Avarice of the Sea | | b o o k 1

3: Forgotten Memories

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:  C H A P T E R  T H R E E  :

            I lurched awake to the splash of water over my entire body. I gasped and coughed, and spewed up salty seawater that scratched my throat dry. My nose burned and my eyes felt like they were swelled shut from the salt. I coughed even when there was nothing more to cough up, except maybe my lungs.

            With a start I realized I was in a bin of warm water, nearly boiling, and felt it scorch my aching skin. In the darkness I saw the skin on my arms radiate a striking red tone, as well as the backs of my thighs. My back ached and stung like a thousand needles poking into my skin, and I cried out in agony as I arched away from the edge of the bin.

            "Careful there, princess," said a voice standing over me. All I could do was stare straight ahead where my feet hung out over the edge of the bin. I tucked them in so my frozen toes could warm up again. The breeze was slowly killing me, and I felt helplessly small in this bin of warm water, and the foreign smell of booze and fish.

            My skin felt sticky as I tried to get up despite the warning from the stranger. I felt hollow yet full of dread, and tried without success to recall what was going on. I did not recognize a thing around me; especially the tall fellow crouched over me. His catlike blue eyes were watching me as I tilted my head back and saw the world bubble around me.

            Massive sheets of canvas stretched overhead, attached by ropes to the masts and posts of what could only be described as a sail. They were translucent in the moonlight, and soared high above me towards the heavens with an awe-inspiring majesty greater than the ship that took my family from Damunt to Valens.

            I sat up and turned to see the bloody flag above the main topmast, and felt all the empty spaces inside me fill up with pure unadulterated fear. My heart came to a sudden halt as I scrambled to leap from the bin of water.

            "Whoa, hey there, princess, slow yerself down now," the man insisted, catching me by the shoulders and roughly shoving me back into the bin. I thrashed and squirmed, crying out as I pushed his arms away.

            "Get off of me!" I shrieked, which only resulted in him holding his hands up in surrender. All along his forearms, he was inked with tattoos and colored at the fingers with rings. A grin had approached on his lips, crinkling the scar that slashed across his left brow.

            I was panting and lightheaded, and only managed to tense up further when he leaned back away from me. I nearly fainted when another man came up from behind him and clapped his hand on my captor's shoulder.

            "Lookie here! Princess's awake!" he shouted, and came to sit beside the bin with an arm propped up against the side. His teeth were slanted and at a closer glance, the light caught on the shiny pale scars cut up and down the right side of his face. He drew his finger along the edge of the bin, drawing closer to where I was leaning against it. I pulled my arm away as he said, "So princess, 'heard ya fell off that cliff. How're ya faring?"

            I floundered for a moment, leaning as far back as I could despite the pain that sliced up my back from where the bin was digging into it. "P-Pardon?"

            "Leave off, Nash," the man hissed at the crooked-toothed sailor. Nash frowned and pulled his hand back from reaching my bare leg. I hadn't realized how torn up my dress had become, and how it barely reached my mid thigh from where haggard slashes were cut into the fabric.