Callum's life aboard the Wolf's Prowl could have been much worse.

Rather than dumping buckets of feces over his head, the pirates only spat globs of saliva at him occasionally as they mocked and jeered. They sent a fierce kick his way sometimes, but at least they never drew their weapons. Even if they only provided him scraps, the food wasn't horrible, and it was better than starving.

Yes, his life could have been worse. However, it was far from good. As if to accentuate this point, a dark blob splattered on the deck, dirtying the spot he had spent five minutes scrubbing.

"I think you missed a spot, searat." A wiry pirate leaned against the railing. His cheek stuck out from the clump of nicova shoved in there. The sweet leaves flecked his teeth as he sneered down at Callum.

Callum shoved his rag into the dirtying water and leaned back on his knees as he fixed the man with an intentionally strained smile. "The thirtieth time is just as funny as the first, Pinn."

He braced himself for what was coming. The boot collided hard against his shoulder. He caught himself before he hit the deck. It added a twinge of pain from his wrist to the throb in his right shoulder.

"That mouth of yours isn't as smart as you may think." Pinn spat his entire wad of nicova on the deck before sauntering away.

Despite the pain, Callum couldn't help a smirk as he watched Pinn's retreat. The only pirates that bothered to harass him were the lower ranked ones with an ego that starved for validation. It was too easy to get under their skin, even if doing so was stupid. He could only take so much before his need to extinguish their smugness became too much.

"You had your fun, now back to work, cabin boy," a bald pirate ordered as he passed, making sure to rap his knuckles on Callum's head as he did.

Sighing, Callum did just that. Maybe he was willing to give the occasional snark to the bottom of the pirate barrel, but he wasn't so reckless as to risk the others' ire. His life wasn't pleasant, but he remained aware of how it could be worse.

Besides, if he planned to find a way of escape when they next reached land, he had to be compliant enough that they dropped their guard.

But the Dreamer did not favor him that day. As soon as he reminded himself why he had to lie low, something smashed to the deck, and Pinn let out an infuriated shout.

"Watch where you're going, you wench!"

Callum glanced in the pirate's direction while trying to angle his head so nobody would notice. Pinn stood in front of a young woman. He wasn't tall, but he appeared to be when compared to her tiny stature. She hung her head, and her deep brown locks of hair veiled her face. Callum had glimpsed her enough over the passing days to know she had a round face made sharp from lack of proper nourishment. Though he hadn't seen her up close, he knew she had dark eyes. The woman, like him, seemed to be another captive 'promoted' to servant, but they didn't stay in the same area, so he only caught passing glimpses of her.

Something rolled across the deck near their feet. The circular wooden tray clattered down next to dented metal tankards. A liquid stain darkened the wood, travelling all the way to Pinn's boots.

"You've gotten my shoes all wet. I believe you owe me an apology, sweetheart," the pirate leered.

Callum bristled at the nickname. He'd seen plenty of Pinn's brutish nature, so it shouldn't have surprised him that he was also as grimy and disgusting as the glop he spat out.

The woman muttered something under her breath.

Pinn tutted and leaned closer. "Now now, speak louder, will you? I want to hear that voice of yours."

Water seeped from the cleaning rag as Callum's grip turned into a trembling fist, but he continued to scrub. He'd just reiterated his need to keep his head low. If he wanted any hope of that, he needed to ignore the disgusting situation. He ripped his gaze away.

His ears refused to stop listening, though.

"Sorry," the woman intoned.

"Come now, dearie. You can do better than that. If you can't convince me of how sorry you are, I may need you to show me."

Callum needed to change out his bucket of water. Between his prior work and the addition of the nicova cleaning, the water within barely allowed one to view the bottom. Yes, fresh water was the only reason he tossed his rag in and rose to his feet with the bucket in hand.

"I'm sorry," the woman repeated, and it might have been enough if not for the fearful waver to her voice.

The monster smelled blood, and his starved ego demanded he devour the source. "You know, Yuru is very fond of you. I can't imagine that freak knowing human emotions, so maybe you sate his baser instincts. Maybe you can apologize by showing me just why he keeps you around—gah!"

The fallen tray suddenly "appeared" under Callum's feet, and he tumbled forward. The bucket flew forward as he went down. His bones rattled from the impact of the fall, but triumph buried the pain at Pinn's shouted expletives. They cut off all of a sudden for a yelp, and then another body thudded down.

The woman. She winced, but Callum didn't miss her quick smirk.

