***"Ruby Necklace" - a slit throat***

Chapter 10

In the middle of the night, about a month into their journey, a pounding at the door woke both Kek and Ryo. "A minute!" Kek barked at the noise, never being one to wake up in a rush.

"Lovey, break your vows and shoot the wanker," Ryo rubbed his eyes as he awoke.

He was standing and dressed before Kek, and Kek watched him stumble to the door, only having forced himself into a sitting position.

The man at the door was the first mate, Geoffrey. Ryo scowled at him, "are you barmy? What's this creeching about?"

"Albatross." Geoffrey grabbed Ryo's arm. That's what the crew called him, never Ryo or even cook, they called him 'Albatross,' and Kek knew Ryo hated it, but appreciated the fact that Ryo never tried to correct them. Geoffrey pulled at Ryo's arm. "Come quick, it's Todd, he's got the shakes and won't stop screaming."

Todd had been acting funny since his return from shore leave. He did his job, at first, but during the last week, his performance grew worse and Kek had expected for some time that he'd have to get the lash again.

Besides being galley master, Ryo often doubled for medic on the ship. "Is it a fever?" Ryo asked, his jaw set in a furious line.

Geoffrey stared at the floorboards. "In a sense."

"He's been acting off. Is he out of Draught?" Ryo spat the words, Kek couldn't remember ever hearing such a bitter tone from his love's mouth.

"I wouldn't know." Geoffrey tried to dodge the question.

"Then give him some grog and I'll tend to him in the morning." Ryo ripped his arm out of Geoffrey's grip.

"All right, he's out of Draught." Geoffrey sighed, running his hand through greasy, black hair that he never bothered washing unless it was time for shore leave. "A girl from the brothel introduced him to it. He thought he brought enough, but you know how it is with Drought. With his supply low, we've been trying to wean him away from it this past week, but he's out now and still got the shakes and sweats and, Albatross, if you don't tend to him I don't think he'll see morning."

Ryo sighed, balling his hands into fists. Kek forced himself up and dressed. "Ryo."

"I'll go," Ryo said between clenched teeth.

Kek walked around the bed and to Ryo, holding his shoulders. "You don't have to."

"I'll go," he repeated and permitted Geoffrey to lead him to the crew quarters.

Kek followed them. Todd lay on the floor. His shipmates held him down as he wailed gibberish at the ceiling. He stayed in the doorway and watched.

Ryo knelt beside him. Usually his was gentle with his patients, but he slapped Todd hard. A crack echoed in the room from the blow. "Stop creeching. None of those demons are real – you're just a fool. I'll be back with something for you, don't die while I'm gone because I didn't wake up to dump your body overboard."

"Ryo sounds pissed, Todd must have ran out of Drought."

Kek looked behind his shoulder and saw Marik, of course Bakura stood a few inches behind him.

Todd clung to Ryo to keep him from moving, crying against Ryo's chest. Ryo pushed him back down and shook him. "I don't have time for your blubbering. I don't care what monstrosities you're seeing. It's your fault for bringing that garbage onto the ship."

Ryo stormed out the crew quarters and marched towards the galley.

"I've never seen him angry," Kek said. "Who have you lost to Draught overdose?"

"It has a way of finding the stage," Marik answered. "We've seen a lot of friends, healthy one year but the next year we'd see them at a dinner party and not know if it's tuberculous or Daught killing them."

"It also has a way of finding the brothels," Bakura added. "We've laid flowers on the graves of many of our aunties – and our mother. Therefore, Ryo has no tolerance for opium or Draught."

Ryo returned with a large basin in his arms. Inside, he carried a steaming kettle, a tea cup, and a bottle of something sour smelling the color of rancid giblet gravy. He didn't speak as he re-entered the crew quarters; he knelt down beside Todd and lifted the bottle of odd drink to Todd's lips. "Drink this and do not spit it back up. You swallow it, understand?"

Todd nodded, but when he tried to chug the liquid he coughed and gagged. Still, because it was the Albatross giving the order, he managed to get almost all the concoction down. Next, Ryo handed Todd the empty basin. The sailor looked up at Ryo, with weeping, blood-shot, confused eyes.

