Rudimentum: Oracle

Chapter 6

Elysia and William sat beside one another, a dying campfire glowing in front of them. The tree-filled edge of the waterfront town stretched behind them, and the sound of laughter and cheers still dotted the air despite the sun having set a few hours ago. Campfires were spread all throughout the town and trees where townspeople and travellers alike sat, drank, ate, and chatted together. Besides the couple dozing nearby, the two of them were alone. Swift had disappeared a few hours before and neither of them believed they would ever see the man again.

Elysia gazed up at the starry night that domed above her. The stars shimmered as if spilling their secrets to one another in silent whispers. The stars saw all, no matter where you were. She wished she could have spoken to them, asked if her family were all right. If they were alive. The thought pricked her like a needle and her eyes sparkled with tears.

"How are you feeling?" asked William. He glanced at her bandaged left hand, wishing he had a way to help her. The cloak she had bought wrapped around her torso as if she was cocooned in a pair of dark wings.

She sighed. "I am angry and scared and frustrated. Everything I knew has collapsed around me. The people around me are dropping like flies. I am afraid our luck, what little we had of it, might just have run out." She hugged her raised knees.

William said, "If it has run out then it only means we must take control. We will take the dice and throw them out altogether. We decide what happens next, no more letting others make the choices for us. Together, we will succeed."

She looked at him with a weak smile, and his blue eyes glowed in the firelight. "There is no guarantee that King Brandon will help us, no matter how many dice we get rid of. But thank you, Will." She examined his face as he turned back to the fire. Her eyes traced the long thin scar along his left jawline where hair no longer sprouted. "I have rarely seen you with that much beard before."

"Should I cut it?" he said, scratching the thick dark hair.

She considered a moment then shook her head. "No. I want to see what it looks like full grown."

"Hello there," said Swift as he plopped himself down across from William. He wore a new black bandana around his head and small tufts of his blonde-brown hair stuck out from under it. He leaned back against a wooden log with a relaxed sigh, his fingers laced over his chest.

"What are you doing here?" said William clenching his fist and straightening his back.

"What do you mean?" asked Swift.

"You disappeared. We assumed you jumped ship and left."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" sneered Swift. "No. I went to the Wild Cat." A cocky grin spread over his face.

"Sounds like a brothel," muttered Elysia looking away. She clenched her jaw.

He nodded to her. "Hit the nail on the head, Princess."

She scowled at him. "I thought you thought that debauchery."

"You misunderstand or forget," he said. "Rape is debauchery, but I pay those women and they come willingly. Know what I mean, Willy?"

"It's William to you," he said brusquely.

"Have you ever been to one, Willy?"

The heat in William's cheeks rose. He did not know why he even answered the pirate's question, but his mouth ran before his mind could stop it. "Some lads I guarded with took me a few times."

Swift jolted up with an open-mouthed grin. "All right, Willy!"

Elysia interrupted, "Listen, Swift, you saved William and helped us escape. We are even. You can leave."