^^ Mehmed Bin Salman ^^

— Reginald —

"-according to my father, the war in Crimea is going poorly. The churches are trying to come to a compromise that will halt the hostilities, and the Pope is the only one who could hope to have his voice heard. That's what I was told of our duties; I think perhaps we don't hold war plans, but rather the Russians are hungry to extend this war, and destroy the Ottoman Influence on the Continent, as they've stated before. If the conflict ends, they are no longer within their rights to attack, and they know that that would be the end of the war, for them." I explained thoroughly, sitting in a chair in front of the doctor's fireplace, across from the captain, the Doctor, and Ben.

Doctor Cole nodded. "A fake reason for war is commonplace, of course... yes, the war in Crimea is nearly two years old, and even just two days ago the Russians lost a battle in Alma, a decisive victory they are quite peeved about, no doubt. I've been in contact with a few colleagues in the area, and it's only getting worse for the Russians; they have superior numbers, but they lose two men for every one the enemy does, even when they win. They treat their soldiers as disposable. Disgraceful behavior for a military."

Adrian hummed. "But still, 16,000 pounds, that is a hefty piece of a War-Chest, is it not?"

"They think it's worth it, of course. Conquering the Ottoman Lands, which are rich in gold and jewels, would mean their empire's capital would increase nearly trifold." I explained sadly.

She sneered silently at the fire for a moment, and spat into it. "Oh of course it's about money..."

"It always has been, my dear." Doctor Cole nodded, and stood up to get a glass of wine. With his back to us, he spoke again, though the content gave me pause. "Now, we must speak about your use of magic in front of my crew, Reginald..."

I blushed, rubbing my freshly-healed nose. "Yes, that was... brash of me. I wasn't thinking about the consequences."

"No... killing your first soul with a blade, and being directly responsible for the deaths of at least 300 more when you lit that ship on fire, I imagine that threw your caution to the wind. To be clear, it is never to happen again. Once is dismissible as superstition; twice is evidence, and many of my sailors are religious men, even though I abhor the practice. I'll not have you giving them fits." He stated firmly, taking his seat again.

I bowed my head. "I understand, Doctor."

"And in the future, understand that we only destroy our enemies with might in such a manner as you did when the battle is stacked against us. Once the two larger vessels were destroyed, we could have taken the smaller ships, both of them, with little to no issue. I am sure you followed your instincts, and I would hesitate to tell you they are wrong, but at the very least, we would have liked to capture that ship." He sighed, looking into the fire morosely, not unlike a child who had been denied a new toy. His expression cleared, but I could tell that he'd been disappointed at the loss.

I chuckled. "Of course, Doctor, capture of human enemies is more preferable to their utter destruction... though, letting my enemies live is a very new concept for me, I'm sure you understand?"

He smiled. "Indeed. That's all I'll say of the matter, in the vein of more critique of you, instead I will sing your praises and tell you of your laurels: you and Benjamin captured a well-kept naval vessel, and the purse for its capture and any riches found therein is therefore to be shared amongst the crew, with you, Lockwood, and Brine receiving a twentieth of the total value, and Benjamin a tenth, as the commanding officer of the capturing party, with the ship's treasury receiving two tenths, and the Captain receiving three twentieth's... the remaining four tenths go amongst the Crew. Considering the size of the ship, it'll fetch at least 18,000 pounds, plus the complement of 4,000 pounds of silver, and a variety of golden baubles from the vessel that our resident craftswoman has deigned equal to a further 1000 pounds. All told-"

Cleo spoke, after a brief growl to halt his speech, and sat up on the pillow she'd laid on like a queen. "I have taken the riches of the Drowned ships for MY portion of the prizes, as is right, considering they were entirely lost to you. I thought you ought to know. You may count it, and hold it in Benjamin's Name." She hopped off the cushion, hiding behind it, and then began hacking up large chests, salt-soaked baubles, and even ordinary ship's pieces, such as the figureheads of the destroyed vessels.

Soon, the room was quite cluttered, and she leapt back onto the pillow, cleaning her face primly, studiously ignoring our looks of shock.

Benjamin slowly knelt next to her, and pet her carefully. "You... are the most confusing, and yet lucky cat I have ever met."

She smirked, purring under the constant petting. "Indeed, I am quite amazing and mysterious, and as a boon to you, I permit you to continue petting me. I'm quite particularly fond of my ears."

A series of running footsteps came by the door, apparently responding to the series of thuds that'd resounded from the dropping chests. "Doctor Cole, are you alright?!?" One of them yelled.

He nodded and opened the door casually, addressing the crowd of armed men as if schoolchildren. "I am quite fine; in fact, tell mister Mehmed that we have a number of articles that require his expertise; we have retrieved the loot from the drowned ships, for the crew's prizes."

"They are MINE!" Cleo hissed, puffing up.

