Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

AUGUST 7TH, 1666

A bead of sweat dripped down Henri's temple as he sat on the wooden crate Fox had hauled onto deck for him. Pain flared up his leg as he shifted, but there was no position of comfort to be had. He just had to endure until his leg healed enough. Standing by his side, Robin shifted as well, as if sharing Henri's discomfort. Or maybe it was because of the sun currently beating down on their heads as the Siren bobbed on the waves, a brief respite in their journey beside the Kraken toward an unknown destination.

The day was much too sunny for a funeral.

Henri's mother's funeral had been sunny too. A gorgeous day in spring. And ever since then, Henri loathed being sad when the weather was good. It stirred up not-so-distant memories he wanted to forget.

The entire crew of the Siren stood solemnly on deck, watching as a few crew members carried the sail-shrouded body up from below. It was one of Henri's fellow patients. A man named Jacob who'd had a fever from a wound on his side. Robin and Old Joe had been unable to keep it from turning, and he'd died sometime during the night.

They placed Jacob's body on the gangplank and stepped back. Robin sniffled quietly. Henri knew he was taking this hard. Not only because of professional pride, but because he was empathetic and warmhearted, and he wasn't as used to death as the rest of them. That was more than could be said of most pirates, or doctors for that matter. Over the intervening days since Henri's injury, he'd come to understand that Robin was very different from the average pirate. He spoke softly and properly. He never complained about the constant work of healing, nor of Henri having to ask for help dressing or walking to the head to pee. He never wavered, attending to Henri and the other patients with that small smile perpetually stamped on his mouth.

With the other patients discharged back to their berths, Jacob delirious with fever, and Old Joe taking a well-deserved rest for his old bones, Henri and Robin had grown close over the week or so Henri had been under his care.

Henri's attention was drawn back to the body as Captain Rowan stepped up to the rail beside it. Jacob was wrapped in a length of blue sailcloth from the Kraken . The Siren didn't have enough of her own to spare after using the remnants of the burned sails to shroud the rest of the dead a week before. Henri had been in too much pain to go to that funeral, but he'd been determined to drag his injured ass to this one. He hadn't known Jacob well, but still his chest tightened to see a fellow crew member shrouded in the sails of the ship that had ultimately killed him.

Rowan gazed down at the body solemnly for a moment, then looked out across his waiting crew. "Today we have lost our brother, Jacob Stuart. We will not forget his valiant service. I commend his body to the sea." He laid a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "May the currents bear you home, wherever that may be."

He nodded to the men who'd carried the body, and they tipped up the head of the plank. The body slid over the side of the ship and splashed down into the sun-dazzled water, quickly sinking beneath the waves with the weight of the cannonball that was sewn into the foot of the shroud.

Several crew members said prayers quietly in their own languages to their own gods. Others dispersed back to their duties or leisure. Rowan moved through the crowd, making a beeline toward Henri and Robin.

"Glad you could make it," Rowan said when he reached them. He'd been checking on Henri and the other patients daily, maybe out of guilt for sleeping with the enemy, maybe because he genuinely cared about their wellbeing. Probably both. For all the trouble this situation had caused, their captain looked none the worse for wear. In fact, there was a new spark in his eye, though he pointedly avoided any mention of the Deep Water Demon. Henri didn't want to pry. He figured his friend would tell him in due time. But that didn't mean Henri was capable of stopping the incessant ball of questions and teasing that was Fox.

"I'm glad too," Henri replied, wincing slightly as the ship rocked. "Though I think I could use a nap."

Rowan smiled, then glanced up as a whistle sounded from the Kraken, hailing them. They all listened to the message, All crew assemble .

"I guess that means me," Robin said. In the endeavor to get Henri up onto deck, he'd forgotten a hat and the bridge of his nose was already turning pink in the sun. Robin frowned. "Let's get you back to the infirmary before I go."

"No, no. I can rope the captain into helping me," Henri joked with a dramatic sigh. He removed his own hat and plopped it on Robin's blond head. "But take this, or you'll be red as a cooked lobster when you get back. We can't expect you to take care of a burn victim if you're burned yourself."

Robin's laugh was small and creaky, barely any sound escaping. "Thank you. I'll make sure to return it in good condition."

A spark kindled in Henri's chest at the unexpected pleasure of making his new friend laugh.

