His arms are crossed, one leg hooked over the other. I suppose I should run now to make it look like I'm trying to escape, but why bother? "How much of that did you see?" I ask instead. "All of it." I'm not sure what I should feel after hearing that. Anger that he'd let Sheck try to take me. Confusion that he let me kill him without helping his crewman. Worry that he saw the acting routine I tried on Jongho. Does he know I'm trying to get caught? There's no way to tell. His face reveals nothing in the lit street. I need to do something. I can't just stand here and let him take me. It's inconsistent with the character I've been playing for him. So I reach over and pick up Jongho's cutlass again.
"You want to fight?" he asks. "I am not going back on that ship," I say. "I'm sorry, Aurora, but you have to." He pulls his own sword from its sheath. All right. I'll go easy on him. Let him disarm me quickly and get this night over with. "You really want to do this?" he asks. "I was in the middle of something back there when I heard a struggle going on outside. You've put me in quite the mood. I wouldn't test me." I snort. "I saw your lady friend. It looked like you were already in a mood." "One night on land after months at sea, and you have to go and ruin it." "And what about me? I was carrying out a very important mission for my father when you caught me. You've ruined my entire week. I should take an ear for that." "You wouldn't take my ear. It would make it difficult for me to hear your whining. And I know how much you love that." Never mind. I shall not make this quick. I want to hurt him a bit first.
I lurch forward, slashing at his stomach. Seonghwa deflects the blow and reaches for my legs with his sword. But I leap backward. "Why didn't you stop me?" I ask, sending a volley of strikes at him. "Stop you from what?" He quickly defends himself against each strike, but I keep them coming as we talk. "You saw me fighting him. You know your captain doesn't want me mistreated in any way, yet you let him try to take me. You just stood there. And—oh." He gets his bearings and puts himself on the offensive. I like learning how he moves. It will let me know how to beat him. Later, of course. Tonight I have to let him win. "You wanted me to kill him," I say. "Of course. You hate what he does. What with you being so honorable and all. But you can't kill him yourself because for some reason you're loyal to your brother, and you can't be seen killing a member of his crew. I'll never understand this loyalty; you seem to hate everything Hongjoong does." I cut him on his arm.
Seonghwa is going a bit easy because he doesn't actually want to hurt me. It definitely gives me the advantage. Of course, I don't want to kill him, either—hurt him, though, yes. Part of what I told him the other day is true. I don't want Seonghwa dead, because he is my preferred choice for an interrogator. Hongjoong would assign someone even worse to watch me if Seonghwa weren't an option. "That's why you were angry on the day you captured me," I say as a realization hits me. "I brought out the worst in your brother by challenging him, by killing members of his crew. You had to step in and remind him of his humanity. But he always seems to have a hard time finding it, doesn't he? He's more like your father in that way." I gasp as pain burns against my leg. He actually slashed me with his sword. I must have touched on something too personal. "You ruined my breeches!" "Lass, shut up," Seonghwa says."But why do you do it?" I say, forgetting my clothes. "You're clearly miserable among the crew. You probably don't even enjoy pirating! Why do you stay?"
I get in another cut, this time at his side. I make sure it's shallow. A victorious smile tugs at my lips, but then Seonghwa does the unthinkable. Instead of flinching away from my sword, he leans into it, grabs my wrist with his free hand, and raises his sword to my neck. Before I can blink, the hand at my wrist grabs my sword, and he's pointing both blades at me. I stare at him, stunned. He let me cut him so he could take my weapon from me. It's a bold and stupid move. I like it. I'm so impressed, I can't even muster up the right amount of anger. I have underestimated Seonghwa. He sheathes his blade, tosses Jongho's back to his sleeping form, and then grabs me by my upper arm. "I stay because he's my brother. Because he is the only family member who loves me unconditionally. Something you could never understand." I want to deny it, to defend my relationship with my father. But no words spring to mind. So with my free hand, I hit him where my sword struck him earlier. He winces with pain, then moves me over to the other side of him. "It seems we both managed to uncover things better left buried. Now, let's get you back to the ship."
My leg throbs as we walk, but that's nothing compared to the fire in my chest that has ignited from his words. He keeps getting me angry. So very angry. I want to hit him some more. It takes every ounce of strength I have to let him take me back aboard that cursed ship. I try to get out of the lifeboat once, but Seonghwa kicks me, and I act as though the blow knocked the air from my chest. When a rope ladder is let down for us to climb aboard The Treasure, I punch Seonghwa in the face and try to jump into the water, but he catches me and practically carries me up the ladder. He's stronger than he looks. These fake attempts at escape are the only satisfaction I allow myself for his daggered words. Seonghwa returns me to my cell. He ignores Yunho and Yeosang as they try to offer explanations for how I escaped. He simply orders them to leave.
Seonghwa disappears from the brig for only a moment. Then he returns. I'm surprised when he locks himself into the cell with me. "Have you decided that you deserve to be behind bars as well?" I ask. "I decided that long ago, but that's not why I'm here." I notice now the clean linens and bandages. A little while later, another pirate brings down a bucket of hot water before disappearing again. "You want me to clean your wounds?" I ask with a snort. "Of course not; I'm here to clean yours." "I don't follow." "Captain wouldn't like it if he knew I'd sliced you." "I goaded you." "Doesn't matter. I should be better than that." "Pirate," I remind him. "Still doesn't matter. Now..." He picks me up and sets me on the table so I'm sitting with my injured leg extended in front of me. "I can sit all by myself," I say, completely off balance by the effortless way he lifted me. "I know, but that was more fun. Now, take your breeches off." "Ha. Not a chance." "It's nothing I haven't seen before." "You haven't seen me before. Nor will you." Seonghwa gives me his devilish smile. How quickly he can muster it up. "I've a better idea," I say, reaching down.
