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Myron Gormand always wanted to be a pirate, so when the pirate raiders from the Isle of Deeblinde came swooping down on his tiny fishing village, he was overjoyed. This lasted until his mother was run through on a cutlass and his neighbour's son was drowned in a water barrel. Myron could think of nothing better than killing pirates after that and grabbed a cutlass and went after the pirates. Like any good raiders, they were leaving after taking all of value. Unfortunately, Myron wore thick glasses that came all the way from the city of Tellis in the west. They tended to fog over and slip off whenever it was most inconvenient for Myron, and so they did that day. Unable to see, Myron tripped on a cobble stone, rolling over his shoulder and down the hill towards the docks. His cutlass went flying, and by happen stance landed in the chest of the pirate's best navigator. He tipped over and bled out in seconds so that when Myron came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, he fell just short of a puddle of blood and mud and a dead pirate.
"That tears it!" shouted the Captain. His men froze in terror. "We be cursed by the gods of mathematics to never keep a navigator, so I swear! Woolsey - stung by a sea anemone - ten miles inland! Eramel choked on a wheevil! And now Yargus killed by a lucky throw from a four-eyed boy!" His hands were flung out dramatically while his men nodded or murmured their agreement.
Now that he was so close to the pirates and could see their blood and tar stained hands, and more importantly, smell them, Myron was thinking it would be a good idea to let them go unharmed. Accidentally killing one of them was all he could manage for the day. "I dropped the sword. Didn't mean to kill him," he muttered scrambling away. But the movement drew the attention of the Captain.
"You, Boy. Your luck may be just what we need. Can you do mathematics?" His friendly smile showed teeth that had been filed to points then painted black.
It didn't occur to Myron to lie. "If I have my glasses." One of the pirates handed them to him. The only good thing about having glasses so thick was that they rarely broke. Myron was slung over the side of a ship's boat and then pushed up over the side of the pirate's ship. There, he made his mark on their charter, was handed a book on navigation and officially became the navigator to the pirate ship, The Scarlet Blaze. He mourned his mother and town in his free time, which was scant and soon months had passed and The Scarlet Blaze headed back to the Isle of Deeblinde. The Captain had left his mark all over the five seas, and it was time for the crew to spend their shares.
The men were excited to get off the ship, but when they spotted a strange purple flag flying from the highest peak on the Isle, they went berserk, rushing to put in so fast they almost crashed the ship into the rocks of the harbour. Myron tried to stay on the ship, not wanting to see what happened in a town where every pirate had ample money and shore leave, but the Captain refused to let anyone stay on the boat except blind Worthington. "I'll not have any man left behind on this day," said the Captain. "I've a mind to try this time."
"Try what?" asked Myron. He was clapped on the back so hard he almost went over the rail.
"Why for Pirate King! The election is today. I'll have a good chance if certain people can keep their mouths shut." The Captain winked. Myron nodded as if he understood, and followed the Captain onto the shore. Other captains were also converging on the shore, surrounded by their men. They passed three abreast through a natural opening into a huge sea cave, its waters drained by the tide. Captains and their groups ranged themselves over the sharp rocks, while those pirates without captains filled the spaces in between. By noon, it was full and the cave was illuminated by the midday sun.
An old pirate with a black eye patch with a painting of an eye on it stood up upon the shoulders of a giant, red-skinned pirate. "Ahoy! Ahoy!" The cavern went silent. "Ye ole noo de ruzz," he said, and it took Myron a long moment to decipher the sentence so he missed if there really were any rules. The old man said a few more incomprehensible sentences before falling silent. A female captain with long, snarled hair and the glint of a gold ring in her nose leapt onto a rock in the centre of the cavern. "Captain Turlough!" she yelled, and there were many "Ayes!" echoing her yell. She snarled in disappointment and leapt off the rock. Myron was confused.
One by one, the captains leapt on the rock and shouted their names. Over and over the "Ayes!" met them, and sometimes it was the whole cavern who was roaring them, but no matter how many shouted, the captains always left the rock. The Scarlet Blaze's crew seemed to shout without rhyme or reason.
