"I'm dying" Raven lamented. "only a kiss of true love can save me "
"Best I can do is a high five of semi- cordiality"
After a lifetime of house arrest, River Verlice attends his niece's first birthday banquet, expecting nothing more than a quiet e...
"So what were you telling me again? You work for the Captain?" River tried again.
" I used to, alright." Chipper grinned and vaguely nodded at the deck of the Clememtine, where Bones and Louie was inspecting a box. "All of us. Then Captain became the king and wanted us to stop our line of work. He pays us to do trade now."
River side glanced at the boy, his confusion deepening. Line of work? He knew in order to keep milking this dude for information he had to play dumb. "Does it pay better?"
"ay, we have seen better money" Chipper shrugged and kicked a stone languidly "Pay aside, its good and clean work. Easier too."
River nodded making a mental note on the word clean. Secrets were as safe as a sandcastle during a hightide with this man." Bet you were happy to see him again"
Chipper giggled " We were sailing from Sandgil ay ? taking this year's pearl harvest. Captain came runnin' and promised us each a hundred gold if we took him to Salkow in half a day"
River felt warmth blanketing his heart. True to his words, Raven Alistair had not wasted a second in his rescue mission.
"What gold ?! We would take him to hell for free!" Chipper sighed fondly. "Good man , Captain Rae. "
River silently tuned out as he continued to ramble on about this year's hefty pearl harvest. The name Black rang a distant bell, but River's dusty attic of unwanted knowledge was not neat enough to recall exactly where he had heard it.
He watched on as the last wooden box got carried ashore. Chipper left shortly after, distracted by Julie Jagger's invitation for a drink. Bones and Louie joined the youngsters and didn't forget to ask River to come along. River politely declined and decided to wait for Raven, remembering his determination to apologize to the man for being rude earlier. River wanted to catch him alone.
River stood to the side of the quay way, his clothes uncomfortably digging into his skin, drenched in sweat. The sun was brutal as it was midday and it battered on his back relentlessly. Sticky sweat pooled behind his knees and elbows. The sea breeze cooled him down a bit, but the harbor was way too crowded and overwhelmingly busy for River's liking.
As he waited in this manner, bitterly cursing Raven Alistair and his ancestors for taking so long, he saw two children, in the distance.
One child, a small boy with sandy hair and a mischievous grin, darted ahead on the weathered wooden dock, his bubbling laughter like soft sea form crashing on the shore. He had his arms outstretched, apparently pretending to be a seagull in flight. He flew past sailors, his happiness contagious. His mirth was like music to the haggard sailors, and they smiled fondly at the playful bundle.
The older girl, a darling with rosy cheeks and adorable pigtails chased him, her feet nimble and light. With each leap and bound the laugher rang as if every box of pearls they carried in Clementine spilled on to water.
How old could they be? River wandered.
Ten? Can't be older than twelve.
His eyes, bluer than the sky and sea itself were fixated on the playful youth. Looking from outside, his face betrayed no emotions. His visage held its usual stolidity, like the sight evoked as much sentiment in him as a rock on a roadside would.
why?
He closed his eyes and sighed. His breath mingled with the sea breeze.
Why? Why me?
For split second, he imagined himself bashing their heads full of smiles into a metal bollard. Maybe he will kill the younger one first. Make the older girl watch as her brother's brain splatter on the dock and flow in to water.
He imagined her running home, blood on her frilly skirt, crying her large black eyes out. Never to laugh again. Never to be happy again.
What did I do to deserve all that happened to me?
He thought, begrudgingly, but found no answers. He had been no different from them. He too, was a child once, with big eyes and small hands. Why is that they get to laugh and play, without a care in the world ,while he ..
River screwed his eyes shut and put the child -murdering thoughts aside. He tried recalling Einar and his wise words. What did he said again? Revenge not worth it or something like that.
What happened, happened. He lost all his childhood. Gone to never come back, like milk that spilled. He could only live the rest of his long,long life, mourning the child he had never been.
And the man he could never be.
His train of thought was interrupted by a gentle tap on his shoulder. It was the Captain of the Clementine, captain Rae. His one eye darted between his own blue ones, as if he could sense the darkness lurking behind them.
"What are you thinking?" he inquired, following his line of sight. A slight smile played on his lips when he saw the kids, his whole face softening.
"This and that" River brushed the question off. The older man's jaw tightened suddenly, the way it did when he was distressed. The perfect brows knitted together as well.
"What's wrong?" River questioned.
Raven sighed deeply and brushed his locks away from his face. "It is Solina"
This caught River's undivided attention "what?"
"She has disappeared from Werth Citadel." Raven"s shoulders quivered in a surpressed shudder. "Killed three ladies in waiting and vanished without a trace"
The two men stared at each other in morbid silence, the same thought running through their heads.
This can't be good.
Author has something to say.
I did not put this through grammer checker folks. Please don't come at me.
Author spends all of her free time putting together this chapter.
With uni starting I won't be able to write everyday but you can expect a chapter about twice a week.
We are almost at 2k folks !!
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Solina Wendigo
Wolfram - Hello 199! Please send an ambulance immediately. Aithan Alistair has fainted and is bleeding out of his nose!!
