Once he arrived at Smith’s, he stood outside for a moment and stared at the building. He wasn’t sure how prepared he was to receive the news – whatever it was. But, Victor new he had no choice but to take action. He was the Captain; it was his job. He pushed himself to enter, and as soon as he walked in, George greeted him. “Ah, Victor! Hello again,” the old man smiled sincerely as he welcomed him. “Let me go see if your mail is here, son.” The old man scooted to the back of the store and soon returned with a letter in his hand. “For you, Vic! Looks important!”

Victor took the envelope from the man’s hand and flipped it over to eye it. It was indeed from Alice’s father, he could tell from the expensive parchment he used. He sighed as he stared at it, but thanked George for the letter and exited the building. He had a knot in his stomach as he thought over all of the outcomes that could be sparked by his decision. The letter was slipped into his shirt, and he began to walk back to where the rest of his crew and Alice were. 

“Boys,” he greeted them, forcing a smile. “I am going to retire for a little while. Should be back out soon. Keep an eye on the lady for me, yeah?” The men agreed as they continued his work, and Victor bowed his head to Alice as he headed for the inn. He thought it would be better to open it alone, so he can think on things before he needed to present anything to the crew. Maybe he would get some quick shut eye too; he had been exhausted since he stepped foot on the island.  He was ready to return to the dark, small room he had been sleeping in.

Victor felt a surge of power travel from his finger tips to the rest of his body as he held the envelope sealed with a golden with raised a crest on it.  His fate – along with the crew’s and Alice’s – laid in his hands in the form of scribbles on a piece of parchment. Unsure if he was ready to reveal the Governor’s response quite yet, he tossed it onto the desk in front of him, rested his elbows on the wood, and buried his face in his hands, his fingers lacing through his brown, messy hair. A sigh slowly escaped his lips as he mulled over the possibilities of what the letter could entail. Was he ready for a potential war against enemies more ample than him and his crew? Was he ready to possibly lose his ship? Or Alice?

As he sat at the desk, he eventually fell asleep on it, his arms as a sort of pillow folded under his head. The curse that was cast upon him, he thought, was possibly the cause of all of the undue exhaustion, and he thought he could fight it. But, he eventually subdued to his heavy eyelids and blurry thoughts.