I could feel myself slipping into the familiar nightmare before I was fully asleep; this time I wasn’t in class, but was instead seated by a roaring fire, pricking my fingertips as I labored over a sampler. Of all the feminine arts, this may be one of the most wasteful ones. Who wants to learn fancy embroidery when they could be making or repairing something? Yet here I was, working meticulously on a rose and carnation border. There wasn’t a center design yet, but I knew I wouldn’t be working on that pattern for another week at least.
“You have come a long ways in a short time Darling,”
I looked up from my needlework, and smiled at the speaker, Lord Pipit himself, as he sank into an armchair across from me. His white walking stick was as I remembered it, with its bronze knobbed top shining in an irritating fashion, matching his irritatingly shiny bald head. I wanted to scowl at him, much as I had my first day, but as it was with flashovers, I seemed to do the exact opposite.
“Thank-you Lord Pipit,” I said softly, my eyes fluttering at him before I respectfully shifted my gaze to the carpet between us. “It is an honor to be told such a thing by you. I have done all I can to please the people here.”
“I know Darling,” he said. “You have succeeded most famously with most of your instructors, yet have most displeased your dance instructor.”
“I later apologized for my forward actions,” I whispered. “I spoke out of turn and had no business questioning my superiors in such a manner. I am most ashamed of the commotion I caused.”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” he said in a tone that was supposed to be reassuring. However, I felt as if someone has poured snow down the back of my shirt. Unaware of this sensation, Lord Pipit continued talking. “Remember Darling, all things are made better with time, everyone finds a home in Effugere.”
“Everyone finds a home in Effugere,” I repeated.
I opened my eyes and glanced toward the porthole that served as my window.
“Home again,” I whispered to myself. “Free from another flashover.”
I took a moment to shudder, to physically attempt to shake away the memory of Lord Pipit. The sensation persisted, the back of my shirt damp from the cold sweat of my dream. I shakily slipped my daggers back into place along my sash, collecting myself for a moment before I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
The world seemed still for a moment, as if I was the only soul awake, but creaking from the top deck told me otherwise. I smiled to myself, moving toward the stairs and creeping up them as silent as I could. Only Mají would be up at this hour, and I intended on surprising him if I could.
“You swore that this was the only promise you would make during your time Mají-jalio. You swore that as long as you were captain you would keep that pendant. You gave me your word,” a female voice hissed.
I froze, creeping closer to the final flight of stairs in an effort to see the strange speaker without being seen myself.
“Times change,” I heard my captain whisper. “You know that everyone thinks I’m in this prophesy nonsense. I had to do it, you’ve got to understand. There was no other way.”
“You betrayed me!” she shrieked, her voice slipping from her control. “There WAS another way; she should have belonged to ME! If you had maintained the rules, you would be safe from the “prophesy nonsense” as you poetically put it.”
I could hear her heavy breath as she reigned herself back under control. I waited for Mají to speak. I knew I should announce myself, but I wouldn’t. No pirate would. They had mentioned the prophesy, the prophesy about the Griffin’s child, the prophesy that no one ever explained. I waited patiently from my hiding place, listening to the creaking that meant one of the speakers was pacing along the deck.
“She had so much power,” he sighed. The creaking stopped. “So much potential. I couldn’t help myself, you wouldn’t understand…”
“No,” she snarled. “I will never understand how a pretty face and curvy body can make even the best of men risk stepping into the prophesy. And knowing you Mají-jalio? It would be your luck to be right in the middle of that prophesy. You should listen to Jumé-falio, and Fame-jujio, if he has anything to say. Give her back to me, or over to the pirates. She needs to be dealt with.”
“No,” he hissed, matching the intensity of her snarl. “She stays here. I am king, I am free of the prophesy. You and Jumé need to leave me alone, and let her exist here, she has a place here. She has earned it.”
“You are still a captain.”
He sighed, his voice dropping to a breath of sound. I had to move up a few steps to hear him, careful not to make any noise on the steps.
“We are the same, Carnation,” he whispered. “She and I? I can see myself in her eyes sometimes; I did the first time she was brought to my cabin….. We share a secret. I wanted her to be more than what she is, what we are. Can you understand that?”
“Mají…” she said, the anger draining from her voice. “Her story is different than yours. And king or not, everyone believes you to be in the prophesy. They fear you, they fear her. The easiest thing to do is send her over with us. You cannot make her into another you. What do you intend on doing with her? Falling in love? Or are you going to collect her like you did Narasia?”
“She isn’t something to collect and hide away. She’s more than that.”
“Then have fun with her Mají-jalio, but when things go wrong… count the girls and me out. Our pact is broken now. I will not be one to scream it to the world, but we will keep our blades sharp. May the Griffin guide you.”
“And you Carnation,” he whispered. “And you…”
Footsteps moved around above me, and I held my breath as the girl walked in front of the top of the stairs. She paused for a moment, looking back at Mají-jalio, and I got a full look at her. She was beautiful, exotic, her long black hair falling just above her waist. Yet her black eyes looked wistful and her smile was small and sad, almost regretful. She opened her mouth to tell Mají one more thing, but she seemed to think the better of it, and turned away once more, quickening her pace before disappearing from my sight and over the rail.
I stared at the space she had occupied for a moment, silently debating how long I should wait before making my presence known. I didn’t want him to suspect anything. After a moment I crept back to my room, opening the door and shutting it a bit harder than necessary. I walked down the hall, focusing on making a “normal” amount of noise instead of the obnoxious amount that screams “Guilty!”.
