A voyage round the world. : Containing an account of Captain Dampier's expedition into the south-seas in the ship St. George, in the years 1703 and 1704. With his various engagements, &c. And a particular and exact description of several islands in the Atlantick Ocean, the Brazilian coast, the passage round Cape Horn, and the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico. Together with the author's voyage from Amapalla on the west coast of Mexico, to East India. His passing by three unknown islands, and thro' a new-discover'd streight near the coast of New-Guinea; his arrival at Amboyna: with a large description of that and other spice islands; as also of Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, &c. Their rivers, harbours, plants, animals, inhabitants, &c. With divers maps, draughts, figures of plants and animals
( English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes in the following text.)
(This fic is one of the multiple choices of this post)
Note: even if it doesn’t seem real, but there had been cruel men that their wrath was unleashed because if loss of their beloveds,let me make you oke of those precious beloveds,so you know your worth!
Summary: Your master has decided to finally share his plans with you.
Tw: mentions of death and abuse
The head butler gave you a final nervous look before he cleared his throat and knocked on the large ebony wooden door of your master's office. "Lady N/Y is here as you had requested my lord!" The Butler's voice didn't show what was going on in his mind but you could already see the way his hands trembled when he tried to adjust his white gloves. You knew what was waiting for you behind those doors.
"Finally! Send her in!" The deep voice of your master could be heard behind the doors. "I do apologize for taking you here at this time...but you know that his orders are absolute!" The butler whispered to you as he opened the door, letting you walk into the office, the smell of burnt ash and smoke hitting you hard. The smell was so strong that made you cough, gaining Lex's attention, who had hunched over his desk. You could see the remains of someone's high-heeled shoes and pants. After a second or two of processing the scene, the realization of what your master had focused on made you place your hand on your mouth to stop the sudden scream that was going to burst out of you.
It was a dead person, a dead vampire actually, but still a person was killed on the desk, the desk that your master had made love with you on countless times before. Lex knew you were watching but he didn't turn around, but his head tilted to your direction "You are finally here darling! I am sorry for waking you up at this time but I had to summon you...your presence is needed here!" His voice was deep and amused, the rush of excitement because of the murder still running through his veins, the beads of sweat gleaming on his bald head, his breaths short and fast, as if he was calming himself down after a long period of panting.
"What has happened?" You dared to ask as you walked closer, your master had trusted you so much over the years that you could approach him without his permission. "I realized something crucial...something that is going to change my whole life!" He said as he threw his hand in the air, the ash in his fists spreading around. Now that you were close to him he turned around to face you, his green pupils shining like a pair of marvelous emeralds. His smirk was genuine, like the times he would discover something new. His features softened as he looked upon you, taking your hand in his much larger one, ignoring the flinch you had when you felt his hand that was still covered in a dead person's ashes touching you.
"Look! Look at her, my dear Y/N!" You stared at your master with worried eyes, not wanting to see what was on the desk, your master let out a frustrated huff before pulling you gently closer. "Look at her! Isn't she beautiful? Isn't her filthy ashes much more tolerable than her form in flesh?" You looked down on the desk, where your master's mother lay, a large wooden stick had pierced her heart. You gasped at the sight, your body freezing in its place.
So he finally had done it? He had killed his noble mother? You looked up at him once again "W-why?" You managed to ask, making him frown qt the question. "Why? Oh, darling from all people you should know why! She was the one that threw me out of her household because I was not pure! She took all of the pampering noble life away from me, made me make my way on my own into the ranks of nobles, and then tried to banish me from the nobles' community! That is why she's dead now, right at the very night that my life will forever change!"
You couldn't help but worry for him, you did that a lot lately. Since he had started to work on his biggest project ever, he always had talked about a fateful day, what was it? you didn't know, even if now you had learned the language of nobles, his maps and notes seemed strange. You couldn't understand what he was working on. Your hand squeezed his tighter, you didn't want to admit but you felt empathy for him, Lex had been alone all his life, he hardly could trust anyone, and he had to be cruel so he would survive. He was a ruthless man but when you had entered his household he was fair with you, treating you like an apprentice than a concubine you respected him. But it was not the same for others around him.
