A splinter of inky water smashes a thousand snow-white splinters on the bow, and as the bow sinks to the surface, the hull of the ship cuts through the water, and then quickly tilts its head upwards again, exposing the curly bow to the water, looking like a clumsy seal looking around.

James was standing on a high mast hanging basket, where he shouldn't have been, but he climbed up because he was anxious to be the first to see his destination.

In the distance, a clear coastline has emerged, and as you get closer, you can see golden sand, green vegetation, and a death rack erected on a large arched reef in front of the shore, which is specially designed to execute criminals who have committed crimes at sea.

The boat had already entered the Bay of Malaga, but James's mind did not relax at all.

He came to see his brother.

While many people were rejoicing at the discovery of a new route by Christopher Columbus, Christopher Columbus himself was enjoying the most proud time.

When he looked for patrons everywhere to finance his expedition, even if he said to the rich people, even he never imagined that he would find such a rich and magical land that made people think that he had reached a dream.

Even now, he still thinks that he has arrived in India, but Columbus still thinks that this India is too rich, whether it is gold, silver or precious spices, when he has returned with a full load, he has to wake up more than once and immediately run down to the cabin to see if he is dreaming, and the grand welcome he receives after returning to Castile has completely immersed Columbus in this extraordinary and great success.

Perhaps because of this, Columbus became arrogant, and when James heard that his brother had returned from the sea again was being escorted back in shackles, Columbus was paying the price for his arrogance.

As soon as James landed in the port of Malaga, he eagerly inquired about his brother, and when he heard that Columbus and his other brother, Giovanni, who was his deputy, were being held in a prison in Seville, not far from Malaga, he immediately hired a horse-drawn carriage and hurried to the city, which was said to be a popular barber trade.

James was indeed anxious, and the news he had heard was not very good, as Columbus was said to have clashed overseas with Aragonese officials, who were also colonial officials of the Queen, and his arrogant attitude had caused him trouble this time.

According to the Santa Fe agreement with Queen Isabella, Columbus had enormous power over the lands he discovered, which made him truly think of himself as a governor, vice-king, general, or whoever he thought of it.

As a result of this thinking, he resolutely did not allow anyone to infringe on what he believed to be his interests, even if they were cronies sent by the Two Kings.

Obviously, Columbus's approach may have been favored or ignored at first because of his great success, but as the new territory expanded, some people began to resentful of the amount of wealth he had under the pretext of the Santa Fe Accords.

Perhaps that includes the twin kings.

So when accusations were made about what Columbus had done in the colony, Isabella did not protect him anymore, but immediately sent someone to escort him back from the island he then named San Salvador.

The journey from Malaga to Seville was not close, and when James finally arrived in Seville after much difficulty, rumors were circulating in the city that the King's emissaries had arrived.

James believed that the messenger must have come for his two older brothers, which made James even more worried.

"I have to go to prison," he said to his two companions who had come with him in a tavern, and when he saw them stir up at the sight of the word, James whispered, "Look at your cowardly looks, and don't forget that it's on the shore now, and it's so far from the sea, that no one will recognize us." ”

"But we can't run, if we see that the wind is not right at sea, we can slip away immediately, but if we are recognized here, we will die."

One of his companions looked at the others in the tavern with a wary face, this was a very chaotic place, and almost everyone would be wary of others, so as soon as they felt the eyes cast at their table, someone immediately glared at them in alarm.

"Relax, we're decent people now, not pirates," James reminded his companion disapprovingly, "That's why I'm going to use those aliases at sea, don't worry, no one knows our secrets, and when we find Christopher, and get the rest of our nautical diaries from him, we'll be on our own." ”

"Didn't you say you got all of your brother's diaries?" Another companion asked with some annoyance, "That's why we followed you on an adventure, but now you say that you haven't fully got your hands on it, right?" ”

"Christopher is very cautious, many of his diaries have been hidden by his side, it is not easy for me to get these, and in the past two years, we have also made a lot of fortune by going to those places he found before, this time we can just get the rest of the nautical diaries, everything will be better."