"They belong to the crew that downed the ship, my dear, but yes, as you retrieved them, you will get the Lion's Share, I suspect. After all, the Crew is yours, no? You would wish them properly rewarded for having fought to protect me, Yes?" Ben murmured, and pet her ears gently, while she subsided slowly.

"Yes... I suppose a reward to my servants is still a reward to me... I will permit you to spread my spoils amongst my Crew, Sage." She declared haughtily, and dove into Ben's collar, apparently sulking.

The crewmen, unaware of the conversation, laughed and shouted in happiness, sending for the resident merchant, a man from Persia, I'd been told, though I'd yet to see him. I had expected, from what little information I'd heard of him, that he would be an older man, Persian in nature, perhaps salt-stained from his twenty-plus years aboard a ship as a merchant and Marine.

Instead, a massive beast of a man, just barely taller than Benjamin and built like his muscles had been stuffed full of iron, like the fabled Clay Men of Jerusalem, the Golems that mimicked the human body, but only much, much bigger. His chest was bare, -as he wore only a pair of short leather pants to cover his huge thighs and equally obvious manhood,- and he was covered in a layer of thick black hair that I instantly imagined running my fingers through; it continued from his chest down to his severely sectioned stomach, all the way to his waist, where it slipped beneath his shorts, towards-!!! I quickly shook the thought from my mind, looking to see if anyone had noticed me staring at him and drooling a little.

When I turned back, he had crossed the room, and held out a hand to me to shake. His voice, when he spoke, was so deep as to shake my sternum, and twist my insides into confused knots. "Greetings, Sir Reginald Birchwood!!! I have met your father once before in Rome, by way of my uncles, who are members of the Red Cross themselves; the Jerusalem Sect, of course."

I belatedly noticed the only piece of jewelry he wore, a jewish Star of David, and the revelation that he knew of my father shook me from my dazed staring at his chest and abs, -which were perfectly eye-level to me, a tempting view,- and I gripped his hand, finding my own lithe, lily-white hand almost comically dwarfed by his massive bear paw. "Uhm... yes. You, as well, brother... Mehmed?" I asked haltingly, releasing his hand and looking at the others again, clearing my throat. They seemed unconcerned with our interaction, instead sorting the haul so that the room was less cluttered.

He nodded happily. "Indeed! Mehmed Bin Salman! Of course, I'm not a Brother of the Order, I'm too old to train, they say, but I can still make and buy weapons for you, eh? All Service is Service, even cleaning and cooking, no? Now, I'm told I am to weigh and price a new set of loot? Was my previous number off?" He turned his head to the doctor, and his chest caught the light, making me swallow heavily.

I shook my head and stepped back swiftly, taking my seat and controlling my breathing. I felt a blush on my face, and covered my cheeks with my hands, hoping the blush hadn't been visible, but knowing it was pointless, with my porcelain skin. I only hoped they would assume the blush came from some other emotion; perhaps fear that someone who knew my father would judge me harshly for being so small? I could only hope.

His attention was taken up almost immediately by the piles of loot, and produced a scale and a scroll of vellum from a satchel he'd been carrying in his off-hand, weighing and writing down everything in the piles, creating new piles of things he'd already weighed and counted. It took around five hours, which the Doctor seemed to find normal, having food brought to us without issue, then releasing  the Captain to her duties at the helm.

I was aware that most captain's did not do this, constantly staying near the wheel; it was the helmsman's duty, after all, to man the Helm, and direct the ship. Adrian seemed to relish the act of controlling the ship, though; not just the giving of orders, but the physical control that the wheel provided.

When he finished, he set aside a small pouch of jewels, handing it to the Doctor. "I don't have the proper equipment to examine these, but they are Rubies, Doctor... and even an Emerald." He held up a small green gem, about an inch long and wide in a squat rose gold ring setting. "This alone, Doctor, if it is real, is worth that entire ship." He murmured as quietly as his massive chest seemed capable of.

The doctor nodded and handed it to me, to my surprise. "Is that real, Reginald? Look for shining or clusters of bubbles in the matrix, the center, and wear in the crystal's facets."

"Doctor, no man's eye could possibly,-" Mehmed began, and was silenced with a calm glance from the Doctor.

I nodded and peered at it under a light, slowly focusing as best as I could. Curiously, I instantly saw signs of a true emerald, with a small bubble in the middle of the emerald which held cubes of pyrite, a naturally occurring substance inside emerald Beryl. "Huh... pyrite growing in the matrix... clean facets... it turns yellow and deep green at two different light angles... this is an Egyptian Emerald, or African, perhaps, according to my research into geology; the inclusion of Pyrite and Actinolite Fibers, together, means I can triangulate it to south of France, as they do not have natural Actinolite in European Emeralds, nor do they have them of such high quality... based on the current market for gems, it would be worth, -uncut and unset,- at the very least 2000 English pounds, but as it is set in a beautiful Roman setting, rose gold as the metal, and cut into a perfect emerald form, it's possible that it's worth would raise exponentially, even to the price of 12 or 13,000 pounds... to a collector or the original owner, it may be worth even more, as this is clearly an heirloom to some royal or noble family; it bears no markings, so it is not a sigil or signet ring, but clearly a flauntation of wealth that all but the most reckless, wealthy, or both would never consider wearing."

