Game of Survival

by T R Tells

  “Aye, can I get you anything? I’ll have one of the kids get you something.”

  “Kids?”

  “Thea,” Flint’s voice brought her back to attention and she squared her eyes at Flint wanting nothing more than to spit on him. “Get the others and make sure that our guest is comfortable.”

  Thea said nothing but left Flint’s side, glad to be free of his touch.

  In the time since the pirates had taken over her home, there were far too many things that had significantly changed in the last four months. The living room was now used as a “stage,” or a private theater until they could afford a new building, but it was closed off with a tattered blanket. The basement was used now to prepare food and wine for their guests, and sometimes used as the “the punishment room.” The other rooms in the house were sleeping quarters, one for the children, and one for the pirates, and one for when the male patrons would show up. In the middle of the room sat two rectangular tables and a few stools, they managed to buy the furniture from the money that they had stolen in the past four months.

  Thea saw the mysterious man, Clodovicus, take a seat as he and Flint talked about life on the sea. She blocked out their conversation and headed down to the basement to grab him something to eat.

  ***

  After an hour had passed, Clodovicus had finished his bread, meat, and soup and was now on his fourth ale. They started to get low again, Thea noted, she would need to get more beer as to keep the men from causing a stir.

  “As much as I’d like to stay and chat.” Sarcasm laced the man’s words, “I want to know why I am here. We didn’t leave off on good terms all those years ago, so excuse me if I’m a bit skeptic. And, what are you doing with all these children? I would ask if you were opening an orphanage, but you don’t have a motherly bone in your damn body.”

  “And you would be right about that. I would drown these little bastards before I ever did that.”

  He’d instead cause the boo-boos than try to make them feel better, the mocking voice muttered, somewhat angrily.

  Thea scoffed under her breath and reached for the plate, but Flint grabbed her arm and tightened his hold, making her wince from the unexpected pain.

  “This here is Thea,” Flint introduced her with a grin on his face. Clodovicus, on the other hand, didn’t seem impressed as his expression never changed from his usual frown.

  “Yes, we’ve met.”

  “Thea here is a Roma, you know, those Gypsy’s who can predict the future and what not.”

  “I recall the legends. What of her?” Clodovicus asked dully.

  “As you know, Roma are very rare. She may be the last of her kind,” Flint ushered on, Thea tried to pull away from his touch. She didn’t want to talk or even think about the possibility that she was the last of her kind.

  “Are you getting to the point, Flint? I’m starting to get bored, and I’m running out ale. This is the only thing that is making me tolerate you,” Clodovicus’ voice sounded far from bored, the high-pitched tone of his voice signified annoyance.

  Flint, not wanting him to fuse to burst, snapped his finger and the sound of feet scurried over immediately. When Thea looked up, she saw that Freya was refilling Clovis’ cup, but looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with the men.

  When done, Freya pulled the pitcher to her chest and went back to the basement. Thea assumed she was going to tell Maggie where she was.

  “You’ll never know how apologetic I am, Clodovicus for all I’ve done to you and Audalai.”

  Clodovicus didn’t say anything. He wanted to know what it was Flint had cooked up because as long as he had known the orange haired tyrant, he was nothing but a devil in disguise.

  “When I separated from the Half-blood, I was going through a dark time, a time where I wanted power….”

  “And did you, did you find power?” Clodovicus asked, “Last I recall you accepted the darkness that was far too destructive.”

  A shiver ran down Thea’s spine as she watched the two men speak. It was evident that they did share a history, but she couldn’t help, but feel it ran far more profound than what they were letting on.

  Flint, however, didn’t react and only smirked. “As did you, my friend, but my power led me to Hawold. It was a disgusting place and you know what was more disgusting than it? The bars and brothels.” Flint spat. Thea could see the evident disdain on his face as gritted his teeth. Clodovicus, on the other hand, had his brows furrowed together.

  “What are you getting at, Flint? It better not be what I’m thinking.”

