Capítulo 101: Seabolt
It seemed foolish at first, a waste of time. Daniel had his duty to his family, he had to work to pay the rent for the shack they live in, pay for his poor mother's medicine and ensure at least one plate of food for them every day. His father had died many years ago, Daniel, as the only male in the family, had to take care of supporting them. He had to take care of his sick mother and his young sister.
For a 14-year-old boy, job opportunities are not abundant, the most lucrative jobs require a level of skill and knowledge that the boy did not have. Daniel didn't give up, he didn't let rejection defeat him and kept looking. In the end he settled for several jobs with low income, he works at the port carrying cargo from one place to another, he also works in a tavern twice a week cleaning. In between he does various jobs that barely pay him a few copper coins.
The boy works from sunrise to sunset and barely makes enough coins to survive. Daniel did not have time to attend the so-called "School" to learn to read and write. Bah! What use is that to him? Will it help him work faster? Will it give him more strength to be able to carry more cargo at the dock? No, wasting several hours every day would be the end of his family. His mother's condition does not improve and the price of medicines only increases, medicinal herbs have never been cheap but herbalists are taking advantage of desperate souls like him to make more money!
The greedy bastards! They don't care about people's welfare, if people die because they can't afford medicine because of their damn prices... They just don't care.
Daniel was going to ignore that so-called "School" and move on with his life, but he heard in the port that the Hogwarts Toy Company was looking for new literate staff. It was a golden opportunity! Everyone knows how well paid the prince's employees are! With the coins he would earn as a company employee he could buy all the medicines his mother needs! They could even eat three meals a day!
It was a risky bet, the time it will take him to learn to read and write his family will suffer because he would have to reduce his working hours ergo they would have fewer coins. Getting that job wasn't guaranteed either, but it was his only chance. With rising medicine prices it wouldn't be long before he couldn't afford to buy anything, at this rate his mother would die!
Daniel put his future, his mother's future, and his sister's future on the line.
He went to school and tried his best, memorizing every letter and practicing his writing until his fingers were numb. But all that effort was in vain, by the time he qualified to work at the Hogwarts Toy Company it was already late, the company had already found all the employees they needed.
His mother's condition was getting worse and he had wasted several weeks learning something that was now useless. Or at least that's what he thought at the time.
The prince had just returned to Dorne after spending several years studying at the Citadel, his arrival was greeted with great acclaim, rumors ran like wildfire, things as crazy as the prince saving the life of his younger brother as soon as he arrived at Sunspear or of plans to create his own Citadel.
Crazy things that Daniel ignored, the boy was too busy working to pay attention to the gossip of the city. But then one of his teachers at the school where he learned to read and write came to visit him. He told him that the prince was looking for talented people for a new project. His old professor knew of his circumstances and thought he fit the criteria. He was young, ambitious and could read and write.
Daniel only half listened, but he already knew how generous the prince was and thought:
"By trying I lose nothing."
He talked with his boss and took a day off. He went to the warehouse where the candidates were gathered and was interviewed.
Interviewed, a word he had never heard before. They asked him a lot of questions and the so-called recruiters wrote down all the answers. Some questions were logical.
Why do you want to work here?
Where are you from?
What is your current job?
Why should we hire you?
But others were downright ridiculous, Daniel still doesn't understand the purpose of those questions.
What is your greatest achievement? Finding a silver stag on the ground when he was 8 namedays, he managed to feed his family for several days thanks to that coin but Daniel did not see the importance of the recruiters knowing that.
What is your dream? Dreams are dreams, all smallfolk dream of rising above their stations but they all know that is not gonna happen. Dreams are just dreams.
After an exhausting day of more and more difficult and strange questions, Daniel was sent home. For several days he heard nothing, and then the days turned into moons. The boy lost all hope, but two moons after the interview a letter arrived.
A letter!
Daniel had never received a letter before. It said the following:
|Dear Daniel,
We are writing to inform you that after reviewing your interview we have decided to hire you-|
Daniel went to the warehouse, as the letter told him to do, and saw several dozen men and women, all with eyes shining with hope for a brighter future. The prince did not disappoint, everyone received a highly paid job.
Daniel was assigned as a cabin boy on one of the ships of the Sun Trade Company, a newly created company.
His pay as a cabin boy was double what he earned with four jobs! Daniel gave it his all, with enthusiasm for the future he tried his best and all his hard work was rewarded. At eighteen namedays he became captain of his own ship!
