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WARNING: Mature content

:  C H A P T E R  E L E V E N : 

 Ivan tugged me along into the captain's quarters. There was a chest in one of the living area corners, and he propped open the top and stuffed the folds of the map inside, along with the books in my arms and the bag of utensils and supplies near the bottom. There were other books inside, papers beyond belief, and quills left askew.

"Are we really being attacked?" I questioned Ivan as he dug in his pocket for the key to the chest. He locked it and hastily nudged his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He was pale and sweating at the forehead, looking more concerned that Avarice did when he waltzed into the room from the back door.

"Very observant of you, dearie," he drawled, heading for the door to the deck. He opened it and motioned for me to follow. I felt skittish around him, especially when I passed and he still had his icy eyes on me until I couldn't see his face anymore. His hand came to my lower back, and I squirmed when I felt his palm press against the ridges of the whip marks he gave me.

He led me straight back down into the hold, and ordered a man to take me down to the cells. The pirate abandoned his work on the canon preparation on the north-facing side and rushed over to fulfill Avarice's orders. He passed over the ring of keys to the pirate, and before he could take me down into the lower decks, Avarice pulled me close and spoke into my ear.

"Lest ya wanna watch yer father's ship feed the fish, 'ey?" I clenched my fists in rage, wanting so terribly to knock him upside the head, or kick him in the crotch once more. I had no time to perform these tasks before the pirate started to lug me over towards the stairs leading down into the storage area, which was freshly stocked from our stops in Brunmere.

The pirate was in a haste to get me locked away, and fast. I tried to keep up as best I could without getting my arm torn off. I wove through the crooked walkway in the storage deck, and then down into the halls were it was a straight sprint on. My eyes were straining in the dark with nothing but a lantern in his hand to light the way, but since we were running, it was shaking and dizzying to focus on.

He was hesitant to put me into one of the cells beside the other inmates, until I told him I was normally farther off. He towed me through the halls, keeping a vice grip on my arm until he found a random cell and tossed me in. I stumbled and nearly fell against the opposite bars, clinging onto them to keep my head from bashing into them. I turned back to where the pirate was locking up the cell and making off with the keyring and the lantern, leaving me in complete darkness.

I could still feel my heart racing with excitement. Seeing one of the Damunian warships was an immense pleasure to see on the horizon. My faith in them was overwhelming, and I could not bare to stand still when Avarice's crew was plotting their death.

No, they won't die, I told myself as I walked over to the door again, only to kick something metal on the ground. I reached down to touch it, and then recognized the shape of an empty ankle cuff.

He forgot to cuff me to the ground.

I kicked the cuff aside and started to pace the ground. There was so much commotion overhead--I could hear them yelling and shouting, objects hitting the ground, and then the action started.

I jumped at the sound of cannon fire. The inmates started to shuffle and talk amongst themselves in hoarse, raspy voices. I was close enough to hear them clearly now, and cringed when a few of them pressed up against the walls of their cells to talk to say, "'Ey lit'le lady, mind givin' us a word of the upground? Come 'ere once an' tell us wha' they've got."

The ship gave out a mighty rumble that felt like an impact, and a roar later, one of our cannons exploded overhead. Muffled sounds of water splashing reached us, but I was too strung out to notice much of it. The inmates were shouting and yelling now, like this was all a game, and they were rooting for the other team.

I wished I had something on me that would help me get out of here. Without the chain on my ankle, I was able to get out of the cell as soon as I could break open the door. Feeling around for the latch, I located it near the far left side and started kicking at it with my boot as hard as I could. I yanked at the rusty bars, and tried to pick at the nails in the boards to see if I could use one to unlock the door. Nothing seemed to work.

As a last ditch effort, I reeled back to the other end of the cell and rammed with all my might my shoulder into the door. It only resulted in a deep bruise and a strike of pain to go down one of my lash marks.

I cried out in pain and held onto my shoulder as I sunk down to my knees. I was completely useless down here; I couldn't even escape a single cell. I must have searched for loose materials forever before I started to hear voices overhead. The other inmates heard them too, and started yelling and chanting and screaming until they lost their voices. It was so incredibly deafening that I didn't even bother trying to hear one over the other.

There came the clinking of swords clashing, and a stumble down the stairs of the brig. A light came from up the stairs, followed by two more silhouettes scrambling over one another and wielding their swords at the man with the lantern. He hooked it hastily on one of the overhead beams and a series of clashes commenced between the swords.

"Maxine!" one man shouted, his voice desperate and hoarse as he ran down the stairs. He had a Damunian accent, but I did not recognize anything else as I frantically rushed to the end of my cell closest towards the light. "Princess! Are you in here!"

"I'm here! I'm here! Over here, come quick!" I yelled, pounding on the bars along with all the other inmates shouting up a storm. I could see the man's figure stumbling against the bars and being pushed back into the hall by the inmates wanting him to fight, to get the keys, but it was too late.

"No! No, sir, you can not do this! The princess is-"

A shrill cry escaped my mouth at the sound of a sword squelching the life out of my soldier. My heart was in my throat, beating so loudly in my ears I thought I might never hear again except the ringing that followed. The tall man silhouetted against the light heaved his sword out of the soldier's chest, and stood up to swipe the blood off on one of the bars. I heard the metal scrape against one another, and I came out of my horror-induced state. His hair glowed blonde on the ends where the light cut around his figure, and when he turned to look behind him, I saw Cody standing against the railing of the stairs looking out after the man.