  “It’s exactly what you’re thinking,” Flint said, he gripped onto Thea’s arm and yanked her to him. Thea tried to rip her arm free, but Flint’s arm only tightened the more she tried to pull away.

  “Men love alcohol and the women; especially, if they are young. That’s where these children come in, the girls, and the boys? They’ll be selling their bodies too, but you can never have enough thieves working for you. Now, my question to you is would you be willing to pass the word? You’ve been clear across Middilgard, even further than Audalis, further than me and my men have. And with that lingering beast inside of you, we can finally—"

  It didn’t take long for Clodovicus to put down his mug and stand. “No.” He started walking away from Flint. “I will not promote a place where you prostitute children and I sure as hell won’t summon the creature that has turned you into its whipping bitch. Tell me, Flint, have you succumbed this far into doing whatever the hell it tells you?”

  Flint frowned, released Thea’s arm, and jumped up from his seat to chase after Clodovicus. Thea rubbed her arm but stared at the confrontation between the two men.

  “What the hell you acting high and mighty for? As if you’ve never slain blood.” He whispered the last part. “You were given that power for a reason, not to sully and waste it, I brought you back here because I thought you would finally come to your senses.”

  “Then we are not alike at all. I should have known that you were no good the first time I met you,” Clodovicus’ words slurred, but Thea knew he was far from drunk. “Even, Audalai knew how foul of a man you were.”

  “Yes, the Horai whore you are in love with. Tell me, did you happen to find her yet?”

  Thea could see Flint was somewhat careless in his words and gestures. His shoulders were relaxed, and his face was slightly calm, administering a smile or two. All the while, Clodovicus’ face contorted in anger the more Flint spoke. Thea didn’t see him reach for his weapon yet, but if Flint spoke anymore, he soon might. She prayed he’d kill Flint if it came to that.

  “Do not utter her name, Flint,” Clodovicus hissed out the words as he tried to contain his anger. “If you think I will sell my soul to help you, then you’re sadly mistaken.”

  “I should have figured, but wouldn’t you rather want to try out a product before taking leave first? She may be able to help your situation.”

  This time, Clodovicus faced Flint all the way. His tan features were now red as he seethed with anger, but Flint just stood there and grinned.

  Clodovicus stopped, Thea was curious why, and she watched as he turned to look at her. He stared at her then and observed her, an idea forming in his head. It made her uncomfortable, and she fidgeted slightly under it.

  “On second thought,” his voice was low, but Thea heard it, and her heart rapidly went into overdrive as she backed up. No, I thought he was leaving!

  Run, you fool! The voices all screamed in unison.

  “So glad you changed your mind. I knew you would see things my—”

  “Do you have any spare rooms?”

  “To the right,” Flint told him, jutting his thumb to the room over to the east, “Try not to make such a mess. Oh, and be careful, she’s a feisty one.”

  Clodovicus made his way over to Thea and took her by the wrist. She tried to wiggle free of his grip, but it was far too tight, and she soon gave up. She couldn’t believe she had thought he wouldn’t be like the rest
of the men; all men were the same.

  Because you’re too pathetic to kill any of them, the angry voice spat at her.

  So, when he closed them inside the room, she was surprised that he had told her to shut up before proceeding to bang on the wall with the palm of his hand and shouting, “Now lay down on your back and be a good girl!”

  Thea wasn’t sure what was going on, but she found herself staring in shock at this strange man. She didn’t trust him, but she didn’t feel that he would hurt her.

  A strange man who may or may not be an acquaintance of your “slave master” has dragged you in the room, against your will, to either rape or kill you and you feel like you can trust him? How peculiar. The matter-of-fact voice pointed out to Thea, making her rethink everything.

  When Clodovicus turned back to face Thea, he ushered her to follow him and made his way over to one of the beds, sitting down. He prompted her to sit opposite him where Thea hesitantly took a seat.

  “Relax, I’m not going to bed you,” Clodovicus said, he could see Thea was tense, and he could only imagine what other heinous things that she had endured being in Flint’s stead.

