Wielder's Prize

by Elle Cardy

  “Why’d you do it?”

  The sound of Cook’s rumble startled her. A prick of blood beaded on her thumb where she nicked herself with the knife. She muttered a curse and sucked the blood away.

  “Do what?”

  Cook took a step toward her and seemed to fill the galley with his enormous presence. “Why’d you steal the wielder’s ring?”

  Unlike the captain, she could lie to her father. “What are you talking about?”

  He took another step. His anger loomed in the cramped room. “I know you stole it. Captain wants it back.”

  She put down the onion she’d been working on but she kept hold of the knife. “He can’t have it back.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I tossed it into the sea.” She suddenly remembered she was wearing the ring. She put her hand behind her back and hoped Cook wouldn’t notice.

  His eyes narrowed. “Show me your hands.”

  If he found the ring, he’d take it. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She took a step back and pointed the knife at him. She’d not threatened her father before. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. His expression darkened and she knew instantly her mistake.

  “Don’t you wave a knife at me unless you aim to use it.” In one swift motion he grabbed her and slammed her fist against the bench. The blow knocked the knife from her bruised fingers. His next motion was to crush her against the bulkhead. He held her there with one powerful forearm across her neck and shoulder. With his free hand he grabbed the arm she tried to hide from him. He almost wrenched her arm from its socket. She yelped in pain and kicked at him but she was no match for his strength.

  She winced as he forced her left hand open. She couldn’t let him find it. She had to hold on to it. Cook frowned. She looked at him and then looked at her hand. She still wore the metal band. He turned her hand around as if he searched for something else. The ring was there for anyone to see.

  Cook pushed her away from him and searched the floor. He searched her tangle of blankets. He searched the bench tops, even the bucket of onions.

  “Where is it?”

  Was he after something else? “Where is what?”

  Cook backhanded her and she staggered. She tasted blood in her mouth. She allowed herself to feel the anger that welled up within her. This was the cook she knew. Gone was the man on the Seahawk she was almost willing to call father.

  “Where’d you hide the ring?”

  “I told you, I tossed it.” She spat blood out on the galley floor. She didn’t understand how he couldn’t see the ring. Did she wield it hidden? It didn’t feel like she was wielding. She rarely knew when she wielded, so maybe she had.

  “Why would you do that?”

  She shrugged, no longer caring whether he believed her or not. “Because it belonged to the wielder.” It was a reason that might make sense to Cook.

  He scowled. “You can’t go around stealing things from the captain’s quarters.”

  She shrugged again.

  The fight in him seemed to vanish and a weight returned to his shoulders. He looked like the shell she remembered.

  “Forgive me, Jasmine, but—”

  She didn’t let him finish. She dashed from the galley. She ran as fast as she could. She knew what those words meant. They always followed a beating. She was done with that. She swore to never again allow her father to raise a fist to her.

  Never again.

  A layer of ice crusted over her heart.

  *

  For another two days, Jasmine hid. Men looked for her without success. Fear grew in Cook’s eyes. It didn’t matter if he thought she might’ve fallen overboard. She didn’t care anymore. No one saw her when she walked the deck. She didn’t know how she wielded, but she was certain she did. She guessed it was as simple as not wanting to be found, so no one found her.

  On the morning of the third day, she woke to an overcast sky. The clouds rode low and blanketed the sun. Their steely blue hue promised rain and the wind promised rough sailing. Durne ordered the sails furled and secured, so she left the rigging and sought refuge below decks.

  Before long she found herself facing the door to Finn’s prison. She stood there staring at the latch and debated whether or not she should enter. She wondered if he would sense his talisman on her. She wondered if he would even see her.

  Jasmine entered the small room and sat herself down in the far corner. He didn’t respond to her presence or the lantern light she brought in with her. He lay on the floor as he had before, but his back was turned to her. She watched his slow breaths and thought perhaps he slept. She closed her eyes and felt the ship buck in the swells. The wood groaned against the forces on it. She imagined the swirling green depths below them and sighed.

