Hello again! Here's the new chapter! I hope you really like it. We are slowly getting there, so get ready for all the malec ;) Reviews, follows and faves are highly appreciated.
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See you on Friday!
Chapter 9
Alec was trying to read—again—what they had about the treasure so far. He knew all the paragraphs by heart since he had been reading them all day every day, but he was still giving it another go. There were some missing lines in the last paragraph that Raphael was still trying to translate, but even so the text didn't make much sense. It was as if something crucial was missing.
"Well, the location." He thought, because it was true. The text said something about looking for the treasure in God's Mouth, and they knew the island's name was literally that, God's Mouth, Ore Dei in Latin, but they had found no reference to that name anywhere. Where was God's Mouth? Only He knew.
"That who is worthy of the love of God is worthy of this treasure and must look inside His Mouth to find its possession." Alec read to himself.
It was hard to concentrate with the heated discussion that Magnus and Raphael were having. They seemed to be fighting over something that had happened many years ago because Alec wasn't understanding anything, but he knew it was not serious because Ragnor seemed very calm. He was singing a ballad to himself as he flipped through the pages of a book.
"Let the Star of Bethlehem to guide your path and you'll find both ingress and egress." Alec continued reading.
That part had always confused him because most of the texts that they had found made references to Polaris, the North Star, when it came to celestial navigation, but not this one. When they had read it for the first time Ragnor had suggested that perhaps the star indicated a place like Jerusalem—because of the biblical reference—but it didn't make sense with the context, so they had taken it as a mere expression of following your path to the promised land: for them God's Mouth—the island. But it didn't make sense, the text clearly said that the star must guide the path so the one who was worthy of the treasure could find ingress and egress.
"Oh, my God!" Alec exclaimed out loud, when the dots on his head finally connected.
"What happened?" Ragnor asked intrigued. Magnus and Raphael had finally stopped arguing.
"The star of Bethlehem." Alec said, as a matter of explanation. "It guided the wise men to the King of the Jews."
"Yes, and?" Raphael inquired. "We already ruled out Jerusalem."
Alec shook his head and grabbed Raphael's Bible even though he knew that the man didn't like it when someone else touched his sacred book. "In Matthew's," Alec said, flipping through the pages, "there are several references to the star."
"Yes," Raphael agreed, "Verse two and-"
Alec interrupted him, reading out loud. "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him."
It made perfect sense for Alec, but apparently not for the rest of his companions, because Magnus, Raphael and Ragnor were looking at each other with confusion evident on their faces.
"Don't you see?" Alec asked incredulously. It was crystal clear.
"No?"
"There's little to no information about this star, all we know is that it appeared in December, when the King of the Jews was born." Alec explained. "Why do you think Jonathan decided to use the Star of Bethlehem as a navigational guide when most sailors use Polaris? Because he's indicating a time of the year and not a place." Alec said quite content with his new discovery.
Ragnor and Raphael still seemed to be very confused, but Magnus was looking at him with wide eyes.
"Let the Star of Bethlehem to guide your path and you'll find both ingress and egress." Magnus repeated the line. He knew it by heart too.
"It's a blowhole." Alec said as a matter of explanation. "The access to the place where the treasure is hidden is a blowhole."
Magnus, who looked as if he had just found the Holy Grail, started to nod. "The tide in December drops so low…"
"Due to the winter solstice." Alec complemented Magnus's sentence.
"...that it exposes the mouth of the blowhole."
"Which is usually about twenty or thirty feet underwater." Alec said. "Jonathan's text says: 'Fortified by nature and designed to curse anyone who dares to take possession of it, the treasure lies hidden within one of its very forces.'"
Magnus smiled. "Nature…so two or three days out of the year, this place is a cave, the others is a deathtrap."
Alec nodded, pleased that Magnus had understood what he had tried to explain.
"Alexander!" Magnus exclaimed, rushing to give Alec a congratulatory hug. "You just found where the treasure is!"
"I know!" Alec exclaimed, feeling a bit awkward because of the enthusiasm that Magnus had displayed. "Also, if the place where the treasure is hidden can only be seen in December and for a couple of days that means my brother is still alive! I don't think Valentine would want to kill him before he needs to, right? We still have a couple of weeks!"
