Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Grog's Pub

Ava took one look at the scene in front of her and thought she was about to faint. She reached out to the nearest person and held onto their arm for a moment. That person was Cooker who supported her with one arm and patted her back with the other. Ava couldn't look away though. Even when Theo had turned and left their position, Ava stayed, eyes glued to the spectacle in front of her. It wasn't that she was immune to the atrocity in front of her it was that she had been shocked by it. Never in her 16 lengths of life had she witnessed something so vile, so garish, so... depraved.

It would have taken time and planning to execute something so over-the-top. One ship with the message across its sails would have been enough. One person dying as a statement would have been enough. One body-less head would have been enough. None of them were necessary, of course, but the message could have gotten across without the butchery Ava was seeing in front of her.

The person behind this display either harbored a blind rage for pirates or was a sadist who found pleasure in gory displays of power. Ava was guessing it was the latter and pirates were just their chosen scapegoats for the pleasure to ensue. She had read enough about the regime in power and the way politics worked in this world to know that power grabs were best done while pursuing an enemy. This had government prints all over it, at least that what was Ava thought, she could have been wrong.

She was startled out of her shocked state by Cooker trying to speak with her. She blinked away the stun and looked over, catching Cooker mid-sentence.

"-once we dock, that is."

"What?" Ava asked stupidly.

"You should probably go get ready so we can go. Once we dock," Cooker repeated and began to lead them off the forecastle.

"Go where?" Ava asked.

"Grog's Pub," Cooker said, "Thought Xyra had gone over this with you."

Xyra had gone over the plan with her. Many times. Her head just couldn't keep up at that moment. Grog's Pub was the go-to spot for captains and high ranking members of a crew. It was customary that the Captain of a ship go to the pub upon arrival. It was a center of information for the island and once a pirate arrived there, their presence was known and news of their arrival spread quickly.

"She has," Ava confirmed, "sorry."

"That's alright. Word to the wise, shake what you saw off. You're going to need every shred of sanity in order to deal with the suns to come, I have a feeling it's not going to be fun," Cooker advised as they walked across the decks and into the cabin area.

"Right. Very easy to forget I saw hundreds of decapitated heads on ships," Ava scoffed a bit and pulled away from Cooker's hand that was at the small of her back, guiding her.

None of the chaos outside was Cooker's fault but a spark of irritation lit up inside of Ava. She felt bad but something about the way Cooker was being with her made her feel belittled, babied. She was a high ranking officer on the ship and she was to be treated as one. With a scowl on her face, she pulled farther away from Cooker and walked quickly to her cabin, Cooker staying far behind.

Getting ready was a haze. She found herself working hard to try and push away any thoughts about what had been out there. But it was near impossible to keep the panic from pushing itself to the forefront of their mind. What did that mean for them? One wrong move and that was looking to be their fate. Did she just stare her future in the face? She had until night time, when initiation was due to begin, to decide if she was going to bolt and save herself from having her head roll off her shoulders.

She pulled on new clothes but her thoughts were clouded, muddled. They had already had two attempts at their life and made it out alive, how many more could they handle? She reminded herself that the crew she was with was capable. The initial fear began to ebb and the more she thought about it, the less the situation seemed doomed. As she began to accessorize her get up, figuring she would have to show up to the pub looking a little fancy and intimidating, her mind was still reeling with theories and worries.