by G. Bailey
“We will be leaving now. Don’t follow,” Hunter says to him. I watch as he takes a small bag out of his pocket and throws it on stage. The bag opens as it lands and gold coins roll all over the stage. How in the seas did he get all that money?
I know that amount is a fortune, enough to buy half an island. The man nods, running towards the bag and picking up the gold. Clearly, it’s enough to buy me.
“Come on,” Hunter says, turning to face me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. The moment he touches me, I feel safer than I have in hours, and I look up at the pirate. He saved me. I was saved by these pirates more times than I want to admit. I wonder where the others are. I can’t say I expected Hunter to come after me or to be holding me close like he is.
“No, we have to get the girl I was with,” I say, stopping him by putting my hand on his chest. I look up into his dark blue eyes that match every part of his dark personality. Dark, but beautiful.
My hand feels warm as my fingers graze the skin on his chest where his shirt dips open. I don’t know why I did it, but his deep breath makes me look up at him again.
“Cassandra,” he says, and I can’t miss the warning in his tone, but I don’t want to listen to it. The sounds of people shouting and everything else dies away as we stare at each other. We could have been anywhere in the world, for the way he looks at me is something I would have trouble ever forgetting. My gaze skims over his face, seeing the little dents here and there from fighting, the little stubble he always has that looks soft, and finally, the soft lips that are open slightly.
“Coming up next is a stunning young woman. I hear she has never been touched, and look at all this soft, brown hair,” a male voice says, snapping me out of my thoughts of Hunter and those damn lips.
“Hunter, please. I can’t leave without her. Please, for me,” I plead with him. I don’t know what crosses over his eyes, but I don’t move as I mentally beg him to save Livvy for me. I know begging him anymore wouldn’t help, but I can’t leave her here. I can’t save everyone, but I won’t lose her.
When he gives me a simple nod, I suck in a deep breath. Hunter is going to do this for me. The pirate that I never thought even liked me, has saved my life, battled two men for me, and now is going to save someone else just because I asked him to. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out another bag around the same size as the last one. Hunter pulls me with him back to the steps of the stage and walks up them.
“I want the girl as well,” Hunter says and throws the bag of gold towards the man who is on the floor picking up the gold from the last bag.
“Deal,” the other man on the stage says, the one holding Livvy tightly in his grip. Her tear-filled eyes meet mine, and she sags in relief against him. The man lets her go, and she runs into my arms.
“Thank you. I will never, ever forget this,” she says to me, and I don’t reply. I didn’t save her, Hunter did. I will have to thank him. I still don’t know why he changed his mind.
I hug her tightly, and then she holds my hand as I let her go. I urge her with my eyes to stand tall and not let these evil people see her fear. They don’t care. Hunter grabs my other hand as we walk down the stairs, and he starts leading us out of the crowd. I keep my eyes on Hunter’s back, not looking at the people around me who whisper and watch us as they move out of the way. I glance down at my hand, seeing the blood on my fingers and try to block out the sight of the man’s shocked face as he died. I killed someone.
I took his life, and my last words to him were something I read in a book about the Sea God. How the damned are dragged to hell by him.
We come out of the crowd and through a tunnel that leads to a long path full of little carts. I can’t stop looking around as Hunter drags me through the crowd. There are so many different types of people, all with their eyes watching me in shock. The wooden houses look bigger this close, with wire hanging between them and clothes being dried in the wind. There’s smoke coming out of many of the rooms, and the place is just so noisy. There is so much going on that I don’t know where to look. A woman with light-pink hair walks past us, her dark eyes catching mine in the crowd, and she smiles gently. I smile back, surprised when she stops walking and bows low to me. A few people walk past, and when I look back, the woman is gone. Why would she bow to me?
Hunter walks us faster through the crowd, not slowing once in his large strides, and he shoves some people out of the way. A massive group of people stop in front of us, causing us to stop in the middle of the path as we wait for them to pass us by. This part seems like a shopping district, full of little carts. The carts seem to be selling a range of different things, from clothes to food. There is one with different-coloured eggs that catches my attention. There are five large eggs, all different colours and held in glass cases.