  Finn stirred. “How long have you been here?” he asked the bulkhead.

  “Not long,” she replied in a low voice, reluctant to break the spell of the ship’s whispers in her ears.

  “You should leave,” he murmured.

  “Why is that?”

  “Men will come.”

  She shrugged in the dim light. “Let them.”

  “You don’t want to be here when they arrive.”

  She didn’t reply and let the silence between them soak into her. She looked down at her hands and turned Finn’s ring on her thumb. He would have reacted by now if he could sense it. She wondered if she should tell him. She wondered if she should give it to him. Memory of the beast held her back. Then she wondered something else.

  “Am I wielding right now?”

  Finn took a deep breath in and slowly let it out again. “No.”

  Jasmine hid the hand that held his ring in case he turned around. She frowned at his back as another thought came to her. “Why don’t you accept Captain Kahld’s offer to join the crew?”

  Finn stirred. He seemed to want to roll over but his movements were sluggish as if he moved through molasses. He moaned, then gave up.

  “Finn?”

  “No offer was ever given,” he whispered.

  There was something in his voice that sent a chill through Jasmine. It was as if a ghost had stepped through her but the tendrils of fear from its passing remained. She crawled forward and gently rolled Finn over. Her eyes widened at the sight of his bloodied features. His youthful face was a ruin of bruises, cuts, and dried blood.

  “Who did this to you?”

  With a shackled hand, he reached up and touched the cut on her lip. “I suspect it was the same person who did this.” He stopped her from pulling away by taking her hands in his. His fingers touched the ring on her hand but he didn’t seem to notice.

  “I was wrong to ask you to help me,” he said. “You have to go. If they find you here they will do worse to you.”

  She pulled away from his touch and returned to her corner. “Why are they treating you this way?” Do they fear a wielder this much? Couldn’t they see he was already too weak to wield? They didn’t have to beat him.

  “They want to know what I can do,” Finn said.

  “For starters, you can bleed.”

  Finn tried to laugh but it seemed to hurt him too much. She suddenly wanted to go to him, to hold him, to wash away his wounds. She held back. He might as well have been a wounded tiger. She had reason to fear Finn. She had seen what he could do. She had experienced the full impact of his power. She shuddered in the dim light.

  “What did you tell them?” she asked after a while. She might’ve been afraid of him, but she was also curious. She didn’t know enough about wielders to know all the things they could do. She suspected she hadn’t seen half of Finn’s power.

  “I told them nothing.” He gave her a smile full of warmth. It seemed out of keeping in that battered face, and it made her uncomfortable. “It’s not in a wielder’s nature to reveal their secrets.”

  Jasmine looked down at her hands and twisted Finn’s ring around her thumb again. There was so muc
h she didn’t know or understand. “Are you sure I’m not wielding?”

  He frowned at her. “Very.”

  She held up the hand that wore his ring. It was a defiant act. She didn’t even know why she risked showing him his treasure. The moment he recognized it he’d demand it back.

  “Look at my hand. Look closely.”

  He looked, but it was clear he saw nothing unusual. “Why do you ask? What am I supposed to see?”

  She ignored his questions and took her hand in his. She made sure his fingers touched the ring. “What about now?”

  “Still nothing. Are you trying to teach yourself to wield?”

  “If you could wield right now, what would you do?” She didn’t know why she continued to risk revealing the ring. She couldn’t give it to him. If he realized she held onto his talisman, it would be the worst kind of betrayal.

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know. There isn’t anything I could do. Maybe protect myself the next time those men…” His eyes widened. “Jasmine, you have to get out of here. They’re coming.”

  Her hand tightened around his. “It’s too late.” She sensed them already at the door. How did she do that? She let him go and backed into the corner. “Promise not to give me away.” She went very still.

