Tears ran from her eyes. She reached down to her leg and pulled on her leather leggings, revealing a tear in them and beneath, the bloody scrape in her thigh. Dexter’s heart missed a beat at the realization that he was holding his pistol and that it pointed at her.
It was impossible. They had escaped! Now another of his crew was struck down. And not just any, but his first mate. His Jenna. His…
“How?” he whispered. Around them the cheering stopped and only Keshira paid attention to the rigging.
“When I helped Aidan,” she said through a throat choked with emotion.
Dexter nodded and fought back the urge to shout in rage at her for not being more careful. He turned to Bekka, who looked on fearfully and sadly from a distance away. “How long?”
Bekka shrugged helplessly. “Minutes, maybe,” she said sadly.
Dexter looked back to Jenna and found his hand shaking. Angrily he clenched his teeth and tightened his fist.
“Dex,” Jenna said, her voice pleading. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head, unwilling to hear it. She was strong, damn it. He would not let her break down, not like this and not now. He opened his mouth to bid her farewell.
“I’m sorry I let you down,” she said. She stared at him, her eyes blurred with tears, and then closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Do it. Don’t let me end up like them.”
Dexter nodded and fought back the urge to reach out to her. To touch her one last time. He railed at himself for not touching her before, when she had offered so many times.
The Captain pulled the hammer back on the pistol and simultaneously locked his emotions away inside. He steadied his gun and took a breath, then squeezed the trigger…
Aidan worked his way through the camp, a cloak with a cowl over his head protecting him from the rain that came in gusts and sheets. It also served to disguise him as he threaded his way through to General Havamyr’s tent. The guards outside of it saluted him when he arrived and identified himself. They had not been told to never expect to see him again and thus knew no better. His mission had been secret, known only to himself and the General. Aidan now realized that it had only truly been known to the general.
He slipped inside and saw Havamyr working silently while a naked slave girl waited on several furs set up for him. It appeared he was near to retiring for the night, and she was to be his entertainment. The general looked up, surprised at the interruption. His surprise only increased when he saw Aidan throw back his hood and stare at him.
“Aidan!” He said, shocked.
“My men are not expendable,” Aidan spat at him. “They died for your sick pleasure.”
“Wait a moment!” Havamyr snapped, coming to his feet and rallying quickly. “They died so that fewer of my men — our men would suffer!”
“Not our men, yours. Safe, behind traps, siege weapons, and defenses.”
“Our men,” The general said quickly. “Taking such risks and surviving such an important mission, you deserve to be rewarded. I need an aid, a second in command. A field promotion to colonel for your bravery.”
Aidan’s expression softened slightly at the bribe, giving the general hope. “I was rescued by the Voidhawk. They saw the danger we faced and came in to save us. They showed bravery. Captain Silvercloud’s crew showed me the true value of life. Every one of them risked their lives for each other… even when death seemed unavoidable.”
“The life of all men is not worth more than the life of one,” he said, drawing a pistol he had been given by Rosh from the ship’s stores.
“Even now they have set sail and are leaving this world behind with stores of goods I have given them from your supply tents. Never again will you have their help; you do not deserve it.” Aidan glanced at the slave girl and saw her cowering behind a chest, pretending to hide.
He looked back to Havamyr, who had not moved so stunned was he by his subordinates change of allegiance. “You’re a traitor!” He snapped. “I’ll have you flogged publicly and covered in honey then staked out in the sun for the insects and birds to feast upon!”
“If stopping the madness that weakens our people makes me a traitor, then I wear the title with honor. If fighting back against the cruel dominion of the Azmir is wrong, then I shall never be right again,” Aidan paused and smiled coldly. “If killing you brands me, then I shall shout the price upon my head with pride in every city I enter.”
Havamyr’s fists clenched in impotent rage. His jaw trembled with anger and his nostrils flared with frenzied breath. Finally he said, “One scream and my guards will be here!”
“Don’t bother,” Aidan said. “The thunder from this wand will carry further than any scream you could manage.”
A feral grin upon his face, the former commander squeezed the trigger.
Chapter 10: The Festival of Lords
“Where are we bound for?” Xander asked as Dexter and a few of the crew sat around the table eating a meal.
Rosh snorted. “Don’t matter much,” he muttered, “we ain’t got no money for nothing.”
“There’s been a foul run of luck,” Jodyne said, setting a bowl of stew in front of Dexter.
Dexter nodded to her then turned to look at Rosh, “Speak what’s on your mind,” he said, clearly in no mood for the large man’s griping.
Willa put her good hand on Rosh’s arm, trying to calm him. He ignored her though, and instead stared back at Dexter. “I’m just saying we ain’t been paid in a while,” he said.
“I know you ain’t no better off,” he added, seeing Dexter’s face darken. He hesitated briefly before starting again. “Maybe that’s just it. Maybe we need something different around here to change our luck.”
Dexter’s eyes narrowed. He stood up and looked at Rosh; glared at him, actually. “Leave the table and keep your thoughts to your own,” he growled at him.
Rosh stood up as well, glaring right back. He opened and shut his lips a few times then scowled and grabbed his bowl, slopping some over the side. “You asked,” he mumbled, then turned and stalked off to his cabin.
Willa watched, her eyes going back and forth between the large man and the captain. She looked torn as to what to do. Dexter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then turned to the others.
“Anybody else feeling that way?” he asked them. Only Willa, Xander and Jodyne were present, but they all were quick to shake their heads.
“Change your mind, feel free to leave at the next port,” he said, then turned to leave with his stew untouched.
“Captain, where is the next port?” Xander asked again, though in a softer voice.
Dexter glanced at the wizard and said, “Little out of the way place I found on an old chart, name’s Corona.”
Xander’s brow creased as he tried to place the name. He had heard of it before, he just could not remember when. Dexter waited a few more seconds for any follow up questions, then headed off to his room.
“You seem different,” Bailynn said to Logan as they worked some lines on the deck. Keshira was off tending another sail by herself, using her unnatural strength to do the work of two men.
Logan shrugged, but found himself smiling. “Aye, I am. I never thought I’d be happy to leave my world behind, but up here I can feel free.”
“Why?” she asked, still confused.
“You were once cursed and shackled to be a slave, right?” he asked her. She nodded, hiding the shame and the pain the memories brought her. “On Azmir I was cursed as well, and while no man or woman owned me, my actions and thoughts were not always my own.”
Bailynn nodded. “I think I understand,” she said. “Except I still do not know freedom,” she added.
“Why not, aren’t you free now? The Captain seems big on that.”
Bailynn shrugged, pretending what he said had not hurt her. It reminded her that she was not important to the Captain… or any of them, really. She was just a body doing work, like Keshira. They might as well be sails or ropes themselves.