The Mosque Hill Fortune (The Sons of Masguard, Book One)

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Tears fell.

The mist roiled.

McKinley fell in and out of consciousness in his screened-off portion of the middle deck. It was quiet and private.

The type of place where one is sent to die.

It seemed the entire pirate crew had taken turns in standing outside the infirmary, one after another. Marshall had entered under the pretense of finding out whether or not the mistwalkers had stolen the Marauder's half of the medallion as well, which of course they had. Afterward, he'd refused to leave McKinley's side.

"There's nothing more I can do." Doc Calum, devastated over the loss of her nephew, was clearly having difficulty concentrating. "The blow shattered his chest. I have no way to know the full extent of the damage to his organs but, judging by the swelling, I'd say it's severe."

"What are his chances, Doctor?" Marshall asked without expression.

"He has none." In an uncommonly kind gesture, she put a hand on his shoulder saying, "I'm sorry, Captain. He won't last the morning."

Marshall drew a stiff breath. "You should tend to your other patients."

She nodded. "I'll have someone bring you a chair."

After she'd gone, he stood rigidly for as long as he could, hands clasped behind his back, as though they alone were holding him up. Then he wilted.

He could not think. For a moment, he couldn't seem to breathe. Sheer emotion stripped him of the ability to do anything - anything at all - other than acknowledge his pain, his anger, his guilt. He shook, resisting the urge to drive his fists into the cot alongside his brother's too-still form. It took every ounce of his will not to fall to his knees and weep.

Then he looked up to realize that McKinley was already weeping for him.

"I have a daughter." The Marauder's mouth scarcely moved as the tear slid over his cheek. "She's so young, your niece. Her name is Maya. Such a warm heart... like her mother. I left her... left her in the children's hospital in Secora Tor. She's sick. Don't..." he choked, then recovered. "Don't let her die, Marshall. There's magic in Mosque Hill, I know there is. Use it to save her, please. Promise me."

"That's enough, now." Marshall swallowed and shook his head. "You will save her yourself. You just... need to recover your strength."

McKinley's broken chest shook with something that may have been a laugh. "Don't be clever, Marshall. It doesn't suit you. I just wish... wish I could have remembered the song... she wanted me to sing... I love you, my darling..." His voice fell to a whisper, as though he were speaking only to himself. In reality, he was listening to the ocean that danced back and forth outside the window, hoping that Maya was listening to her shell. Hoping they could at least share that in his final moments. "Love you, my girl... "

"Would you like me to sing it for you?"

Marshall turned to see Ryder standing near the screen with a chair in her gloved hand. She came to his side, a sympathetic smile on her face as she waited for his response.

Her offer lit something behind McKinley's eyes, something that neither of them could name as he gave a very slight nod.

At his unspoken instruction, Ryder opened her mouth and sang in quiet confidence, like a mother to her child.

"I love you, my darling,

I love you, my girl,

I love you, my sunshine,

My starlight, my world.

And though you must go,

How I wish you could stay.

But rest your eyes knowing,

I'm one dream away.

And while you are sleeping,

My darling, I'm here.

I promise, there's nothing,

Nothing to fear.

How long, my darling,

Have I been away?

You growing older,

While I stay the same?

Please let me go now,

This is how it should be.

We'll be together,

One day, dear, you'll see.

And while I am sleeping,

I'll miss you, my dear.

Be good while I'm gone, love.

You've nothing to fear."

By the time the song was finished, McKinley was unconscious once again. This time, with little hope of waking.

Ryder and Marshall stood over him, the chair forgotten.

"What do we do now, sir?" Ryder said, her voice carrying the weight of one who knew the full extent of their failure. They had suffered heavy losses. The Baron had every advantage. And hope was all but lost.

Whatever their mission had been when they began, the scope of their objective had widened to swallow them all into a darkness they could not fight.

"We keep moving forward, Lieutenant," replied Marshall, placing a weary hand on his brother's brow.

Perhaps because it is the only direction left to go.

≈

Grogoch fell from the mist like a stone, landing on the deck of the Havoc in a flash of blood and laughter.

Von Ulric and Lady Sira were there waiting for him.

Sira looked over his wounds as though approving of the damage. "Report, my pet," she said.

"Did you succeed?" Von Ulric demanded.

His laughter echoing weirdly over the ship, Grogoch held up the medallions in either hand. "Grogoch maybe lost eye, but got necklaces! Smash otter and stupid Secoran soldier, too!"

"Calum?" the Baron deduced with a smile. "He's dead?"

The wolverine extended his bloodied claws in response, earning a slight frown from Sira, though he did not notice. "Make him pay for crossing Lady, pay for crossing wolf! Secorans fill the waters with their blood, and never come to challenge Havoc again!"

Von Ulric smiled the slow, confident smile of victory. Pressing the two halves of the medallion together, he held them up to the meager light poking through the ever-present mist like a champion hoisting his pennant. A hunter who has taken his prey and now wishes to savor the feast.

"So you see, Kathkan," he said. "Ambition reigns over the poor illusions of duty and honor. Secora will be mine. Your Empire will have its ally. And there is no one to stand in our way."

~ End ~

The adventure continues in The Sons of Masguard and the Mosque Hill Fortune, Part Two -- available wherever ebooks are sold. Thank you for reading.