  He didn’t have time to react. The door opened and two men walked in. Jasmine covered her mouth when she recognized Cook and Matthews.

  Cook’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the burning lantern. “Did Midge come visit?”

  Finn peered up at the two men and glanced at Jasmine kneeling in the corner. He couldn’t cover his look of confusion.

  “Answer the man!” Matthews sneered and kicked Finn in the side. The wielder grunted.

  “No,” he said while looking directly at Jasmine.

  Matthews kicked him again. “Then where’d this light come from?”

  Jasmine held her breath.

  Finn turned his full attention on the sailor. “You left it here after your last visit.”

  Matthews took on the look of a man trying to remember a dream. He glanced at Cook and seemed to want to apologize to him. “I may have done.”

  Finn closed his eyes and turned a shade paler.

  Cook grunted. He crouched by Finn and examined his hands. He checked his clothing. He even rolled the wielder over and checked if there was anything hidden underneath him. Jasmine guessed her father was looking for the talisman in case she’d given it to Finn. Clearly he hadn’t believed she’d thrown the ring overboard.

  “He still doesn’t have it.”

  “Good thing for him.” Matthews said and kicked Finn again in the side. The wielder made only a small sound. When Cook unshackled him and dragged him to his feet, Finn cried out in agony. He barely had the strength to stand.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.” Cook half carried, half dragged Finn out of the storage room. Matthews picked up the forgotten lantern and followed. Jasmine felt torn. Why was she getting herself involved? She was giving herself more trouble and putting herself in more danger. What were they going to do to Finn? She had to follow. She had to find out.

  Still hiding, she padded quietly behind them and followed the men through the warren of storage rooms. They came to where they stored kegs of supplies for the journey. Barrels cramped the room, stacked up and tied down against the bulkheads. A bright lantern hung on a hook and swayed with the motion of the ship. The cloying smell of rum and vinegar hung like a cloud in the air. Captain Kahld stood in the back shadows of the room. His dark clothing made him seem no more than a shadow himself. A shadow with claws, Jasmine thought, when she spied his hand resting on the hilt of his cutlass at his side.

  Cook dumped Finn into the only chair in the room. The rickety thing seemed about to collapse under his hunched weight. With a wave of his hand, the captain dismissed Matthews but indicated Cook should stay. The ship’s cook took position behind Finn like a soldier standing guard over treasure.

  When the door sealed them in, and Jasmine huddled in a corner, the captain stepped into the pool of golden lantern light. His eyes gleamed with an inner fire of purpose. Jasmine wondered what that purpose could be.

  “I want you to check him again.”

  Cook stripped Finn of his shirt and rummaged through his clothing. He checked his hands, his feet, every inch of him until the captain agreed the wielder concealed nothing. Jasmine watched from her corner and found herself admiring Finn’s bare chest. He had always seemed skinny, almost scrawny, but his taut muscles spoke of a greater strength than she’d realized.

  Kahld smiled in satisfaction. “If Midge hasn’t returned the ring to the wielder by now, she won’t. Maybe she did toss it as she said.”

  Jasmine covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from making a noise. The captain knew she was female, but that’s not what startled her. He had just betrayed her to Finn. Finn now knew she had found and taken his ring. He knew she had chosen not to give it to him despite having plenty of opportunity, despite the fact she knew what it was like to live without a talisman. She could’ve given him his strength back. She could’ve given him the protection he needed. Now he thought she betrayed him by tossing his most precious possession into the sea. He would never forgive her.

  “That’s right, Finn Baracus, your prize is gone and you’ll never get it back.” The captain took pleasure in taunting Finn. He didn’t seem to be the same man she’d spoken with in his quarters over a cup of herbal tea.

  The captain crouched in front of Finn. “I can feel your anger and your fear. They are like honey to me.” His cutlass glinted in the shifting lantern light. “You are wondering how I know so much about wielders. While others fear wielders, I am fascinated.” Kahld cocked his head to one side as if in thought. “Why is it that a man, with so much power at his command, so often chooses obscurity? Why does he allow those who are afraid to have power over him?”

