The Nightingale

Chapter Twenty-Six

Her first instinct was to run towards John, every bit of anger and betrayal she had once felt towards him melting away the moment she laid eyes on him, overwhelmed only with the idea that he had come after them. The moment she stepped forward, though, she noticed Easton step out of a room towards her left, and she stopped, seeing him look sharply in her direction. When he looked away from her, towards John, Natasha moved forward slowly, inching her way forward against the wall, ignoring the way Ela was looking at her from the other side of the foyer. She wondered if Ela had figured out that these were the pirates who had supposedly started the trouble she was in, hoping she wouldn't try to interfere in any way. Natasha actually liked Ela, but she knew John would be ruthless and uncaring towards any person in this house, except for her, and she didn't want Ela to be harmed.

"Captain Avery," Easton spoke slowly, his voice surprisingly calm, "I see you chose not to heed my warning." As Easton neared the doorway, John also moved forward, his crew following close behind, their swords already drawn in their hands and pointed into the space around them.

"What fun would that have been?" John grinned, twirling the dagger in his right hand, his eyes scanning the room calculatingly as Easton's crew began to fill the foyer, men that Natasha hadn't even realized were here. She should have known, however, with the lack of men on board The Nereus, and for the simple fact that Easton wouldn't have gone anywhere with only two sailors as backup. Some of them were coming down from the stairs, others from rooms and corridors behind Natasha, making her pause once again, having reached the end of the staircase. Most of them moved right past her, however, except for one familiar face, who stopped close behind her, and Natasha silently hoped he wouldn't try to stand in her way.

"Take a look around, Avery. I think you'll find yourself to be vastly outnumbered." Easton neared John but stopped far enough away that, if needed, he would have time to draw his sword. Natasha looked around the room, finding what Easton said to be true. His men were everywhere, their swords drawn as well, and there were at least twice as many of them, compared to the small amount of men John had left in his crew after Easton attacked them.

"On the contrary, I think you'll find yourself to be outnumbered." As the final words left his tongue, the sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the house, and through one of large arches that lead to a sitting room to the right, Natasha could see that the window had been broken in, and a man she had never seen before, but was dressed in the same manner as John's crew, was swinging through the shattered pieces, landing gracefully on the floor with a dagger held between his teeth. John must have stopped somewhere to reinforce his crew after losing so many men, and dozens of them swung in or climbed through windows, invading the hallways and come down the stairs around her.

The shattering of the windows and the invasion of the rest of John's men was all it took for chaos to erupt around Natasha. The ladies at the party fled either into the house for someplace to hide or out the open door, screaming in fright as their partners with weapons drew them to fight. Some men followed their wives back into the house, having no means to defend themselves, while the others began to engage with John's men. Easton had drawn his sword by now, and had begun to walk towards John until he was intercepted by Castille, leaving John free to cross easily through the chaos as if he was parting it, directly towards where Natasha was standing.

At the sight of him moving towards her, Natasha took a step in his direction, only to find a hand close around her arm. When she looked back, she found Henry grabbing tightly onto her arm, his sword raised in a shaking hand. Her heart stopped in her chest as her fears came to life, wishing Henry had realized what his grip on her meant for his own life.