LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC - THE ORDEAL - SECTION 5
At
mid-morning with all hands assembled on deck, the captain in an elaborate
Ceremony
sacrificed to the Sea-God, Denizir; then toasted to the eventual success of
their voyage. With the fair winds now in
their favor, the sails unfurled in full, the First-mate Jon bellowed out in
quick succession the dictates of the captain that set the ship on course
towards the island of Luco.
Soon there
was no sign of land mass anywhere for the day’s favorable winds had swiftly
carried them off out into the vast open sea. In every direction lay a vast
expanse of shimmering, undulating (rolling) silvery waves that tossed up snowy
foam and caressed the floating images of sun and moon alternately.
That night Chenko Haken and Teuquob’s cabin echoed and re-echoed with the snores of exhausted sleepers, while a whale-oil lamp suspended from the ceiling shed a faint, flickering, darting light over their slumbering bodies.
“Are you
all-right?” Suddenly a hushed, concerned, voice broke the sonority of the air.
Seeing it
was useless to feign sleep, she sat up.
Clutching her stomach she confessed in a meek voice, “I’m a bit
queasy...it must be something I... ate.”
“No, it’s
not that at all,” Chenko Haken countered, “it’s what’s known as
seasickness. I’m sorry, but there is no
cure for this affliction. Please try to
bear it. But just in case you can’t,” he stopped long enough to fetch the small
bucket and placed it next to her bedding. Smiling comfortingly, he then added,
“And don’t be shy in using it. In a day or two your system will adjust to the
motion, and I promise you, you’ll feel much better then.”
“Thank you,
I shall bear that in mind.” She closed
her eyes tight, fighting the urge to vomit, to empty her guts out; very much
determined instead to get some sleep.
Mindful of
how she must be suffering, Chenko Haken wished he could plainly nestle up to
her and let his warm embrace ward off all her discomfort- but he did not
dare. Instead, with his empathic gaze on
her he reached out and squeezed her hand consolingly. She did not fight him and quietly submitted
to the tender clasp of his hand. Subsequently soothed by his presence, her
breathing eased in time and the tension slowly ebbed (abated) from all her
muscles. Unfortunately, on his part an uninvited thought and desire had crept
in (rather intruded,) to take hold of his heart and mind.
Gradually
the touch of her warm, soft skin igniting the fires in his soul, threw him into
raptures, deadening all shame! How could
he resist loving this delicate flower? Clearly it was futile, for it was such
an excruciating pain, a worst kind of torment being so close; yet he was bound
by morality, being forced to curtail all the basic human urges that unbidden,
swelled up within him. Subconsciously in
a fit of passion, he’d gripped her hand tighter.
“What ails
you, Elder Brother, are you, too, suffering from seasickness?” Opening her
eyes, she gazed up at him in all naivetés and queried.
“Ha!” Chenko Haken was startled from his private
reflections. Quite embarrassed, he felt
the red-hot blood surging to his cheeks, and he abruptly (dropped,) let go of
her hand. After few moments of awkward
silence, he finally plucked up the courage to reply, “I was thinking of you.”
“But I’ll be
all right.”
Her
pristine, natural response doused him with inexplicable shame. How could I even think of tainting such an
innocent, pure blossom! Strongly
denouncing the emotions, he had been swept by just then, he silently rose to
his feet and after making sure the others were fast asleep, he declared. “I
need some fresh air.” Not waiting for
her response, for he did not wish her to be in tow, he swiftly climbed the
stairs and emerged outside.
It was out
there, under the canopy of heavenly stars and the moon that he swore his solemn
silent oath, to resist any impure temptations, to preserve her chastity and to
be nothing other than a devoted flesh and blood brother to her. He returned to the cabin shortly after- not
daring to leave her alone down there too long- with his heart cleansed of any
sinful desire and quietly laid down his head now riddled with sobering
thoughts, on the hard, makeshift pillow.
He could not imagine a worse fate than being trapped in a precarious wooden craft amid that vast ocean.
“All that infinite, abysmal water!” He shivered despite himself and quickly returned his attention, as measure of reprieve, back on Shutizan.
He was curious to know what befell her,
expecting some delightfully riveting (gripping) details. Her registered trace,
after several tries having been picked up, Mokak, sat on his posterior
(buttocks), in a dark spot of the cave and, leaning his head and back against
the cave’s wall, closed his eyes.
On solid
landmass of Kontu, Shutizan, after having seen Teuquob off to safety, had
successfully returned to her room without being seen, but once there her
imagination unleashed, then fearing the dire consequences such as: What if when
Teuquob’s absence came to light, herself cracking under torture, she could not
help betraying her beloved lady, or worse, Chenko Haken? She’d, hence, rather
than risk this, was resolved to end her life.
Despite her advanced years, even Mokak had to agree, she had spunk and was
quite a brazen individual.
Indeed,
after quietly making the premise look like there’d been a struggle of sorts,
with all the furniture strewn about, therefore throwing the suspicion onto
abduction, she’d then stoically taken a potion (poison) that brought on a heart
attack, and thus died. Her reasons for suicide had been clear; she’d hoped
against hope that this would buy the runaways at least some time, as well, to
spare the family from any possibility of persecution.