James casually perfunctory two companions, these are his partners in the business of the sea, but most of these people do not really know his identity, and these two people are not only his cronies, but also because he really needs help on land, so he has to reveal his true origins.

"But how do we get in, it's a prison, if it's a crime, it's easy to say, but if you want to sneak in, it's not so easy."

One of his companions complained helplessly, and then saw James suddenly look at him with strange eyes.

Then James suddenly poured half a glass of wine on himself to make him smell the wine, and then he got up and staggered to a table not far away.

"Hey, my fellow is a doctor, you know, the kind of guy who can tell you what you're sick just by looking at you," James said to one of the big men at the table, with his broad shoulders and thick back, gesturing with his thumb up to the table behind him, "He said that judging by your tone and demeanor, you're sick." ”

"What did you say?" The big man stood up sharply, glaring at James before looking at his companion behind him, "He said what was wrong with me?" ”

"He said your thing must be small," James said, his eyes slipping under the big man's crotch, "I don't know if he's right." ”

His companion's mouth opened, and there was a muffled thud on the table over there, and then he saw James fly at the punch from the big guy.

When he fell on his table, James whispered quickly, "Now we can go to jail." ”

Then he grabbed the flipped bottle and rushed towards the table.

There was chaos in the tavern until a cacophony of cornets came from the street.

Located in an open field in the middle of the valley of the Guadalquivir River, the Seville Prison was originally a fortification built by the early Moors and fulfilled its mission with the demise of the Royal Palace of Granada, the last Moorish fiefdom, in 1492.

However, the Aragonese soon found new uses for these fortifications, serving as the largest prison in Andalusia, where many Iberians believed to have worked for the Moors before the Reconquest were imprisoned, many of whom were considered traitors, many were executed after torture, and others became de facto slaves, serving hard labor that would never be forgiven.

Christopher Columbus was imprisoned in Seville, but he was not required to do hard labor, and his life was much better than that of other prisoners.

As the famous explorer who claimed to have discovered the Indies, Columbus was a well-known celebrity among Iberian aristocrats and merchants, but unlike many people think, Columbus was not as determined and adventurous as some people think, but also physically strong and energetic.

Columbus was a little obese, and although he had long curly hair, the crest that could be seen once he took off his brimmed hat was also very obvious, and perhaps because of his years of wandering at sea, he always seemed to be in bad spirits, and the obvious drooping bags under his eyes always seemed to tell others that he had not slept well the night before.

There was a lot of noise outside, it was a group of prisoners who had just been sent in, most of these people who were locked up for fighting were regulars in the taverns in the city, and these guys who often caused trouble because of a little thing were a headache, so once they were sent in, in addition to a fine, they would be sent to the docks to work as coolies.

Seville has a large marina on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, and it is the only city in the Kingdom of Castile with an inland dock.

So the Seville docks are usually very busy, which gives the prison prisoners a good place to serve their hard labor, and the felons are sent to the quarries above the river valley and smash stones all day long.

Until someone is willing to pay a huge ransom for them, or die.

Columbus would not do the hard labor, he even had his own private room, and the warden obviously knew that he could not be treated as an ordinary prisoner, so even his two meals a day were brought by someone.

On top of that, Columbus was almost completely free in prison, his cell was unlocked, and he could walk out into the courtyard at any time.

But Columbus didn't want to do this, he lay on the bed with his arms clasped and his eyes closed, as if he was asleep and as if he was meditating, and then he would suddenly open his eyes and jump up from the bed, walk around on the ground a little restlessly, and then lie back down.

Columbus was not as calm as outsiders looked when he was escorted back to shore, and he believed that he should not be punished too severely, but the arrest sent by the king was a strong signal in itself.

It was clear that he had caused the two kings to be deeply dissatisfied.

Columbus knew that from the beginning Ferdinand did not like him very much, or rather disgusted.

It was all because of his overly greedy conditions, and while he did bring back wealth and new colonies for them, he also knew that he was not treated well by the kings.