A small boat had tied up to the side of the Siren , and the oarsman called out to Robin and Ga?l. Robin waved to him then turned to Rowan. "Can you help him get back to the infirmary, Captain?"

Rowan blinked, seemingly startled from his thoughts. "Of course. Best not keep the Demon waiting."

The Demon. Even his own crew called him that. Henri wondered if Rowan knew his actual name.

Robin patted Henri on the shoulder and loped off toward the waiting boat. Henri felt his absence more keenly than he'd expected, but Fox sidled over soon enough. The space beside him looked strangely empty without Ga?l there to fill it.

"Need help?" Fox asked, and both Henri and Rowan nodded. It was all well and good being helped around by Robin, who was of similar height to him, but Fox and Rowan were both quite a bit shorter, and he was still very unsteady on his feet. He needed all the help he could get. His two friends took up positions on either side of him, bracing their shoulders beneath his arms, and hauled him to his feet. They made their way slowly below deck, sharp pain shooting up Henri's leg with every step. Finally they made it to the infirmary and deposited Henri safely onto his cot.

"Do you need anything before I go?" Rowan asked. Henri shook his head and Rowan ducked out of the infirmary.

Henri winced as he lifted his leg onto the cot, massaging his knee above the top of the splint to ease some of the tension. Fox hung back, looking a bit lost.

"Well, we've both got nothing to do. Might as well keep each other company," Fox said, producing a deck of cards from his pocket.

The journey onto deck and back had wiped out Henri's energy, and all he really wanted was to take a nice long nap till Robin came back. But Fox and Ga?l had been taking their infirmary-minding duties very unseriously in the past week,often sneaking off to do gods knew what. And Henri had barely had the opportunity to talk with Fox alone. So he nodded.

They settled in to play cards sitting on either end of Henri's cot. Henri's leg still hurt, so he extended it in front of him, his foot elevated on Fox's lap.

They'd played several hands, Fox cackling like a banshee whenever he won, when Henri finally broached the subject.

"So…Ga?l…"

Fox's already bright face lit up at the mention of his new lover.

"Jealous?" Fox joked, but Henri could tell he was pleased he'd brought it up.

"Terribly," Henri said, trying to keep a straight face.

Fox patted Henri's foot comfortingly. "You had your chance," he said smugly.

It was true, when Henri had first come to the Siren Song almost three years ago, Fox had been all over him, and Henri had turned him down. After that, Fox had diverted his endless energy into becoming friends.

"So anyway," Henri continued his line of questioning, "you seem to have become close with Ga?l pretty fast. Are you finally settling down?"

"Well I knew him before…" Fox seemed suddenly shy, which was unlike him.

"Before? Like before the Siren ? "

Fox nodded, concentrating on his cards.

"Wait…" Henri leaned forward, trying to catch his friend's eye. "He's not that bastard is he? The one who left you in Wave Harbor?"

Fox pursed his lips.

"Fox…"

"Yes, yes he's that bastard," Fox admitted. "But he apologized!"

"I'll kill him," Henri growled. He tried to rise from the cot, but Fox leaned forward and planted his hands on Henri's shoulders, forcing him back down.

"You'll hurt yourself!"

They stared at each other until Fox finally seemed to decide that Henri wouldn't hobble off on a mission of revenge any time soon. He leaned forward and pecked Henri on the tip of the nose before settling back into his spot and repositioning Henri's injured leg.

"He apologized," Fox said again.

"And you forgave him?"

Fox blinked at him innocently. "Well…um…he apologized really well."

Henri had never known Fox to be the bashful sort, but the man was blushing fiercely, which made Henri blush in turn. It really must have been some apology to erase so many years of resentment.

Gods, everyone seemed so sex-crazed these days. This was supposed to be a pirate ship, not a pleasure cruise.

"Let me shoot him just once," Henri argued. "I won't hit anything vital; I just wanna teach him a lesson."

"You don't think the captain would eviscerate him if he hurt me again?" Fox asked.

"The captain is…distracted right now. I'm not."

Fox raised a skeptical eyebrow but said nothing.

"So it's settled," Henri said. "I'll shoot him."

"But I love him!" Fox blurted, his hand immediately clapping over his mouth in horror as if he'd just admitted something unbearably embarrassing.

