𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬 𖥸 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨

04. Burdened

Jillian watched as one of the crewmates stalked forward with a long whip held in his hands. As he handed it to the captain, she was forced by the two men against the rail, hands curling around the metal bar. The back of her shirt was torn open, the chill already beginning to settle down on her skin.

     "Last chance. You're positive you do not wish to give this punishment to your sister?"

      "She wasn't the one who jumped, was she?" Jill snarled at him.

     "Perhaps."

     She felt the sting of the whip moments before she was even ready to prepare herself and it burned like hell.

      Jill bit her lip to keep from screaming, feeling blood run down her back at the same time she tasted it in her mouth. Well, this was humiliating. The entire crew was watching, some of them even laughing. Was this something that normally happened?

     The second lash was harder than the first, cutting deeper into her skin.

      She heard Wendy scream from behind her.

      A third lash struck bone, and the captain fell against the railing with a sharp curse.

      "What the hell?"

     Jill opened her eyes in confusion and craned her head back slightly to see what was happening. "Done so soon?"

      A flash of white feathers speared across her line of sight, making her yelp out in surprise. She could barely see from her position near the wall, but she knew it had to be a seabird of some sort.

     Was it her brother's?

     The paleness of its feathers did look familiar and it had the traits of a cape gannet, so it had to be. Did she bring her summoner along too? Did her brother survive the attack?

     The possibilities made her head throb. If Asherah was here, Ammiras couldn't be far.

     The captain hissed something that had to be a curse in Spanish, pushing himself to his feet as one of the crew mates grabbed hold of the sea bird.

     "Put it in a cage," He hissed in a tone that was both impatient and irritated. "Maybe break one of its wings while you're at it." His gaze flickered over to Jill. "We're done today." His tone almost seemed softer and less harsh than before. Was she imagining it?

     Jill felt her heart drop to her stomach the third time today. The pain from her whip wounds were unbearable and it was an effort not to cry out. Blood was still oozing out of them and at this rate, they'd most likely get infected quickly if she was going to be shoved right back into that tiny cell.

     "Wait," She croaked hoarsely. Her throat was parched and her mouth felt like it was filled with sand. "Don't hurt her."

     "Why would you care for the life of a simple sea bird? It's bonded to one of your crew mates, is it not? More reason to slaughter it right here and now." There were cuts on his face from where Asherah's talons scraped.

     Jill's breath was labored. "Don't, she was only protecting me."

     She knew her twin had to be alive out there somewhere. If he wasn't, the gannet would have gone mad from the bond broken between the two.

     A wave of relief washed over her. Ammiras was alive. Hopefully he had found a passing ship and climbed aboard. Hopefully he wouldn't come back to find her and put himself in grave danger. Wendy was already in that position and she didn't want her twin to suffer as well.

     The captain raised an eyebrow at her words. "I'm not planning on killing her, I'm simply caging her."

     The sea bird was shrieking in the crew mates arms, wings violently beating as she tried to squirm out of his grip. She'd never been one who enjoyed contact from humans. Her brother had learned that the hard way when he tried to stroke her feathers the first time he summoned her. The gannet nearly took his eye out.
    
     Jill closed her eyes as her breath became more slower. If they broke the sea bird's wings, she'd never fly again. A bird who couldn't spread their wings and soar through the open sky was destined for a life of pain and suffering. She couldn't let that happen. "Not the wing. I'm not letting you permanently cripple her."

      She had to stall for  just a moment. She could set Asherah free if she could just . . .

      . . . now. She lunged, ramming her shoulder into the crewmate that had grabbed the gannet. She leaped into the air with a screech. The crewmate she tackled fell to the ground with an alarmed cry, and Jill was immediately restrained.

     Asherah hovered in the air with a distressed caw, fluttering over to her and landing by her feet. She seemed to think that pecking one of the men's feet would do good, but was immediately kicked away. Jill shouted and did whatever she could to scare the bird away while being restrained, but she wouldn't leave.

     "Go, Asherah!" Jill cried desperately, watching the gannet hiss at anyone who came near her. "Get out of here! Go back to Ammiras and make sure he's okay!" 

     The sea bird seemed distressed and didn't quite wish to leave, but nonetheless she spread her wings and took off into the air. Jill's eyes were trained on the sky, watching the gannet circle above. She didn't see the punch being directed at her face until the last second.