The servants were practically replaced by machinery that he had designed and only a handful of them had remained, but they had not quit their jobs, they were killed by the Dampier himself as his paranoia of spies of other houses rooted even deeper inside his mind every day passed. He was an uncontrollable beast with a heart of iron, and a hard logic that only thought about his greed for power. But it changed over the years. The head butler and others had noticed how much calmer he'd get when you were around him, and it was not hard for them to notice the reason for it.
Lex had feelings for you, you knew, everyone knew, but he didn't want to admit it. He had taken the name of a concubine from you, making you into his apprentice so your status was higher than any normal servant. He had showered you with gifts and privileges, he liked you, he had shown you this before by some physical intimate moments as well, but you couldn't help feeling uneasy, thinking that at some point he'd snap and kill you like his servants.
But you were not going to have the same fate as the servants. Oh not at all! You didn't know what was going on inside the Dampier's heart. You didn't know what was happening in that locked heart of his. But whatever it was not something that would seem genuinely good. You took in a sharp breath "Why...why she's dead?" You dared to ask as you looked back at the pile of ashes. "She was stepping on the lines that were not meant to be crossed." You frowned at the question and opened your mouth to ask for more explanation, you understood his feud with his mother but still, he had killed a noble in his office! It was the most reckless thing to do! But you were silenced when he pulled on your hand and walked you to the other side of the office, not uttering a word, you could tell he wanted to show you something.
Reaching the other side of the room, he stopped in front of the large curtain he had in his office. It was the symbol of his house, a distorted L, you had thought that he had kept the curtain as a memory since it was the gift of the king himself to him when he was promoted as a noble by the royal council, his honorable actions of defending the capital form a coup had given him a place amongst the nobles, his rightful place that his mother had taken from him. But it was not what it seemed.
He pulled on the curtain to make it fall off the wall, revealing a metallic door. You have heard of his secret lab from his head butler but you haven't entered it yet, after years of being with him Lex was fully trusting you now. Lex was a complicated man, if he liked you you'd be in more trouble when being favored, well at least if you were going to he punished killing you or permanently breaking you both physically or mentally was not in his available options, even though he monitored you heavily if he harmed people he liked his mental state would degrade significantly, that was why he had a few people in his life. His head butler, his stepmother who had died years ago but was still kept alive in a coma state in his lab, and you.
If you were not close to his head butler you wouldn't have had the chance to know him the way you did, if you didn't know him well enough he'd be more of a monster to you than a person, that was why most of the court feared him. But despite being familiar and close to him, it didn't mean you couldn't see what kind of a man he truly was, you were now just aware of the reasons behind his actions. You could still stand in the corner and judge him the way you wanted, he'd kill people easily, he was unstoppable when angered, and he only cared for his job as an alchemist, you were a part of it obviously, and an absolute beast if he was given the power. That was why King's spies were after him, trying to find information about what he was doing in his mansion, outside of the capital.
He opened the door by pressing his ring into it, letting the magic that flew in the door be aware of his presence. As an alchemist he was quite skilled at his profession, he even had managed to create a system with a mind of its own that worked with magic before you were purchased by him, and now with your help, only dark gods knew what he had stored in his lab, you were only allowed to assist him in finding sources and providing energy. The lights were turned on by the system as he pulled on your hand not so gently, walking you through the hallway behind the door. "Today I'm going to show you what I have had in mind...now that no one's threatening me I'm going to tell you everything and you will aid me!"
You looked at his wide back in silence wondering about what he had just said, his white shirt was covered in ashes and its tightness didn't hide his muscle bounded body, he was an attractive man and if it was not for his sour scowl and intense glare that he always had, many would've considered seducing him. But he didn't care about such things, which was extremely odd since as a Dampier that fed on blood he had to have a high drive for lust, but he seemed unfazed by it. Even when he had you could tell that he enjoyed seeing your pleasure more than experiencing it himself, maybe it was because of his childhood as an apprentice of an alchemist that was infamous for his madness, there was the chance of Lex being harassed and experimented on by him, maybe that was why he was so easily angered? It seemed like he had so much stress in him. You were not sure, you hoped you could find out about him more, you didn't want to admit but knowing about him was like an enjoyable game to you.