"What—you just—where did—you drowning little!" Pinn cradled his jaw. Callum couldn't tell if the area around it was red or if that was fury coloring the pirate's face. The fuming man's wide eyes darted between Callum and the woman before settling on him. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Callum forced his head to drop even as he wanted to meet Pinn's glower with one of his own. "I don't know what happened. That tray just appeared out of nowhere."

"Do you expect me to believe you just happened to trip after I put you in your place?" Pinn spat, but unfortunately for him, the wind whipped up right then, and his saliva went right back at his face.

A choked noise escaped the woman. It could have been excused for a cough, but Callum knew it had been a belatedly-caught laugh.

Based on the way Pinn spun toward her, he did as well. His face had somehow found a way to grow even redder. "Is something funny, wench? Would you be laughing with my boot in your gut?"

Callum would take as many insults and hits that the pirates wanted to send his way, but he was quickly learning that he couldn't stand watching that being delivered to others, no matter how much his brain tried to reason him into a compliant observer. As Pinn lifted his leg to bring it back down onto the woman, Callum's own foot snapped out, catching the pirate in his other knee.

Between the sudden pain and the slick deck, Pinn didn't stand a chance. He pitched sideways, howling as his shoulder collided with wood.

Everything quieted, and the full realization of what he'd done slammed into Callum. The other pirates might turn a blind eye to a couple of captives' mistakes enraging a pirate. He couldn't imagine they'd ignore one of those captives attacking a crew member, though.

He glanced at the woman as he tried to evaluate his next steps. They wouldn't kill him, which gave him some sense of safety even if he didn't want to endure a beating either. Her, though? Did she have any form of protection from death or harsh treatment? Pinn had said that Yuru was fond of her, but just how fond?

Applause shattered the tense silence. "Well done, Pinn. You really showed them where they belong. Seems you belong down there with them, though."

This came from a burly man with russet brown skin. The other pirates around him chortled and tossed out their own quips at Pinn's expense. As much as Callum didn't like the guy, he couldn't help but feel a tad sorry for him.

Pinn's face attempted to reach unknown shades of red as he trembled beneath their assault. He shoved himself up and stomped the few feet separating him and Callum.

"How would you like to not know your left from your right? To always have that nagging feeling you've forgotten something? To randomly feel like your tongue has ceased to work? Befuddlement may not be the most impressive magic, but face it long enough, and you'll beg me to take it away."

Callum opened his mouth but then snapped it shut. It sounded quite useful, especially for a crook, but that wasn't what drew him up short. He knew that Pinn was on a lower rung of the pirates, but did he not even know about Callum's ability to cancel magic?

Someone nearby scoffed. "Try it. I'm sure it would only amuse everyone watching your blunder."

The familiar voice spiked Callum's frustration. Roan marched across the deck, looking down his nose at Pinn.

"I know you have little between your ears, but I didn't imagine you'd forget the very reason you aren't to kill the brat. Perhaps if you're going to waste everyone's time, you could at least be out of the way rather than attempting to bolster your insignificant self-worth."

If not for the contempt Callum had seen the Scion show a few of the other pirates that were more bark than bite, he might have thought Roan meant to protect him. But no, Roan simply did not care for the petty display.

Pinn dropped his head, but it did little to hide his sneer. Roan continued on across the deck, seemingly done with the entire situation. He stopped, though, when Pinn muttered, "Drowning Unwoven."

Callum didn't know much about seafarer culture, but based on how the pirates had used "drowning", he'd come to realize it had a similar usage as another foul word. Considering the annoyance that crossed Roan's face as he glanced back, he'd pieced that together as well.

The Scion's eyes glinted with magic. "Jump ship."

Pinn went rigid, and his eyes glazed over. Outside of the control of his own will, he took a step toward the side of the ship.

If the pirate died, Callum wasn't sure he'd be sorry. This method, though, of a magical being ripping away the man's will and forcing him out to open waters, left a sick pit in Callum's gut. He reached out for the man's leg. Dispelling the magic would be much faster than scrambling up and forcing him to stop.

His gloved hand wrapped around Pinn's ankle, and he cursed. The gloves. The blasted gloves. He couldn't use his unnatural abilities to cancel the command, and the cloth material also made it much easier for Pinn to wrench himself free. Before Callum could try anything else, Pinn sprinted to the ship railing and threw himself overboard.

A stifling stillness fell over the ship. Nobody moved to help. Roan's presence fell over them like an enormous shadow, both daring and threatening all at once. Pinn's terrified voice rose from below, pleading for help, but still, nobody dared answer the cry.