“Hunter, what are those?” I ask him, pointing in the direction of the table. Hunter looks over at them and then back at me with a little laugh.
“Dragon eggs,” he says. My eyes widen as I look back at the table. I heard there were dragons in the mountains, but, apparently, they are extremely rare. I don’t want to know how hard it must have been for the man to get the five eggs on his carts. I wonder if they are real at all. I don’t have much more time to think of it as Hunter starts moving us down the path again, and I have to concentrate on not falling over as we walk fast.
“Where are the others, and is Dante okay?” I ask him, raising my voice a little over the noise of the people we are passing to get to the sea. I can see the ships and the port now in the distance.
“They are checking all the auctions. We weren’t sure which one you had been taken to, and Dante is fine,” Hunter explains as he walks us down the long pier and towards the ship. I can see our ship right at the end, with Chaz standing near the plank of wood that leads up to it. When he sees me, he smiles and nods. His eyes drift to Livvy before giving Hunter a strange look. I imagine he’s wondering why Hunter brought back more than one girl. I look up in time to see Hunter shake his head and give me an annoyed look. I resist the urge to smile at him.
When we stop in front of Chaz, he moves closer to me and lifts my chin. His finger gently moves across the little cut there, and his eyes narrow.
“You okay?” he asks me gently as he lets my chin go. I nod, feeling in a little bit of a daze as I think about his caring nature. I wonder if he is this lovely to everyone, and if it’s only me who feels bothered by it. I like it too much, the feeling of being cared for.
“Pretty girl,” Dante says, coming down the wooden plank from the ship. I let go of Livvy and run into his opens arms. Dante holds me close, and I take a deep breath,
“You’re really okay. I saw you on the floor and–” I say, looking up at him. I gently trace my finger across the cut on his forehead.
“The bastards caught me off guard, but I’m sorry for letting them take you. I won’t ever let that happen again,” he says, making my breath catch.
“Dante–” I start to say, but Hunter cuts me off.
“I will find the others,” Hunter says before walking past us. I watch him go, and he looks back when he gets on the ship. Our eyes meet, and he smirks before he walks away.
“Come and see me later,” Dante says and lets me go. Livvy runs to me and takes my hand.
“Why don’t you take your new friend on board and clean up in my room?” Chaz says, his voice soft as Livvy bursts into tears.
“Shh,” I say, holding her to my side. Unsure what else to do, I give Chaz a panicked look. He simply nods his head towards the boat with a smile. I don’t know what to do with her, but I guess taking her on the ship is the next thing to do. What am I going to do with Livvy when I get off the ship at Fiaten? I guess she could come with me, but I don’t want to put her in any danger.
I take Livvy on to the ship and to Chaz’s room, not seeing anyone else on the way, but I do look. I want to see them all, make sure they are okay and back on the ship. What is wrong with me? Once we are there, she sits on the
bed with me and just cries softly until she falls asleep. My hand goes to my mark, remembering the burning feeling. I have no idea why it did that, and I remember the book I was reading.
What is a changed one’s chosen?
I try to think of anything else as I don’t have any answers. I’ll go and find that book again; it seemed to have a lot of useful information, but I have no idea what queen they are talking about. I try to keep my mind on the book and off of what could have happened today and what did happen. I killed someone.
The sight of his cold, lifeless eyes fills my mind, and I get off the bed, leaving the room and walking down the corridor. I find my way to the dining room and sit in a chair, just staring at the wooden table. I don’t know how long I sit quietly, only moving my gaze when the chair next to me is pulled out. I look up to see Zack as he sits in the chair next to me and places his glove-covered hand over mine. I’ve never seen him without those leather gloves on, and I wonder why he doesn’t take them off. I try to focus on the feeling of his hand over mine; the warmness of it and knowing Zack is with me.
“Hunter told me you killed the man who was selling you,” he says. His tone is gentle and holds no accusation. I look up into his eyes and nod.