"Close your eyes..." he ordered and you obeyed. "Here...let me help you..." he said in a much gentler voice when he touched your arms, guiding you forward. When you two were alone he'd grow softer, he even had started to call you sweet pet names lately and it showed your relationship's progression. You walked as he gently pushed you forward, you could feel the airflow change as if you had entered a much bigger space, you wondered what it was, and after a few more steps you'd find out.
"Now open them!" The sight in front of you made your brain lose its functionality for some good seconds, it was impossible! How...how could this be? The sight of numerous mechanical warriors made of shining metal seemed too unreal. "Isn't it magnificent darling? Isn't it the most wonderful creation of mine?" Now that you were seeing this everything was clicking in....his mother's death, his constant need for your help at finding ancient scripts, his sudden loss of fortune, all of that...was because of this? You didn't like what you thought of the reason behind this creation.
His hand rested on your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. This made you look up at him, seeing the rare sight of his genuine smile. "If it was not because of you, there wouldn't be anything here now...it is because of you, my precious Y/N, that I have the chance of taking the throne of the king and his filthy family! Now I can prove humans are better than the vampires, I will enslave them all and it's....it's all because of you!" You wanted to move away from his tight grasp, feeling extremely uneasy...was it...was it real? A blood bath was going to happen and you were the cause of it?!
"That is why I love you..." his confession struck you even harder than his plans. Making your jaw drop, he chuckled as he knelt before you, holding your hands. "You have given me the chance of chasing my dreams...you are loyal to me, your presence makes my pain fade away and your pleasure turns into mine!... I love you, something I didn't know I was capable of!" You knew he liked you...but he was taking it too far! You knew how controlling he'd get, and now that he was having the excuse of loving you, he'd have you wrapped around his finger! No! No! NO!
"When I succeed in my plans, and I will, you shall become my queen, being treated like the precious jewel you are!" He wanted you to be in a more fancy cage. "We will make humanity prosper!" He'd have men become slaves to his greater cause. "And we will live happily at last!" No! No! NO! "Will you give me the honor of being my spouse?" You were too shocked to talk...he'd squeeze your hand tighter and a frown formed on his face when he saw your hesitation. You had to give him an answer or he'd get angry, which was much worse than his normal self. "Y-yes!" You said, nodding, knowing what miserable future awaited for you and the whole dark lands because of you.
A 17th century British pirate and the first written recipe of Atsarang (Burong) Mangga – an unlikely encounter...
"When the mango is young they cut them in two pieces and pickle them with salt and vinegar in which they put some cloves of garlic. This is an excellent sauce and much esteemed; it is called mango-achar. Achar I presume signifies sauce.”
As written by the British-born William Dampier in his book, A New Voyage Round the World, which first appeared in 1697 (Dampier, 1697).
This appears to be more of the recipe of atsarang or burong mangga (pickled mango) when Dampier reached the Philippines from Guam on his 17th century journey around the world. He further noted, “The mangoes here grow on trees as big as apple-trees: those at Fort St. George are not so large. The fruit of these is as big as a small peach but long and smaller towards the top: it is of a yellowish colour when ripe; it is very juicy, and of a pleasant smell and delicate taste.”
The word, achar, is Hindustani (from Persian āchār) and described as pickles, as prepared in the Indian subcontinent (Speake and LaFlaur, 1999); which is most likely the origin of the Tagalog word, "atsara", with exactly the same meaning.
Sources:
Dampier, W. 1697. A New Voyage Round the World. Adam and Charles Black 4, 5 & 6 Soho Square, London, W.1. A Project Gutenberg Australia eBook No.: 0500461h.html.
Speake, J. and LaFlaur, M. 1999. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English. Oxford University Press. 496 pp.