  Finn didn’t answer. He hung his head and let his matted hair fall in front of his face.

  The captain stood. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll allow you to have power over me. I’ll let you take one shot at me and I promise not to retaliate. And neither will Brusan.”

  Finn didn’t respond.

  “I’ll give you my word as the captain.”

  What was the captain doing? In Jasmine’s opinion, he knew nothing about wielders if he was willing to bait one into attacking. She’d seen what Finn could do. It was like baiting a tiger. Then she remembered he had no talisman. He didn’t have the strength to wield. There was nothing Finn could do.

  “You know you want to,” the captain teased. After a moment, he sighed. “I’m growing bored now. It’s clear you need incentive.”

  Captain Kahld backhanded Finn across the face. Finn’s head whipped to the side and blood sprayed the barrels. Jasmine jumped. Finn leaned forward in his chair and spat blood on the floor.

  “See that? That’s why we didn’t do this in my quarters. Now someone has to clean up your mess.”

  The captain struck Finn again. Kahld raised his hand to strike again and Finn looked up at him. Power filled the room. It seemed to tingle against Jasmine’s arms and crawl up her back. The captain slid along the floor as if a wall had pushed him away from Finn. The power vanished and Finn seemed ready to fall out of his chair.

  The captain laughed with real delight. “I bet I would have launched off my feet if you’d been at your full power. If you had your talisman.” He straightened his coat. “Step aside, Brusan. I want to test that theory.”

  Cook moved to the side. A look of concentration came over the captain. Again Jasmine felt power fill the room. It was somehow clearer, stronger, colder. Finn flew out of his seat and slammed against the closed door. He landed on his side beside Jasmine. He glared at the captain in anger.

  “You’re a wielder,” Finn said in a gasp.

  Brusan picked Finn up off the floor as if he w
ere no more than a child’s toy and dumped him back on his chair.

  “Aye,” the captain smiled. “And I thank you for the new trick. It will serve me well.”

  “You can learn?” Incomprehension filled Finn’s voice.

  “Oh, aye. You turned out to be a marvelously unexpected prize from the Seahawk.” Jasmine sat up a little straighter. The captain had just lied to Finn. She didn’t know how she knew, but she was certain Finn had not been unexpected. “I’m sure you have some tastier morsel for me to learn too. Shall we continue?”

  Chapter 14

  The door slammed onto darkness. Jasmine waited for the cracks of light through the wood to disappear and for Brusan’s footfalls to fade away. She wasn’t in a hurry to move. Her father had returned Finn to his prison cell in the tiny room at the back of the cargo hold.

  The captain had tried to get more out of him, but Finn had grown too weak. Jasmine had watched the beatings sap his strength. She had wanted to turn away. Instead she had watched. No doubt Kahld would try again in a few days. She saw in his eyes the burning desire for more power. He wouldn’t give up easily.

  She had stayed with Finn through it all as she stayed with him now. She didn’t want to face his barrage of questions, but she stayed. He would want to know how she had remained hidden for so long. He would warn her again about wielding. He would question her about his ring and demand to know why she betrayed him. She stayed anyway.

  “Is there a reason why you didn’t give me back my talisman?”

  And so it begins, she thought.

  “Jasmine?”

  She thought about not responding, staying hidden in the dark.

  “Are you still there?”

  She closed her eyes and smelled the sea air as if she were outside. She tasted salt and blood. This world of power was so new to her. It wasn’t long ago her life was nothing but the sea and cutting up vegetables. Her greatest problem was pretending to be a boy. Everything changed when she met Finn. She learned she had the power to stop the winds, the power to hide. She learned the very captain she thought she’d known from a distance all her life was a wielder himself. And he wasn’t the man she thought he was.