“That man would have killed and sold thousands. You may have killed him, Cassandra, but his soul was already tied to death. He deserved death, and the Sea God would only thank you,” he says and stands up. I almost miss his hand when he moves away and walks out of the room.
Is my soul marked with death now? Or has it always been for the mark I was born with?
20
Cassandra
“Thank you, Cassandra,” Livvy says before she walks down the stairs to the lower decks and the bed the guys have said she can stay in. They offered her a similar deal to me, a safe trip with food and a bed. She just cried when Ryland told her this, and I patted her back. I wasn’t sure what else to do. Livvy explained how she can’t believe she has a chance to live and finally off Sevten. I think it’s just a lot of pressure for a girl her age to handle. I know I’m only three years older than her, but my life has made me strong. Hers has, too, and I hope that reflects on her future. I hope I’m around to see her find some kind of happiness.
We left Sevten a few hours ago with ten new people on board, and they all wish to travel to Fiaten, like me.
“Collecting strays, are you?” the crackly voice comes from behind me, and I turn to see Laura stood there. Laura has on a strange, white dress, with circles all over it, and a yellow ribbon holding her hair back. A matching yellow ribbon is tied around the walking stick she’s leaning against.
“Not exactly,” I say. I wouldn’t call Livvy a stray, more an adopted member of the ship. Like me.
“My grandson likes you,” Laura says.
“I didn’t realise you were related to anyone on this ship,” I reply.
“Hunter and Ryland are my grandsons. When their mad father went too far, they took me with them on this ship. They feared their father would kill me. They were right, he would have. He had already taken my only daughter from me, and those children suffer enough for that. It turned Hunter cold and Ryland strict,” she says, her blue eyes watching me closely. She doesn’t look a bit like Hunter, but her eyes are like Ryland’s. I should have seen it before.
“Is she dead?” I ask.
“No, but there are far worse things than death. Sometimes, someone can love a person too much to let them go, and my daughter paid a price for that kind of love,” she says, and I wonder what price was paid. It doesn’t make much sense.
“I’m sorry, Laura,” I say.
“Perhaps you need to read more of that book in Ryland’s room. It may answer more questions.” She smiles softly.
“How did you know I read that?” I ask, and she laughs.
“I told you this was my ship, girl,” she says.
“That you did.” I smile, and she taps me on the arm with her stick.
“Dinner is ready, changed one,” she says, walking away from me, and I follow her. I hate when anyone calls me ‘changed one,’ but the way she said it, was like it’s a gift. The useless mark seems to define me, and I would never call it a gift. It has given me nothing.
I walk into the dining room following Laura, and I’m surprised to see all the guys sitting around the table. When I glance at them all, I see that Hunter is missing. Laura takes the seat in the middle of Ryland and Chaz. Dante stands up and holds a seat out between his and Zack’s. I sit down, and he pushes me in before taking his own seat. Jacob is sitting opposite me, and he smiles widely when he sees me, his eyes tracing over every part of my face. I pick up my drink to break the silence that has filled the room; every single one of the pirates are looking at me. I can feel it without looking.
“A present,” Hunter says from behind me, making me jump and cough out the water I was drinking. My eyes widen when he puts a large, dragon egg on the table in front of me. The egg is about the size of my head, the shell is a shiny sea-blue, and there are tiny white dots all over it.
A dragon egg from the market on Sevten. The island we have just left.
“Hunter, by the seas,” Dante says, his voice dripping with shock. Just like how I feel. Hunter has brought me a dragon. An actual dragon.
“Why did you buy her a dragon?” Ryland shouts, and the room goes silent. I place my hand on the egg. It moves slightly and feels warm to the touch.
“The little bird wanted it, and now she might actually be able to fly,” Hunter says with a laugh as he sits down and gives me a smirk. Whatever his excuses may be, I still think there is another reason for him buying me this dragon egg. Hunter doesn’t seem the type to buy something just because someone wanted it. I watch him closely as the others talk.
“We are on a wooden ship, in the middle of the sea, and you thought buying her a dragon was a smart idea?” Chaz says.
