Chari just clutched her dagger more tightly. “I… I don’t want them to take me, Gavin. I won’t let them. There’s too many of them. They’ll kill you.”
Gavin fiercely shook his head but they all knew why Stitch had given her that knife. Aiden, for the first time in his life, felt the real fear of helplessness take hold of him. What could he do? What could helpless little Orphan Boy Aiden do?
“Wait,” He said, “let me think. Chari, don’t do anything drastic yet. Let me…” he began to pace around the small cell as thoughts whirled through his head. Glowby wasn’t back, and now the fear for his friend was back like some terrible beast raking its claws through his flesh. It was making it so hard to concentrate, even as he heard Chari begin to cry.
It wasn’t a few moments later that they heard a loud, raucous round of laughter coming from the deck. The sound of a hatch being pulled back followed the evil sound and heavy boots impacted on the deck of the hallway leading to their cells.
“Dammit, Pienteen!” came the voice of Stitch, though it sounded like his voice was somewhat muffled, “I could have saved him! Damn your eyes! I could have saved him!”
There was vicious-sounding laughter from several voices as they came closer. Aiden quickly put the board back into place, clutching the dagger hilt behind him as he pushed the blade through the wood. Whatever happened, if he needed it he knew it had to be a surprise. Several of what looked like the crew came into view, pushing Stitch and two of his men along with them.
“Cool your temper, Stitch,” came Pienteen’s mocking voice. “I don’t care if you could have saved him. I would have had to feed him and it wasn’t worth my while. Just thank the Seven Circles that you’re a doctor or I’d have cut your throat just to see the pretty patterns your blood made on the deck. You’ll fetch a good price on the docks in Renz, eh? Don’t make me think you aren’t worth the price. As it is, I owe you for keeping this little beauty from me.”
They had stopped in front of Gavin and Chari’s cell, several of the crew seeing Chari for the first time and making leering, gross suggestions of what they’d like to do to her. Pienteen turned, almost growling at them. “Shut your yaps. I got first dibs on her. Don’t worry, you’ll get a turn before we make port.”
He turned back, smiling with his greasy beard bristling into the cell. Aiden could hear Chari whimpering and Gavin’s angry voice raised as he screamed his defiance at the pirates, though none of them seemed to care. It was obvious to Aiden that they’d been in this position before.
Pienteen got his keys out, then moved to open the cell. “Let me be clear, though, lads. If any of you lot hurt her or ruin her for sale, I’ll sink the hook in and use you for kreel bate. Clear?” He let the cell swing open to the chorus of half-hearted agreements from his new crew.
Gavin immediately charged out and attacked the pirates but too many of them were waiting for just such a move. Large thuds could be heard as they clubbed him into bleeding unconsciousness with the hilts of several of their weapons. Aiden was just thankful they hadn’t used the blades but was still worried as they picked up his boneless form. Chari was quickly dragged out, her face smeared with tears and hugging herself while being roughly handled.
As they pulled the two young people out, they pushed Stitch and his two men into the cell, slamming it closed before coming back over to Aiden and Ashrak’s. Pienteen leaned in, eying Ashrak dangerously for a moment before ordering them back and away from the door.
“Now, my little doves. I don’t have time to be messing with you lot, but you’d best be keeping your mouths shut. I haven’t forgotten your words from last time either, little prince.” He snarled as his eyes narrowed dangerously at Ashrak, “You’ll still fetch a good price even with a few scars so don’t make me make the time, eh? You keep to the back and don’t be foolish like your friend here was. Just hope he can wake up and remember his name, eh?”
He gestured toward the men holding Gavin, and they let him fall into the cell, unconscious and with a large wet spot forming on the back of his head. Aiden could already see dark red liquid dripping onto the filthy straw. As quick as that, the cell was closed again and Aiden had lost his chance to do anything.
Ashrak lunged for the cell, grabbing the bars and shaking them wildly, “Let her go, damn you! Don’t do anything to her or I swear!”
Pienteen laughed. The sound was vicious and accompanied by chuckles of agreement from several of the other pirates. Suddenly, Ashrak stopped and backed up slowly, looking down at the rusty dagger that was just breaking the fabric over his stomach.
“Would be a shame ta leave you here with your friends watching you die from a stomach wound,” he said in a half-rasp. “Shame, indeed. I might even make you eat onion soup so they can smell it twice, boy. Don’t tempt me.”
Aiden was staring; almost sure that one of his friends was about to get butchered when Chari suddenly lunged and slammed one of her hands into the back shoulder of Pienteen. She had a fierce smile and grinned wickedly as the dagger sank home.
The man roared, spinning quicker than Aiden would have thought he was capable of and sending the back of his hand towards Chari’s face. She didn’t have any room to dodge, going down hard and almost silently except for the sound of bone breaking. Both Aiden and Ashrak jumped forward, reaching through the bars and trying to see if their friend was okay, but there were too many pirates in the way and Pienteen was stomping and cursing.
“Argh! You filthy brat!” Pienteen cried, his face a grimace of pain as he reached back and pulled the dagger out of himself. She’d hit him high on the right shoulder, but it wasn’t a big enough dagger to have caused him too much harm, much less die from the wound. Instead, he clenched his teeth, glaring around himself balefully.
