The worst pain wasn’t how badly her arse hurt, nor the humiliation of the rape, of being helpless in front of all those men. The worst pain was that her father had ordered it, that he was so disappointed in her that he’d ordered one of his crew to rape her. The tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks again.
Elaina had disappointed her father before. With a man as great as Tanner Black as a father, it was impossible not to disappoint him from time to time. Her feelings for Keelin Stillwater had always been a source of contention between the two of them, but he’d never taken things so far before. She must have hurt him this time. It was her own fault; she’d had every opportunity to kill Keelin. Instead Elaina had let him go, and even worse, she knew she’d do it again, given the chance.
There was a knock at her cabin door, and Pavel’s soft voice drifted through the wooden barrier. “Captain. I should look at you. The crew says you’re banged up rather badly.”
Elaina wiped the tears from her face, wincing at the pain, and took another swig from the bottle of rum before making her way to the door. Her quartermaster was on the other side with Pavel. Corin’s face was caught between horror and anger. Pavel’s was worse. Elaina hated being pitied. Even worse was that she deserved the pity.
“Captain…” Corin started.
“Tell the crew I’m fine,” Elaina slurred, her swollen lips sore and the taste of blood suddenly stronger. “They get a few more days’ leave and are not to go anywhere near my father’s crew.”
Corin looked set to argue, but he nodded and turned away. Elaina stood aside to let Pavel into the room. The man swept past her, his red robe billowing as he went, and headed straight for Elaina’s desk, where he deposited a large black leather case. Elaina closed the door and limped after the doctor.
“Your father did that to you?” Pavel said as he rooted through his case.
“Some of it.” Elaina stopped beside the doctor and leaned against her desk, wincing.
Pavel said nothing in reply, giving Elaina a disapproving look. Not that the doctor’s opinion mattered a damn. He stared into her face, gently took hold of her chin, and turned her head first to the left, then to the right. Even Elaina’s neck hurt, and she felt like cursing the names of all the gods to have been born with such poor judgement as to piss off her father so.
“Your nose is broken,” Pavel said eventually.
“I can tell,” Elaina slurred back.
“It will need setting. It will hurt. You should sit.”
“I prefer to stand.”
Pavel looked at her disapprovingly again. “You should sit.”
Elaina attempted to give the man a withering stare, but considering her black eyes and swollen cheeks and lips, she wagered she missed the mark. “Have you ever had a cock up your arse, Doc?”
Pavel looked uncomfortable. “No.”
“I’ll stand.”
Pavel spent a few minutes poking painfully around her nose before placing one hand on either side and…
“Fuck!”
Elaina couldn’t help but shout as the doctor snapped her nose back into position, bringing with it a fresh wave of blood that careened down her face and the metallic taste of more of it at the back of her throat. She pulled away from the doctor just in time to stop him seeing her tears, and banged her fist down hard on her desk. Fat drops of blood dripped down and pooled upon the wood, and Elaina fought the urge to turn and punch Pavel in his nose so he could experience the agony.
Wiping at her eyes, Elaina turned back to face the doctor, who had already riffled through his case and was now brandishing some sort of lotion. “I need to clean the blood away and apply this to your cuts. It will stop them from infecting and should help bring down the swelling.”
Elaina perched on her desk, ignoring the pain, and nodded at the doctor. “Remind me never to disappoint my father again.”
Pavel began to wipe the blood from Elaina’s mouth. “I would prefer to remind your father that Pelsing judges how we should treat our children.”
Elaina snorted out a laugh, complete with a spray of blood and a hearty dose of pain. “I don’t think you’d survive that sermon, Doc. Your golden god don’t hold much sway out here. Our god is wet, cruel, and loves women over all men.”
“If that were true,” Pavel countered in a frustratingly calm voice as he applied lotion to Elaina’s face, “would she allow your father to treat you in such a way?”
“Suffering makes you stronger,” Elaina said, repeating the words her father had drilled into all his children over and over again. “A lesson learned without pain isn’t learned at all. The pain makes you remember. Stops you from repeating.”
“Poor girl.”
Elaina snapped out of her reverie and gave the doctor a hard push, sending him stumbling. “Don’t ever think to pity me, Doc. Don’t you ever. Are we done?”
“Yes,” Pavel said quietly as he packed his lotions and tools back into his case. “You should rest.”
Elaina did feel tired, but there was no time to rest. She needed to plan where she would take the ship next. Needed to figure out how to regain her father’s favour.
Chapter 19 - The Phoenix
Keelin set foot on his ship for the first time in almost a full day. He’d been over on the Fortune or the Man of War for so long it was a breath of fresh air to be confronted by a clean, bloodless deck. Morley was only a few steps behind him, and Keelin could feel the man’s frustration. Morley didn’t agree with the decision to attempt to settle on Cinto Cena. Unfortunately for Morley, it wasn’t his decision to make.
Most of The Phoenix’s crew were assembled on deck, far too many for chance. Keelin felt his spirits drop. He was somewhere beyond tired, ravenous as the sharks that prowled the waters below the ship, and sick to the stomach from the weight of death he’d witnessed – and caused – over the past two days. It dawned on Keelin then that he hadn’t actually seen the inside of his cabin since they’d left Sev’relain two days ago.
“Captain…” Feather started, but he was pushed out of the way by Smithe.
“Seems we still need a new quartermaster…”
“Not now,” Keelin said as he started towards his cabin.
“Aye, now.” Smithe sidestepped into Keelin’s way and planted his feet.
Keelin stared up at the bigger man, who looked more than ready for another fight. In fact, despite the recent battle they’d been involved in, Smithe looked wholly uninjured. Keelin wished he could make the same claim.
Smithe balled his hands into fists. “We vote. Now.”
With a resigned sigh, Keelin nodded his acceptance. “Morley,” he said, perching upon a nearby railing. “As previous quartermaster, it’s your show now.”
Morley looked anything but happy about the affair, but stepped forward nonetheless. “Captan made me first mate,” he said loudly to the pirates. “Can’t be quartermaster too, so looks like we need a new man for the job.” A low grumble went through the gathered crowd, and Keelin saw Feather trying to manoeuvre his way to his captain. Only problem was the boy was too small to get past the bigger men. Keelin focused his attention back on the vote.
“You all know the way this goes,” Morley continued. “Candidates need to be recommended, and no, you can’t recommend yourself. Nor can myself or the captain recommend anyone.”
“I recommend Smithe,” shouted a young man called Fiefel Wash. Keelin made a note of the name, as he did with all Smithe’s supporters. The recommendation was expected, and if Fiefel hadn’t made it, there were others who would have. The unfortunate truth was that Smithe was well liked among the crew.
Keelin sat and watched, waiting for the next recommendation as the pirates talked quietly and some even started jostling others to put names forward. Keelin idly wondered where Kebble Salt had got to. He hadn’t seen the man during the battle, but he’d definitely felt his presence. An expert marksman seemed to be a useful crew member to have. Now Kebble appeared to be missing, and Keelin hoped he wasn’t among the dead.