“It’s not a fire dragon,” Hunter explains as he scoops potatoes off a tray in the middle of the table and onto his plate.
“You have never bought anything for a woman before, and the first time you do, it’s a dragon,” Laura says and starts laughing. Hunter looks at me briefly and sharply turns away. I don’t understand him, but the gesture is making me want to understand him more.
“Ice, it’s an ice dragon, and a big one, apparently,” Hunter finally says as all the guys glare at him.
“Thank you, Hunter,” I say softly, and he grins at me.
“I hope it eats you, would save us all the trouble,” he says, and I laugh, Chaz and Zack joining in. I really hope he’s joking, and that the dragon isn’t going to eat me. Or even worse, freeze my hand off when it’s born. Zack picks the egg up as he stands and puts it on the spare seat next to him.
“Any dragon egg care advice?” I ask them all, my eyes still drifting to the egg.
“I had a dragon once,” Laura answers me as I put some chicken meat on my plate. Zack slides an apple over to me, and Dante puts potatoes on my plate too. It’s strange how they always do this, they always put more food on my plate. I like how Zack always remembers to put an apple on my plate, because he knows they remind me of my home.
“Calaria was an earth dragon, not as rare as that one you have, but she was a gift to me. They need only a little care, they look after themselves and those they believe are family to them. When they are hatched, they only need meat to survive. I have heard ice dragons are found in the water a lot, so perhaps this dragon will be good at hunting fish,” she says.
“How big do they get?” I ask because my books never spoke of their size. I knew dragons existed, because my father told me so. He said there were far more before the land was destroyed and they died. I also know the royals all have dragons. Fire dragons. The king is said to have the biggest one in the world. I have never seen the dragon he has, as he never brings it along when he travels around the islands.
“As big as a very large horse. Some people used to ride them back in my day. They live for fifty years, but
my Calaria was killed,” Laura says and eats her food.
“How did–” I start to ask, but Ryland interrupts me.
“How long until it hatches?” he asks, changing the subject, and I see him give a strange look to Laura. She seems to understand as she nods.
“Did your books teach you nothing other than dragons exist? All those books you were forced to read as a child, when all you wanted was to be fighting.” Laura laughs, her voice crackly.
“I know this, they take around eighteen months to hatch,” Chaz says.
“Did you ask how long the egg has left?” I ask Hunter, who shakes his head.
“No,” he says and goes back to his food. That doesn’t surprise me, so it’s going to be a guessing game for when this egg hatches. It could be any day.
“You’re staying in my room tonight. Come on, you should have an early night as you had a long day,” Dante says next to me, and I nod at him. Zack hands me the egg after I stand up, and it’s very heavy. I resist the urge to drop with the egg to the floor and instead, hold it close to me. I expected it to be cold, but it’s not; it’s warm. I guess even ice dragons are warm.
“I can stay and help you clean up,” I offer, and he smiles.
“No. Like Dante said, it’s been a long day for you,” he says, and his fingers skim over my hand on the egg.
“I’m glad you’re safe, I should have told you that before, my little fighter,” he says and steps back. I nod, feeling his words connect with me, and I move away, clearing my throat. When I turn, I catch Laura’s eyes as she watches me. Her look is a simple smile, but her eyes seem like they are figuring something out about me. I wish I could figure something out about her.
“Good night,” I say to them all after I pull my eyes away from Laura. They all say goodnight as I walk out the door, following Dante. We go to his room, both of us quiet as we walk. Dante holds the door open as I walk in and he lights a candle in a lantern for me. Dante’s room is smaller than the rest, with just a bed and no window. There is a painting on the wall of the sea. Strange to have a painting of the sea when you’re on a ship. The room is warm and cosy, making me want to get into the bed as I suddenly feel tired. It’s been such a long day, and I just want to forget most of it. I don’t want to forget the way Hunter looked at me or the feelings I seem to be having for Dante. Well, the feelings I have for all of them. How can I like them this much in such a short time? I couldn’t face losing Dante today, and I’ve only known him a short while. What will my feelings be like for him and the other pirates when we finally get to Fiaten?