The ship bobbed lazily in the sea as Amber and Charles woke to a cloudy day. Seated in the VIP area of the kitchen, they waited for their food to be served.
“I’m starving,” said the woman, pushing back the thick black strands of hair. It wasn’t natural. Not at her age but there was no way she was showing signs of gray to anyone.
“Where is everyone?” frowned Charles looking around. He stood and poked his head into the kitchen, only to be met with the swinging door coming back at him, hitting him squarely in the nose.
“Oh, sorry about that,” said Frank. “Here you go.”
He slid a plate of raw octopus across the table, slices of store-bought bread and whole tomatoes, not even sliced.
“What the hell is this?” asked Amber.
“Breakfast,” smirked Frank, wiping his hands on the apron. “You don’t like octopus?”
“I like it cooked,” she said through clenched teeth. “Take it back and cook it.”
“This isn’t a restaurant lady. Cook it yourself.”
She threw the plate across the room, the octopus making a sickly, sticky sound against the wall. Frank smirked.
“Nice temper. You should learn to control that,” he smiled.
“Who the hell are you? Where are the others?” asked Charles.
“Me?” asked Frank taking off the apron. “I am your worst nightmare. Well, maybe not worst. I mean, I’ve got some friends who might be your worst but I’m definitely not your worst. Close but not the worst.”
Charles stood, gripping his sisters arm and moving toward the door.
“Going somewhere? Darling.”
Amber turned, staring at Nicolai, her mouth wide open.
“Nic-Nicolai,” she whispered. “I thought you were dead. Oh, darling!” She tried to fall into his arms but he simply pushed her back toward her brother.
“You’re a liar. A liar, a cheat, and what you’re doing to the island is criminal. It will not continue. It will not happen.”
“Nicolai, you don’t understand. We have investors. We need this. Greece needs this. It will bring in millions of tourists every year from all over Europe. Think of the income that your little island will bring into the country.”
“You disgust me. My island, our island is not for sale. It never was. You didn’t see how amazing it was exactly how it is. We don’t need amusement parks or fake statues of gods. Our island has its own mysteries and its own art and culture.”
“Art and culture? There is no art and culture on that pathetic island,” she scoffed.
“You just didn’t look,” said Nicolai. “The ancient ruins house so much history for our people. It brought in tourists and students from all over the world to see them. Our food, our people, few but mighty, made us a place people loved to come.
“Even the people of our own country would plan summer visits to our island. They would bring their families, their children to tell the stories of the ancient Greeks.”
“Ugghhh! The ancient Greeks. The ancient Greeks! Do you know how sick I am of hearing about the ancient Greeks? It’s all you spoke about, all you ever wanted to speak about. That and your pathetic claim that you were related to Alexander the Great.
“You are a prince of nowhere. Of nothing. You have no claims, no throne, no riches. You are nothing but another forgotten relic of Greece.”
Nicolai stared at the woman he once thought he loved. He never imagined she could be so cruel, and yet she was showing all the signs of her seemingly endless cruelty here.
“Actually,” said Luke stepping into the room, “he can claim that he is directly related to Alexander.”
Nicolai stared at him, wondering if he was simply saying it to annoy Amber.
“The team back home confirmed it, Nicolai. I’ll let May tell you how they figured it all out but the claims are true from what we can tell.”
“No. No, this isn’t possible,” said Charles shaking his head as glared at his sister.
