

“The roof is caving in!” the captain shouted. “Run! Before we're trapped!”

I took a step forward but the ground shifted from under my feet and my balance faltered, throwing me against the altar where another surge of heat jolted me. Energy spiked through me, filling me to bursting. I screamed and my eyes rolled back in my head, but something bound me to the altar, and I couldn’t let go. Sweat dripped down my spine, my pulse galloped, and my body quivered. Light seeped from my pores, dripped from the ends of my hair, making me glow while a matching shine emanated from the jewels in the room. Searing white heat rippled through my chest.

What was happening to me?

William drew his sword as he ran to me,
then grunted as a spark crackled at his feet and he flew backwards skidding across the floor as he landed. Immediately he sprang to try again, once more being knocked off his feet.

The pain in my body intensified, pounding in my skull until the edges of my vision grew dark. My head flew back and a guttural cry tore from my throat shooting a beam of light straight up where it collided with the light from the jewels, bunching into a single glowing ball that swelled as the light grew. A bolt of power, like lightning, arced from the sphere of light and struck me in the chest. The music from my dream flooded my ears. A flash of silver flared from my, skin cascading the room in a light so brilliant I had to close my eyes. Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the rumbling stopped, the light flickered out and the pain left me.

Silence echoed through the chamber and I collapsed to the floor. Panting, I rolled onto my back, surprised to see the ceiling intact. A searing pain pulsed in my palm, a quick glance showed the emblem of the gem burned into my flesh. But in the blink of an eye it vanished.

What was that? It was like I’d been caught in a magic riptide that tossed me around, holding me under until I almost drowned. In my chest, something new stirred like it’d broken loose at the altar. And it felt like I’d shed a corset and could breathe deep for the first time in my life.

The captain stood rooted to the spot, wide-eyed. William rushed to my side and this time nothing stopped him. He put an arm around me, bringing my head to his chest.

“Are you all right?” he asked, holding me tight. The steady cadence of his heart helped my own to slow. He stroked my hair and placed a kiss on the crown of my head. Each touch of his was like a drug numbing the pain.

The answer should have been ‘no,’ but in the safety of his arms I was all right. I gave him a small nod and nestled closer, my finger resting against the soft fabric of his shirt.

The serenity of the moment was ruined when the captain crouched down into my line of sight and asked, “Are you two quite done?
”

William reached out and shoved his brother back. I laughed and asked William to help me to the water.

My fingertips were bloody and my sore muscles ached, but I barely noticed because William swept me up in his arms, carrying me to the pool’s edge. With a contented sigh, I looped my arms around his neck, resting my forehead on his shoulder. I inhaled his fresh, pine-needle scent and stroked his cheek with the back of my hand.

“You need to stop that if you want me to put you down,” he said in a husky voice.

I loosened my arms. “Sorry.”

His lips grazed my neck. “Don’t apologize. I enjoyed it. That was the problem.”

He gently put me down, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into his embrace. Without his touch, my pain reasserted its dominance and I lowered myself to the pool.

William wet a handkerchief and gave it to me. While I wiped the
blood and dirt from my hands, he scooped some water in his cupped hands, and brought it to my lips. The water was sweet to my sore throat.

The captain stepped beside me, the water reflecting his confused face. “What happened?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

New beads of blood gathered on my fingertips so I dipped them in the pool. The icy water turned warm as the blood twirled in its depths. The jewels glittering in the bottom of the pool appeared to twinkle. My eyes widened when I realized they weren’t gems but stars and the orb of the
moon. Were they a reflection? I glanced up through the airshaft above, squinting at the sunlight streaming in, and then frowned down at the image in the water. Once again, a starry moonlit sky shone up at me.

My forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Do you see that?” I asked, pointing into the water.

The men bent closer to examine it and both jerked in surprise.

“It’s amazing,” William said. “There’s still magic in this place.”

“It
is
beautiful,” the captain said, “but not what we came for. We should be going.”

“Clayton!” William called, his voice full of wonder. “Look at the water.”

The captain peered in. “Why?”

I leaned over too, not believing what I saw. The moonlit scene had changed and now it showed a fleet of naval ships lined up in battle formation against a single vessel. While the fleet tossed violently in a storm, the lone ship—I recognized it as the Mary Rose, one of the ships from the royal armada—sat in the water, calm and firm.

The image changed again, focusing on a couple standing at the bow of the Mary Rose. An old woman clasped hands with the pirate captain. It took me a moment to realize the woman in the vision was
me.

“I’m here with you until the end,” my vision self said. The captain turned back to look at the enemy lined up against us, waiting to strike.

“It’s suicide for anyone who stays. I release you from your blood oath,” he said, looking as if the act pained him to his very soul. “Take a longboat and some men and get out of here, now!”

“I don’t want to be released from my blood vow. I want to stay!” my vision-self insisted, and as I watched in horror, the captain leaned down to kiss the top of my frail head, his face full of genuine love and unspoken emotion. The pool shimmered and the vision faded away.

A slick film of perspiration covered me. I shuddered and put a hand to my head, trying to wipe from my mind the image of him kissing my head.

The scene was gone now, the true reflection of sunlight staring up at me from the shallow basin, along with the reflection of the captain and the look of repulsion on his face.

“You saw that,” I stated dully.

I watched his reflection lace his hands behind his neck. “I did.”

I looked at William, wondering what he had to say, but he remained quiet, his eyes thoughtful.

“Don't worry.” I pursed my lips. “That will never happen.”

“I should think not,” the captain agreed.

“Finally we agree on something,” I said, struggling to my feet and drying my hands off on my dress. “What now?”

The captain sucked on his bottom lip for several seconds before stating flatly, “It isn’t here.” He paused, looking lost and almost scared. “We keep searching.”

I startled at the unexpectedness of his statement. “We’re leaving without prying any gems from the wall?”

His eyebrows rose. “Why would I do that?”

“I thought you were after a treasure.”

“You’ve never tried to understand me. Out that way, I should think.” He pointed towards the far side of the room, directly opposite from where we had entered.

William strode ahead across the room and down another tunnel that led us outside. Emerging from the darkened passageway, I blinked at the sudden brightness of the sun. We stood near a set of double doors carved in high relief, made of the same material as the altar. They glittered in the shining sun and I couldn’t help but admire their beauty.

“Let’s try there.” The captain grinned as he moved past William. “I was beginning to worry we—”