Secrets of the Sea

Darkened skies were always bad omens when wrestling with the dangers of the ocean. Ships of men remained the ocean’s captive as storms brewed in the distance, winds whipping past with only one intent: to destroy.

Sea spray became merciless as a crew desperately grappled with ropes and sails, puking overboard before sprinting back across the vessel to do their job. Shouts for mercy and aid could hardly be heard over nature’s screams. Panic rose – why did the sea hate them so? Why were they not being granted an easy passage?

Through a tainted window, Captain Arundel watched her. She, with those iridescent and widely curious eyes, watched the storm with a feigned astonishment; she watched as men thrashed and fought for their lives, her lips parted with something like fear. But that woman was not fearful. That woman, with her furrowed brow and trembling lips, was liar. She was malicious.

Captain Arundel knew exactly what to do with her.

He’d heard of it before. He knew that countries had banned the smuggling of women onto ships, and he’d always heard warnings brought from overseas of those who belonged to men bringing turmoil for their ships. The ocean was a jealous entity, lonely in its expanse – the presence of women nurtured that envy and brought it on in the form of storms and whirlpools that sunk vessels if the water’s needs were not satiated. Never did he think such a myth was true; Arundel did not transport only men because of anything but the lack of women looking to travel. But now, the first time he’d allowed such a being onto his ship, he was facing a storm like he had never faced before.

Lightning struck. Thunder warned them too late, and the electricity threatened his ship with only metres to spare. Men screamed. He watched the woman yelp from behind her window and anger coursed through his veins. This was her doing – and he was going to make her cease it.

Every step that Arundel took sapped at his strength more and more. His torso contorted with the movement of his ship and the travelling winds, working against both as he kept his destination within his gaze. Her face had hardly changed, angering him further with every movement. How could she remain so fraudulent and innocent while his men battled against the very thing that she had brought on? How could she stay so impossibly still in the face of cutting gales, crashing waves, and dangerous skies that she was at fault for?

Arundel hugged the mast with all the strength that he had, forcing himself to breathe. Salt burned his nostrils as his jaw collided with the wood he held onto, the ship jolting violently to the side. Around, his men couldn’t stop shouting – voices got lost to the wind and others were carried with it, each cry calling for his instruction and aid. Arundel was the most experienced, he was their captain. But he had a mission of his own. And that mission would put an end to all of this.

The woman gasped as he forced her door open, turning to him with those iridescent eyes that remained full of fear. “What are you doing?”

“You need to come with me,” he demanded, his voice hoarse.

She shook her head. “I can’t go out there.”

“You’re going to be safe,” he lied, seething. “You’re going to make it all better.”

“How?”

He stared at her, trying to keep still. “Come with me.”

“Why?” She insisted, crying now. “Give me one good reason to trust you!”

“I don’t need a reason.”

Arundel pulled the door shut as he bounded towards her, collecting rope as he went. She struggled to move from where she stood without toppling over, but she certainly tried – with one jerk the ship had her head smashed into the wall, blood now dripping down the nape of her neck. It wasn’t enough. No amount of pain would be enough to punish her. And if Mother Earth wasn’t going to do her job, then he would do it for her.

She thrashed and screamed as he took her legs and began to bind them in rope. No one could hear her. Only they belonged to that room, his men fighting a losing battle just beyond it. But not for much longer. He would do his duty to his crew no matter what.

With her legs bound he moved to her arms. She screamed and tried to speak to him, but Arundel refused to listen; he would not fall for her feminine wiles any more than he would fall to the curse that she had wrought on his ship.

The woman would not accept her fate. With all the strength in her bones she fought, hitting and kicking as best she could as he threw her over his shoulder. But he was a man. He was a man and she was inferior to him. It wasn’t an easy feat to carry a fighting woman onto the deck of a near-capsized ship, but he would be damned if he didn’t try.

Nothing was improved beyond the woman’s quarters. With one glance Arundel could tell he’d lost at least a quarter of his men to the thrashing waves, a fact only true because of the being bound over his shoulder. Some of his crew watched him with crazed eyes, wondering silently what he was doing if not stabilising the ship – but he knew that they would soon be thanking him.

“No, Captain!”

But it was too late. It was too late because her body had already hit the water, unable to writhe out of her binds. It was too late because they were already sailing towards a clearing sky, the seas calming as they accepted his sacrifice. It was too late because Captain Arundel had already saved his ship and the rest of his men.

***

Sunlight remained a good omen as it glared across calm cerulean waters. Ships of men had stayed friendly with the expanse of the grand oceans, winds breezing past with only one intent: to comfort.

Salt lived in the golden air as crews milled around the deck, their jobs completed until courses had to be changed. Seasickness got the best of some who groaned over the railings and tainted the sea below, but there was no pressure to do anything else. Songs were carried merrily on the backs of soft winds and echoed back in mumbles of weariness.

From the quarterdeck Captain Arundel watched his men. Five years had passed since he’d sailed these particular waters, the memories from then long lost to time. Storms better and worse had tried to best his ship, but to no avail – he and his crew were stubborn even against the forces of nature. Every face gleamed with pride if not drunkenness, happy to be sailing the open seas with their brothers.

And Captain Arundel was the only reason that those brothers still lived.

He’d seen it all before – he’d seen his men scream at each other and fight, had seen them so drunken that they would sing whilst throwing up. But more than that, he had seen them happy. Wind in their hair, salt in the air, and they were happy. The ocean was a beautiful entity, generous in its expanse – their presence on its waters gave it a purpose, a reason to be as it was. Everything from freedom to trade could be found as they cruised the waves. Arundel took his men to the ocean not only for travel but for their own delight and contentedness. And now, after the millionth time that these men had used this ship, he was facing peaceful skies once more.

But then the air shifted.

Arundel couldn’t be sure what it was. His men, whether puking, singing, or unoccupied, all moved in unison. Though uncertain as to what fear compelled him, he knew that he had to peer over the rails in the same manner that his men did. Arundel hardly looked at his crew, couldn’t – he had to get to the railings. As long as he could hear them singing, he knew that they were okay.

His hands gripped the side of the ship so hard that his knuckles turned white. Out of wariness his jaw clenched, and the hairs on his head all straightened. Chills riding down his spine made him shiver even in the light of the roaring sun – worse than all of that was that he found no answers beneath him. He hadn’t known what to expect from staring at the deep blues of the water, but it wasn’t nothing – there had to be something. In the sky? A god, perhaps? No, not there. Something he knew, even if it was only on the surface.

There wasn’t another thought. Arundel had no fears or delights as he climbed onto the edge of his ship and jumped into the water, crashing against the waves and embracing the sensations that froze his very core.

His men were still singing.

Arundel’s eyes burned with salt but he had to keep them open. He had to know what he was meant to discover, and then he could return to his vessel and lead his men with the knowledge of the ocean. He would be the most celebrated captain that the world had ever seen. He would be everything that people thought he was not, better than all who came before him.

And then he saw her.

He saw those iridescent eyes, calmer now. Still malicious. Her mouth moved as she sang the song of his men, swimming to take him.

Only then did he realise that he could not breathe.