Of Magic and Rum (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos)

Chapter 32

I slide in front of Jack, shielding him with my body against my father. Not that Jack can’t hold his own, but there’s no telling what the King of the Seas will do to the man he saw kissing and groping his only daughter. Leave it to my dad to throw all heroic deeds Jack had just done below water and boil it down to this singular sight alone.

Fanning my palm at Dad, ready to ask him to stop for the second time, I freeze at the sight of my mother appearing from behind him.

Her tan hand, contrasting with my porcelain skin, gently curls around his trident, lowering it. “Let’s not start skewering people before we’ve had a chance to be properly introduced, my love.”

Introductions aside, I feel as if I need to be re -introduced to my mother because the one I knew was taken from me as a small child. Zeus banished her to the cosmos for all eternity because she didn’t uphold her duties—a mother I rarely saw and scarcely remember. A cloudy mix of resentment, anger, and joy cyclones in my mind.

“Fry,” my older brother, Triton, says, a nickname he’s called me since we were kids. “It’s her. It’s mom .”

My brother looks so desperate for me to be happy to see her. To throw everything at my feet and run into her waiting arms. But this is how Triton has always been. Positive. Quick to forgive and forget. Na?ve. I needed it growing up, but I’ve become the opposite of his breezy personality. What I need now is for my mother to realize how she fucked up.

Jack rests a gentle hand on my lower back, out of view from my family. It’s a grounding touch I didn’t know I needed.

“What do you want me to say, Amphitrite?” I can’t bring myself to call her mother, not this soon.

The Queen’s jaw flexes and tenses, her hands dropping at her sides. Her throat’s bobbing, and her eyes are glassy, like she’s holding back tears. “Rhode,” she whispers, taking a cautious step forward.

I hold up a finger, ignoring my father’s disappointed frown. Considering he isn’t trying to convince me as Triton has, I’m assuming their reunion didn’t start as blissfully as it seems now. “That’s not my name anymore.”

And it’s just as well. My mother named me Rhode. It’s a sea nymph’s name. But I’m more than a sea nymph. I’m a pirate queen and live a new life now. It calls for a new label and identity.

Amphitrite’s reaction isn’t what I expected. She’s shocked at first but then strangely understanding. The crew is all dead quiet, busying themselves with chores they don’t necessarily need to do, or looking anywhere else but at our family squabble.

Jack notices it, too, and abruptly clears his throat. “This seems like something we should handle in private. Follow me to my cabin.” Jack gestures to his quarters.

Dad quirks a brow, emphasizing his trident, slamming the hilt against the deck with each step. “Cabin? Are you the captain of this vessel?”

Jack stands straighter. “I am.” I swear his voice deepens a little. “Sir. Majesty?”

“Sir,” my dad says, passing us and brushing arms with Jack. They’re the same height, with Dad being only a bit wider in the shoulders but otherwise having a similar build. “Will do fine.”

Tension weighs heavy from the unexpected appearance of my father and brother and my late mother. Not to mention, they discovered that I’ve not only become a pirate but also am with the captain himself. A boulder lands on my chest, and I press my hand there. But as soon as Jack splays his fingers and presses that warm palm against my back, guiding me toward his cabin, most of the anxiety melts.

We’re all standing in Jack’s quarters, and Jack squeezes past Triton to scoop a prancing Truffles from his desk. He nuzzles his fur before resting him on the floor as Laust appears from a darkened corner, yawning and scratching his sides.

“Laust, take the cat and go find some grub.” Jack edges his head toward the door.

Laust’s eyes brighten at the mention of food, and with Truffles at his side, they scurry from the room.

Triton looks from the door back to the desk, pointing. “Was that—an imp?”

Jack snatches a fig from a bowl on his desk and sits on the edge. “Yes. We don’t tend to turn anyone away here. Mythical or otherwise.” His gaze lands on me as he pops the fruit into his mouth.

Dad props his trident against a wall but doesn’t move far from it. “And you are alright with this?”