"Just a moment," Ryo whispered, his voice a little softer than before.

Todd opened his mouth to ask, but had to sink his head towards the basin as he vomited. Multiple waves of liquid kept pouring from Todd's mouth. Ryo rested a hand on Todd's shoulder as he purged. A strange, grave empathy washed over Ryo's face, layered intricately with his rage. He used a rag to mop the sweat from Todd's brow and continued to pat his back until the vomiting stopped. "Someone dump that and bring it back here." He nodded to the basin.

Geoffrey took the basin out of the room. Ryo stayed with Todd, pouring tea into a cup and resting it in both of Todd's shaking hands. Ryo held each of Todd's hands and helped him lift the tea to Todd's lips. He winced as he drank, but Ryo kept the rim of the cup pressed to his lips until it was empty. By the time Geoffrey returned, Todd was ready to vomit again. They did this for two hours, forcing tea into Todd, allowing him to purge, and giving him a rest period as he cried and wimped, swearing sea monsters were in the room and eating him alive. Mostly he shook, tremors so hard that one would think them seizures if they'd never seen a man go through detox before. Kek knew there was nothing about the tea that really helped, the shakes was a waiting game, but he supposed to act of someone doing something was comforting to Todd and the crew watching him. Unless, of course, Ryo really did posses some sort of curative powers. When Todd was able to keep down a good amount of tea, he fell asleep leaning against Ryo's shoulder. Ryo slid Todd to the floor and covered him with a blanket.

Ryo stood. "Make sure he wakes up in the morning and drinks some grog. Otherwise, just keep him in bed until the fever breaks and the shakes stop. When he's well . . ." Ryo stared at the floor. "I don't want him flogged, Captain. I'll take his ration of rum each day as payment for treating him. Give him the worse cleaning duties for the rest of the trip, and if he ever does this again – I'll personally give him forty instead of thirty-nine."

Kek heard the muttering in the crew quarters. They thought Ryo was trying to show mercy to Todd. After the shakes, thirty-nine could kill him, but Kek knew that the real reason Ryo wanted to save Todd from the whip was so that Kek wouldn't have to administer the lashes. "If it pleases the Albatross," Kek said and walked back to his cabin.

He heard Ryo talking to his brother and Marik, but continued down the hall to their room. He undressed and returned to bed, waiting for Ryo. When Ryo did return to bed, Kek wrapped his arms around Ryo's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Ryo sighed. "What did my brother tell you?"

"He mentioned your mother."

"That wanker. Yes, my mother died when I was thirteen and Bakura was almost seventeen. From what the aunties say, it was her first drink of it and she was dead in the morning."

"So you took to the stage?"

"We stayed at the brothel for almost a year. There was enough work, honest work, to do there to keep ourselves useful, but one night a client thought I'd be a better option and tried to drag me into one of the rooms. Bakura gave him a ruby necklace, and we had to leave town. We performed on the street for a while and realized we could make enough pretty polly at it to survive, so we bought our wagon and stole the stage like it was our birthrights."

"Do you miss it? The stage?"

Ryo poked Kek's ribs. "Not as much as I miss bathing with fresh water."

"We should make this game more interesting." Marik smiled.

Ryo placed a single card face down, shaking his head. "My brother's the only one dumb enough to wager against you, Marik."

"Sod off."

"It's just for fun, Ryo. What's the harm in it?" Marik asked.

"The harm in it is that you never do anything without intention."

Kek snorted. "What would you wager?"

Marik raised an eyebrow and smirked. "See, now that's the spirit." He pulled a small, green bottle from his pocket, two inches tall and narrow. "Rosemary oil. It's nice to have, being eight months out to sea."

"And what would you have me wager?" Kek asked.

"Something of equal value – like another jar of that coconut oil you mix up."

Ryo felt his mouth drop. "You went through all three jars already? Nine hells, when do you two sleep?"