They went back to playing cards, the awkward silence stretching.

"Let me at least punch him," Henri said after a while, smiling at his friend.

Fox looked up and smiled back, taking this statement for what it was, a grudging acceptance of his relationship.

"As long as you don't damage his pretty face. "

"Deal."

Fox was called away before Robin returned, and Henri grew bored exceedingly fast. His healing skin itched under the bandages, but he knew he'd get scolded if he scratched it. So he laid back and stared at the ceiling, trying to keep his mind occupied by tracing the ripples and whorls in the boards.

It seemed everyone was finding love in unlikely places these days. Or if not love, then at least something beyond mere attraction. Henri chewed his bottom lip. He'd never been in love, never really even thought much about it. But now two of his best friends were preoccupied with their lovers, and Logan was no doubt busy putting out all the fires the other two caused. All while Henri was stuck here with a broken leg staring at the ceiling. For the first time he could remember since joining the crew of the Siren Song , Henri was lonely.

When the door to the infirmary cracked open and Robin slipped through, Henri couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"You're back."

Robin smiled back, padding across the wooden floor like a puppy returning to his master. "I am," he confirmed. "How are you? How's the leg?"

"You haven't been gone that long. I'm not going to perish from an itchy leg," Henri chided.

Robin busied himself with gathering supplies. "Maybe not, but it is time to change the dressings."

Henri nodded, taking the supplies that Robin handed to him and laying them out next to his leg on the cot. Robin settled onto the end of the cot that Fox had recently vacated.

Henri only winced a little as Robin began to remove the bandages from the burns. The first few days of this had hurt a lot. But now it wasn't so bad. Robin's hands were careful and practiced. He liked watching Robin work. When Robin was concentrating, the tip of his tongue slid to the left corner of his lip, where it stayed for the duration of the task.

The burns were looking a lot better. A lot less angry. Robin bent low over Henri's injuries, examining them for any sign of infection or other problems. Satisfied that he was healing nicely, Robin wrung out a cloth from the pot of warm water on the stool next to him and began to wash Henri's skin. He cupped Henri's heel in one hand, gently turning his leg back and forth, patting it with the damp cloth, careful not to jostle Henri's still healing bone.

"I can do this, you know," Henri said quietly, trying not to disturb the doctor's concentration too badly. He suspected Robin was babying him a bit, feeling guilty for having lost one of his crew members. "I've watched you do it enough times."

"What would I do then?" Robin murmured, not looking up. He placed the cloth to the side and began spreading the healing ointment over Henri's skin. Henri bit his lip as Robin's long fingers brushed the underside of his knee where the burns didn't reach. His leg twitched.

"Did that hurt?" Robin asked.

"No." He usually didn't like being touched much, but somehow with Robin it was okay. Even nice.

Robin moved on to bandage the burns and then carefully replaced the splints to restabilize the broken bone. Finally he looked up.

"I think we should try to get you walking more," he said. "I found a crutch while I was over on the Kraken . It would make you more mobile."

Henri felt a slight pang of apprehension at the thought. If he was more mobile, then he could go back to his quarters and Robin might go back to the Kraken for good.

He nodded sullenly.

Robin fetched the crutch from the hallway and handed it over.

"Try to stand up using it to support your bad leg," he instructed. "Don't put any weight on the leg yet."

Robin held Henri's arm to help him stand, thumb rubbing over one of the sea serpent tattoos that banded both of his forearms just beneath his elbow. Henri tucked the crutch under his arm on his bad side, swaying a little.

"I'll be right here," Robin assured him. "If you lose your balance, just grab me."

They took a few tentative steps away from Henri's cot together, Henri resting his weight on the crutch when he had to.

"Doing good," Robin encouraged. "Let's try to make it to the door."

It was slow going, and halfway across the room the ship hit a swell, sending Henri violently off balance. The crutch clattered to the floor as he grasped for Robin's supporting arms. But Robin had been knocked off balance too, and they both went down. Henri landed jarringly on his side, covering his head instinctively. Bracing for the impact of the other man falling on him. But it didn't come. Henri uncovered his face and turned to see Robin had caught himself just in time, hands braced on either side of Henri's body. He was hovering, a worried expression on his face. When Henri turned to him they were face-to-face, their noses almost touching.

