"Do you know what we do to traitors?" The woman asked. Her eyes were a bizarre silvery blue and held the wisdom of someone who had seen a lot. Sky had realised that she had been thrown into the middle of what seemed like a rather important meeting and her presence was not welcomed.
"She killed Mathew." The boy behind her snarled with pain in his voice.
"Your brother will be compensated for Edward." She told him with fierceness that intimidated Sky. "You will die a painful death fit for someone who betrays the Cormorants."
Hearing the name snapped something in Sky.
"Listen to me." Never in her life had Sky spoken with such authority; never had she met someone who demanded her to do so. Everyone in the room stayed silent and Sky pressed on. "I did not betray you. I'm here to warn you. The King knows where you are and-" laughter broke her sentence.
"The King wouldn't even see us if we cut of his balls and shoved them down his throat." The men's laugher grew louder at the woman's words. Sky blinked. "We don't get caught and everyone would die rather than hand us all over."
"Well someone did." Sky wanted to yell at her but refrained from doing so. "I heard some officers talking at the palace and they said someone gave them information." More laughter met her and Sky turned red with humiliation wondering what they found funny this time.
"You, at the Kings palace? So a liar and a traitor now?" The boy behind her barked. Sky ignored him.
"I followed two officers here. They said-"
"You led them here!" The boy cried raw pain in his voice.
"Listen!" Sky screamed her voice cutting the air. "They are coming. Here. Tonight!" Some of the faces sobered and they looked to each other. The woman studied Sky with keen eyes. "They sent two men to take out your guards so you'd have no warning." When no one spoke she pushed more. "I am telling you, they will be here in less than two hours. You have to do some thing or forty of the Kings best will slaughter you all like animals."
"You lie." There was a note of doubt in the woman's voice. Sky wanted to rip her hair out. She was covered in sludge and blood, her head was pounding and she had just given them a heads up. But they still didn't believe her.
"Is that a chance you are willing to take?" She asked the woman.
"Don't you dare challenge me you-"
"She's telling the truth." A voice emerged from the back of the room where a man stood. Sky looked at him and wanted to cry with some unknown emotion.
Gold eyes scanned over her body lingering at the patch of blood that covered her front, before finally meeting her gaze. "Just couldn't stay away, could you Sweetheart?"
"Keep your opinions to yourself boy." The woman told him sounding like a mother scolding her child.
Dustin grinned at Sky, his eyes blazing with mischief. He looked away from her and Sky instantly felt vulnerable again. "If you won't listen to her, than trust me; there is a large possibility that we may be under attack in a few hours. I don't know about you, but personally, I would rather be getting ready for the Kings men than sit around and laugh at the poor girl's expense." Dustin's eyes met Sky's playfully. "However amusing it may be."
Sky did not even scowl at his comment as it brought her more comfort than she wanted to admit. She looked over to where he had been and saw Thomas and Rogue. Rogue looked at her seeming horrified by her appearance. Thomas was grinning his dark eyes happy. When he gave her two thumbs up Sky almost laughed.
"You, I trust Hawk. But this," The woman gestured to Sky, "She could be working for the King for all I know."
"She's not." Dustin frowned and looked at Sky with dark eyes. "Are you?" There was a hint of fear in his voice that confused Sky. She shook her head not trusting her voice. "See?"
"I am not going to go off that." The woman said with repulsion.
"Come on Dana." Dustin rolled his eyes.
"I am not going to trust a person I do not know, Hawk." She crossed her arms.
"Besides, your reasons for trusting her could be simply that you want to sleep with her." Sky felt blood flow to her checks.
"I've haven't trusted any of the women I slept with." Dustin said with a frown as if thinking back on it.
The woman, Dana, smiled at him revealing gaps in her teeth. "Do you even remember all of them?"
Dustin didn't answer, merely smiled back at her with a knowing look. Sky somehow felt jealousy claw at her and hated herself for it. This man had kissed her once... twice, nothing more; she had no right to feel any attachment to him. And yet she couldn't get rid of the memory of him and Scarlet on the beach in Harpers Isle. Or the memory of his touch.
"What do you have to lose if she's not telling the truth?" Dustin asked. Dana frowned then sighed.
"Fine Hawk. But since you're the one who's defending the girl, then it's your men who will take the watch." Dana sighed in defeat.
Dustin held up his hands. "No argument here." He looked back over his shoulder to Rogue and Thomas. They nodded at him and he looked back to the woman in front of him. "I take it you will organise things down here in case they do come?"
