10 THE 5TH ACCOUNT: HIS FATHER'S SON 3

"So when did you meet Thaddaeus?" I can't help but ask. I was getting impatient. I do not need to know what wood they use or how they repaired the ship. I just needed to know what kind of person Admiral Nunez is. "Did you meet him right away?"

Jacob yawned and stretched his legs. He placed both his hands on the wooden chest and looked up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he stayed quiet. In our silence, I could not help but study him. The more I looked at Jacob, the more handsome he got. My eyes followed a trail of skin down to his lips. They were parted a bit. My heart began to race and my hand moved on its own. I wanted to touch his face and I am curious on how his lips would feel against my fingers.

My trembling hand was only an inch away when he suddenly opened his eyes. I felt heat spread throughout my chest to the roots of my hair when he caught my eye. He was curious but he did not tease me this time. Instead, he took my hand and smiled. "Do I have something on my face?" he asked.

I nodded. We both knew I was lying but Jacob pretended to wipe his face with his other hand. He did not let go of my hand with his other one as he continued his story. My mind may have begun to travel to what had happened in the events of his narration but my fluttering heart was fully aware of his hand holding mine.

*****

Jacob made sure that his hood was covering his face as he walked the streets of Fildas. He knows with his current countenance, no one would recognize him as a former navy captain. It had been two weeks since St. Mary MU docked in Beckforth's territory. The first thing he did was to make contact with one of the people he knew and trusted-- Paco.

He made a quick turn and noticed a couple of busybodies surrounding the town crier who was announcing an execution to be held at dusk.

"Because of the crime of treason, the criminal, formerly Admiral Thomas Nunez, will be hanged at dusk. So ordered by His Majesty, the Prince of Beckforth!" the town crier announced. He repeated it again when he was done.

Jacob furrowed his brows immediately. 'What happened? The Admiral was the most loyal person to Beckforth. He immediately camouflaged his presence by mixing in the crowd to listen to the Admiral's whereabouts. In no time, he heard the information he wanted to hear.

"What happened to the Admiral?" Jacob heard someone asked.

"Well, they said that he was a traitor. That, the reason he was out at sea the whole time was because he was convincing the overseas territories to revolt against the monarchy."

"I thought the Admiral was loyal to Beckforth," asked another citizen.

"Well who could blame him? If I have power like him. I would do the same thing," was the reply.

"Shhh!!! Be quiet. The soldiers might hear you. The next thing you know, you'll be hanged next to the admiral."

"I wish the admiral could escape," said another.

"How could he? No one ever escapes Fildas' prison."

After hearing that, Jacob quickly walked away from the crowd. He will save Admiral Nunez. An honorable man like him should not die.

Penetrating Fildas' prison proved to be quite challenging. There were not too many guards. But, since going to the prison cell requires passing through a winding staircase, being spotted easily was the problem. Jacob had to be clever. He knocked off one of the guards and changed into his uniform after putting him in an empty cell. When all was clear, he headed to the admiral's cell.

Jacob was two more paces to where the admiral is, when someone attempted to punch his face in an attempt to knock him down. He quickly dodged it and was about to retaliate but he noticed that the man he was against was a tall, big, muscular one. He stepped back and decided to rethink his strategy.

Both men were at stalemate. No one dared to move. Jacob furrowed his brow after realizing something. They were both wearing a guard uniform but they were attacking each other. He looked at the man's face. Then, he realized that the man before him bore a certain resemblance to the admiral.

"Are you Admiral Nunez' son?" he asked.

"I do not talk to strangers," the man answered.

Jacob sighed in relief. The man's answer was obvious. If he was not, he could have at least given him any name. "I'm Jacob. I'm here to rescue your father as well."

"Captain Jacob Alon? He told me you saved him from the Isle of Snakes. I'm Thaddaeus," he replied.

"Ahh!! The genius ship engineer. The way you laid out that repair plan was superb!" Jacob responded and then quickly looked left and right. "Let's finish this chat later after we finish rescuing your father."

Together they walked to Admiral Nunez' cell. The Admiral noticed his son right away.

"What are you doing here?" he scolded him.

"I came here to rescue you," Thaddaeus replied.

"Admiral," Jacob saluted and quickly looked left and right again. "I'll be on guard, the two of you talk." He moved away from the father and son but not too far that he could not hear their conversation.

"I do not need you to rescue me," the prideful admiral answered.

"Ohhh… so you do have an escape plan," Thaddaeus said.

"Of course not. I do not have any plans to escape," Admiral Nunez replied.

"WHAT?!! Are you humoring me? Father, you did not do what they accused you of!" Thaddaeus raised his voice even though it was still a whisper.

"I have no evidence that will prove otherwise," Admiral Nunez snapped back.

"Father!"

"Listen, son. I will not die a fugitive," the admiral explained.

"You will die a traitor! At least that's what they're trying to do!" Thaddaeus reasoned.

"But time will prove me innocent."

"Yes, but you will be long dead."

"I am dying for the sake of my country."

"Father, stop being stubborn!" Thaddaeus pleaded.

"I am loyal to Beckforth!" Admiral Nunez raised his voice.

"Your loyalty will lead you to your grave!" Thaddaeus answered in frustration.

"It is my life Thaddaeus. I will decide on how I want to die. I prefer to die in my country!" The admiral stood unshakable.

"This is foolish, Father," Thaddaeus argued once again. "You are taking your life lightly!"

Admiral Nunez shook his head and smiled at his son, "I am loyal to Beckforth."

"Well, I am not! If they kill you, I will be Beckforth's enemy. I swear to you!"

The admiral nodded, "Very well, find someone you would be loyal too. Then you will understand me."

Thaddaeus was about to say something but the admiral already dismissed his son and talked to Jacob, "Jacob, lad, come here."