The doctor raised an eyebrow slowly, and Mehmed grinned happily. "Indeed! As he says, if it is real, and I respect his confidence in his eyes, it is quite the wealthy trinket! And the others?" He handed me the bag of gems.

I spent a few minutes with each, examining them closely and consulting a book from the doctor's shelves about rubies, at one point, coming to a conclusion. "Most of these are low-quality or fake, but the emeralds are all real; I imagine the pirates raided a wealthy jeweler's ship coming from Egypt with a small shipment of gems bound for Rome, or perhaps Spain, and kept all the gems, for no one would buy them from them, I don't think. Only a legitimate businessman would be able to offer proper prices, after all, and all the legitimate businessmen would rather be gutted than hung for aiding and abetting piracy."

Mehmed shook his head, sitting against the desk casually. "No, they would buy them and claim ignorance of their origins. You would be surprised by the lack of honor amongst merchants; it is the main reason I prefer the Navy... no, they likely hit the ship recently, and hadn't made it back to port yet before they saw us, and seized at an opportunity, their blood still high and cocky from an easy victory over some soft jewelers and their mercenaries."

Doctor Cole nodded slowly. "Perhaps... Benjamin, are you quite well?"

I looked to find the man, and frowned at his pale face, staring at the pile of gold with a look akin to horror. I recognized the look, from the poor boys brought into the order, the first time they were given a golden cross, -gold was a magical deterrent to certain paranormal creatures of Roman and Turkish origin, after all,- and they couldn't imagine the wealth they would soon command. "What's wrong, Ben? It's not as if the money will make you mad, is it?"

He shook himself, and shivered. "I just cannot fathom... 13,000 pounds... on one finger? I have only three haepence to my name... it is inconceivable to me, that such wealth exists, or that only a select few possess it."

Doctor Cole smirked. "Yes, the distribution of wealth in the world is quite unbalanced, my boy, but it is nothing to sneeze at that you are now a Lord; wealth is now yours, and you may use it to better effect than those who would hoard it in this way." He gestured at the ring, and closed my hand around it slowly. "And as for you, that is yours, if you would rather it than the twentieth you are owed?"

I quickly did the math, calculating near to 82,000 pounds of silver, plus the jewelry, -which was currently incalculable, flexing upwards as the pieces were bought and sold to proper channels,- and then looked at the ring. "It is far more than the 4,100 pounds that is my lot, Doctor."

He nodded. "True... but you did destroy an entire ship on your own, so I'm happy to give you more than your share. The 82,000 is all things we can give to the men, after all; this type of ring is simply too ornate, and I'd rather not try to split it 1,000 ways amongst them all!" He chuckled at the absurd notion.

I nodded slowly, and placed it in my jacket. "As you wish, Doctor... might I have the glass gems, after they've been properly examined? I have a chemical use for them, and they are relatively worthless, otherwise."

He smiled and handed the bag to me, emeralds and all. "Do as you will with them! I look forward to the results of your experiments!"

I removed the six real emeralds, -each nearly half the size as the set one,- as well as the two real rubies stubbornly, taking only the glass and colored crystal. "Thank you, Doctor. I will not disappoint, I hope."

He chuckled and smacked Benjamin on the back sharply, making him stand up straight in a flash. "Good! Now stop moping, Benjamin, and get to work! We're to head in past Gibraltar, now, and on towards Rome!"

Benjamin, reminded of his duties, snapped out of his confused state, and rushed off to his chambers to work on setting our course through the Gates of Heracles, a far older name for Gibraltar, given by the Greeks.

I made a hasty retreat into my laboratory, and leaned against the door, breathing heavily. "This cannot be happening... I won't allow it to. I don't want it to." The lie felt hollow, hanging accusingly in the air, and I slid to the floor, feeling the strength leave my legs. "A test of Character is not a test if it is Easy... a test of Character is not a test if it is Easy... a test of Character-"

The room echoed tauntingly with the sound of my voice, garbled and weak and helpless; a pathetic, mocking voice that enraged me so horribly that my self-control withered away in a scant few minutes, and I beat my fists bloody on the wall to halt the noise, or maybe just for the feeling of impacts on my knuckles to bring me some solace. Instead, I leaned against the wall, my broken and bleeding hands healing as I watched. "At least I have my hands, and my wits... they are all I've ever needed, after all." I sighed softly, and buried my face in my hands, trying to ignore the white-hot tears that burned their way between my fingers.