  Thea tilted her head, unaware that he had been holding a conversation in his head.

  Don’t get any ideas, Thea. Not everyone is as unique as you, the angry voice insulted her.

  “Why aren’t you, then?”

  Clodovicus frowned and raised his brow. “No offense, kid, but I like older women. You’ve got about ten years to go before you even call yourself a woman. What are you, ten?”

  “I’m almost fifteen, asshole,” Thea spat at him, she was grateful that he wasn’t a pervert, but it didn’t mean she liked his comment. “Then, how the hell are you even Flint’s friend?”

  Clodovicus snorted and shook his head. He reached for the pommel of his sword and unsheathed it from his back, letting Thea get a good look at the thick, black blade. She had never seen a sword such as his before—it was as thick and as long as a column.

  Freak! Mutant! I called it. The voices stirred in her head as they began talking among themselves about the “enigmatic man with a sword that seemed three sizes too big for a normal mundane.” Their chattering made Thea fear Clodovicus less.

  “I wouldn’t call him my friend, far from it. We used to travel together.”

  “Why do you lug that sword around? Isn’t it heavy?” Thea questioned; she couldn’t take her eyes off of it as it seemed to gleam.

  “Would you lay your weapon around with people you know will kill you in the blink of an eye?”

  “I keep my dagger underneath my pillow when I’m sleeping and on me when I’m awake.” She reached her hands to grab something attached to her leg. Clodovicus tilted his head sideways and saw that she was lifting her pants leg to reveal the jeweled dagger.

  “Nice,” he noted. “Did you happen to steal it?”

  “The only way to . . . Can I hold it?” She asked, looking at his blade.

  “If I did that, you would surely break your hands. It's that heavy, Thea.”

  The way he said her name felt foreign to her, but it did not make her want to claw his eyes out.

  “So . . . If you don’t want to bed me, what did you want?” Her first thoughts were that he was trying to break her out after arguing with Flint but again was thrown off by his answer.

  He leaned forward; Thea leaned forward as well.

  “I need you to use your Roma gift. I’m looking for someone. Someone who I have been looking for quite some time. Can you help me?”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Thea backed away and furrowed her brow in confusion. “What do you mean help you with my Roma Gift? I don’t—"

  “It dawned on me that you may be able to see the future and give me the answers I need. I’ve been traveling Middilgard for some time now, and I haven’t had any luck. If she is dead, I would, at least, like to have some closure.”

  The worried look on his face creased into his forehead.

  “Do you mean that Horai girl, Audalai?” Thea asked. He stared at her for a moment, before nodding. “I don’t know how much help I can be; I’m not very good at my abilities. I haven’t even tried to levitate anything.”

  “How old did you say you were again?” Clodovicus interrupted.

  “I’m almost thirteen. I remember once my sister told me that when I turned twelve, I would begin to develop my magic. A little over four months ago I had levitated a ball once and I’ve had several visions, they were a bit late but—”

  “That’s fine, how do you want to do this?”

  Clodovicus immediately stretched out both of his arms, both palms up, and stared at Thea intently. Thea couldn’t help but feel a trail of bumps traveled up the length of her arm and her hairs stood on end. She stared at Clodovicus’ filthy palms and gulped.

  “I’m not sure how to go about doing this, but I’ll try.”

  “Relax and take a deep breath. I think that will help your visions to come to you,” Clodovicus said with a look of assurance in his eyes. Thea looked at him once more before briefly nodding and reaching out her hands to grab his calloused ones.

  “Okay,” she said with a deep exhale of air and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure how to control her visions since they forcibly came to her when they wanted to, but it couldn’t hurt to practice. Thea inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled shortly after. She could feel the thumping of her chest as it slowly beat with her even breaths.

  “Now imagine what you want to see,” a familiar and sweet voice echoed in the back of Thea’s head. She flinched and gripped Clodovicus’ hands tighter, but she did not open her eyes.