“With what exactly, sir?” Jack looks genuinely perplexed by this question.

My mother stays at my dad’s side and delicately touches her throat. “With the magic? The fins and scales?”

“I happen to quite like that side of Anne,” Jack answers, not missing a beat and smiling at me— beaming .

“Anne?” My mother repeats, a wistfulness in her tone.

I press my fists into Jack’s desk, already regretting what I’m about to say. “I’m not sure how it should matter one way or the other to you, Amphitrite. I believe you gave up the right to be a concerned mother the day you decided the sea meant more to you.”

“Rhode,” Dad warns, stepping forward; simultaneously, Triton says, “Fry.”

My mother lifts a hand to halt them and looks square at me. “No. I deserve every last bit of it.” She folds her arms and a crease forms on her forehead. “I never forgave myself for not being able to see you grow up. Especially you, you were so young when it happened.” She pauses to look at Triton, who gives her a sympathetic frown. “I knew it wouldn’t take long for Triton to warm up to the idea that I’m alive and reconnect, but you’ve always been my little lava rock. So full of fire and grit.”

“Then my reaction shouldn’t surprise you.” A certain lightness fills my chest, and my fists relax into open palms on the desk instead.

A sad smile plays on her lips. “It doesn’t. And I can’t blame you in the slightest if you even hate me for what I did?—”

I cut her off, standing straight. “I don’t hate you.”

“I’m saying I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I can’t erase my past actions and don’t expect you to forgive me, but I ask if you can find it in your heart to someday be a family again.” My mother holds her hand out behind her, and Dad quickly takes it, threading their fingers.

My resolve grows softer, but I’m still so angry inside. “Did you make this easy on her, Dad?”

“We all have our grievances, Rhode. And I know better than to try and tell you what to do, but she’s changed. I’ve changed. Tartarus—” Dad sucks on his bottom lip and takes a good look at me. “—you’ve changed.”

My mother smiles, a reminiscing glint in her eye. “I don’t know if I agree with you there, Seid. She’s a woman now, but I still see that little girl who’d steal shells and baubles for her secret stash. The little girl who slapped an eel in the face with her tiny fins because it’d bitten her big brother.”

My throat tightens, and I dig my nails into the wood. My right central fin has a small tear because it caught on the eel’s tooth. “You remember all of that?”

“I do.” My mother smiles again. “I remember all the moments I had with you and still cherish them. And it makes sense to me why you’ve taken to this lifestyle.” She references the ship. “And—to him.” Her gaze zips to Jack at my side.

Jack rests his mouth on his fist and pans the room once he realizes we’re all looking at him. “I’ve been perfectly fine as a living backdrop to this family affair I’m pretending not to hear.”

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, boy,” Dad says, grabbing his trident and moving toward Jack. Triton follows him.

“Wait, wait.” I step between everyone. “Can I introduce you to him before you feather and tar him?”

My mother is still smiling.

Dad grumbles and flicks his wrist at me to continue. “Everyone, this is Captain Jack Rackham. Jack, this is my father, Poseidon, brother, Triton, and my—” I pause, eyeing my mother’s hopeful expression. “—mother, Amphitrite.”

My mother is pleased by this but reins in her excitement and clasps her hands over her mouth.

“And now that you have a name,” Dad continues, moving closer to Jack.

Jack stands confidently, not like a man about to be impaled by a trident. “I understand a pirate wouldn’t necessarily be your first choice for your daughter. And I realize I make a dishonest living, but it’s a living nonetheless, and I’m quite good at it.”

Dad stops in front of Jack, sizing him up and hanging his arm between two trident prongs. “Do you care for her?”

“Sir, I’d put her life before mine despite my mortality.” Jack presses a hand to his chest and doesn’t lose eye contact with my father.

Standing on my tip-toes, I side-bend between them. “It’s true. He almost drowned once because of it, the crazy bastard.” I give Jack a grin, which he returns.