"Aye." She turned back to the men gather around the table. "We might have a fight on our hands lads. Let's make the King regret it. Shall we?" The men yelled and all stormed up and out of the room. "Edward. Take her to the cells." Sky's heart froze.
Cells? After everything I've done to save them?!
"That won't be necessary. I can handle her." Dustin spoke up coming to stand next to Sky. His presence reminding her of the hawk at the front of The Belladonna; fierce and protective.
"I'm sure you can handle her." Sky wished everyone would stop saying things like that. "But until she is proven correct, she could still be one of the king's rats."
"If she jumps up to aid them, I'll take care of her." Dustin said his smile childish.
"Dustin," The woman growled and grabbed his shirt pulling him close to her. Sky had never seen the captain handled like that and she wondered how they knew each other. Dana continued, her voice low so Sky had to strain her ears to hear. "My men's lives are on the line. This girl reeks of the King's influence; one of the ones who grew up hearing stories of how good King Patrick is. Look me in the eye and tell me this is not some endeavour to calm that raging boredom of yours."
Dustin actually looked offended. "Endeavour? Raging boredom?"
"Dustin."
"I trust her." He said with confidence. Sky knew she shouldn't have been listening, but the sincerity of Dustin's voice made her feel guilty for eavesdropping; she got the feeling he would not want her hearing that. Why, though, she wasn't sure.
"Very well. Take her with you, she's your responsibility." With that, she turned away and walked out of the room.
"What?!" Edward cried truing to look at the retreating woman. He faced Sky again with light brown angry eyes. "You should pay for what you've done."
Sky opened her mouth to tell him she didn't kill that man and that she just wanted to warn them. But her reasons for doing so weren't exactly selfless. She never got to speak though because Dustin stepped between them with that cat smirk.
"Pay for what? Saving your arse?" He spoke down to the boy mockingly. "Come on Ed, you and I both know Mathew would have at least given her the benefit of the doubt." Dustin voice softened as his eyes turned a deep gold.
Edward clenched his hands and Sky wondered if he was going to hit him. "Shut up Hawk. Everything is a joke to you, isn't it?" The venom in his voice was thick.
"Well, not everything-"
"I bet it wasn't so funny to you when Tom died." The smile slipped from Dustin face and his eyes became distant. "That's what I thought. My brother is dead and if I find out that she," Edward pointed to Sky his eyes not leaving Dustin, "is behind it. I'll kill her."
Sky looked at the boy, his brown eyes blazing with hatred and grief. She longed to tell him that she had been trying to save him and that she was sorry, so sorry, that she had failed. He spun and left the room leaving Sky alone with Dustin; Rogue and Thomas had left to take watch.
"You should get cleaned up," His voice was hollow. "I'll meet you at the crow's nest." Sky watched as he left without looking at her.
Now what? Dustin had told her to get cleaned up, but she had no idea where to do that.
After a couple of seconds Sky left the room too and was back in the corridor Edward had pushed her down. It was not empty either, as people moved up and down with fast steps and hard looking faces. Sky was surprised to see that both men and women were there and dressed in the same style; light weight clothes that could be fought. Staying to the side of the passage, Sky looked out for a face that noticed her. The eyes of a middle aged lady finally came to rest on her and Sky pushed herself from the wall.
"Bloody hell, Love. What happened to you?" She asked looking down at the blood patch on Sky's front. Sky looked down then back to her.
"Is there any place where I can get changed?" Sky didn't bother explaining. The woman nodded and pointed up the hall.
"There's a bathroom up there and three doors down are the supplies; there should be something in there you can wear." Sky thanked her and walked in the direct she has pointed. The feeling in the air was tense and Sky assumed word of the advancing officers had been spread. She walked with tried and heavy steps.
If they do attack I might collapse from exhaustion. That is if I'm not killed before then.
When she reached the store room she saw that it was set out surprisingly neat. Sky walked in and ran her hands over the different sizes. As she was smaller she had to look under other clothes. In the end she settled for three sizes too big and found a belt, nothing more than a piece of string, to hold them to her frame. She also grabbed some cloths to wash herself with and a large one to dry.
She left the store room and walked back counting three doors. On the wood of the door was a calving of what looked like some sort of symbol to represent that this room was, in fact, the bathroom.
Sky knocked on the door and waited for an answer. When none came she opened the door and saw that the room was rather large and would have been used for both genders. Sky locked the door behind her, nothing more than a simply latch and looked around the room. Off in one corner was a waste bucket Sky walked over to it and saw that it had no bottom and instead she could see the murky water that she hand been in not that long ago. Revulsion and nausea made Sky shudder at what was clinging to her.