Robin's ears flushed a deep red, and he scrambled up, careful of Henri's injury.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding out his hand to help Henri back to his feet.

Henri didn't know. His hip hurt a little bit from its impact with the floor, and his burns were stinging, but there were more pressing matters on his mind now. Namely, why Robin had been so blushy and embarrassed just now.

"I'm fine."

August 10th, 1666

Henri couldn't seem to shake Robin's blushing face from his mind. Ever since Robin had gotten flustered at their proximity the day they fell, he'd been a bit skittish. And that made Henri want to know more about his new friend. But every time Henri steered the conversation toward Robin's personal life, he found it turned back on him. It left him slightly unsettled but even more curious than before. He lay awake late two nights in a row, listening to Robin's steady breathing a few cots away. Wondering where he'd come from. How had he become a doctor, and why was he now a pirate? He had many questions and no answers.

One morning while they were eating breakfast in companionable silence, Henri's curiosity finally boiled over. He wiggled in the chair, leg propped up on a stool, looking at Robin sitting on the edge of the cot opposite. They'd spent so much time together, talked about so many things. Yet Henri knew nothing of Robin's past, and Robin knew nothing of his.

"You're such a good doctor," Henri began, taking a contemplative bite of his porridge. "You're too good to be a ship doc. How did you fall in with the Demon's crew?" That question in particular had been nagging in the back of Henri's mind for a while. The truth was that most pirates became pirates because they were running from something. This seemed especially true for someone as ill-suited to violence as Robin was.

Robin's head snapped up, eyes wide like a cornered rabbit.

"I—I didn't mean anything by it," Henri quickly backtracked, seeing the near-terror on his friend's face. He hadn't been expecting such a visceral reaction to the question, and Robin's expression sparked a new thread of anxiety in Henri's gut. "I just meant that you're so nice. And you seem so educated…" He knew he was digging himself back into the same topic that had spooked Robin in the first place, but he couldn't seem to stop talking. "You don't have to tell me though," he added.

Robin sighed and placed his half-full bowl on the cot beside him. He looked down, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I was top of my class," he started sheepishly. Glancing up and seeing he had Henri's full attention, his face flushed.

"You don't have to?—"

"But I want to," Robin interrupted him. "Only the captain and John know where I came from and…it would be nice for someone else to know too. Besides, we're friends, right?" He cleared his throat, not looking at all like he was sure of this decision, but he plowed ahead anyway. "I come from a wealthy family in Avardel. They sent me to the medical school in Hallenburgh, and I was the top of my class. But my parents had plans for me that I couldn't fulfill." He wasn't looking at Henri any longer; his eyes were on his own hands clutched tight in his lap. "They betrothed me to this woman. She was beautiful, rich. She was even a minor noble. Everything they wanted for me but…I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't stand the thought of marrying her, having children with her, living a lie with her. So last year I ran away." He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "The ship I was on got captured by pirates almost right away. The Demon was going to ransom me back to my parents, but I convinced him to take me on as a doctor instead. Most of my pay goes right back into his coffers to pay off the ransom he would have gotten for me. As long as I earn my keep I won't have to go back."

Henri's mouth hung open in shock, and he didn't seem able to close it. Of all the stories he had come up with in his head, running away from a seemingly perfect life and marriage hadn't been one of them. The wealthy had very few real problems in this world, but Robin's voice was so desperate, so hopeless, when he spoke about the life he'd almost had. He'd gone so far as to run away from all the worldly comforts he could ever want. And he'd rather put himself in danger on the world's most notorious pirate ship than live a lie beside a woman he didn't, maybe couldn't, love.

Would Robin go back to a normal life if he could? He seemed so ill-suited to the violence of piracy. While Henri had chosen this life and taken to it quickly, having been raised on his father's tales of piracy, Robin hadn't had a choice, not really. He was basically an indentured servant to the Demon. If his ship hadn't been captured, he would have settled down in some cozy seaside town by now, healing innocent villagers instead of murderous pirates.

"I understand," Henri said quietly. Maybe he could never truly understand it. Just as Robin could never understand the struggles he'd grown up with either. But they'd both ended up here for one reason or another. They'd both chosen this life. One because he couldn't go back to his family, and one who had taken to the sea in search of family. So right now they were the same.

Robin smiled that small, rueful smile of his.