Guiding Moonlight
“My lord, Sir Ali, the draper from Turkey, is here. He says he brought his finest fabrics just for Your Highness,” the servant announced and bowed.
The king was still absorbed in his own thoughts even after a couple of minutes. Rumour had it - rightly - that he was a pensive and judicious man, but that morning there was something particularly worrying on his mind.
“I’m sorry, Martin, what did you say?” King Dominic asked back.
“Sir Ali is here. The draper from Turkey, and he brought…”
“Oh, don’t bother me with such piffle, Martin!” the king snapped at the servant, which shocked Martin a lot, because his master was always so calm.
“But Sir, he came here especially because Your Highness ordered that beautiful, flaming red velvet.”
“All right, all right, let him in,” the king sighed resignedly, not wanting to offend one of the best merchants.
The Turkish man entered and greeted the king with his usual, silken words which some perceived as excessively flattering, but Dominic had known the merchant since he was a little boy, and he tried to smile and seem interested when the old man showed him his newest goods.
“But King Dominic, you are not even paying attention to me!” Sir Ali complained with sad eyes.
“I’m so sorry, efendi, but you came at a not-so-pleasant moment,” the young man replied with genuine remorse.
The discussion was interrupted by Lady Anne, King Dominic’s mother, who brought with her a tray full of delicious food.
“Dominic, I heard that you refused to eat your breakfast this morning! Son, this is the third time this week! Do you want to faint?” she reprimanded her son, but then she noticed the visitor. “Oh, efendi, I didn’t know that you’re here. I’m sorry; I’m just worried about Dominic!”
The Turkish man kneeled in front of the widow before addressing her: “No worries, my lady, I noticed as well that something isn’t right with him today. I thought he wouldn’t let me in, but he did, and he just pouts at each fabric I show him.”
“Sir Ali, let’s leave him alone; maybe his mind will come back. I think that this new servant girl has twisted him around her little finger,” Lady Anne muttered as she led Sir Ali out of the Salon of the Throne.
Before they disappeared, King Dominic called back:
“Efendi, is it true that there were dangerous storms in Helena Bay?”
The draper, who knew the juiciest rumours as well as the freshest news, answered with a bow: “I’m afraid so, King Dominic.”
Dominic, who got up while waiting for the answer, sat back down, defeated. He covered his face with his trembling hands and tried to calm down by saying over and over that everything would be fine if he had a little hope. He looked outside to the azure sea, which always had a positive effect on his overdriven nerves; however, not even that majestic sight could stop memories from coming to his mind.
Twelve-year-old Dominic glanced at the beautiful sea and he felt happy because he beheld three large ships from his father’s fleet. He wanted to run to the port to greet his best friend, but the servants stopped him.
“There’s mud outside, Prince Dominic! You don’t want to dirty your clothes, do you?”
So, he waited impatiently beside his father as Captain Bellamy and his son, Matthew, walked into the salon. After the official greeting, the two boys could finally scurry to Dominic’s room and talk freely. The little blonde prince couldn’t wait to hear about Matthew’s adventures: his best friend went on his first voyage as a gift from his father for his twelfth birthday. Something had changed in his friend’s behaviour, but Dominic thought that this new self-confidence matched Matthew’s personality.
As expected, Captain Bellamy’s son related - and sometimes exaggerated - the adventures he had in those two weeks he was away.
“Dominic, you should have seen the treasure we took from the pirates! There were so many coffers filled with gold and silver, beautiful jewellery…oh, oh, and have I told you that I fought with one of the limping pirates? Yes, Dad helped me, but I threw his sword from his hand! Look, I even have a scar!”
Dominic listened, fascinated, to his excited friend and admired as the blue eyes gained a special twinkle when he related the events that happened on the sea. He stepped closer and looked at the little scratch Matt had on his left forearm; at first he wanted to laugh in his friend’s face, but instead he took the pale arm in his hand and looked at it closely. The prince looked in the blue eyes and smiled back at Matthew’s proud smirk.
King Dominic smiled at the memory as he picked at the food his mother brought in. He was waiting for the man he sent to the lighthouse to watch the sea, which seemed eerily calm at the moment. Even though the king was not a professional navigator, he knew that this was only the calm before the storm. But why was King Dominic so worried? He was in the safe castle where the mad waves couldn’t hurt him. However, he was worried about the men he sent off a couple of weeks ago to acquire the neighbour king’s consent. The ship’s captain was his childhood friend, Matthew.