Columbus suspected that the couple was intent on abolishing the Santa Fe Agreement, but he was too uncertain to make up his mind to have a complete showdown with the couple.

But Columbus couldn't help but feel a little restless at the thought that his enemies were taking advantage of the opportunity to swallow his territory and plunder his wealth while he was in prison.

The door opened, and a prisoner walked in with a plate, and it was time for dinner.

Columbus got up from the bed a little lazily, and when he waved his hand to signal the man to put the plate on the table beside him, his hand suddenly stopped in the air.

"Aren't you happy to see your brother," James smiled at Columbus with a dark eye, he was not worried about being heard, and he believed that no one would particularly care about an ordinary prisoner, "I have suffered a lot to see you." ”

"I can see," Columbus didn't show much enthusiasm, although he hadn't seen James for some years, but he was more annoyed at this time, "I've been wondering where my diaries have gone, and then I think you must have taken them." ”

"I'm just borrowing," James said, shrugging disapprovingly, "I was going to sell those diaries of yours for a good price, but then I realized that it was more useful to keep them, and I could give them back to you." ”

Looking at his brother's distrustful eyes, James dug into his pocket but pulled it out empty-handed, "Or if you exchange your other diaries with me, I think it's not bad." ”

"I knew you didn't have a good idea," Columbus said angrily, "tell me who you traded with those diaries of mine, and I don't think you know the true value of those things." ”

"No, I know," James' expression suddenly became serious, "believe me, I know the value of these diaries of yours even better than you, that's why I'm here for you, you're not in a good situation, I think I can help you." ”

"You can help me, you stole my nautical diary to make deals with people when I was desperate at sea with Giovanni, and now you want to come back to help me, I don't think I need your help, my troubles will go back soon, they can't keep me locked up for long." Columbus confidently said that he was not worried about any severe punishment, after all, he was not without friends.

Seeing that Columbus looked completely unimpressed with him, James picked up the wine glass on his plate and poured a glass of wine.

"In that case, I'll congratulate you on your speedy freedom, but don't forget Christopher, do you think the royal couple will let you go to sea again, or do you really believe that once you leave the colonies, the agreements they promised you will continue to be kept? Think about it, brother, maybe you'll soon find out that you still need me. ”

As he spoke, James took out a note with written words from his pocket and placed it in the tray, then raised his glass to Columbus in a slight agreement, drank it all in one gulp, and turned and walked out of the cell.

Looking at the open door, Columbus fell silent, and after a long while, he walked to the table and picked up the note.

Looking at the address above, Columbus frowned slightly, but in the end he did not throw away the note, but put it in his pocket.

Although the results of the meeting were a bit frustrating, James and his two companions remained in prison as prisoners who had been brought in for the fight.

Because there was no one to pay the ransom for them, they had to go to the docks to do hard labor.

Seville's marina is bustling, the busiest inland port in the south of Castile, from where you can either follow the river up to the capital Valladolid or head south to the port of Gardel on the Atlantic coast, so it's always a bustling city of the year.

James and his two companions stood on the dock and watched the boats in the river, he didn't think about escaping, because it wasn't worth it, and although he had to do 10 days of hard labor, as long as he was honest, he wouldn't be in trouble.

And he also wanted to take advantage of this time to convince Columbus.

A row-row sailboat slowly descends from the Mediterranean, which is still common in the Mediterranean, but has been phased out in the Atlantic.

Busy with a group of workers on the shore, the boat was gradually pulled to the shore of the dock, and as the gangplank fell, a man slowly walked down from the boat.

The man was dressed in a thick robe, and a silver mask on his face gleazed in the sunlight.

"Seville."

The man whispered to himself in a somewhat hoarse tone, and then he looked over the docks.

James was busy working, so he didn't know someone was looking at them.

Little did the man know that among the busy dock laborers, there was a pirate captain who was quite famous at sea.

So Normezie, Count of Giulippe, glanced at the docks, passed by James, and walked forward.

"Ferdinand, I'm coming."

As he walked, Normezi said secretly in his heart.