Swashbuckling in the Dark

Chapter Twenty-Three Pt. 1

"It's not as easy as you might think," he said. "We're not really the trusting sort, aye?"

I gave him a blank look in return. "I'm aware."

He hid a smile. "Too right. But where to start?..."

Dark and I were below in the cargo hold, finding room for our latest barrels of ill-gotten treasure. He'd insisted that we do something productive while we talked; he claimed his story was a lengthy one.

I prompted the obvious, "At the beginning?"

Dryly, he said, "Certainly. And which beginning would that be?"

"When did you approach my father?"

"A month before your birthday," he grunted, throwing his weight against a stubborn crate. "But truthfully, it was he who approached me. Clearly he didn't approve of his daughter's choice of companions, so he had a servant fetch me. It was during this rather unpleasant conversation," he paused, smiling wryly, "that he made his objection known. I, being young and overly bold, told him I would pay any sum he wished to free you from him."

"And he accepted." The truth of it I knew, but it felt strange to say.

Dark shrugged. "I rightly assumed that money meant more to him than you did. But I foolishly thought he would honor our bargain. He conveniently forgot to tell me of his plans for you."

"He searched for higher bidders," I replied bitterly, rolling a barrel into another with force.

Sensing that my father was the last thing I wanted to discuss, Dark continued. "I took all the money I had in the world, that I'd earned apprenticing with my father, and hid it with him. He sent me with a friend of his where I would be able to make money more quickly."

"What way was that?" I asked.

Dark chuckled. "A smuggler named Dean took me on. Risking myself by running the dangerous jobs earned me a little more coin. Dean was fair, at least. My plans was not the most well thought-through," he said with a rueful laugh.

"How did you end up working for Grimm?"

His countenance darkened. "Men become pirates out of desperation or force. For me, it was the latter. You go to sleep in an inn one night, perhaps having drunk enough to sleep through a storm, and you wake up in the belly of a ship surrounded by strangers."

My expression must have betrayed my emotions. "You're surprised," he commented with a dark smile. "You thought it was my choice to be a pirate."

"I could only assume," I admitted.

He shrugged again, reaching for the next crate I passed him. "I had to make the best out of the worst possible situation. Abducted, with no idea where you are or if you'll ever get home, it becomes necessary to change."

When he trailed off, I reached up a hand to touch his shoulder. He stilled in his work. "You don't have to discuss this with me," I told him.

"You're the only one I want to tell." I nodded though he was facing away.

Without turning back to look at me, he bent to upright a barrel on its side, stacking it tightly against its fellows and securing it.

"I'm not entirely sure of how long it was," he began. "Years, I know, but it feels longer. If you had seen me you would have sworn I was enjoying life under Grimm's command. Freedom and riches drew many to him, including me." He sighed, considering his words.

"I'm not certain what it was, but Grimm trusted me. It was like...a friendship, on the surface. But in the deep I saw it for what it was. Eventually I realized that all the supposed gifts he gave us were lies. His gestures of trust were manipulations. He was unlike any captain I'd ever seen, yet he was the worst of them all: twice as ruthless, twice as cunning, and thrice as bloodthirsty."