The blonde king went to his desk to look over some laws his council had submitted for his approval. However hard he tried to read them, his thoughts went back to childhood memories.
Matthew was the only boy of the same age as Dominic in the castle. His mother died when she gave birth to him and Lady Anne was kind enough to raise little Matthew together with her son. Dominic’s father loved Captain Bellamy and his son very much; therefore, the two boys got the same education, even though they weren’t equals. Dominic and Matthew loved to compete with each other. Matthew could only defeat his friend at remembering the most countries and their capitals and at fencing.
Dominic kept in mind a particular fencing exercise when the two of them fought with all their power while bantering with each other:
“Come on, little prince, show me that you’re not a coward!” Matt taunted.
“I’m not a coward, Bellamy! I’m fighting gracefully, unlike you! You’re just sawing the air!” Dominic hissed.
“Yeah? What about this?” Matthew screamed and he struck a powerful blow so that Dominic’s sword fell to the ground, and the brunet tackled his friend.
Matthew sat on Dominic’s hips with a glorious smirk; he leaned in and whispered hotly into his friend’s face: “I got you, little prince. You’re mine.”
Blue eyes bored into Dominic’s wide grey ones and winked before climbing off the blonde.
Finally, the man for whom Dominic was waiting entered the room and kneeled.
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid I’m not bringing good news. We still have no news about your ship…if Captain Bellamy chose the shorter way, through Helena Bay, then I’m afraid…”
“No, don’t speak of things you don’t know for sure! Do you have other news?” King Dominic asked as he paced nervously back and forth in the big salon.
“No, not really. But if Your Highness wants, we will signal all night from the lighthouse.”
“Yes, yes, please do so! If there is any news, please tell me! Now go!”
A few hours later, when Dominic was watching the huge, reddish sun setting on the flaming waters of the sea, he was disturbed again by his mother. A thorn of worry settled in his heart when he noticed that the sky acquired that red-purple tint which announced rough winds. He turned with a tired expression towards his mother and although he knew that she only wanted to make sure that he was all right, he preferred to stay alone with his dark thoughts. Otherwise, he tended to tell people things he didn’t really mean to and he hated arguing.
“Dominic, I know what’s bothering you, but come with me to the afternoon church service and you’ll see that you’ll feel better,” Lady Anne nagged him.
“No, Mum, not today…”
“Son, staying all day at that window and watching how the water becomes wilder isn’t any good! Even if you lost the ship, you’re rich enough…”
“Mother, it’s not the ship! I don’t give a damn about money and treasures!” Dominic shouted angrily, pummelling the walls.
A tear fell from his eyes as he leaned his forehead against the cold stones. His mother knew very well that the ship was commanded by Matthew and she also knew very well that he was his best friend.
“Oh, dear, don’t worry about Matt! I’m sure he stopped at an island and is drinking in the company of a pretty girl! You know that he’s very fortunate and more importantly, he’s one of the best captains in the world,” Lady Anne reassured her son and they hugged for several minutes.
“You’re still not coming to mass?”
“No, Mum,” Dominic answered and kissed his mother’s cheek.
“Oh, you rebellious young man!” Lady Anne huffed as she put on a veil and left the room.
Rebellious…Dominic stroked his chin thoughtfully. He wasn’t usually described with that word…that word was usually the second name of Matt.
By the time they were sixteen/seventeen years old, Matthew became a true daredevil of the seas. Captain Bellamy had many problems with the lad who let his dark hair long and made a tattoo in god knows which Pacific island on one of his crazy trips. Matthew had weird and suspicious friends and his father was even angrier when he found his son smoking and drinking. However, the rebel never forgot about Dominic and he was the first person Matthew would visit after his voyages.
The boys would sit on the roof with a bottle of wine snagged from the kitchen and watch the stars while Matthew narrated his ever nastier adventures. The prince blushed when the brunet talked about girls, but he listened attentively even to the painful news, just to hear the voice he missed so much. Matthew saw places that Dominic would probably never see; he met interesting people and learned much more than Dominic who consulted dusty, thick books in the castle’s library. The blonde was rather naïve, he was raised in a protective bubble while Matthew saw the entire world, yet they were still inseparable.