I grab the bloody rip in my breeches and tug. The cloth gives, ripping away from my thigh. I wince. "And here I almost believed you couldn't feel pain." "Shut your mouth, Seonghwa." He's quiet, and I know it's not because he listened to me. Instead I realize he's staring at my leg. No, not my leg. My scars. I have them all over my arms and legs. "What happened?" he asks. "I was born to the pirate king." He reaches his hand out, about to trace one of the many thin white marks. "Don't," I say. "I've just had to fend off Sheck. I don't need anyone else touching me." "Of course," he says hurriedly. "Forgive me. But I wasn't going to—" He cuts himself off, ending the awkward moment. Instead he reaches down and brandishes a cleaning salve and clean rag. "Give me those," I say. "I'd rather do it myself." "And that is why I'll be doing it for you. You're a prisoner, and you tried to escape. You don't get to make any more demands." "I could just hit you." "And I could make cleaning this cut hurt more than it needs to."
I sit still, but I don't look at him as he rubs a foul liquid onto my leg. Bubbles come up from the cut, and the pain is searing hot. I grab Seonghwa's arm and squeeze to keep from crying out. "It's all right, Aurora. Almost done now." I'm amazed at his soothing tone. It sounds a lot like the one Mandsy uses when she patches me up. Strange to hear it coming from a man. He wipes the remaining liquid from the wound. The cloth becomes stained with pink. With steady hands, he cuts a bandage strip and ties it around my leg. His hands are warm in this freezing cell. "It's over," he says. "It should heal quickly. It was a small cut." "Yes, I know. As you can see, this is not my first injury." "Why must you always be so defensive? I was helping you." "Yes, and what a sacrifice it must have been for you. I'm sure you didn't enjoy every moment of it." Smiling, he leans forward a bit. "You are by far the most enjoyable prisoner ever aboard this vessel." "I assure you, I'm not trying to be."
His smile fades. Intensity takes hold in his eyes. "I know." Seonghwa's hand is still on my bare leg. His eyes capture my gaze. I swallow, lick my suddenly dry lips. Seonghwa places a hand at my cheek. "Aurora." "Yes?" Uncertainty flashes across his face. He lets his hand drop. "How did you get out of your cell?" Instead of answering, I shrug, mostly because it takes me a moment to find my voice. Seonghwa takes a step back, observes me carefully. "You're clever, Aurora, in a way that is uncommon for a pirate. And you're talented. There's no doubt about that. And I've always known you're hiding something. But now I'm starting to get the sense you want to be on this ship more than I do." "Want to be on the ship?" I ask incredulously. "If that's your concern, then by all means, let me go." "Why else would you go to the pirate quarter of town? You had to know we'd be there." "You're joking, right? You locked me up and then sent Sheck and Ulgin down here. Do you know what I had to endure? I set out to find the two of them and kill them before I left. They aren't men. They don't deserve to live." "I know. That's why I let you kill Sheck. Because I couldn't do it myself. But why risk it? You could have gotten away easily if you had just left." "I have a hard time letting things go. I wasn't about to leave until everything sat right."
I can't tell if he believes me. He's still trying to read my face. But then his eyes travel down to my bags. I step in front of them protectively. "What are you looking at?" "You know I'm going to have to search your things. Unless of course you want to tell me how you got out of here?" "I just got out, all right? Leave me and my things alone." "I can't do that. Now step back." "No." He steps forward and reaches for me, trying to physically move me out of the way. I kick him square in the chest with my uninjured leg. The force is enough to knock him onto his back. Oh no. I put way too much into that one. I'm practically telling him all my secrets. He's the one most suspicious of me. I need to pull back. But he threatened my clothes! They're all I have on this ship, and I'm rather attached to them. I don't want his sticky fingers going through them. And I suppose it wouldn't be good if he looked too closely at my books. When Seonghwa stands, he looks at me with new understanding. "You've been holding out on me." "It was a pretty decent shot, eh?" I try to make it sound like I got lucky, but I don't know if he falls for it.
"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." Ha. As if he actually could if I were trying my hardest. That line of reasoning is dangerous, though. I relax my face, trying to add a hint of fear. And though it goes against every instinct I have, I step away. Seonghwa leans over my clothes in such a way that he can keep an eye on me as well. He's not about to let me get the jump on him from behind. He's learning. He searches through my clothes. I notice him quickly scanning overundergarments, careful not to touch them. Interesting. The larger, pocketed clothing, he searches through most thoroughly. Unsurprisingly, he finds nothing except some rather sharp hairpins, which he pockets. He passes over the books quickly. Until he comes across a volume titled Etiquette: A Guide to Raising Proper Ladies. I had no problems hollowing out that one. The entire concept is ridiculous. Unfortunately, Seonghwa thinks so, too. "What is this?" he asks. "A book," I answer smartly. "Am I to believe you would actually read a book like this? You're a pirate." "And a lady, too." "I don't think so." He flips through the pages. When that doesn't prove fruitful, he tears at the book, separating the binding from the spine. Stars! A small vial containing a purple liquid falls into his hand.
"What do we have here?" "It's a tonic for seasickness." "Then why would you hide it?" "It's embarrassing." "That's interesting, because this liquid is also the same color as a tonic used to help people sleep. When inhaled, the compound renders a person unconscious almost instantly." "What a coincidence," I say. "Yes, I'm sure." He starts tearing through the rest of the books, finding different weapons. Miniature throwing knives, wires for choking, more poisons, and many other things. Pockets overflowing, Seonghwa stands and moves for the door. "Where are you taking those?" I ask. "I'll put them in a safe place." "Also known as the bottom of the ocean?" He grins before disappearing.
I'm really starting to despise that man.