Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 24

As all traces of the Struggler’s Strip faded into nothing more than a sketched outline on the widespread horizon, two contrasting sounds rode the winds from those aboard the Maelstrom. One was the sound of groaning from hungover men, forced to work the deck while their heads still spun and their limbs dragged lethargically. The other was the sound of laughter, rippling over the waves through the portals of the crew’s quarters, where Shen and Evanora were trapped in fits of giggles.

“Try again!” Evanora urged Shen, wiping unshed tears of laughter from her eyes as she nudged him in the side with her elbow.

“I can try a million times, Evanora, but this stupid bird is never going to cooperate.” Shen sighed, though he was holding back a laugh of his own.

“Please?”

Evanora glanced over at the dazzling form of a scarlet macaw, perched on an armoury rack bolted to the wall. Its feathers were impressive, striated with deep flashes of red, and the elegant curve of its beak was almost regal. It puffed out its chest, angling its head sideways at the sound of her voice.

The bird had somehow found its way through the warren of the crew’s quarters while the pirates had been otherwise engaged on land, and neither Shen nor Evanora had possessed the heart to shoo it away. Instead, they had created a new pastime- attempting to get the macaw to sing.

“Fine, just one more time.” Shen conceded.

He leant closer to the bird, looking into its steely black eyes as he began to sing under his breath,

“Well you’ve been a splendid audience, but now the time is passed,

So don’t you all be lettin’ the door hit you in the ass,

We’ve all had our enjoyment, but enough is quite enough,

And we’d take a drink kindly if you’d all just bugger off!!”

Evanora erupted into hysterics at the humorous words to the shanty. When she heard it for the first time, near a tavern at the Struggler’s Strip, she had chuckled under her breath at the choice of song. Shen, noticing her smile, had joined in, wailing with the loudest and highest voice his lungs could muster until he woke a nearby store-owner who threatened them with a bedpan. Since then, every time he caught his companion replaying Kade’s betrayal, he reminded her of the fun they had on their brief visit to land.

When his voice trailed off, the macaw simply stared at him with vacant eyes. After a long moment, it squawked loudly in his face and he jumped back, startled. Evanora found this hilarious, but Shen swore loudly at the bird in defeat.

“Maybe if you sing it again…” Evanora teased.

“Bugger off!” Shen replied.

After a few moments of shared laughter, an idea began to take root in his mind. Smirking knowingly, he stepped forward and laid a hand across the breast of the magnificent bird. By sending a rush of his power out of his body and straight into the macaw, it stiffened and fell from its perch in a ruffle of crimson feathers.

“Shen!” Evanora gasped through her amusement. “Did you kill him?”

“No, of course not. He’s just lying there, thinking about how beautiful everything is…much like you did when I showed you the same thing.”

Evanora blushed, remembering.

“Maybe he’ll think twice before scaring me to death again.” Shen continued, nudging the bird back up to its rickety perch with his foot. He caught Evanora in his gaze, and they grinned at one another.