"I think you're right about that too." Magnus agreed, and Alec smiled.
He felt so happy with that discovery that he felt his heart making all kinds of somersaults in his chest. From day one, he had been worried about whether it was too late to save Jace and now he finally had solid proof that his brother was still alive. Valentine needed him to break the curse and for that to happen he would have to wait until the winter solstice, which gave Alec three more weeks.
"Okay, okay, that's all very exciting and everything," Raphael said, "but we still don't know where the island is. The location of the treasure is not something we can use, right? What's the point of knowing where it is if we can't find the island, huh?"
Alec sighed. Raphael was right, but he couldn't help getting excited. It was the only useful thing they had found in weeks.
"Why don't you and Ragnor take a break?" Magnus suggested. He was giving them some killing eyes.
"Fine." Raphael said, walking with Ragnor out of Magnus's quarters.
"He's right, though." Alec admitted.
"I know, but he doesn't have to pop the bubble right away. We found, well, you found something useful, he should be celebrating. The location of the treasure was a problem that we would have to face eventually and you just solved it. You should be proud of yourself...as your captain, I am."
Alec blushed. Nobody had ever told him that they were proud of him. Well, only his family, but they didn't count, they were supposed to be proud of Alec by default.
"What do you say if we also take a break? Now that we have new information, we should be able to see things differently, but we have to clear our minds before diving again into those books."
Alec just nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.
"Good, then I'll order some food. I'll be right back." Magnus said, walking away and leaving Alec standing there, questioning himself as to why he had felt the way he had felt when the pirate had said he was proud of him.
o-o-o-o-o
Magnus had been observing Alec since they had started to eat and had found curious that the boy just couldn't stop smiling. Certainly the news that his brother was still alive had made him extremely happy. He was laughing and talking animatedly, something that very rarely happened. Alec was generally more reserved, shy, but every now and then, he showed this side of him that was the complete opposite, and Magnus felt like sailing directly into the eye of a maelstrom, those powerful vortices that could sink a ship in the blink of an eye.
"Where are you going?" Magnus asked, when he noticed that Alec had stood from his chair and was making his way out of the cabin.
"I'll be right back."
Magnus frowned, but did not speak as he watched the boy leave. He hadn't heard the last thing that Alec had said, so he had no idea what he was up to.
He waited a couple of minutes until Alec came back. He was still wearing that huge smile that he had had since they had found the location of the treasure, but there was something else in there...a playful look or something.
"Why the mischievous look, Alexander?" Magnus questioned, quirking a brow to emphasize how curious he was.
"I challenge you to play." Alec said, slamming two cups with dice on the table. "And since none of us have anything to pay, we'll pay with secrets."
"What?" Magnus asked, just to make sure he had heard correctly.
"You heard me, whoever loses will have to reveal something that nobody else knows." Alec said. "So if you want to keep your secrets well hidden then you better win."
Magnus smiled. He knew that by agreeing to play this game he was walking into his own grave, because he was bad at it, but he couldn't find in him the will to say no to Alec.
"Fine, but let's raise the stakes a little, Alexander."
"How?"
"With rum. The one who loses has to take a shot of rum before sharing a secret...deal?" Magnus said. He knew that adding that new rule to the game made it even more dangerous because alcohol could make him say things that were better if he kept them to himself, but he hadn't thought much before opening his mouth. Alec's mischievous look had him hypnotized. Besides, he was hoping that Alec's lack of experience with strong beverages work in his favor.
"Deal." Alec said, shaking his dice and giving Magnus a challenging look.
Magnus smiled too. This man never ceased to amaze him. "It's on, Alexander." He said, shaking his own dice.
"Ready to lose?" Alec said.
"And you?"
They slammed their dice on the table, quickly taking a look to see what they had rolled. Magnus had a hand of three fours and two fives.
"You challenged me so you have to make the first bid." Magnus said.
Alec looked at his own dice for some seconds. "Three fives." He said.
