“There’s nothing to be kept quiet. You’re overlooking a third option, Riden.”
“And what’s that?”
“I was looking out for myself. There was no guarantee I could trust those men. If they found out who I was, they could try to use me for leverage just as
you do, especially if they’re smugglers, as we suspect. And if something were to
happen to you, Draxen would have someone else question me. And there’s a good chance I’d hate him more than I do you.”
Riden watches me. No amusement. No gratitude. No anything.
What is he thinking?
Finally, he says, “I suppose I didn’t think of that. Of course I should have considered that your only concern was for yourself.”
“I’m a pirate,” I remind him.
“Yes. I just can’t figure out if you’re a good pirate or a really good pirate.”
“I’m not sure I know what that means.”
“Just know that whatever it is that you’re hiding from me, I will figure it out.”
Clinking metal beats a steady rhythm. Not that of swords, but of chains. I know the sound well, as I’ve spent much time practicing how to get out of them.
At the sound, Riden goes ahead and locks me into the cell. Did he decide that
our conversation was over, or does he not want Draxen to see him talking to me
through an open door?
Draxen and two pirates—one who I’ve never seen before and the third pirate who helped bring my things down with Enwen and Kearan—lead two of the smugglers, who are clad in manacles, down the stairs. The conk to the head I gave them must not have been enough to kill them. ’Tis a shame for them, because death likely would have been better than whatever the pirates could have in store.
I may also be a prisoner, but they need me alive and in good health if they expect a ransom from my father. These two smugglers, however, do not need to
be traded. Nor do they need information from them because the gold has already
been found. The fact that they were brought on board alive, then, spells disaster for them.
“What is this?” Riden asks.
“Ulgin’s getting a bit restless,” Draxen says. “I thought he could use this.”
Riden nods, though he doesn’t look happy about what he knows will happen
next. Yet he opens a new cell far away from mine. The pirate I assume is Ulgin
leads the smugglers inside.
“And I came down to collect you,” the captain continues. “What with our fortunate find and all, I figure the men could use a payday on land. There’s lots of gold to be spent. I want you to oversee the distribution of each man’s share.
We should be upon the shore by nightfall.”
I knew we were close to land, despite everyone’s misleading. The smugglers
who left their shipmates aboard their broken ship would have had to take the time to find a new ship and then find where their old one had drifted off to. It’s no wonder they haven’t come back to it yet. And rather fortunate for Draxen and
his crew that they happened to stumble across it.
“What are we to do with the princess?”
“Nothing at all. That’s why I brought Sheck down here. He’ll be guarding her
until we reach land.”
“Is that really such a good—”
“I think she’s been having too good a time of it, Riden. It’s time we remind
her who we are. Don’t know why you chose Kearan and Enwen, of all the crew, to primarily oversee her. If they didn’t have their particular talents, I would have tossed them overboard long ago. Almost bloody useless.”
Riden looks like he wants to argue. Very badly. But he doesn’t. “Let’s see to
the gold, then,” he says instead.
For the first time I turn my attention to Sheck. And nearly jump away.
He’s pressed up to the bars, staring hungrily at me. I feel as though rats crawl
across my skin. Actually, I think I would prefer it if rats were crawling against my skin.
When I was little and faced with a new challenge each day, I would look to
my father for help. He would instruct me and then send me into the fire pit—
figuratively speaking. I always got burned. And I learned quickly that turning to him for help was useless. He never assisted. I either succeeded or suffered the consequences of failing. There was no relief. Long afterward, I might be given
some advice and encouragement. Sometimes even comfort. But in the moment,
there was no aid. It wasn’t long before I learned to stop turning to others for help. It’s never an option, so I don’t even think about it.