Resisting the urge to vomit, Sky turned away from the bucket and saw the bathing trough. It was large enough for three people to sit in and was empty. Sky sighed placing down her things and the ground next to the bathing through. At the side closest to the wall was a pipe with a spin handle. Sky prayed that the water wouldn't be from the supply under them and turned the wheel. There was groaning then water dripped from the pipe.
It was yellowish and smelt like rust but Sky didn't care. She peeled her clothing from her body and used one of the cloths to scrub herself clean. She climbed into the tub and let some of the water wash her back and hair. She was careful not to swallow any of it. As she scrubbed away the grime, and god knows what else, from her body Sky resisted the urge to shut her eyes.
The water was cold and numbed Sky so that by the time she was clean she could not even feel her feet. Trembling she stepped out of the tub and moved the hatch at the bottom that let the used water flow into the waste under her.
She emerged feeling slightly better and clean. The halls were less packed now but not empty. She stopped one of the men and asked him where the 'crow's nest' was. He told her that it was the look out on the left roof and to take the main path there. Sky thanked him and turned to the way Edward had pulled her in.
Finding the main path was not very difficult as it was the widest one outside. It was late now and the officers would be here in just over an hour. The moon, only half full, was high in the sky and didn't offer much light as it was covered by clouds. The water from below seemed to waft up, as its mist swallowed the stilts that held the building up.
Sky tried her best to ignore how bad it felt here. Personally, she wouldn't mind if the King cleaned this place up a little. Though something told her that her definition of 'clean' was different from the Kings. She still did not understand what he was doing and it unsettled her.
All I want is to find my brother. I didn't want to be involved in anything like this.
Dread filled her as she walked up the steps that led to the crow's nest. Sky realised that it was where the man had aimed to shoot her and was opposite of where Edward had found her. Its layout was similar and Sky passed a large group of people waiting inside for a chance to rip apart the Kings men. When she opened the door she expected to see many people there all with pistols aimed at the alley way. She did not expect to see only Dustin sitting on the edge of the roof with his feet hanging in the air.
There was a blood stain on the ground that made Sky feel uneasy. She stepped over it and made her way to Dustin. His hat was pushed down over his face and his coat was hanging down behind him. The idea that it would just be the two of them alone troubled Sky and she forced herself to focus on the fact that they might be under attack soon.
"Do you know who gave me this?" Dustin spoke startling Sky.
She stopped walking and looked at what he held in his hands. It was the pistol he gave her; it must have fallen in her struggle with the officer. She looked across the gap between the buildings to the one she had climbed up. It was a large space and Sky could only just make out two figures sitting side by side. She assumed that Thomas or Rogue had found the gun and gave it to Dustin. She was thankful that she was not on that roof.
"Who?" She made her way over and sat next to Dustin careful to keep space between them. He handled the gun lightly as if it was fragile.
Dustin looked at her. His dark eyes scanned her face and then looked back down to the white pistol. He held it up and spun it easily around his hand then pulled the hammer back before pulling the trigger. It didn't fire.
"It was a gift from King Patrick himself." Dustin said with hate and shoved the gun into Sky's lap. Her mouth fell open with shock.
"You've met the King?" She could not believe it. The only other person she had ever known to have met the Kings was her father. She had known Dustin had been a good officer, Thomas has said as much, but to meet the king and receive something from him meant he had been one of the best. She looked down at the gun in her hands and wondered if Dustin had simply wanted to get rid of it in hopes that he'd never have to see it again.
Dustin did not answer her. He looked out over the Cormorants hide out with a closed face. Sky could see he clearly did not want to talk about it but she had to know. She was involved in this now whether she liked it or not.
"Dustin," His name still felt funny on her lips, "What is the King doing? I know you know." He sighed and looked at her.
"Why do you think I would tell you?" Sky tried not to be hurt by his response.
"My father met King Patrick. Sailed under his colours." She admitted wondering why she felt the need to tell him, "He always spoke of him with pride and respect."
Had she not been staring at him she would have missed the spark of something that shot up in his eyes and the way his brow furrowed as if recalling something. But she was watching him carefully and saw it. She wondered if he was recalling the same King he had received the pistol from or if it was something else.
"You father must be blind then." The harshness of his tone surprised her.
"My father's dead." Dustin looked at her with confused eyes. There was a darkness to his face that made her feel uneasy. Then his eyes softened.
"I'm sorry." He looked away from her and down at his hands. "The King has changed from who he once was."
Sky agreed with that. The king her father spoke about would have protected his people above all else and what he had been doing was not protecting them but killing them, Sky had seen that much with her own eyes. The question was; why?