Well, the ship is owned by the prince, but he is the captain!
The ship he became captain of is a caravel, a new caravel fresh out of the shipyard. He even got to name it: The Seabolt, his pride and joy. The caravels move quickly through the water like lightning bolts through the sky, the name seemed very appropriate.
The Seabolt glides across the sea like a dagger driven by the wind, her golden sails leaving a trail of light in her wake. It truly is the bolt of the seas. She is three times faster than any other ship, the ships of the Ironborn and the Stepstones pirates can only dream of catching up with them.
There was no doubt in Daniel's mind that no ship in the Known World could even hope to match the Seabolt in speed.
Daniel traveled the Narrow Sea almost every day, more precisely he traveled the route between Kings Landing and Sunspear, stopping at all the important ports on the way. It was an easy job and very well paid.
Daniel earns enough to afford a house in Progress Town, a cozy house near the port. Thanks to the prince's potions, his mother is healthier than ever and his little sister is studying to become an inventor like her hero, Prince Doran.
Life couldn't be better for them.
Shouts from the crew woke Daniel from his nap. The captain put on his boots and ran out of his cabin.
"Pirates!" the sailors shouted.
Daniel looked around the ship, ahead were a dozen pirate ships.
`We are not in the Stepstones! What the hell is a pirate fleet doing here?!`
Pirates are common in the Narrow Sea but always move alone or in small groups. In order not to attract too much attention or provoke the fleets of the Free cities or the westerosi the pirates do not move in large groups. Daniel counts at least fourteen ships, that's a fleet.
"Don't stand still idiots! Navigator! At the helm! We are not going to give up, find a way to escape!" Fighting is not an option, caravels are small ships with only about twenty sailors.
"They have blocked our way! We could only turn back and we are in dangerous waters!" The navigator, Robert, was right. They are near the Essosi coast in an area with little depth and many rocks under water, if the ship hits them it would open the ship's hull.
`Those sails, they are the Jolly Fellows. What are they doing so close to Myr? Those damn pirates must be planning something, I must inform the prince!`
"Better sink the ship than end up in the hands of those bastards!" Daniel yelled. "Robert, I leave you in command!"
Without waiting for an answer Daniel ran to his cabin. He took a piece of paper and wrote something quickly. After finishing writing he ran to a cage containing a raven and tied the message to the raven's right leg.
"Go! Go back to Sunspear!" The captain opened a window and the raven flew out.
Daniel and his crew tried to escape the clutches of the pirates but everything was in vain, with all hope lost the captain set fire to his ship and crashed it against the rocks of the Myr Sea coast.
All the sailors had already taken their own lives, since suicide was much more attractive than being captured by pirates, they all knew the future that would await them in their hands. Torture and slavery.
Daniel took his dagger and plunged it into his chest.
"I'm sorry mother, I'm sorry little sister, I won't be coming home."
The last consolation for him is knowing that his family will receive a generous compensation for his death, enough coins to live comfortably for many years.
"Truly a generous prince." He muttered before falling into the water.
Daniel went down with his beloved ship, his death was one of countless caused by the Blackfyre ambition. But his death was recorded in the history books thanks to the message he sent, a message that would save the life of the Princess of Dorne.
Arthur Uller was the highest authority while his wife was away on her trip to the capital. Upon receiving the message, he saw the danger his wife was into. He knew that Princess Dorna was returning to Sunspear and her ship was dangerously close to the pirate fleet. He wasted no time and quickly commanded the Dornish fleet to move north to escort the princess on the last leg of the journey.
The Dornenese fleet collided with the Jolly Fellows a few miles north of Tyrosh. The skirmish was brief and both sides withdrew after exchanging a few attacks. The small fleet that was escorting the princess had been informed of the danger and took advantage of the chaos to escape.
Dorna Nymeros Martell escaped certain death that day, and for that, she generously rewarded the families of all the sailors who perished on the Seabolt.
Actions that earned the loyalty of one of the most brilliant minds of the century. Nicholas Seabolt, nephew of the late Captain Daniel (his family took the name of Daniel's beloved ship as their last name). Nicholas will follow in the footsteps of his mother, who would become a famous scholar, and invent a host of gadgets. He will be known as Nicholas Seabolt, the Father of Electricity.
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