“And let’s not forget he almost got eaten by the Charybdis,” my brother adds, making me love him that much more. “That was idiotically heroic, by the way.”

Jack bows his head at Triton. “Thank you.”

“You understand what it means to be with one of us, Rackham?” Dad’s cheek spasms, and he tosses his long hair aside.

He knows something that he isn’t letting on yet. I’d recognize that face anywhere because I know my father better than anyone.

“No,” Jack answers. “But I know what it’s like to be with Anne, and I couldn’t dream of being with anyone else.”

My heart topples over itself, and I wrap an arm around Jack’s waist because I genuinely can’t help myself. My mother grins warmly at this interaction while Dad fights everything to not look at it.

“She’s immortal. This means she won’t age, and you will. If your ‘heroic’ deeds don’t get you killed one day beforehand, she’ll have to watch you die of old age.” Dad’s expression turns stony.

Seas. I’ve been meaning to have this conversation with Jack. We’ve just been too busy trying to stay alive.

Jack nods slowly, his eyes panning to my arm around him. “I’ll take whatever time I can get with her, so long as that’s something she can live with.” His honeyed eyes meet mine, and there’s genuine concern there.

Dad and I share a glance because I know he’s fishing for the approval of bringing up the alternative or not. But I can’t yet, not like this. I want it to be Jack’s choice and his alone, without the possible pressure of my entire family staring at him and waiting for his answer.

“I’ll take whatever time I can get.” I comb a rogue strand of dark hair from Jack’s forehead and secure it behind his ear.

“Good.” Dad wrings his hands around the trident’s handle like he’s about to give bad news. “Because you two have a—” A deep sigh pushes from his lungs, and a hint of an eye roll follows. “—fated bond.”

The world around me grinds to a screeching halt.

Jack bends to my ear, still looking at my father. “Am I supposed to know what that is?”

My mother is positively jubilant as she trots over, gasping. “Do you think Atlantis knew of it? Her coming here was by design ?”

It’s all becoming more evident with each passing moment.

“It makes sense,” Triton adds, his expression swirling with hesitation and pride.

I turn to face Jack and take his hands. “Those little moments we’ve had that we couldn’t explain? After our first kiss? The way you somehow found me when N?kk kidnapped me?”

“What?” Dad growls, stepping forward, but stops when my mother gives a quick head shake and slaps his chest.

Jack circles my knuckles with his thumbs and nods his head, listening. “So, this bond gives us a special connection somehow? Jack and Anne were meant to be together?” The cockiness melting into his grin at this is charming me all over again.

“And the connection will be stronger once it’s accepted,” Dad adds.

We turn our gazes to the sea king.

“And Rhode, I’d feel better if you did because I have a sinking feeling you’re not coming back with us?” Dad’s frown is slightly masked by his beard but still noticeable.

My family stands on one side of the desk, Jack on the other, all silent and looking at me longingly for an answer to the burning question.

I take in a long breath and gulp. “I’ve found a new life here. This crew has accepted me even after discovering what I am and is like family. I can be both sides of me without care and still have a purpose.”

Triton rubs the back of his neck. “You never did like disguising yourself and wandering amidst mortals. A ship, the open seas, it suits you, sis.” He smiles, but it’s a sad one.

Tears prick my eyes. Sniffling, I curl my arm with Jack’s. “And Jack will get himself killed without me here. I’m sure of it.”

The melancholy in the room momentarily subsides, with everyone chuckling.

“I don’t think you realize how much I will miss you.” Dad rounds the desk, and I hug him tightly. “Does it have to be a pirate, though, honey?” He whispers against the side of my head.

“Honestly, Dad?” I peel back and playfully poke him. “If you weren’t King of the Seas, you might’ve been a pirate too.”

My mother twirls her hair and grins. “I like the sounds of that, Seid.”

Dad doesn’t retort because he knows I’m right and steps past me, holding his hand out to Jack. When Jack slips his hand into his, Dad pulls him closer. “If you hurt her, I promise you’ll find your ass on the wrong side of a trident, Jack. Do you understand me?”

