A Bird in Hand

Prologue

The ropes hissed through their metal harnessed and screeched at the contact. That noise alone should have stopped any sailor that attempted to grasp their ends, but they pushed through its warning. The ship rocked violently, the wind as inconsistent as the water's current, the masts strained to their breaking points beneath the rise of a massive storm. 

Within minutes, the ship had begun to take on water. The entire crew soaked to their bones, their attempts grew futile against the current and rain. Not even the Captain kept hope of their survival, he soon had his crew release the cannons and any weight they could afford to lose. The storm persisted and soon their efforts stopped. 

"We can't get out of this!" A sailor shouted to Captain Daugh before he gestured around widely. The oceans had been as calm as the skies, now both were as dark as night. Their navigator hadn't an idea where the sun was let alone the island they sought after. Only a few miles from shore, they were hopelessly lost; the ship continued to take on water. 

"Cut them!" Captain Daugh shouted over the rain and thunder before he gestured to the sails that strained the masts. "Save the longboat!" He ordered. 

The sailors took a moment of silence and knew their fate was sealed in his orders. They had known this possibility, they had known of this outcome before they stepped foot onto the ship. None had expected it to take place. Several stayed shocked into submission while the others did as Captain Daugh ordered. The ship continued to take on water. 

The cold, dark waters grew ever closer in the minutes it took Captain Daugh's orders to be complete. The last longboat was hoisted onto the deck and left to rest, awaiting its cargo. It was hardly within time, they could no further see more than the waves that came to beat them. 

"We can't all fit in this!" A sailor shouted at Captain Daugh. 

"No," Captain daugh agreed.

"We don't need to!" The first mate shouted at the sailor. 

Captain Daugh knew this and he knew what he was doing; none of them were going to make it off of the ship. None of the sailors would ever be seen again. They could not take the longboat and float the miles back to Ireland's shores; none could brave the cold waters and what lay beneath. But their cargo was too precious, too valuable to simply let it sink with them. It would find its way there, he thought to himself while he fought the growing incline of the ship to reach his quarters. 

He could hear small gasps when he pushed open the door, they were cut silent when he stepped inside. His quarters were dark and the desk was overturned, the candles had gone out, several windows were broken. Behind the desk near the safe was his target. 

The cabin girl had been shoved into his quarters when they saw the oncoming storm. She was small and had the surname of Néill; however, she wasn't really a cabin girl, but Captain Daugh had already forgotten her purpose on the ship. She had been chosen by the Countess to go with them on their mission and the idea of her only made the Captain frown, he had forgotten that there were innocent victims of their crimes. 

Néill wasn't alone in her cowering, the secondary mission was with her; a young girl from the southern mainland was in front of the safe with her. She didn't speak and only stared at him with piercing, dark eyes. Despite that neither knew nor understood the other, they had cowered together as the only children on the boat. 

Captain Daugh ignored Néill's questions, only lifted her up from in front of the safe and shoved her aside, the Ottoman girl didn't budge; she stayed in front of the safe and stared up at him. Captain Daugh knew he was a large man, his fat belly and large, red beard were things children often enjoyed of him, but they seemed to frighten the young girl into a statuesque pose. 

"Captain," Néill whimpered, her voice was nearly beaten out by the rain. She grabbed the girl and pulled her from the Captain's path. The girl didn't stop staring at the Captain, her eyes quickly became unafraid. 

"Shore's less than two miles," the Captain said before he moved onto the safe and easily opened it. 

"Captain," Néill said again, her tone bordered on begging, somehow pleading with fate to somehow be different. She held onto the Ottoman girl's shoulders, the girl still showed no readiness for action, no amount of emotion. 

"Tell your master that it was too effective," he gestured to the Ottoman girl before he shoved the chest into Néill's arms, "Get this to the Countess!" 

"Without you?" Néill asked. 

"Get it to her or die!" 

She stared at him for a moment before she nodded weakly, her blue eyes turned from the Captain to the girl. The Captain knew it was best to leave the girl to die with the sailors; the water would take her home, the rocks would tell her fate, he attempted to push that line of thought across his mind. 

It did not stick; he turned to leave but soon remembered his own son. Néill had eyes full of fear but the Ottoman girl didn't, she stayed trained on the Captain, watching his every move, his son was similar, about her age, no bigger than she, he would be just as clueless as the unnamed girl. The only reason she was there at all was that the Captain's son was at home with his wife. His son safe and warm, at home with his mother; the unnamed girl was cold and unsafe, on a sinking ship with strangers. 

He grabbed onto the young girl and she screeched loud enough to alert the sailors on the deck but only for a  moment. She protested him hoisting her up over his shoulder but she was far too small to stop him. Néill hesitantly followed them out of the quarters.

The rain had only increased, the masts still threatened to break without their sails, the wind whipped in all directions. The water rose higher and higher, the longboat was put over the edge and set down in it. Néill and the chest got into the boat first and the Captain tossed Néill the young girl.

He was surprised when Néill caught her, they landed backward and nearly toppled the entire longboat. The unhealthy tilt of the ship gave the sailors a view of the longboat, they all cheered when it leveled out atop the water that would soon swallow them whole. 

"That way," the first mate pointed East to Néill, who looked into the darkened daylight. 

"Take the girl and the chest to the Countess! Only the Countess!" The Captain shouted as the longboat began to drift away. 

Néill held the young girl tightly, more tightly than the young girl needed. No matter how she strained her eyes, the ship darkened the further they floated from it. The current was fast and soon the rain was little more than droplets that hit their cold skin. 

After her eyes caught onto something strange, her attention jutted to the water. Dark masses that she didn't recognize moved beneath the boat. They encased them in a wall beneath the boat, turning around and around. Néill grabbed onto the girl tightly, uncertain of their fate and found the girl to be equally as afraid. Some emotion, the Néill girl thought, it was good to be afraid of the fae. 

From the water came a stream of yellow light, it danced like an autumn leaf on the wind, it connected to the water and moved through the air wilfully like string. It felt along the chest, along the boat, then seemed to hesitate when it reached Néill and the young girl. They held onto each other tightly, uncertain of its intention. 

As soon as it came, the light plopped back beneath the water, the masses disappeared, the sky cleared not a minute later and the water became beautiful and pristine once again. Néill loosened her grip on the girl and turned to look all around the boat. The girl spoke in a language Néill didn't understand and she could barely hear her, her own heart beat too loudly for her to hear anything else. 

Her ears strained to hear the noise of the ship, of the damned sailors, her eyes struggled to see the storm. She had to know what happened to them, had to see where they went, yet it was silent. Not a noise, not a movement, not a breath of wind came to them. Soon the longboat stopped, sunk into the shores of the isle they were so lost from. 

[ Thanks for reading my prologue! I'm very excited for this story! Please let me know what you think! You can vote and/or comment to let me know! I'd really appreciate it :) ]