In the meantime, darkness fell on Dominic’s kingdom and his worries grew with the nightfall. The servants came in silently and ignited candles, which spread a soft glow through the room. Thunder shook everything, which prompted Dominic to run to the window. The storm started and the king’s heart pounded loudly. He raked over his dampened, blonde locks with trembling fingers. The soothing words he addressed to himself didn’t reach his mind; the sight of the terrifying waves was far more frightening.
Raindrops mixed with tears and the physical pain and exhaustion blurred with the heartache. The king could not afford to lose his best friend, his advisor, his…everything. Why was it, Dominic wondered, that one only appreciates love when one already lost it? The shattered king threw another look at the rough see. Right in that moment, as a celestial sign, the clouds cleared and silver moonlight fell on a far point. The king thought that he glanced something on the top of the waves, but the moonbeams couldn’t always splinter through the pitch-black clouds.
Something stirred in Dominic and he started fidgeting, though he knew that his only option was to wait, hoping that the lighthouse’s signals were powerful enough to guide the ship. He could only think about the blue eyes which reflected the mesmerising seas Matthew travelled on. King Dominic realised that his most precious memories involved the brunet in some way or other…
Matthew heard the news about the king’s illness and he hurried to the castle. He found the whole court inside or around the king’s bedroom. He entered and saw Lady Anne, Dominic and his own father at the king’s bedside. He kneeled with his head bowed, not prepared at all to see his “uncle” in such a bad state. The king was so happy to see him and after an hour, he passed away.
“How are you?” Matthew asked weakly, as he and Dominic stood on a balcony.
“So, so tired,” Dominic answered and rubbed his eyes. “Thank you so much for coming, Matt. I think Dad was waiting for you…”
They both stayed in silence for a while, until Matt, trying to cheer up his friend, announced:
“Hey, little prince, I brought you something.”
“Oh?” Dominic looked up, surprised.
Matthew handed him a small leather bag and the blonde opened it curiously. Inside was a silver necklace with a beautiful pendant: a half-moon shaped garnet - Dominic’s favourite semiprecious stone - surrounded by small, transparent crystals. Dominic gasped at the beauty in his hands, but Matthew had another surprise:
“Look, I have the same thing, only with an aquamarine. You know it’s the protecting stone of sailors.”
The brunet took off his own necklace and showed another trick: “We can even unite these two pendants.”
It was the most meaningful and heartfelt gift Dominic had ever received. He stared at the united pendants which seemed to represent their friendship: the garnet and aquamarine were so different, yet they completed each other wonderfully. The blonde thanked his friend the necklace and he hadn’t taken it off since then.
Dominic clutched the garnet pendant when his supposition was proved to be true: it was a ship out there, and he could have almost sworn that it was Matthew’s! He remembered feeling the same relief when he was crowned king after his father’s death. The first person he looked at was Matthew, who smiled encouragingly, which gave power to the young man. By this time the ship was very close to the port and Dominic ran down the stone stairs like a madman, the servants looking at him confusedly.
He arrived there in time to see a familiar figure putting his feet on the so-desired land. Matthew’s clothes were torn and wet, but Dominic could see the aquamarine pendant on his neck.
“Your Highness,” Captain Bellamy whispered reverently as he kneeled in front of his king.
“Matthew!” the king ran up to the brunet and before he could protest about his wet clothes, Dominic embraced him tightly.
The captain sighed with relief as he put his head on Dominic’s strong shoulder and clutched the king’s clothes tightly, afraid that he might disappear, like the delicate moonlight.
“You’re safe, dear Matthew, I was so worried!” Dominic said in an emotional voice while Matt wiped away his hot tears.
The captain smiled silently as their fingers found each other and laced together.
“You know what they say about me, I can survive anything.”
They hugged and kissed shortly, an unspoken promise, before men from the castle arrived there. That night and all the following nights, Matthew didn’t sleep in his own room…in fact, from that moment on, the aquamarine and garnet pendants were so close that they were almost always united. Dominic and Matthew ruled peacefully and happily until the end of time.