Jacob walked towards the admiral. The admiral grabbed his collar, "You see to it that my son gets away from here safely! He will not be associated with the crimes they said I committed. Do you understand me? This is an order," he said then let him go.

"You cannot order me anymore, Admiral. I am no longer a man in uniform. But I will do what you say out of my respect for you. Still, your son has a point. Why die like this?"

"I am loyal to Beckforth," he said then turned to his son. "This is my dying wish. You get away from here and do what you want to do. Do not save me. I do not need saving."

Thaddaeus clenched his fist, "You are such a stubborn old man."

The Admiral smiled, "I love you, son. Now, go."

Jacob and Thaddaeus did not have any choice but to leave. How could they rescue someone who does not want to be rescued? They were able to leave Fildas' prison unnoticed. It's not that impenetrable as it was believed to be! Once they were far off, Thaddaeus could not help but to punch the wall nearby several times.

Jacob just stood there and watched.

"Foolish… foolish old man!!! Stubborn old fool!!!" Thaddaeus kept repeating those phrases over and over and over again as he continued to punch the wall. His hand began to bleed.

"I do not think so," Jacob took his attention away.

Thaddaeus turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"I believe he said what he said to get you out of there as quickly as possible," Jacob answered.

Thaddaeus scrunched his forehead, "I do not understand."

"If you were caught, you would be hanged next to your father for crimes of treason… just like him," Jacob explained. "Your father does not want that."

Thaddaeus shook his head, "It's still very foolish."

"Maybe. But, that is the way your father wished to resolve this. In his mind, he will be dying for his son and for his country. There would be no greater honor than that," Jacob explained.

"It's still very foolish," Thaddaeus replied, still unconvinced.

Jacob chuckled, "You ARE your father's son. You call him foolish for his sacrifice. But, you rescuing him risking everything is quite foolish too, is it not?"

Thaddaeus glared at him, "You tried to save him as well!!!"

Jacob nodded and then replied, "True, but I have nothing to lose. I am already a traitor."

"I heard of your case. You were branded a traitor because you defy the government by helping the citizens."

Jacob smiled, "You could look at it like that. If you ask me, I am just giving the citizens what I believe they deserve," he said then walked away.

Thaddaeus followed, "Where are you going?"

"I have to get out of Beckforth the soonest possible time, before someone recognizes me. Besides, I had to go to the overseas territories. That's where the corruption is at its peak."

"Do you have a ship?" Thaddaeus asked.

Jacob turned to him and thought, "No… but I am quite resourceful."

"Let me go with you. My father gave me St. Mary MU."

"What about your job?"

"I left my post just like you. Soon, they will brand me a traitor too after they realized I tried to save my father and knocked out some of the guards. My stubborn old man will die soon. I have nothing left here at Beckforth."

Jacob sighed. "This is not what your father wanted for you," he tried to change his mind.

But Thaddaeus was determined. He scoffed, "This is my life. I would do to it as I see fit. Just like him."

"Very well. Let's go."

Thaddaeus led him where the St. Mary MU was docked. She was not docked by the port but somewhere hidden from prying eyes. It was by the shore covered by cliffs on both sides.

"I believe Father knew this would happen to him so he told me to sail St. Mary MU here," Thaddaeus explained.

Jacob looked around, "If they search for you. In no time they will find this place."

"Give me a day to make some modifications and then we'll leave this place."

"Alright. I will meet you here tomorrow. Let me say goodbye to someone."

*****

"So you will sail away?" Paco asked him.

"Yes, it's safer to help the overseas territories. It is more practical as well since they are the ones that are being dealt with the worst hand," Jacob answered.

Paco nodded, "Makes sense… let me come with you then."

Jacob looked at the man confused, "Why?"

"I do not have anything here at Beckforth that I am holding to."

"Your daughter's grave?"

Paco shook his head, "It is easy for me to just take some things that belong to her. I will come with you and help you. This is how I would honor her memory. So, no one will suffer the same fate that she did."

"I will not argue with you about that. Have you found out about the crimes they accused the Admiral of?" Jacob inquired.

"From what I heard, the Admiral was already on some of the noble's bad side. They ambushed his whole crew at sea. Do you know that? They tried to sink St. Mary MU. Good thing there was a storm at that time so instead it was washed ashore. When they learned that he survived, then they began to gather false witnesses against him."

Jacob sighed frustratingly, "No one sided with the Admiral?"

Paco shook his head. "Most of them were bought off if not made to shut up."

"Pack your things. We will leave at once. The more I stay here the more disgusted I am," Jacob said.

The next day, when Jacob and Paco met with Thaddaeus, they noticed that the ship changed. For one, the name St. Mary MU was no more. In its place LABYRINTH was spelled out. They boarded the ship and saw Thaddaeus.

"This is not Beckforth's naval ship anymore. Labyrinth is yours now, Captain!" Thaddaeus said.

"Captain? I told you I am not a man in uniform anymore," Jacob replied. "We are all equals here."

"Captain has a good ring to it. We need someone to lead us," Paco agreed with Thaddaeus. Then, he realized something. "Jacob, you are a captain and you steal. That makes you a pirate. Since, I'll follow you, I guess I am a pirate too."

Thaddaeus crossed his arms, "Count me in as I have decided who I would be loyal to. Captain Jacob, in my Father's honor, I will follow you, too. Pirates it is."

Jacob sighed, "You do know we will be Beckforth's enemy?" The two men nodded. Seeing that he could not convince them otherwise, Jacob complied. "Alright. But no taking from the innocent. We will only target merchant ships with corrupt noblemen as passengers."

"Sounds good to me. Shall we anchor up, Captain?"

Jacob nodded, "Sail away!!!"