  Dominya? Is that you? Her thoughts asked the darkness, and for a moment there was silence. Thea had thought she had imagined it until she heard her sister’s light and airy laugh that was distinguishable even in a crowded room.

  “Of course, it’s me, well, maybe only some of me. It’s far too hard to explain right now.”

  Thea could feel her smiling even though she couldn’t see her and Dominya wasn’t physically there. It was her presence that made Thea feel jittery and alive, more than she’d felt in years.

  Dee, where are you? A-Are you dead? Where can I find you!

  Again, there was silence except for the thrumming beating of Thea’s heart. She felt herself shaking and felt a churning in her gut. She thought she heard someone call her name.

  “You’re losing focus, Thea,” Dominya’s voice returned. Thea slowly concluded that the voice in her head was merely just an apparition of sorts and not her sister, but even still it was nice to her sister’s voice. She admitted having forgotten the sound of her voice over the last few years. “Just think about what you want and let the visions come to you.”

  Thea didn’t ask questions. She didn’t know much about Audalai, but she knew that she was a Horian and most likely from Audalis. She imagined Clodovicus next since he was a close link to the Horai girl.

  “What’s going on?” Clovis asked.

  Thea’s eye twitched, but she ignored it and continued thinking about Audalai. When she did, the first thing that happened was she smelled the salty air. Thea wrinkled her nose at the smell, but it grew stronger and then a blinding white light came into view. At first, she saw nothing but white, but then she saw choppy dark blue waves rushing past her. She wasn’t sure if she was on a boat or if it was the direction of her vision. She saw brief images of green hair, but not of the girl’s face, just of the rushing waves; and the open clearing sky and the only landmark was of a tall, castle-like building in the distance.

  Thea found herself transported away from the rough sea and redirected to a thick red carpet with gold embroidered frills on the edges. The floors were white marble and the ceilings made of granite and down a red carpet.

  Had Audalai found refuge somewhere? She pondered to herself. Just then, she caught sight of flowing green hair in her peripheral running down the hallway.

  Audalai? Thea tried to call out to the fig
ure. However, before Thea could pursue the girl in question, an outstretched hand reached out and wrenched her out of her vision-like state.

  Thea grabbed her throat, and the vision broke free. She was back in the room with Clodovicus who stared at her with wide eyes.

  “Thea? What happened, are you alright?” He asked, he stretched out his hand and patted her back gently, Thea looked up at him. “What did you see?”

  Thea rubbed the base of her neck for several minutes before speaking, “Why the hell did you do that!”

  Clodovicus frowned at the girl’s pinched nose and furrowed brows looking at him in anger as she tried to regain her breathing.

  “You were trembling, if I didn’t act fast you could have killed yourself . . .” he paused for a moment. “What did you see?”

  Thea sighed and sat up straight. “I tried thinking of Audalai. I saw her green hair for a split second. Then, there was an ocean’s shore, and a castle-like tower in the distance, it looked like some church.”

  Clodovicus frowned slightly. “A castle-like structure? A church? Did you happen to see anything else? An island, birds, clouds?”

  Thea didn’t know how he would take the news that she had been useless in giving him information and she absentmindedly moved away from his touch on her back.

  “I, um, did see tall trees that formed a path and tall mountains in the distance that seemed to touch the sky. That’s all I saw before the vision ended.”

  Clodovicus hummed in thought as he rubbed his chin. “That sounds vaguely like the Bastion of Amac.” He mumbled something that sounded like “There’s no way she can be there.” He had his lips pressed together and looked away from Thea, who was unable to read the grim look on his face. After moments of staring, Clodovicus stood.

  “I’ll be leaving now.”

  “W-What?” Thea quickly asked. Clodovicus was already at the door when he turned around to face Thea. “You’re leaving now?”

  He slightly nodded. “Yes, your vision didn’t tell me much, but it seems like I have overlooked a few places.” Clodovicus turned around to face the door, but Thea rushed to him and grabbed his hand, he looked down at her.