Magnus hesitated for a minute before replying. When the game had only two players the difficulty increased considerably since there were only ten dice on the table and that hardly left any room to try to fool your opponent. "Five fives."
"Liar!" Alec blurted out, revealing his dice. He had two threes, a one and a four—no fives.
"You lied! You don't have fives." Magnus complained.
"I know." Alec shrugged, feigning innocence. "Isn't that the whole point of this game?"
"You little son of-"
"Pay up, Magnus."
Magnus sighed and took a shot of rum. "When I was sixteen, I used to sneak into the church after the Mass was over and I drank the wine that the brothers kept there. They always wondered how it was that the wine evaporated. Brother Mariano used to say that the only explanation was that the chalices where they poured the wine were enchanted."
"The ones you stole?" Alec asked.
"Aye…"
"Are they enchanted?"
"No."
"Then, why did you steal them?"
"I told you...because I always wanted one."
"You're lying…" Alec said, looking Magnus straight in the eye, "what do you need the chalices for?"
"We agreed on a secret per hand, Alexander." Magnus said.
"It's not a secret since I saw you stealing them, tell me what are they for...please?"
"Maybe some day, Alexander, but not today." Magnus said, taking his dice and shaking them again. "Now, it's my turn. Let's see how skilled you are under pressure."
Magnus saw Alec rolling his eyes, but luckily, the boy didn't ask any further and just grabbed his dice and slammed them on the table too.
Magnus glanced down at his own dice. This time he had rolled three sixes, a two and a five. "Two sixes." He said.
"Three sixes." Alec said.
Magnus looked him in the eye and said. "Four sixes."
"Liar!" Alec exclaimed excited.
Magnus smiled and just revealed his hand; he knew Alec had taken the bait. He had three sixes and Alec had one, which made four sixes in all, just what Magnus had said.
"You lose." Magnus announced. "You see? I'm not very good at this game, that's true, but every now and then I get lucky."
Alec pouted, but took the shot of rum, making faces while it burned his throat. "I used to have a crush on my own brother."
"What!? You had a crush on Jason?"
"Jace...and yes."
"That's all kinds of sick, Alexander." Magnus said, trying not to listen to that little voice in the back of his head that was telling him that maybe letting Valentine to get rid of Jace wasn't a bad idea after all.
"I was just a dumb kid." Alec said in self defense. "And...he was not my brother when he arrived, so it's not like I was crushing on my own family, he was just the kid who was staying with us. Besides, he was the only boy around when I was in those years of self discovery. My father didn't want us to be friends with people from town, so when I started to discover that I liked boys, he was my only option: the kid who was staying with us temporarily. Then my parents decided to adopt him, I grew up and realized how wrong that was, so I moved on. No harm done."
Magnus laughed. "Say whatever you want to say...you still liked your own brother."
"He wasn't my brother when I liked him and it was only for some weeks!" Alec complained.
"You're still sick, Alexander." Magnus said jokingly.
He could see how uncomfortable Alec was with his dirty little secret and he enjoyed teasing him just to see him squirm in his own chair.
"But I like sick, I can work with sick." He added, taking pity on him.
"I-I-...hmmm." Alec blushed.
"It's your turn...we're even so if you're planning on keeping all your other dirty little secrets away from me, then you better improve your game because if not, you'll end up drunk and completely exposed, Alexander."
Alec playfully rolled his eyes and slammed his dice on the table. Magnus smiled back and kept playing.
The game stretched for hours and hours, and between shots of rum and silly stories, they both started to be more open with each other. Magnus learned that Alec had no experience with men, that he liked archery even though he was not allowed to practice it much because his father said that he had to be more skilled with the sword, and that his favorite season was spring, but just because that was when all the ships from around the world returned to make port in Alicante and he enjoyed watching them. He had a weakness for bread and anything that was baked unless his sister had cooked it since Alec said she was a terrible cook; he didn't like thunderstorms and his favorite color was blue. Not dark blue, sea blue.
Meanwhile, Magnus had shared some details of his childhood with the Silent Brothers, how he had found the Fountain of Youth after the ship in which he had been just one of the swabbies had sunk in the middle of a storm, and how he had met Ragnor and made him part of his crew; he told him about the many places he had visited over the years, about the friends he had made, and in some act of boldness, about his past lovers, not all of them, but the vast majority.
