Villainous [Wattys 2021 Shortlist]

17: Captives

Dante stared at him expressionlessly. "I don't remember them."

The captain punched him in the face, and Delilah hissed at the crack of Dante's nose breaking.

"You... just attacked a monarch..." he spluttered, spitting blood.

"You're no monarch!" the captain jeered. "Not since the Treaty. Vale isn't even a kingdom anymore. It's just a group of cowardly, broken people who forever hide in the dark."

Dante gave him a wild grin that had the captain lunging, with a punch to the stomach this time.

Delilah forced her entire body to go limp until she was sagging in the soldiers' arms, her head hanging as if she'd fainted. She had to use the captain's bloodlust to her advantage.

To her relief, as the soldiers crowded around Dante, her captors released her with disgusted grunts and moved to watch Dante's beating. They all hated him. Dante, leader of an enemy country, slaughterer of their people in the war.

Delilah opened one eye a crack. No one was looking at her. She began to drag herself, slowly and painfully, across the floor in the direction of the Water Opal.

"Is that the best you Pelenans can do?" Dante was sneering. "When I marry your princess and become your new king, what do you think I'll do to you?"

"How dare you suggest consorting with our royal family!" the captain cried.

Delilah's fingers closed around the Opal and she ripped open her parka, placing it in a secure inside pocket.

"Where are the Opals?" the captain snarled.

Delilah's heartbeat quickened. If they were about to search Dante - he definitely had the Fire Opal on him, he had to have kept it, she couldn't see it anywhere -

Thinking fast, she leaped to her feet and gave a whistle. People spun around to face her.

"Hello, boys," she said, and they gaped. She dragged a package out of her pocket, showing them the two lumps inside. "Looking for these?"

The captain managed to take one step before she hurled the objects out of the hole in the temple wall.

"The Fire Opal!" a soldier cried.

"Whoops," Delilah said.

Dante, his face bloody and swollen, met her gaze and gave her the faintest dagger-sharp smile.

"Get it! Retrieve it!" the captain barked, and soldiers started running down the corridor.

All they'll find outside will be two lumps of seal meat.

Delilah wanted to laugh. She felt hysterical. How idiotic were these men?

"Detain her," the captain growled, and Delilah was unable to resist as they immobilised her, twisting both her arms behind her back in a tight grip.

There were still too many to fight. Delilah's thoughts whirled as they marched her and Dante down the corridor, out of the temple, past the terrified priests - there was no sign of Mala - and into one of the warships.

Delilah's heart sank. They were going to ship them back to Pelenu. How would they escape?

She memorised the route they took through the ship, down cramped corridors and eventually into a room of barred cells. She was tossed into one, and Dante the adjacent - and the doors were slammed in their faces.

"We're not done with either of you yet," a guard said. "You'll start paying for your crimes before we reach Rhydderch." They trooped out.

Delilah groaned and slumped against the side of the cage. She stuck her fingers through the bars, and to her surprise Dante did the same, touching his hand to her own.

"They'll realise we still have the Opals and search us," she said.

But Dante's eyes were fixed on something in the corner of his cage - a writhing patch of shadows.

The wraiths were back.

"How do we resist them?" she asked.

"I don't know. But if we don't learn to overcome them, they'll end up causing our deaths." Dante lifted a hand to his nose and shoved it back into place with a crunch that made Delilah shudder. "We could use the Opals to escape, or at least gain control of the ship -"

"It's steam-powered," she interjected, eyeing the wraiths nervously. "An innovative new invention - these types of ships are only available to the army. We'd need a trained crew."

Dante leaped to his feet, actually turning his back on the demons to look at her. "We have one."

"What?" She frowned.

The metal door slammed open and guards walked in, sneering. Delilah watched apprehensively as they unlocked both doors and began to attack.

She shrieked as her arms were almost wrenched out of their sockets. They tried to throw her to the floor but she kicked out wildly, her boots crunching against faces and sinking into stomachs.

"Unhand me! I am the princess!" she spat.

"Not anymore." A soldier grabbed her parka, but she wriggled out of his grasp and elbowed him in the eye. He yelped and she locked her hands around his throat, throwing him against the metal cage wall while trying to squeeze the life from him. He choked, his face turning red.

Arms locked around her middle and pulled her away. She tried to twist, but this man succeeded in knocking her onto her side.

By the time he leaned down, she'd managed to extract a small knife from one of the coat's pockets. She stuck it straight in his throat and grimaced when hot blood showered her.

Delilah scrambled out of the way just as he fell, pulling the knife free.

She quickly dispatched the others and staggered out of the cage. The fear hadn't left, it still heightened her senses, and for a moment she had to clutch the door while she recovered. Dante was wobbling towards the corridor and wiping blood from his eyes.

"They didn't hurt you?" he asked.

Delilah stared at him, shocked. "Of course not. What do you take me for, an innocent girl?" She mustered a violent smile, wondering why he cared.

"Of course not." Dante rolled his eyes and strode ahead. She closed the door behind them so no one would spot the dead bodies.

"Tell me the plan, then, bat-brain."

"We take out the captain and the driver. No one else. Lock the door, pretend they're still alive, and let the crew go about sailing us back to Pelenu."

"We don't want to be back in Pelenu," she whispered as they slunk down a corridor, pressing against the wall.

"We do if we want to reach Terra."

Terra. The third step of the mission - for the Earth Opal. Delilah had given it barely any thought. Terra was a large, landlocked nation on the other side of Pelenu and Vale - the border it shared with Dante's country was a ravine, and with Pelenu it followed the same ravine until the river reached the Landian Sea. Either way, they had to go back through Delilah's home country to reach it.

Now, she cursed herself for not thinking ahead.

They ducked into the shadows whenever any soldiers passed. Delilah knew the rough layout of these ships, as she'd once stolen her uncle's blueprints for an early model, so she led Dante to the driver's room. Wraiths hissed at their heels, but she tried to block out their words.

The captain and navigator both died before they could take a breath.

"Idiots, for not searching us for weapons," Dante muttered, kicking their bodies while Delilah hurried to lock the door behind them.

Dante took the large wheel, and together they gazed out of the windows and at the river beyond. "Delilah, get a sea chart."

She snatched one up. "If we enter the Steel Sea as soon as possible, we don't have to worry about anyone stopping us."

Someone hammered on the door. "Captain! Open up!"

Icy fear trickled through her. She exchanged a wide-eyed look with Dante.

"Why have you locked the door?"