章節 74: Digestion
"Finally," Serenica said as Spade helped Innai with the pig.
It smelled so wonderful that there were no mouths that would not have been full of drool in its presence. The golden glaze on its surface looked tempting.
"Don't wait for me," the old man said. "Help yourselves."
The pirates did just that. There was only a small slice of meat for everyone, since there were so many eaters, but it was still far more than they had had in ages. At least it felt like they had eaten a good meal a decade ago.
Serenica tasted the massive salad she had prepared.
"This is so good, if I may boast," she said and shoveled some of it on Myorka's plate. "You're going to crave this badly once you are with child."
"Don't speak like that or I will start eating for two in advance," the bookkeeper said. She held her three-pronged fork in her hand like a highborn lady. She didn't look like a pirate at all, eating neat bites of her food and politely reaching for things that Serenica wanted in small, delicate motions.
"The bread is enchanted," Spade mused. "Did you have a dough ready?"
"I did," Innai confessed. "I had a premonition."
"That's all right, especially when you've outdone yourself like this." The captain took a piece of the delicious, fluffy bread and dipped its edge in the gravy. "You did have help, I guess."
"A healer's hands can do many things," the old man said and winked.
The wine was good, but in order to avoid complete intoxication it was switched to apple juice in the middle of the feast. Surprisingly, no one complained about that. The juice was equally sour and sweet and it communicated quite nicely with the abundance of butter and cream.
"Thankfully I only eat like this when I am about to kill a king," Serenica said, as the wine had already made its way to her head.
Surprisingly, the old man was the first to laugh.
"You could make a career out of it," Innai joked.
"Who is going to kill Guyl the Kind?" Myorka asked.
"You mean Guyl the Slack? Gets nothing done," her husband snorted.
"Serenica over here has given me a promise," the old man said.
"All right, but why him?" Serenica asked, leaning towards their host. "What is so wrong with Guyl the Slack?"
Innai's expression became gloomy. "I am old enough to remember well a time before him, and a time before his father as well. It was only after his reign had begun that there started to be hostile attacks on witches and such."
He didn't seem to be overly enthusiastic about discussing the matter.
Serenica did her best to steer the conversation away from such sensible topics.
"William," she hollered. "Are you satisfied with my performance so far?"
The Admiral shrugged. "Has anyone died from drinking so far?"
"What kind of a bet do you have?" Innai asked.
"He supplies me with tobacco as long as the boys don't drink themselves to death," Serenica replied.
"I think that's a bit excessive," Spade said slowly, turning a piece of pork on his plate until it was covered in gravy. "My men are not idiots."
"Really?" Heike raised his eyebrows. He had been dutifully sticking to juice for the entire duration of the meal. "I beg to differ."
"A hint of irony in your voice, perhaps?" The captain chuckled. "I take my words back. It's good that William knows which strings to yank."
"I have to, it's my crew," the first mate said flatly.
In the middle of the feast Innai tapped Serenica on her arm.
"A walk, perhaps? To make digestion easier?"
Serenica followed him into the garden.
The night was already falling on them and the sky was wearing blue. Different kinds of butterflies were still on the move. Their golden and purple wings decorated the flowers in a regal display of colors.
"Do you remember what I told you about my daughter?" Innai asked.
Serenica nodded.
"I don't always understand women, but you are precious to me, all of you," the old man said, caressing the stem of something that looked like a gigantic daffodil. "I hate to see you suffer. I hated to see my wife suffer, yet that was necessary for the creation of life. Isn't it strange how love hurts women in a way it doesn't hurt men?"
"I know plenty of heartbroken men," Serenica said. She was wary of these verbal deifications. She knew they rarely matched the actions of men.
"Ah, but I was talking about a concrete suffering. You will not let pretty Myorka to die in childbirth, will you?"
"Of course not," Serenica said, horrified that Innai dared to suggest the possibility of neglect. "She is the sweetest thing I know."
"Then you must accept a gift from me. I know you will probably have to use a form of anesthesia on her sooner or later. I am no healer," the old man said. "Yet I do know many prestigious people of the trade."
He gave Serenica a small bottle. "Make her drink this. She will sleep for five hours or so. Just make sure her windpipe is not obstructed."
"How much of it?" Serenica asked.
"About ten drops will do. Can you promise you will not use this liquid for nefarious purposes?" Innai asked humorously.
"Seriously?" Serenica laughed. "I can't."
"It's very important to me that the next generation will be better people than I am." The old man looked away. "Their child will be much, much better. Go inside. I know you will fulfill your promise. I have arranged five trees for you and my supplies are all yours. The trees are marked."
Serenica obeyed him, surprised. He didn't follow her.
"Did you kill our host?" Spade asked her once she reclaimed her seat.
"He gave me something." Serenica didn't want to say more. She estimated that the mention of anesthesia would be too much for the bookkeeper. Myorka seemed to have such bad, painful memories about those things.
In the dead of the night the Admiral came from a walk, looking worried.
Serenica had assumed he would have just went to relieve his bladder, but even in her inebriated state she did realize now that it had taken him way too long.
"I can't find Innai," the first mate said.
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