He had had to share more secrets since Alec had won most of the time. As he had already predicted Alec was good at deceiving and once he learned how to read Magnus, there had been no way to stop him. Fortunately for Magnus, Alec, who was not used to rum, had gotten drunk fairly quickly and now he was lying on top of Magnus's bed, snoring like a bear.
Magnus had spent the last hour just watching him sleep. He hadn't moved from the chair where he had been sitting because he didn't want to disturb him. He had drunk twice as much as Alec, but rum simply didn't have the same effect on him as in others...he was used to it. It took more than two bottles to make him lose his mind.
Alec murmured something in his sleep and Magnus smiled. The boy was a mess, but it was an adorable mess. An adorable mess that was proving to be a great temptation for Magnus. Alec had his long legs stretched out on the bed and the position gave Magnus the perfect angle to his-
Someone knocked on the door.
Magnus immediately rushed to open it before the sound could disturb Alec.
Behind the door was Ragnor, who was giving Magnus a look of disgust. "Ugh, you smell as if you had bathed yourself in rum."
"I did." Magnus said evasively, closing the door behind him. He didn't want Ragnor to see Alec sleeping in his bed, he was going to think the worst.
"You have a problem, mate, but ultimately it's your life." Ragnor said, shrugging. "Anyway...I'm here because we finally translated the last paragraph."
"Really? What does it say?" Magnus asked curiously.
Ragnor tried to enter Magnus's quarters, but Magnus stopped him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but you can tell me here."
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing." Magnus started to say, but before he could say anything else, Ragnor opened the door and gasped when he saw Alec in his bed.
"Did you bed him?"
"No!" Magnus said. "We played that stupid dice game and he got drunk. I got distracted and next thing I knew, he had fallen asleep in my bed."
"You're playing with fire." Ragnor said, closing the door and rolling his eyes at Magnus.
"I'm not playing with anything."
"Yes, you are. Or, have you forgotten that we are going to exchange him for the Danube? Because as far as I know that was the plan. I know you talked to Raphael about finding a different alternative, but we haven't found one, so stop deluding yourself, Magnus. Because even if we found another way to get your ship without sacrificing the boy, he's not going to choose you. He's not like us, my friend. He has a family and a name to protect, he's not going to follow you around. When the time comes and if he manages to survive, what do you think he's going to do, huh? He's going back to Alicante where he belongs. He doesn't belong here."
Magnus rolled his eyes. He knew his friend was telling nothing but the truth, but he didn't want to hear it. "You said you translated the last paragraph...tell me what it says and leave, you're ruining my mood."
"Fine." Ragnor said, handing Magnus a piece of paper. "Raphael is still trying to make them sound consistent, but this part is important." He pointed to the last line. "See? According to this, angel blood can find the treasure, blood calls to blood."
"You mean Alexander can track the treasure?"
"Yes, but for that to happen we need a potion brewed by a Sea Witch."
"No..."
"Yes."
"Then let's keep looking for the island somewhere else, we won't visit that Sea Witch."
"Magnus it's the only way, we've been looking for that bloody island for weeks, if Alec can track the treasure, don't you think that's what we should do? I know you don't want to see her but-"
"No, I don't want to see her, but that's not all." Magnus said. "If what you two translated is true and blood calls to blood, then I'm guessing we will need Alec's blood to make the potion work and, how are we going to get that without telling him the truth, huh?"
"We could make it look like an accident and get a few drops of blood."
"And accidentally kill him in the process? No, thanks." Magnus said. "Also, asking help from a Sea Witch is always a bad idea, so no, we won't do it. We will keep looking for the island somewhere else."
"But-"
"But nothing. I'm the captain and that's an order, tell Raphael what I'm saying and please let's keep this little bit of information out of the records too, understood?"
"You care too much about him already." Ragnor stated, walking away and not giving Magnus the chance to say anything in return.