“Dammit! Is she still breathing?” Pienteen asked as one of his crewmen leaned down and inspected her.
“Looks like you broke her nose, Captain. Nothing too serious.”
Pienteen nodded and grunted, holding his hand over his wound. “How did she get a dagger? Check yourselves. Did she get it off of one of you? So help me if she did.”
The crew just shook their heads, answering with a chorus of no’s as they inspected themselves and leaving Pienteen with no one to take his anger out on. Finally, he relented, eying the boys in their cell suspiciously before turning and stomping away, calling for his crew to pick up and carry Chari up to his cabin.
“Better get that looked at, Captain,” Stitch called after them. “Wouldn’t want to become too cumbersome to feed. A crew that mutinies is liable to think along those lines, you know.”
“Shut your trap, Stitch.” They all heard Pienteen call back, his voice fading as he moved up onto the deck of the ship.
Stitch just chuckled darkly but went quiet after the pirates had moved out of sight. Finally, Aiden heard him move against the wall separating their cell. “Why didn’t she use it on herself? I’ll admit, I admire her for stabbing ol’ Pienteen, but…dammit!”
Aiden listened, debating on whether he should answer or not. There was a tone in Stitch’s voice that sounded odd to him.
“Why do you care,” he finally said. “Weren’t you just going to sell her into slavery? Wouldn’t the same thing happen?”
“No.” Stitch said, “Not that you have any reason to believe me, but actually, I wasn’t going to do that.”
Aiden blinked shaking his head. “What do you mean, no? You said you were going to sell the rest of them once you gave me to Lord Dolgren. You do know that means slavery, right?”
“Well, kid, I supposed you should learn this sooner than later, but there’s a thing called lying,” Stitch said. Aiden could hear the sound of him sliding down the wall and sitting before he continued, “I did it in hopes of keeping you in line. For some reason, you kept getting away so I figured I had to do something. I was just going to drop the other three off in some coastal town.”
Aiden gritted his teeth, but also felt a bit of relief until he remembered that Stitch
wasn’t in charge of them anymore. “So you were just going to sell me, then. Do you even know what for?”
Aiden wasn’t sure Stitch was going to answer, but finally, he heard the soft words from the other side of the wall. “You don’t know how much money they were offering…” he finally replied, a note of disquiet in his voice.
Aiden pushed his forehead up against the wood, shaking his head. “Doesn’t mean much now, though. None of us are getting what they want. Chari…what are they going to do to Chari?”
“Same thing they did to my daughters,” Stitch said, trailing off and continuing a moment later. “They were both blonde. I can still hear them, you know. Hear their crying. Listen, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, kid.”
Aiden didn’t answer, feeling a tear track down his face. What a mess and all for some stupid plate. He wished he’d never seen that plate. Now they were all going to die, or worse. He could maybe still make the boat, but Chari wasn’t there and there was a whole crew of cutthroats between her and them.
Suddenly, Aiden blinked and a thought began to form in his head.
“Stitch,” he whispered into the silence.
“Yeah, kid?” Stitch answered, a bone-weary tone in his voice.
“If I could get you out of that cell, do you think you could make it to Pienteen’s cabin and get Chari back? You’re good at sneaking and…other things, right?”
“Yeah, probably, but there’s no way we can get out of these cells. I made sure they were secure before I put you in them. Maybe if one of those stupid pirates got drunk and passes out with the keys within reach, but that’s not going to happen. Pienteen’s just going to let us rot here for a few days while they drink all the liquor on board. He’ll want to cement his post as their captain. Our only hope is they remember us in time before we starve.”
“Yes, but if you could, you could do it right? Get her back here?”
He heard Stitch shift before he answered. “Uh, yeah I could, but then what? We sit in the cells and hope they forget us? That’s not going to happen, kid. I know I said it, but really we’re a big pile of gold for them. They won’t forget and the small skiff on deck isn’t going to fit us all.”
“No, listen,” Aiden said urgently, “I can get us out of the cell, and… I think I can get us free. If I get you out of that cell, can you get Chari back here and then promise you won’t come after me anymore?”
There was a long, pregnant silence from the other side until finally Stitch held his left hand out of his cell for Aiden to shake. “Deal, kid. I don’t know what you have cooked up, but it better be good. After I get Chari back here you’re on your own, though. I can get my men onto the skiff that’s up on deck, but there’s no way I could get all four of you up there and away.”
Aiden reached out, taking Stitch’s strong grip and shook. “Deal.”
Aiden quickly bent to retrieve the dagger but Ashrak stepped in his way, giving him a questioning look. “Aiden… are you sure you can trust him?”
“You tell that loud-mouthed rich boy to shut his trap.” Stitch called from the other cell, “I keep my word better than most nobles, and I lost my hand, not my ears. He’s lucky I didn’t cut his lips off.”
Aiden shrugged at Ashrak, and finally, Ashrak nodded, going back and leaning down next to Gavin who was not showing signs of waking up. Aiden quickly pulled the black dagger from the ever-widening hole in the floor boards and walked towards his cell, slicing the blade through the lock securing the door as if it wasn’t there.