Jack winces from Dad’s godly grip, and he nods. “Absolutely, sir. I hurt a lot of people and have lied to even more of them. But never her now. It’s a promise.”

“Glad we concur.” Dad lets go and moves to my mother.

Jack shakes out his hand and holds it limply at the wrist. “How does this acceptance deal work? A secret handshake?”

It’s a question I myself can ask.

Dad hugs my mother to his side. “I needed to be sure, but it would seem you two accepted it without knowing some time ago.”

Jack and I look at each other differently now. We’d been fighting a cosmic pull, and neither could win until we succumbed to our bond.

“Where are you heading, anyway?” Triton asks.

I freeze and slowly turn on my heel, tapping my fingernail on the desk. “Greece. Atlantis, specifically. Thought I’d try and find my way home there.”

Dad glares from me to Jack. “And pirates found it in the grace of their good hearts to barter you?”

Jack folds his arms and leans on one hip, eagerly awaiting my answer.

“I—” Tap. Tap. “—I promised the Tavros jewel.”

“What?” My mother shouts, and my family immediately goes on the defense, lurching forward.

“That jewel powers the beacon. If you remove it—” Dad starts, his words frantic.

I raise my voice to get them to hush. “I wasn’t going to let them take it. I just needed them to get me there.” Pausing, I eye Jack sidelong, and he’s grinning . “The plan, at first, was to murder Jack in his sleep and threaten the crew they’d meet the same fate if they touched it.”

Speechless. I’ve rendered my family speechless .

Jack turns me to him, and he cups my face, his grin widening at my admission. “And who needs a damn jewel when you’ve got a woman like this?” And much to my father’s and brother’s chagrin, Jack kisses me, sealing the bond we’ve accepted.

“Can I expect you back in Atlantis?” Dad asks.

“I’ll always come back to Atlantis to ensure it’s safe and to see you all. This isn’t goodbye.” I squeeze Jack’s hand before hugging my brother. “Someone needs to remind you how to swim occasionally, right, big bro?”

Triton embraces me and laughs. “Fat chance, you brat.” He ruffles my hair.

My mother looks at us with pride, her hands curled under her chin, and I realize it’s the first time she’s seen her children together as adults.

“Jack,” I wait for him to look at me, knowing he’ll do what I ask without hesitation. “Why don’t you show Dad and Triton your ship? Introduce the crew to the King of the Seas?”

Jack looks surprised but not fazed and stirs into action. “Of course.”

“You don’t have to leave right this minute, right, Dad?” I steal a glance at my mother.

Dad looks at her, and she’s beaming. “No. We’ve got some time. Atlantis can fare for a few moments longer.”

The three most important men in my life exit the cabin, shutting the door behind them and leaving me and my mother alone. We stand there for several heartbeats, staring at one another, each fearful of speaking the first words. But my mother, as brave as I remember her being, is the first to talk.

“The new name you’re using, I understand what you mean, my beautiful daughter. Because I’ve chosen to do the same.” My mother presses her palms to the tops of her thighs, not knowing what to do with them.

I pull out the desk chair and motion for her to sit. “And what do you call yourself now?”

“Cordelia,” she answers, making her way to the desk.

I smile, beside myself. “Jewel of the sea.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” My mother sits, and I prop on the desk near her.

“Well, Cordelia, I’d love to get to know you.”

We both smile and spend the next several hours telling each other stories of our lives and how my parents reconciled and made good on their second chance. She tells me that Jack is my other half, as I am his, and despite my father’s grumblings about his career choice, she knows Jack is a good man. I cursed the day Atlantis betrayed me and sent me to a place unknown. But now I realize the kingdom I’ve spent the better half of my ethereal life protecting was returning the favor. Jack and I are stronger together . And despite no need for physical protection due to my immorality, Jack defends something far more fragile—my heart.