Not that there was much to add because Ragnor had just spoken the truth, he cared about Alec more than he should.
o-o-o-o-o
Alec woke with a jolt. He was disoriented, his head was killing him and he was not in his bed. He was in Magnus's bed with none other than Magnus sleeping beside him.
"Oh my God!" He whispered to himself, trying not to panic.
The pirate was very far from him, the bed was huge, but still. Alec had never shared a bed with anyone except his siblings when they had nightmares and stuff, and he didn't know how he felt about this particular situation. So trying not to wake Magnus, Alec stood up from bed and ran from the room.
It was a brand new day and the sun was already out. Some members of the crew were on the deck fulfilling their tasks, so when they saw him leaving, they gave him some knowingly eyes and playful smiles.
"Oh, God." Alec whispered, feeling his cheeks getting hot by the second.
Completely flushed, he got to his cabin and closed the door behind him, trying to isolate himself from the world. If he had had reasons to hate rum before, now he had even more. His head felt as if it were about to explode and he, himself, felt like a walking corpse.
"Well done, Alec." He chided himself, collapsing on his bed and closing his eyes to try to forget about the night before, but images of the hours he had shared with Magnus kept coming back to him.
He had learned so much about the pirate in so little time that it was almost overwhelming. It had been his goal all along, though. When the pirate had suggested that they should take a break after Alec's discovery, Alec had found himself wanting to spend his time getting to know Magnus, but since the pirate wasn't very open about his life, he had thought he could try to get something out of him with that stupid dice game. It had worked, but it had cost him a lot. A terrible headache for starters.
"God, what did you do, Alec?" He said mortified, shaking his head in shame. He had never gotten drunk before and the first time he had done it, he had ended up sleeping in someone else's bed, and not just someone else's, but Magnus's.
Magnus...
To this point, Alec couldn't deny that the pirate made him feel things he hadn't felt before, but he couldn't just let those feelings distract him. He had to put aside whatever this was and concentrate on what he had to do: find his brother.
He couldn't allow himself to get distracted, much less by a man.
The problem was that Alec had never met a man as intriguing, interesting, and yeah, handsome as Magnus. At first he hadn't let his mind to think too much about it because all he wanted was to get his brother back, but he couldn't deny that Magnus had caught his eye since he had helped him when those burglars had tried to attack him in Alicante.
"No, no, no, no, Alec. Focus. You have to focus." He repeated like a mantra, but it wasn't working.
Images of Magnus kept flashing before his eyes. Magnus laughing, Magnus frowning, Magnus reading, Magnus getting excited when Alec found something interesting, Magnus speaking different languages—that really did things to him.
"No, no, no, no." He shook his head vigorously, but that just made it hurt even more.
He needed food and water to rehydrate himself, but he wasn't going to leave his cabin—ever. He was too embarrassed. The crew had seen him leaving Magnus's cabin and God knew what they had in their minds right now. They hadn't done anything, but it was still suspicious that only Alec had stayed over and-
There was a knock on the door.
Alec's heart made a flip and his pulse quickened. "Let it not be Magnus." He whispered. "Or Raphael, or Ragnor…"
He didn't want to see anyone. He just wanted to sleep and forget about the fact that he had fallen asleep in another man's bed. He thought about not opening the door, but the person who was knocking kept insisting, so very reluctantly, Alec stood up and opened the door, taking a deep breath and making himself more presentable.
It was Elias, a member of the crew.
"The captain has sent you this." The man said, handing Alec a tray with some fresh food, water and beer. "He asked me to tell you that you are allowed to stay in your cabin to rest for some hours and that he will meet you after lunch to continue with your investigation."
"I-I...thank you." Alec said, not knowing what else to say.
Elias just nodded and walked away.
Alec closed the door behind him, looked at the food and a smile escaped from his lips. There was a note there addressed to him.
"Eat and rest, Alexander. And yes, it's an order. M.B."
"Aye, aye, captain." Alec said, rolling his eyes playfully.
It was equally frightening and surprising to see how little things like a silly note could make his heart to want to jump from his chest. The effect that Magnus had on him was unsettling and he had to learn how to control it. If not, he would end up doing something he was sure he was going to regret later.