"Where is she?" the man demanded.

I clasped my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping aloud. I wanted so terribly to scream at the top of my lungs, but nothing could come out. My eyes brimmed with tears that spilled over my cheeks in hot agony. It took a solid minute for me to gather myself together when Cody started walking the man down the isles.

Frantic to hide myself, I sat down and lounged against the back bars of my cell, covering my hair over my face and scrunching up the knots around my shoulders. I looked out through one eye at the hallway in front of me as they passed. Cody led the way, holding his lantern out in front of him and illuminating the path.

Behind him walked Myron Conroy.

His grey eyes were hollow and empty as he looked on into my cell. I shut my eyes and pled that he would not recognize me in this state. All I could see was the silhouette of Conroy stabbing one of his own men. Goosebumps rose on my skin, and I felt so cold as the light faded and I was left in darkness.

"She's usually kept in this cell. One o' the men probably left her someplace else," Cody explained after reaching my normal cell. I shivered and curled in tighter to myself, wrapping my arms around my knees and trying to block out the sound of their boots scoffing the floor.

"Maxine! It is I, you do not have to be afraid!" he shouted. Even all of the inmates were quiet. Someone could have dropped a coin and it would have echoed so loud and deafened all of us. They could tell something was off, and for the moment I was grateful they were on my side.

Conroy sneered and sheathed his sword. "Incompetent your men are. I should be getting back to my post. Bring her up to the Aloysius's quarters so I can speak with her."

He took his leave, walking through the cell halls without a hitch in the dark. When he passed the inmates near the stairs, he had to take caution when stepping over the dead body of his soldier. As his footsteps left up the stairs, Cody remained standing where my cell was. Through all the bars I saw him lean up against one of the walls and press his head to the bars. He stayed like that for a good few minutes before getting back to work with a deep sigh and shouting out my name.

"Come on, Maxine, ya gotta tell me where ya are sooner er later," he said, walking in the opposite direction and ticking off the farther cells. He came around this way, saying how he was going to leave and not come back until tomorrow, but stopped when he observed the cell I was in, and held the light up to shine into my eyes.

He paused before hanging the lantern up and pulling out his key ring. He knocked off the keys before reaching the number cell I was in, and unlocked the door. He was quiet the entire time and wore a somber expression as he entered the cell and crouched down in front of me.

"How long has Conroy been on your side?" I asked monotonously. He tilted his head to the side and scratched the back of his neck.

He did not appear to comfortable with that question, and pushed it aside with a simple, "I dunno. It's complicated I guess."

"I don't understand. He's worked for my father ever since I was little-" I stopped as I realized he worked for my father even before my mother was captured. I felt stupid for not realizing it earlier, and groaned in agony, resting my head on my knees. "He helped you kidnap my mother!" I cried. The floor was so cold, and sitting on it made my entire body freeze up before convulsing into a sob that I couldn't hold back any longer. I stayed quiet while Conroy passed, but that was as much self-control that I had at that moment.

Cody brought his hand to my head and soothed my hair. I sniffled and tried to collect myself, but ended up accepting his scrap of cloth to use as a handkerchief. We stayed in the cell for a while after that, waiting for me to gather my wits and devise a plan of action. How could I possibly talk to Conroy now?

Cody helped me to my feet and kept an arm close by for support. I needed to know what Conroy had to say for himself. All these years he was secretly on board with Avarice of the Sea and all the men on it. There had to be a reason for his madness.

We reached the storage area, where I could smell the horrors up above even before we got to them. I plugged my nose and averted my eyes from the scene when we approached the steps of the holding. Men were working, but I didn't dare look at what they were working on. Cody kept a hand on my shoulder and steered me around the carnage to the stairs carrying up to the deck. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, though I caught the stench of blood on the wind.

There was a deep shadow cast over our ship from the sails of Conroy's. I looked over at the other deck, and across the vast space between them, I found Avarice's men standing over a line of warship soldiers. They were ordered to their knees, and disappeared behind the railing so I could not see the gore from the gun shooting bullets into each of their skulls.

"Sweet Zula," I breathed, hardly believing what I was seeing. The sound of the gun going off had me cringing, and from the quarterdeck above I saw Nash standing there, looking downright sick to his stomach.

Cody propped up the door to Avarice's cabin and ushered me inside. I stepped in and didn't go much further than my first march. I saw Avarice standing behind his desk, tipping back a glass of brandy, and Conroy leaning back against the desk in the midst of talking. He stopped, though, as soon as he saw the door open and I step in.

I stared him down with narrow eyes as I crossed closer to the living room, keeping my distance. Cody was about to shut the door after him, but Conroy intercepted him.

"Get out," he ordered. "This has nothing to do with you."

A scowl developed on Avarice's face as he came around to stand beside my father's head of defense. "He stays. He'll keep quiet."

"You either," he hissed, turning to glare at Avarice. "I need to speak with her alone."

"Brother, that's ridiculous-"

"It will only be for, what, ten minutes? Hardly that," Conroy said, but I was too hungover on the few words Avarice uttered. My throat constricted, and I could barely breathe as he crossed my path leaving the cabin area.

I tensed up when I felt his cold gaze on my face, and just barely managed to keep myself calm when he stopped to hold me by the shoulder and lean in to whisper in my ear. "Don't try anythin', girlie."

The scarring on my back told me to heed his warning.