Bakura smirked, setting two cards down. "Plenty of time for that when we're dead."

"I'll take the bet," Kek said.

Marik, who was acting as dealer, took everyone's discarded cards and dealt new ones. "All right. Let's see how the cards favor us."

"Just to be clear," Ryo interrupted, "this is a bet between the two of you. Bakura and I do not count as a win for our respective teams because I don't want to be part of the bet."

Marik dismissed Ryo with a slight hand gesture. "That works in my favor. When does Bakura ever win?"

"Sod off."

Ryo checked his cards. He had a pair of sevens so he folded. The other three stayed. Marik grinned. "The moment of truth."

Kek grinned. "Straight."

Marik chuckled. "Full House. Now, about that oil."

Marik reached out his hand, but before Kek could fetch Marik's prize, Bakura stood up and slammed his cards on the table. "The devotchkas love me!"

Ryo glanced at Bakura's hand and laughed. "Marik, he's got all the queens. You lost."

Marik dropped his hand and his jaw. "Bakura, why on earth didn't you fold? I would have won."

"Why the hell would I fold? I won."

"But you made me lose the bet, you idiot!"

"Who cares? I won." Bakura shrugged.

Marik slapped his forehead. "That oil was for both of us, who cares if you win?"

"A man's got to have his priorities, lovey."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to explain to you."

Kek leaned close to Ryo. "We're not going to fight like this in eight years, are we?"

Ryo snorted. "These two were fighting like this the very first night Bakura brought Marik back to the wagon." After Ryo spoke, a pain cramped his chest. He and Kek wouldn't get eight years, not if the Trial truly killed him.

Marik and Bakura both stood, spitting insults into each other's faces and poking their fingers into each other's chests. Kek smacked the table twice to get their attention. "Hey!"

"What?" They both turned and snapped the question at the same time.

"Let's trade."

Marik looked at Kek. "What?"

"Let's trade. I still want the rosemary oil. I'll trade you for it."

Marik paused a moment as Kek's suggestion sunk in. He and Bakura wore comic expressions, as if both were disappointed to have their argument resolved so quickly. However, Marik still nodded and handed Kek the rosemary oil. "Very well."

After Kek handed him the jar, Marik turned to leave. "Come, my thief, I think you need a lesson in priorities."

Bakura snorted. "Trust me, my prince, I'm not learning a damn thing tonight that you've haven't already taught me."

Ryo sighed as they left, trying to tidy up cards and rum bottles.

Kek plopped down to their bed, unbuttoning his shirt. "How did you stay sane locked in a wagon with those two for all those years?"

"Same way I deal with them on a ship in the middle of an ocean – rum and beer."

Kek laughed. Ryo sat beside him and teased his collar bone. "You said eight years, you asked if we'd fight eight years from now."

"Did I say the wrong number?" Kek asked, running his fingers through the fringe of hair spilling out over Ryo's bandana (the rest locked away in a braid).

Ryo shook his head. "No."

Kek blinked a moment, then his expression changed as he realized what he'd said. "Oh . . . I'm sorry."

"It was nice, thinking about where we'd be eight years from now, even if the thought only lasted half a moment."

Kek wagged the bottle of rosemary oil beneath Ryo's glazzies. "I have a present for you. I know you feel self-conscious. Thought this might make you more comfortable." He popped the cork off of the top and dabbed the aromatic oil on the tip of his finger. "May I put some on you?"

A soft laugh filtered out of Ryo's mouth. "I've told you a hundred times you don't have to ask when it comes to these things." He removed his shirt and pants.

Kek traced the contours of Ryo's inner thighs. "But when I ask you, your cheeks deepen to the color of champagne."

A little sigh slipped out of Ryo's mouth as Kek ran his finger over Ryo's white skin. "A priest anointing me with oil. Kind of serious, don't you think?"

Kek capped the bottle and lowered his lips down to kiss Ryo's stomach. "I don't think my role as a priest counts for much these days."

"I don't know." Ryo hitched his body up to greet Kek's lips. "It feels like the beginning of a quest to me."