The Belladonna

Chapter 17 - Hawk

"Then don't fish me out." Sky replied. Thomas sighed exasperated.

"Is it your purpose in life to be a nuisance?" Sky was tempted to push him off the ship and when she told him as much he laughed. "You don't know how good he's been to you." Sky didn't like where this conversation was suddenly going.

She let out a puff of air. "He almost killed me before." She said to him. Thomas simply shook his head.

"He wouldn't have killed ya." He said undeniably. Sky looked at him as if he was crazy. Does he seriously not remember the fact that he stepped in just before Dustin drew his cutlass? "He wouldn't have killed ya." Thomas repeated sounding conflicted.

"Yes he would have. He was going to draw his sword and slit my neck." Sky crossed her arms and looked away.

"He wasn't armed Lass," Sky's head snapped back to him, "He had nothing to kill you with." Sky blinked at him.

Then what was he going to do? Hit me? Strangle me?

"You may think you hate him," Thomas started and Sky frowned, "but he is not as evil as you want to believe." Sky was about to defend herself when he held up a hand silencing her. "Do you want me to tell you what I know? Or are you going to interrupt me every five seconds? 'Cause if you are I'll leave now." Sky kept her mouth shut and he smiled. "Good. Now shut up and listen.

"The first time I ever met him was over four years ago. Dustin was on the other side of the scales at the time. I have to admit he rather fitted for the role; a young boy of seventeen proud and full of energy and life all dressed in royal blue and red. I'm sure you would have found him rather dashing."

Sky's brain was working overtime at what he had just told her.

'Royal red and blue'...That's impossible. Sky was so astonished that she didn't even pick up Thomas' teasing remark.

"He was in the King's navy." She whispered shocked.

"Aye, and had been for nearly three years. Served the bastard with almost unmatched skill considering how young he was." Sky nodded thinking back to his fighting; clean, effortless and deadly. Exactly what the King would want in his navy. She quickly ran through the maths.

If Thomas first met him four years ago when he was seventeen, that would make Dustin around twenty-one now. Sky was surprised at how young he really was. He's only four years older than me.

"I was on a trader's ship you see," Thomas continued, looking out at the black waters with agony on his dark face. "Only, the ship didn't deal in produce. Not unless you count human trading as a profitable living. Others like me, dark skinned and different, were forced into every available space of the ship. Some ships I'd been on even made us lie on one and other to pack in more people. This ship however was small and had other goods to smuggle out of the mainland. As a result we were crammed into the holding cells with not even enough room to sit down.