A few of the steps creaked as I ascended them, and I silently thanked the Griffin as I came face to face with Mají-jalio.
“Up already Scarlet?” he asked. “I didn’t expect you until well after dawn.”
“Flashover,” I said. “I couldn’t sleep afterwards.”
“Do you need time to recover?” he asked. “Some of those can be quite horrid. I had a flashover once where I was reciting latin poetry concerning the purity of morality. I didn’t want to sleep for weeks.”
I laughed lightly, and he glared at me.
“I’m serious, it wasn’t funny.”
I almost apologized for stepping out of line, but saw the smirk hovering on his lips and stopped myself.
“Are we training then?” I asked.
“Of course,” he said. “But I need to be back to the ship at midday, Jumé, Fame, and myself have some affairs to tend to.”
I nodded, and he turned and kicked the rope ladder off the edge of the ship, clambering down it and leaping off halfway down. I had only made it down four rungs when a knife thudded into the wood beside my shoulder. I let go of the ladder with one hand, turning to face Mají as another knife bit into the wood of the ship, fraying part of the ladder where my hand had been moments ago. I scrambled to move down the rope faster, but the structure bounced and quivered under my shifting weight. I could hear the groaning of the rope that Mají had hit.
I made it down two more rungs before Mají threw another dagger, and I jumped from the ladder, hitting the ground rolling before he could throw again.
I snarled as I moved to my feet, drawing my daggers and beginning to circle around him.
“What was that supposed to be?” I asked.
“Training,” he said. “You are lazy, too comfortable here. A pirate cannot trust anyone, yet you believe you are invincible.”
He moved quickly, drawing the kingblade from over his shoulder and swinging it directly toward my throat. It was all I could do to jump backward and catch his heavy sword on my smaller daggers and shift the weight of the blow past me. He swung again, an upsweep that I knew was too strong to be redirected. I dropped beneath the sweep; rolling out of the way for the blow I knew was coming. His foot caught me between my shoulderblades, pinning me to the earth.
“Sloppy,” he said. “Your reflexes are sharp, but your technique is senseless. Why fight a broadsword with daggers? The only blade smaller than yours would be the stiletto in your sash, where is your rapier?”
“Can’t fight with it…” I murmured. “I’m better with the daggers.”
“You can only use the daggers if you can reinforce them, you have to match the strength of my blade with your own. Dodging and deflecting will not win you a fight unless you can get close enough for a kill strike.”
“How am I supposed to match your strength with my dagger? That’s not possible.” I complained, trying to wriggle out from under my captain’s foot.
“Wielding fire, with your BARE HANDS, is not possible either…” he hissed. “You have abilities so powerful that every other captain wants you DEAD, and yet you remain so naive that you didn’t even think to charm your blade like you did my own. You have to be ready Gittoran, and THIS is not ready.”
He lifted his foot and I scrambled to my feet, turning to face my captain. His chest heaved, his nails bit into the flesh of his palms. I didn’t hesitate, but closed the distance between us until my nose was almost touching his. I spoke softly, careful to keep my voice level.
“There are many different ways of being ready Mají, charming a blade is the obvious one. I find it easier to wait until the right moment…. And summon my flame.”
I curled my hands into fists and released a steady stream of diluted power. A soft whirl of fire circled around my captain, passing through my body as if I were a ghost. Beads of sweat broke out across his body almost instantly, but I knew my power would not harm him, only make him terribly uncomfortable. He would feel like he was trapped near a furnace while wearing a heavy parka. Within a minute his clothes were soaked and clinging to his frame. I smiled at him, drawing my daggers and leaping toward him. He reached for the kingblade, but his hands were slick with sweat, and could not find a grip on the leather hilt. I laughed and slashed my dagger toward his torso. He caught my wrist, curling his hand into a fist around my arm so his hand did not slip. I twisted in his grip, bringing my other blade up to stab his arm; but he caught that move as well, rotating my wrists the wrong way until I dropped the daggers.
“Power can be overcome by skill in any fight,” he panted, struggling for breath in the heat that still surrounded him. “You will learn to charm your blades, to funnel fire through them instead of curling your hands up in a sign than any inbred could recognize as a power play.”
I continued to struggle in his grip, managing to maneuver my hands into a more natural position.
“If you would quit fighting me,” he hissed. “You may actually learn something helpful. Powers or not, you are still inexperienced. If you couldn’t wield fire you would be as helpless as you were during your first fight against Tempest Storm.”
I stopped moving, shame flushing my face. “Enough,” I said softly.
Mají released his hold as I drew my magic back to me. I carefully met his eyes, thinking back to the conversation I had heard that morning.
“Why keep me?” I murmured.
Confusion flashed across his face. “Keep you?” he said incredulously. “You have earned your place here Gittoran, maybe not in the traditional show of brute strength and skill, but in your own way. You have earned your way as a thief, not a pirate.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said carefully. “The other captains want me dead, so why didn’t you give me over to them? Why keep me and risk war with the other crews?”
“Maybe I was bored,” he said slowly. “Maybe I wanted change; things are a bit monotonous around here, predictable. I was looking for a fight; I had no reason to give them anything they wanted. I fought them because I wanted to, honestly.”
I laughed softly, scooping up my blades quickly before he could think to stop me. “Honestly? Come on Mají, what happened to “Never trust a pirate”?”
“I trust you,” he said. “And you can trust me. I’ll never betray you Gittoran, I couldn’t.”