Then it was their Captain's turn. He climb up the rock was followed by murmurs. The Captain waited patiently for quiet before roaring out his name, "Captain Butcher!" Myron was caught in the excitement and thought there could be nothing wrong with cheering for his captain. His lone "Aye!" echoed strangely over the distant murmur of the ocean. The Captain had been facing away but when he turned to see Myron he laughed long and hard. The old man with the eye patch called out another incomprehensible sentence, and the cavern burst into deafening cheers. The crew and everyone else rushed to congratulate the Captain, while Myron hung back, quietly contemplating the lesson he had learned; in the land of Deeblinde, the one aye'd man was king.
"That tears it!" shouted the Captain. His men froze in terror. "We be cursed by the gods of mathematics to never keep a navigator, so I swear! Woolsey - stung by a sea anemone - ten miles inland! Eramel choked on a wheevil! And now Yargus killed by a lucky throw from a four-eyed boy!" His hands were flung out dramatically while his men nodded or murmured their agreement.
Now that he was so close to the pirates and could see their blood and tar stained hands, and more importantly, smell them, Myron was thinking it would be a good idea to let them go unharmed. Accidentally killing one of them was all he could manage for the day. "I dropped the sword. Didn't mean to kill him," he muttered scrambling away. But the movement drew the attention of the Captain.
"You, Boy. Your luck may be just what we need. Can you do mathematics?" His friendly smile showed teeth that had been filed to points then painted black.
It didn't occur to Myron to lie. "If I have my glasses." One of the pirates handed them to him. The only good thing about having glasses so thick was that they rarely broke. Myron was slung over the side of a ship's boat and then pushed up over the side of the pirate's ship. There, he made his mark on their charter, was handed a book on navigation and officially became the navigator to the pirate ship, The Scarlet Blaze. He mourned his mother and town in his free time, which was scant and soon months had passed and The Scarlet Blaze headed back to the Isle of Deeblinde. The Captain had left his mark all over the five seas, and it was time for the crew to spend their shares.
The men were excited to get off the ship, but when they spotted a strange purple flag flying from the highest peak on the Isle, they went berserk, rushing to put in so fast they almost crashed the ship into the rocks of the harbour. Myron tried to stay on the ship, not wanting to see what happened in a town where every pirate had ample money and shore leave, but the Captain refused to let anyone stay on the boat except blind Worthington. "I'll not have any man left behind on this day," said the Captain. "I've a mind to try this time."
"Try what?" asked Myron. He was clapped on the back so hard he almost went over the rail.
"Why for Pirate King! The election is today. I'll have a good chance if certain people can keep their mouths shut." The Captain winked. Myron nodded as if he understood, and followed the Captain onto the shore. Other captains were also converging on the shore, surrounded by their men. They passed three abreast through a natural opening into a huge sea cave, its waters drained by the tide. Captains and their groups ranged themselves over the sharp rocks, while those pirates without captains filled the spaces in between. By noon, it was full and the cave was illuminated by the midday sun.
An old pirate with a black eye patch with a painting of an eye on it stood up upon the shoulders of a giant, red-skinned pirate. "Ahoy! Ahoy!" The cavern went silent. "Ye ole noo de ruzz," he said, and it took Myron a long moment to decipher the sentence so he missed if there really were any rules. The old man said a few more incomprehensible sentences before falling silent. A female captain with long, snarled hair and the glint of a gold ring in her nose leapt onto a rock in the centre of the cavern. "Captain Turlough!" she yelled, and there were many "Ayes!" echoing her yell. She snarled in disappointment and leapt off the rock. Myron was confused.
One by one, the captains leapt on the rock and shouted their names. Over and over the "Ayes!" met them, and sometimes it was the whole cavern who was roaring them, but no matter how many shouted, the captains always left the rock. The Scarlet Blaze's crew seemed to shout without rhyme or reason.
Then it was their Captain's turn. He climb up the rock was followed by murmurs. The Captain waited patiently for quiet before roaring out his name, "Captain Butcher!" Myron was caught in the excitement and thought there could be nothing wrong with cheering for his captain. His lone "Aye!" echoed strangely over the distant murmur of the ocean. The Captain had been facing away but when he turned to see Myron he laughed long and hard. The old man with the eye patch called out another incomprehensible sentence, and the cavern burst into deafening cheers. The crew and everyone else rushed to congratulate the Captain, while Myron hung back, quietly contemplating the lesson he had learned; in the land of Deeblinde, the one aye'd man was king.