"Drowning pirate," Roan muttered to himself, and then he sighed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Fetch the imbecile before he truly does drown."

A few of the others rushed to help, but most, freed from the intimidation, slowly returned to other tasks.

"Stop making enemies, priest," Roan said while glaring at the pirates tossing a circular buoy with a rope attached to Pinn. "I may kill you if your hindrance outweighs your worth, but I won't have any of these lowly mortals forcing me to wait potentially decades longer."

Callum bit back his retort.

At his lack of comment, Roan huffed. He left Callum and the woman there, sitting in a puddle of dirty water and drink, and strode to the captain's quarters, where he disappeared into the room.

Despite their partnership, Roan and Wolfbane had appeared to respect each other more than like each other during the one interaction Callum had seen. Their lack of interaction made Callum more sure of this. Since he'd been forced into this cabin boy position, he'd only seen Roan visit Wolfbane's quarters twice. So if the Scion chose to interact with the pirate captain now, it had to be for a meeting.

He might have known they wanted him for his abilities as the Blade incarnation, but not how they planned to use it. Here was a chance to gather information, but how? Did he dare try to listen at the door while pretending to do his duties? Even if he didn't have much faith in pirates' intelligence, he was sure they'd see through that.

"The Scion has quite the interest in you."

Callum jumped at the new voice. The woman had stood without him noticing, both her tray and mugs gathered in one hand, the other reaching out to him. He took it, but he used most of his own strength to rise. Standing this close to the woman, he was even further taken aback by her small size. She only came up to his collarbones.

The tray brushed his arm, and he realized just how close they were. Clearing his throat, he took a step back. "He thinks I'll do something for him, but eventually he'll realize that I won't."

"I recommend you don't let him realize that, if his threat held any truth. I'm Lanelle, by the way," she said, giving him a small smile.

"Callum. Sorry I made you trip with the spill. That didn't look pleasant."

She raised her eyebrows, and mischief sparked in her eyes. They really were a very dark shade of brown. "So, you believe you're the only one who can fake a fall?"

The laugh escaped Callum before he could stop it.

"'Ey! There's too much work yet to be done for you searats to be having fun." The bald pirate directed his glare at Callum. "One more time slacking from you, boyo, and you'll be thrown in your cell for the rest of the day."

Callum bowed his head as if chastened, but the true purpose was to hide his eye roll. He didn't understand how anyone thought that a threat when it had been his existence for almost a half-lune.

Before he descended below deck to fetch more water, he glanced over his shoulder at the captain's quarters. They'd have other meetings, he was sure. Until then, he needed to piece together how best to eavesdrop the next time.

It took him a few moments after he'd walked down to the lower deck to realize that Lanelle followed behind him. "Is everything alright?"

She lifted the tray a little higher. "I spilled the drink, so I need to refill it. Swiftly, if you will just..." She tilted her head to the side, signaling for him to step out of her path. A crease puckered her brow as if she were in deep thought, and she kept glancing between Callum and the floor.

Although he frowned, he did take a step to the side, allowing her to pass him. Where was she needed to urgently for a drink?

The realization jolted through him. She'd been heading toward the stern, and he knew only one gathering that would be there. The drinks were for Wolfbane and Roan.

This was wrong. If, for whatever reason, she agreed, she would be in danger. He shouldn't ask this of her, and even if he did, what reason did she have to say yes? She didn't know him.

He found Lanelle in the galley. A pirate there eating cold breakfast glanced his way, but thankfully he had to fill his water here, anyway. He lifted his bucket in the form of explanation and walked to a barrel of water set aside for tasks rather than drinking. Less than a foot separated him from his fellow captive. She glanced in his direction before facing the mead she poured. Her lower lip disappeared between her teeth.

"Lanelle," he said at the same time she said, "Callum, I—"

Their eyes met. She bit her lip again.

"You first," he said, curiosity overtaking his urgency.

She hesitated for a moment longer, but then the pirate sneezed, seemingly reminding her that the two of them staying here for too long would be suspicious. "You're interested in what's happening in that meeting, yes?"

"I—well, I mean..."

She nodded, as if that was all the confirmation she needed. "Alright then. If you wish, I can help you."

*****

I'm not sure what it says about me that I enjoy having Roan be all proud and just sending someone overboard, but... I really enjoyed it :D Unmasked Roan = Best Roan.  But yes, we return to Callum to see how he's doing!  And look at him.  He's making a new friend!  Maybe.  Who knows?  Maybe this is all some sort of ploy on her part >:D 

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!