Her corpse
was discovered the following morning when the alarmed servants gained forceful
entry into the compound by (ridding the obstruction and) breaking down the
barred door. As it was locked and
barricaded from the inside, the authorities when called to the scene, had been
puzzled to solve the irregularity in this investigation, the obvious dilemma-
as to how the intruders had broken in and despite the signs of struggle, had
carried Teuquob off in utter silence during the night. A strict search was made
of the compounds gradually extending it to wider circumference, as well, roofs
and the outlined walls were scrutinized (by the keen inspectors) for any sign
of intrusion, but again to no avail. By that afternoon, however, the merchant
ship had already left the harbor. A
subsequent thorough search of the city, its boundaries and port therefore,
proved fruitless. All avenues of exit
blocked, the authorities went on board the stranded ships next, imposing a
stricter search of the passengers, but since they were avidly looking for a
captive young girl in her teens, the difficult trail to the merchant ship was
not linked until much later. When things
eventually came to light giving new, incriminating evidence against Shutizan,
linking her to Chenko Haken, all the members of the family were immediately
arrested, and two swift vessels were promptly launched in hot pursuit of the
merchant ship. Fortunately, their target
“Silver Dreams”, itself a fast boat (craft), enjoying good weather and most
favorable winds for several days, had ultimately spread an insurmountable
(great) distance between them.
~
“How long
would the fool last out?” Curiosity getting the better of Mokak, he fought his
dread of water and turned to probing her memory once more, about the more
private and intriguing adventures at sea. Interestingly enough, by then, Chenko
Haken and Teuquob, through numerous adjustments and compromises had alleviated
(resolved) most of their difficult circumstances; meanwhile, being ever so
vigilant about the aforementioned seedy character, the two fugitives rarely
exchanged conversation and certainly never partook of the revelry (the
boisterous festivity or entertainment) with their fellow passengers or the
crew.
Most were aptly deterred by Chenko and his younger sibling Sunse’s cold, aloof manner and eccentric behavior; only intellectually acute (keen) Beko and his newfound friend Ytuke who was a busybody merchant, broke down the barriers and imposed their company from time to time, on the two young brothers. Meanwhile, Beko still felt somewhat indebted to Chenko Haken for bailing him out of the dire predicament he’d found himself in Kontu.
Beko and
Ytuke, although from different parts of the world, almost from the beginning of
the journey had become fast friends, as both had similar temperaments, many
things in common and corresponding backgrounds. Besides, both shared a curious
nature and loved a good mystery which presently, Chenko Haken and his supposed
younger brother presented. These two deemed safe merchants- with Beko taking
his lead from sly Ytuke and opting to believing in Chenko Haken’s fabricated
tale and his subsequent design to find fame and fortune in foreign lands-
boasted openly of their own incredible adventures, embellished riches and some
attainable opportunities that lay in wait in Luco and the adjacent, well
populated, cluster of smaller islands. As worldly men, they also imparted
valuable pointers (info) about the hidden (obscure) aspects of law, customs and
beliefs that were entrapments for embezzling naïve, unsophisticated foreigners
in that part of the world. With their outright, faithful manner, they had done
all they could to further win Chenko Haken’s confidence; unfortunately, the
latter remained guarded and close-lipped on the private concerns, giving only
ambivalent answers to their subtle queries. The silent younger sibling Sunse, a
supposed shy introvert, always under the protective, watchful gaze of his elder
sibling, had proven even more difficult to reach, let alone break. Despite the
temporary annoyance (a snag), it’d nevertheless confirmed Beko and Ytuke’s
suspicion about the seriousness of Chenko Haken’s plight. Fortunately, when
another development concerning an insubordinate sailor called Tupov drew their
attention, for the time being at least, they’d opted to letting things slide
with Chenko Haken; after all, they had the luxury of time on this tedious,
(tiresomely long) voyage.
The
captain’s thorough investigation subsequently had uncovered an undesirable,
flourishing, illegal drug trade on board and the vile criminal activity of the
mastermind, repugnant Tupov. He was found to moreover, maliciously and
spitefully poison the junior navigator, his co-conspirator, after having
suspected him of skimming some of the profits. Tupov, the burly sailor in
question, defiant to the bitter end, did not go down without a fight.
After an intensive struggle, he’d been cornered and captured alive; then as the only appropriate punishment for his crimes, he’d been subjected to humiliating rounds of abuse, publicly flogged and been made to walk the plank.
This invigorating episode had alleviated Beko and Ytuke’s boredom for a time but not for long. Once more they seemed restless and sought to gain fresh scandal.
During the
subsequent days at sea, Beko discreetly observed a devoted elder brother Chenko
Haken, to the best of his ability protecting and solicitously tending to all
his younger brother’s needs. He
diligently kept Sunse from harm’s way- a difficult feat, as Sunse was extremely
attractive, even sensuous in his looks; and shielded the innocence of the young
sibling from the corollary rude acts, the verbal exchange (conversation) when
the other merchants or sailors engaged in coarse, vile language- oftentimes
reminiscing about their sexual exploits, to relieve the humdrum phase of the
journey.
Inseparable
as the two fugitives had become, gradually Teuquob had grown quite fond of
Chenko Haken, the intensity of her feelings reaching above and beyond that of
gratitude. But Chenko Haken’s moral behavior was beyond reproach. He’d put up
so many barriers that none, not even Teuquob could transcend it.
(END OF SECTION 5)
