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:  C H A P T E R  F O U R T E E N : 

 The next morn I woke from a knock sounding on wood, and bolted up in a haste to get off the ground and wake myself up a bit. Around me I was surrounded by thick quilts and massive pillows—I was in Cody's room.

"Wakey-wakey," he mocked from the doorway. He was standing just inside the closed door, hand resting on the cabinets to his left. "Probably not the best wake-up call, but Myron's requested to see ya."

I groaned and fell back against the pillows. I felt so giddy laying on a mattress again, and all I wanted to do was throw the covers over my head and pretend I was back at home under the massive spreads of red feather quilts and pillows. Laying down in the bed, though, I could feel the gentle sway of the ship and the muffled sound of waves. It was much louder here, though, since I could hear the crew members shouting shanties overhead.

"Come on now, he'll just keep sendin' me to get ya all day."

"Then do that all day. Tomorrow he won't care," I told him, only to have the covers torn off of me. I frowned at him, and he simply gave me a cheeky smirk. He grabbed me by my arms and heaved me up and out of the bed.

I sluggishly started towards the door, but he reeled me back and tapped his finger on my nose. "Just one more thing," he told me, and I opened my mouth to ask, but he gave me the answer immediately. He kissed me long and hard, so I could taste the morning wine on his breath that tasted like grapes. After pulling away, he pressed his forehead against mine and smirked, "Don't get too many of those, eh?"

"You or me?" I joked, and he laughed and nudged me playfully in the side.

"Me, obviously. Haven't'chya heard? I'm out at sea all the time. The only person to kiss 'round here is Mhrya, an' trust me, that ain't happenin' anytime soon."

We had a good laugh about that. He told me how back before Avarice took Mhyra onto the ship, she had suitors lined up and down the village. "She was the most beautiful woman you'd've ever seen, but she wasn't a fan of the home life, ya see. She wanted ta see the world beyond the Outer Planes, an' I guess she got what she wanted," he told me, leading the way up the hatch.

"Why would Avarice accept her if he doesn't allow women on the crew?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"She's not really part of the crew, now is she?" he questioned, and I stopped for a moment to assess what he meant. She was not part of the crew, she was a servant of the crew--but to be more specific, the captain. "But never mind that. She's never been all that bothered by it. I think she just wanted out of her old life."

"Was it really that terrible?"

"I dunno," he confessed with a shrug. We approached the captain's door, and he knocked twice before receiving the go to enter.

The two of us stepped inside, and Cody backed away to stand in the living space, leaving me in the junction between the two. My eyes drifted towards the three men in the study, and dreaded the sight of all three of them instantly. I saw Archer standing there, looking as if he hadn't been stabbed at all. He was no longer pale, but instead his normal color of dark, olive skin.

"Say what ya need ta say before we move on, brother," Avarice sneered at Conroy, whose eyes were on me and not moving an inch from my face.

I felt the creepy-crawlies shimmy up my spine as he walked up to me, passing Archer in the process. All I could feel was Conroy's hand on my knee and I had the strong urge to knock him upside the head again. He had a scar where the glass made impact on his temple.

"Maxine," he started, sounding regretful from the start. "I apologize for what I did. I was completely out of line, and I hope that you will forgive me--perhaps in time. I forgot my place as your guard upon coming here-"

"Though it's completely unnecessary now," Avarice muttered under his breath, causing Archer to snicker and a frown to fall on my face.

Conroy's expression was a mix of sincerity and worry. His pale face was pink at the cheeks, and he was biting his lip as he waited for my response. I nearly forgot that I was supposed to speak as soon as he stopped talking.

I inclined my head briefly towards him. "Apology accepted--in time, of course."

He swelled with relief, turned on his brother. "See? I told you she was not impractical. She has always been rather logical." I refrained from dropping my jaw all the way to the ground. I was not sure if I should have taken that as a compliment or insult, and frankly I felt insulted.

"Yes, let's have a contest to see who knows 'er the best, hm?" Avarice mocked as Conroy came to sit on the edge of his desk. He scowled, and took a roll of paper to smack his brother, but missed by a few inches when Avarice leaned far back in his chair.

"I kinda like havin' yer brother here," Archer commented, earning a grin from Conroy and a low growl from his captain. That shut him up about that, but opened the door for an entirely new topic. "I want to see the whip marks."

My face drained of any sort of color, and I glanced back at Cody just as he stepped up to object. "That's ridiculous! It was done an' now it's over, ya don't have to bully 'er about it," he said, coming to stand in front of me so he could glare Archer down.

"No need to get defensive, mate. I just wanna make sure the punishment fit the crime."

"And what was that?" Cody all but sneered.

"She attacked me! Didn't ya see the scar, or do I have to show you again?" he shouted, raising his voice to match Cody's. His hand was already on his shirt, prepared to reveal the mark that I didn't want to see again, but Cody became furious.

