Venture to Uncertainty (#1)

02 | The Feeling of Uncertainty

There was a hole in the ceiling, small but showing the expansive sky above. Little by little, the black sky lightened until it was a fantastic blue, with wispy tufts of white, signalling for Archer to sit up. Sleep didn't come easily the nights before the unknown.

"Are you ready up there, Kingsley?" Farley asked from below the loft. He was standing by the door, a large bag slung over his shoulder. Always ready, always quiet. No doubt a skill he'd perfected aboard the Avourienne.

Archer felt a little nerve tug at his heart and ignored it. The sun shone just as brilliantly as it had the day before, golden rays warming his face. He replaced that tug with excitement.

On the way to the beach, he listened to Farley talk about a plan he'd heard enough times to memorize each word.

"You know where the Avourienne will be; two hours after noon it comes the closest to the island. You appear stranded. No oars, all these empty food containers, no water. They'll fish you out of the sea and bring you on deck. Bardarian is known for taking stranded sailors and making them soldiers of his crew because they're the best kind: always stripped of loyalty, lost and afraid. They train the rest into you. You're strong and young; you'll easily be picked if they buy the act."

Archer nodded, but he wasn't really listening. He was watching Jeanne, who was already near his little makeshift boat, waiting for him. He smiled at her, and she returned it.

"It's a lovely day for an adventure," she announced as they approached.

Archer shoved the boat into the water as Farley answered her. He knew this part was hard, but it wasn't going to be the end. She'd said all those things, but she hadn't been thinking.

"Arch?" she said. She was wearing the same bandanna as yesterday, but now in her rolled-up capris.

Archer glanced at her. "You look like you're the one leaving," he said.

She smiled. No joke to toss back, no snide reply. It was at that moment, before anything truly went wrong, that he knew it was all about to go wrong.

"There's something about the Avourienne I haven't told you," Farley said as he unknotted the rowboat.

Archer felt his eyebrows furrow, and it gave him a little cramp in his forehead. "Why do you look like you're leaving?" he repeated.

"Well, I am, Arch," she said.

"There's a loyalty test," Farley said, "to become a crew member of the Avourienne."

He knew. He knew, but he didn't know. He knew it was going to be bad, but he didn't know how bad.

Archer rounded on Farley. "Why didn't you tell me about it already?" He turned to Jeanne. "You're not coming with me."

"It was better if you didn't know," Farley said.

"If I didn't know what? What's the test?" Archer felt like he was the butt of the joke, each of them only giving him some tiny little tidbit so he'd be forced to put the whole sick picture together himself.

Farley and Jeanne looked at each other. Silence took over for a long time before Farley finally spoke, "The Avourienne needs loyalty from you, and it's not an easy thing to prove." He paused. "They make you kill someone you love, Kingsley. That's their thing. Murder to join."

"I don't get it," Archer said. But he got it. He got it perfectly well.

"That's why I'm coming with you," came Jeanne's quiet voice.

Archer's first instinct was to laugh. It was the kind of absurd thing he could only be expected to do in reaction to absurd things. He felt that slipping feeling, felt the situation teeter out of his control.