He pushed the cell open, wincing slightly as the metal squealed, then moved over to the other cell, slicing through it just as easily. Stitch and his two remaining men watched him, wide-eyed as Aiden cut their door open and then gestured for them to leave. When they didn’t, Aiden began to get angry.
“We had a deal! Why aren’t you going to get her?”
Stitch just shook his head, still eyeing the dagger in his hand. “Not that simple, kid. They’re all up there partying and carrying on. There would be no chance now. We’ll have to wait until sometime early in the morning. That’s when they’ll all be passed out and it will be our best chance.”
Aiden clenched his fists, taking a step towards the man. His frustration mounting. “But Chari! What do you think he’s doing to her right now?”
Stitch shrugged. “Not a damn thing. Pienteen is injured, and he’s probably squalling in pain with a bottle in his hands right now while one of his drunken buddies tries to sew up that hole. He’s not going to touch her, and she’s probably still unconscious after that smack he gave her. Don’t worry, kid. She’s safe for the moment. Pienteen won’t let anyone on the crew get first dibs on her before he’s had a chance.”
Aiden went quiet and then nodded. He was angry at himself for not thinking of it, and now Stitch new about the dagger. He slowly backed out of the cell but neither Stitch nor his men did anything. “Okay, Okay I got it. Just…let us know when it’s time.”
Stitch nodded but didn’t say anything further, for which Aiden was glad. He didn’t want a bunch of strange questions about the dagger, but he knew they had to be wondering where he’d gotten it. Well, too late now. He moved over to Ashrak, handing it to him. “Ok, Ashrak, none of this will work unless I can get that boat made. Keep your eyes open.”
“Don’t worry, Aiden,” Ashrak grinned, “I’m all experienced at this now, keeping watch. Maybe I can start a business? No, wait, those are guards. That sounds boring and everyone always screams at you.” Ashrak gripped his shoulder but his grin faltered, and he looked serious for a moment. “Just don’t… fail. Being someone’s slave doesn’t sound overly fun. I’d rather be on the other end. I don’t think I’d do a good job of it anyway.”
Aiden nodded, then sat where he’d made the dagger and closed his eyes. He couldn’t screw this up.
Chapter 22
Slowly Aiden pushed his mind to where it had been before when he’d made the dagger. This time, however, he didn’t feel the warm company of Glowby with him and he knew right away that his friend had been helping him more than he’d thought. It was harder to concentrate, harder to keep his mind focused on one thing without it running off like some two-year-old, but he gritted his teeth and forced his mind to do what he wanted.
It wasn’t easy, but he began to make some headway as his thoughts settled into that still startlingly new feeling of approaching the barrier. He didn’t know what else to call it, so that was as good as anything. For an interminable time, he just floated there, examining it until he reached out with mental fingers and pushed.
As he had expected, nothing happened at first but as he put more effort into it, he could feel a small part of the barrier first bend, and then let him work a small hole into its trembling surface. Once that happened he felt that familiar pressure trying to keep both sides of the opening from interacting and forced his consciousness through, pulling at a shimmering thread of liquid crystal. Despite Glowby not being there, he imagined it felt a smidge easier as it began to dance through the air, flickering and twining like something under water. There was little rhyme or reason to it but as he watched it move he could feel the hole he’d made to the dream realm’s pull become incrementally stronger, trying to pull it back in.
Almost too late, Aiden remembered that it had to have an idea to form around. He felt himself grunt, putting more effort into making the hole stay and succeeded, staving off its closure but he knew it wouldn’t last. Maybe this was why Glowby was so drained? He knew he’d have to figure this out if at least so his friend wouldn’t pay the price.
He let his thoughts drift towards the idea of boats, casting about for what he knew and drew a blank. He wasn’t a sailor, and his experience with boats was composed of his recent attendance at the cutter fish races and fishing with Jessop. The latter had ended in disaster, with both boys wet and muddy, and they hadn’t done much more then push the wooden contraption around the small body of water for the trouble.
Once again the hole pulsed,
trying to pull the glimmer steel back in and Aiden increased his effort, a rising panic overtaking him. What was he going to do? He didn’t know boats or ships, or whatever they were called. Didn’t sailors get angry if you called them boats? The image of Skay flashed across his mind, one of her standing tall and tan while she laughed at him before launching herself into the water next to the Skywitch.
The Skywitch? For some reason, the image of the majestic skimmer pushed its way into his mind and crowded out anything else. It was a ship of sorts, right? But more importantly, he’d felt it. As much as it had overwhelmed him, it still burned brightly in his mind and even as the glimmer steel tried to retreat back into its own realm, he quickly dove into that memory and tried to force it into a shape small enough to be in this room.
Hull. That was easy. Something small and sloped which wouldn’t take up the entire cell. How could it not? It was so cramped with Gavin spread over the floor and Ashrak bent down next to him. But near the ceiling? Could he do that? He remembered how the Skywitch had felt when it floated, ghosting there but untroubled by anything around it. That idea flashed into his construction, pushing into it as he imagined it floating serenely up near the roof of the cell.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 27