"Are you serious? Captain', he's lying! He attempted to rape Maxine an' she was only trying to defend herself!" he said, moving over to stand in front of Avarice's desk. He kept his expression neutral, but Conroy look appalled.

"What? Is this true?" he asked, first looking at Archer, and then at me. My ears were on fire, and all I wanted to do was get Cody to shut up about the entire event. I was fine with showing the scars, since I knew they all had them, so mine didn't make a difference. Whether or not Archer tried to get some action out of me was completely irrelevant now that the punishment was said and done.

"Shut yer trap, daddy's boy," Archer retorted to Cody. He flared up at the remark, and I was quick to intervene at that point.

"Everyone, just shut up!" I shouted as loud as I could. I felt like Avarice when he talked to the entire crew; his voice grew ten times larger than his body, and now I was broadcasting my own voice to everyone in the room. Silence followed my eruption, and all I could see was their eyes on me, especially Avarice's.

"Watch yerself, princess," he warned.

"That's all I ever do here, wouldn't ya say?" I retorted bitterly, hands on my hips as I stared him down. When he didn't say anything, just simply sat back to watch, I moved onto Archer. "You disgusting son of a whore. I wish that stab would've killed you on the spot. Too bad I missed your heart by a foot or two."

"Maxine," Cody said, voice shocked. I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped up to jab a finger at his chest.

"Don't do that!" I shouted, annoyance filling me as I stomped my feet. "I get that you're Avarice's son and all, but you don't have to try and protect me from doing stupid nonsense--it's gonna happen sooner or later!"

My attention zeroed in on Conroy, who was still sitting on the edge of his brother's desk looking slightly concerned as I marched up to him. I pursed my lips and gathered up the saliva in my mouth as I arrived in front of him. I spat it all at him, and it slapped onto his cheek and slid down to his chin. He gasped and instantly nudged his sleeve across his face, and his brother was immediately on his feet.

"Never touch me again. I don't care how many times I make it sound like I'll forgive you, but acting like you were loyal to my father is despicable and unforgivable." He stared at me, stunned into silence. His wide gray eyes dulled in comparison to the blue shade of Avarice and his son, but I could see the resemblance in the way they narrowed at the corners, and the thick lashes that they all shared.

Steady clapping sounded from across the desk where Avarice stood, a cruel smile on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, wanting so terribly to call him out too, but something inside me reeled my rebelliousness back into place. I'd lost my fire, and now all I could do was show my hatred through the scowl on my face.

"Well done, dearie," he congratulated, voice condescending and sharp. I was too hyped up to even consider flinching at him as he came around the desk. I expected him to come for me, to throw me backwards or slap me across the face, but as he passed Archer, he shoved him aside and jabbed a finger at the door. "Leave. Now."

"What? Yer really gonna believe her, captain?" Archer exclaimed, growing angrier by the second as he faced Avarice with a full-blown glare.

Avarice remained calm as he addressed his crewmember. "No. I believe my son. Now leave. I think gettin' stabbed is enough of a punishment," he ordered, and after one last sneer at me, Archer marched off and slammed the door behind him.

At that point, Conroy spoke up, "That is completely absurd! Aloysius, he attempted to rape Maxine! He cannot get away with it so easily!" His strong object both shocked and amazed me. Out of all of this, I was mostly disappointed that he had not learned anything from my explosion at him. I shared a brief glance with Cody, who looked just about ready to blow steam out of his ears.

"Yer the one talkin'," he said, sounding so incredibly repulsed at Conroy's presence in the captain's quarters.

"Watch your tongue, boy," Conroy retorted, standing up from the edge of the desk. He was just as tall, if not taller than Cody, and his years of military training put Conroy above him. His fresh Damunian accent sounded like a foreign language after spending a fortnight on this ship, but it was smooth and less intimidating than when Avarice would shout at his men. Half the time I expected him to smack one of them upside the head with a bat.

"I'll be handlin' Cody here. That isn't yer place," Avarice snapped at his brother. "An' ya can't expect me to side with ya, either. You've always been a dud whenever ya fancied a girlie."

Conroy's eyes flared, and I saw him tense up like he was trying to stop himself from attacking his brother. I could barely stand to be in the same room as three arguing men, and I wondered if this was how my father's meetings went between him and his subordinates. I rarely ever saw Conroy become furious with my father, at least not when I was around.

"Ya aren't allowed near 'er till the deed is done. I don't care if the two o' you are on the same ship or not--find a way to make it work," Avarice announced, daring his brother to disagree, and he did.

"I have known her since she was a girl--if anyone should be trusted with her it is I! How can you trust Cody anymore than myself?" he shouted, about to march after Avarice, but he was already leaving the cabin. I spared a quick look at Cody, who was trying not to show the humor we both found in Conroy's statement.

"I don't." I looked through the curls of my hair to Avarice, who was staring me down with his cold eyes. My skin prickled under his calculating stare, but I could only narrow my eyes at him as he turned away and searched for something in the cabinets overhead. "Warn the quartermaster. I'll be up in a moment."

