Chapter 14

The rest of the day went just as hard. I washed stacks of dishes and glasses.

I took Brielle her dinner into the room, where I also found the chance to chat a little with her about how tiring my day was and how I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to endure all this for a long time. She reassured me that it was just the beginning and that I would get used to it after a few days.

She managed to have her lunch in the kitchen just before the men of the crew started coming for their lunch.

So, she had the pleasant opportunity to leave the room and chat for a while with Jimena. She also asked Jimena about Alma and how she was doing. Jimena sighed and replied that Alma had already started moaning because of her mandatory immobility.

I seized the opportunity and asked if Brielle was allowed to go out on deck if she wanted to and if she could borrow a book from someone to make her time more enjoyable.

Jimena replied that, of course, Brielle could go out on the deck, and as for the book, she might be able to find one among crew members because she only had the Holy Bible and needed it.

If she couldn't find one anywhere, then she would have to ask the cap if he had any book available to lend her.

I also asked her about the burning issue of bathing and morning water. She replied that she would arrange for a barrel to be placed in our room, Brielle's and mine, for the bath and stressed that we have the right to bathe up to three times a week because it was summer and the heat was intense. As for the morning water, I could use some water in the kitchen and carry some water for Brielle in the room.

We can take a bath only three times a week! Would I bathe the captain's useless baubles every day and for me only three times a week?

I couldn't object, so I decided to accept it and get used to it as fast as possible.

The captain woke up in the afternoon, and I gave him his dinner a little later.

He wasn't alone in the cabin, so I just left the tray where he pointed it out and left the cabin, leaving them in privacy.

Until late at night, when I was done with everything, I felt exhausted, and all I wanted was to lie down on my bed. I didn't even desire a bathe; I wanted only to sleep.

***

A few days passed at the same intensive pace of work. Unfortunately, I didn't get used to it as Brielle had reassured me. I probably needed a lot more time to replace eighteen years of inactivity in the castle. When everything was ready for me, I could only now understand the effort required for doing all this.

Fatigue had begun to occupy my body permanently, and my appetite had increased.

However, the days that passed left something good. The road of intimacy between the men of the crew and me got open. They got used to my daily presence. They got used to having me around.

They started to talk to me whenever they saw me, or they just smiled at me.

Sometimes they teased me with jokes, and the day passed more lightly, although just as exhausting.

I had learned to mark out them by their names. They were all good men and sensible. The only black spot in all this, and got me thinking, was that they all avoided talking about their past.

As many times as I had the chance to ask them, they masterfully avoided any answer. I respected the fact that they didn't want to tell me, and I stopped asking.

In the end, the sea didn't make me feel sick, and I felt no nauseous as Jimena had warned Brielle and me.

However, poor Brielle had been disturbed by the sea. She felt intense nausea which had fixed her in bed with a bucket beside her.

I occasionally emptied it into the sea, and after, by tiding a rope to the bucket's handle as Lucas had shown me, I rinsed the bucket in the seawater to get rid of the awful smell of vomit.

Lucas was the youngest of the men on the ship. Just nineteen and very close to my age. He was taller than me with short brown hair and two large sweet, innocent eyes that sparkled full of life in the same color as hazelnut. And finally, he had a beautiful smile that revealed his cute, slightly crooked teeth.

I had set him apart from the rest of the men, secretly placing him higher in my heart. It was not erotic what was between us, neither from him nor from me.

We matched amazingly like friends.

If Lucas wanted something more, I think I would understand. But until that moment, I hadn't realized anything like that. He hadn't shown me anything like that. Besides, he knew very well that Brielle and I would leave the boat at some point.

Although we had talked before, our relationship became closer one afternoon when I went to the deck to empty a bucket into the sea full of potato and other vegetables peelings that I had peeled for lunch.

I had reached the handrail and was getting ready to lift the bucket to empty it when Lucas approached me from behind, pulled the cap from my head, and put it in his pocket. He had caught me by surprise, and I hadn't even had time to react.

"You don't need this nonsense up here. You don't need to keep up appearances on board. Let your head free to get some air, don't have it all day stuck in the cap. We haven't even seen the color of your hair. Ah! Blond! I like it!" he told me and smiled.

«LUCAS!! Come here, I need you about something." the captain who happened to be at the helm shouted.

"I'm coming, Captain," Lucas replied, but before he left, he smiled and blinked at me.

I remember looking at the captain and seeing him staring at me with narrow eyes. He was upset about something, and I hoped not because I had delayed Lucas in his work. I didn't want him to get into trouble because of me.

From that day on, Lucas and I teased each other at every opportunity; either we were joking or laughing. For the first time in my life after my father died, I laughed so hard in my life.

And somehow, like this, my life on the ship changed.

Before that happened, I wished for days to pass quickly to reach the port and finally leave with Brielle.

After that, I caught myself getting angry that days were passing so fast.