"Aye, sir," Cody replied, still glaring hatefully at Conroy, who was blistering with fury. I could only assume that once Cody and I left, Avarice would hear an earful from him.

I scurried out after Cody, shutting the door tight behind us as he led the way up the quarterdeck stairs. I'd seen a lot of the quartermaster during my stay here, for he was always up at the wheel of the ship where the Know-How often lounged with his maps and compass. The quartermaster didn't talk much, and if he did it was quiet and hardly audible unless one stood directly next to him so he could whisper it in your ear. He was a tall, lazy fellow with braided hair and dark, dark skin the shade of spruce bark. On a day Harv and I spent on the mainmast boom, he told me all about the crew mates and how this fellow came from Procella like my mother.

"Shannon," Cody called to him, and he looked up from where he had slouched himself with his forearms resting between the wheel spokes.

"Aye, what ya need?" he said. Ivan was seated on a barrel nearby, and when he heard us approach, he stood up and tipped up his glasses from where he had them rested on his nose. His cheeks turned pink when he saw me looking on, and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face.

"Cap'ain's comin' up to speak with ya. 'e'll be here anytime now," Cody said, sliding over to steal Ivan's spot on the lone barrel on the quarterdeck. Ivan scowled and silently fumed at Cody.

"What for?" Shannon asked, gripping one hand to the wheel spoke and the other on his hip as he turned to face Cody. I walked over to lean up against the railing that separated me from the deck below. The wind was heavier up here, and required me to tie my hair back with a bow from my wrist.

Cody shrugged and picked at some dirt on his sleeve. "Dunno. Reckon it has ta do with the time."

"We still have a few days to go," Ivan reported. "Might as well've asked me that, eh?"

"I 'ear we'll be crossin' inta the Marooned Abyss tomorrow then," Shannon said, and just the sound of it had my toes curling. From the legends I heard about the Outer Planes, and the lands beyond, was that they were guarded by the deepest of trenches within the ocean where creatures unlike any other loomed and lurked, praying on merchant ships and the King's navy. Whole fleets were consumed to the Marooned Abyss's darkness.

"How?" I blurted out, curious as I was.

Shannon chuckled, and Cody gave a little snort from the side as Ivan spun around to face me. "How, she says," Shannon joked, nudging his foot against Cody's leg. He shoved him right back and propped his arm up against his knee, leaning in as though Ivan was about to tell some mighty story.

"We've no problem gettin' through there," Ivan told me. "S'just the other ships. Avarice's father was a privateer back in the day--used to work for 'em at Procella 'till his crew was lost out in the Marooned Abyss. 'e thinks he might still be kickin' somewhere in the Outer Planes, but before he died he gave the cap'ain the key to gettin' through the Marooned Abyss."

"Was it suicide then?" I questioned, and that shut Ivan up instantly as he stepped aside to look back at Cody. He just scratched at the back of his head and shrugged.

"Dunno. Alls I know is Grandpop was kinda crazy. He went and left my gran and Avarice to become a privateer. Gone 'till Avarice was 'bout nineteen, then came back, tossed 'im the key, and ditched 'em for good," Cody told me. I shared a brief look with Ivan and then Shannon, who were both hesitant to look directly back at me.

"What does the key look like?" I asked.

Shannon snorted and shook his head, muttering something to Cody and bringing a smirk to his face. I found myself not all that friendly towards Shannon at that moment. He always had some immature way to demean me.

"We don't know what it looks like. Any ship would lay their hands down for that little fancy. If ya ask me, it's probably greater than eternal life," Ivan said, but turned pink as soon as he said it. "Not that we have that..."

"She knows, Know-How," Cody said, and instantly Ivan let out a deep breath and covered up his embarrassment by scratching the back of his head.

"Is it an actual key? You think he keeps it in a place no one would consider it being in?" I suggested, and they all shook their heads. I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow, trying my damnedest to figure out where the key may be. "It may not be a key at all."

"We use the term 'key' lightly, princess. It's a metaphor, ya fancy? It's like the Marooned Abyss is a door that keeps everyone else out, but we got the key ta get inside," Cody said, making a vast sweep of his arms to show the door, and then holding up the imaginary key that solved all their problems. "My guess is that it's the blood of one o' the beasts in the Abyss."

"Nah, their only power is their strength," Ivan objected, scratching at the scrub on his chin. "Must be the blood of the mermaids."

"Ridiculous! The eye of a native blue blood," Shannon declared, thumping his fist on the wheel. It turned a bit too sharply to the left, and he quickly straightened it out.

"What!"

"Yes, why don't we all gouge out the eyes of the natives and leave it at that, eh?" Ivan shouted loudly, throwing his arms in the air. I laughed out loud, covering my face as soon as they all looked at me in surprise. Before disappearing behind my hands, I saw the look on Ivan's face that said he was about to turn bright red again in the cheeks.