by LJ Andrews
He’s bargaining? she thought, slightly surprised by his reaction.
“I’ll give my share of the fort’s spoils if you will let him live and join the crew.”
Smythe eyed her curiously. Nova straightened her shoulders and saw Kale watch her in disbelief out of the corner of her eye.
“We have a deal, Miss Nova,” Smythe said, holding out his hand after a long, thoughtful pause. Her hand trembled, but once she shook the captain’s she was filled with surety and strength. “Master Kane, make sure he is locked in the brig until he is feeling more loyal to me ship. It must be strange to be indebted to a woman, eh lad?” Smythe laughed toward Kale as he walked by.
Nova tried to smile at Kale before two pirates dragged him below deck, but his expression only seemed to show he hated her more.
“Come on, Nova. Come celebrate,” Atlas urged, taking a swig of the sweet but burning drink they’d found in the treasury. After coughing a bit as it burned his throat, he kissed her cheek gently, causing Chipper to cough and roll his eyes.
“No, thanks. It’s been a long night. And Taylor promised I’d have a lot of work to do in the morning.” She smiled at Atlas. He beamed back, though his eyes were beginning to glaze over from the drink. Her cheeks flushed. Even though he had flaws, Atlas had a way of stirring another side of her to the surface. She felt stronger, more cunning with him. But another part wondered if she was changing too much.
“Suit yourself, wench,” Chipper answered for him.
Atlas shoved him slightly and stepped closer to Nova. “You sure? I could come with you if you don’t want to be alone.”
She smiled and placed a hand on the side of his cheek. It was comforting to know he wasn’t being indecent at all; she saw in his eyes he sincerely wanted to make certain she was all right. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.”
Atlas smiled and kissed her hand before rushing into the dining quarters.
Drunken, slurred words sang across the deck as she walked away from the celebration:
…Into the sky we roam, never to be known
Pillagin’, stealin’, killin’, all yer heads will roll
Rulin’ air and the lands, we’ll toss ‘em in the Below…
She stepped below to the sleeping quarters, feeling guilty for lying to Atlas. The brig was cold and damp. Mildew from condensation and the smell of body odor overwhelmed her. Three cells lined the dark room, but only one was in use. The moonlight showed a glint of Kale’s gold buttons over his blue navy coat. He sat on the dirty floor looking despondent, with his elbows propped up against his knees.
Nova took a deep breath and whisked a piece of her gold curls behind her ear. Clearing her throat, she stepped next to the bars of his cell.
“How are you?” she asked, biting her bottom lip in shame.
Kale lifted his head. His beautiful brown eyes were red from exhaustion, but when he saw her they blazed in fiery anger.
“Go away, pirate,” he growled.
Nova stepped back, trying to ignore the vehement disdain he pulsed toward her. “Look, I’m sorry this happened to you−ˮ
“Do you think because you stopped your mate from killing me that I would want to speak with you, or are you a simpleton?”
His words cut through her; part of her wanted to run away crying, but the angry darkness pushed her forward.
“I saved your life,” she said through clenched teeth.
Kale stood in a frenzy and pressed his face through the bars. “No, you ended my life. Either I choose the life of a dirty sky pirate who murders and destroys everything, or I’m shot. Either way, I am dead. You’re nothing but a scourge upon the skies, woman.”
Something flared inside Nova; she felt a heat rise into her face and her muscles trembled with fury. Kale’s forehead scrunched as he watched her and, slowly, he stepped away from the bars.
“What…” He didn’t finish his thought. His expression turned up in frightened confusion.
Ignoring his odd behavior, she lowered her voice. “You may find you need an ally on this ship, soldier,” she said darkly, feeling the overwhelming power fill her chest. She fought against the arrogance which wanted to prove to Kale how powerful she was. Her logic demanded she remain in control so she didn’t risk hurting him unintentionally. “Remember, not all of us are here freely, just like you.”
She felt his eyes on her back as she spun on her heel and angrily stomped up the stairs. She needed to clear her confused mind before she lost control. Nova took a deep breath, feeling less and less in charge of her thoughts and actions as the time passed. Something was quickly changing within her. With each passing day, the battle against her inward storm was harder to resist. As frightening as it was to admit, part of her wanted to stop fighting completely and embrace her inner darkness.
Chapter 16
The Dagger
The messenger bag hung low on her hip, and the dagger warming her thigh through the leather was strangely comforting. In the distance, silhouettes of small islands bobbed in the sky like floating boulders. The micro-islands were hazardous to ships, splitting enormous gashes in many hulls and even sinking several ships to the Below. For weeks more, micro-islands threatened the Star’s Vengeance, but Captain Smythe expertly skirted the treacherous rocks time and time again.
The merchant passageways near Mollem and Arbeiten saw few of the rogue islands, and the closer ships drew to the dark area simply named the Unknown, the more dangerous sky debris threatened the lives of sailors.
Nova hugged her small frame against the chill of the early dawn. The sun was barely peeking its bright, white head through the dreary cloud cover over the Below. She rested on the starboard rail of the Vengeance, looking into the distance. The Unknown was close. It was dark with rolling thunder clouds and walls of micro-islands blocking entrance to the uncharted territory. Tales of monstrous creatures swallowing ships in enormous jaws the size of a house had been whispered amongst the islands her entire life. Her father had always laughed them off when she’d come to him, wide-eyed with fear, after hearing a fearsome tale of the man-eating creatures ruling the Unknown.
“Nova, you worry far too much. There are no monsters I’d ever let take you from me,” he’d told her.
Nova brushed a stray tear from her cheek as she remembered the tender moments, sitting on his lap and listening to his wild tales of the Launi Kingdom. Seeing the frightening border so close now, she could almost imagine some fearsome creature snatching her right off the deck.
“What ye doin’ up here so early, lass?” Taylor asked from behind her.
The old man wiped the sleep from his eyes and gnawed on a hard slice of bread.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she answered, smiling. “I didn’t know we were so close to the Unknown. When the sun is up, it’s harder to see.”
“Aye,” Taylor agreed. He bent his back, cracking his knobby joints until every hinge was warmed up. “‘Tis a frightening place. But if we be caught by the navy, it be our fate.”
Nova scrunched her brows together. “What do you mean?”
Taylor belched and scratched his thin stomach before continuing. “Well, the pirates who don’t get lynched at Dieb end up workin’ for the miners of the Unknown border islands. Full of valuable minerals on those miniature rocks, if ye can survive the job. The foremen stay outside waiting for them pirate slaves to drag an island out of the Unknown with special ships. Then the miners send all the pirates back in for more while they chip out the valuables and trade ‘em to the merchants.
“It be the only way to keep the pirates from escapin’. Where would they go? Further into the Unknown only to be lost like the Scarlett Moon? Nay, better to mine the rocks and stay close to the border and live out a pitiful existence than fall prey to the creatures in there.”
Nova whipped around, her crystal eyes wide as she stepped closer to Taylor. “The Scarlet Moon? You mean Captain Phoenix’s ship? It went into the Unknown?”
Taylor seemed taken aback by her sudden int
erest. “Well, that got yer feet dancin’. Aye, legend says Phoenix sailed into the Unknown, and some say they seen the captain again, but I never saw such a thing. Daring men like Phoenix always want to be the first to discover new lands. Stupid fools,” he scoffed. “Gone and get themselves killed tryin’ to be a first.”
“And he never came back.” Nova felt wild exhilaration filling her veins as she hungrily yearned for more information on Phoenix.
“As I said, I never saw the Scarlett Moon after that, but others swore over their wives they seen Phoenix leave the Unknown.”
Nova’s eyes widened. “You know about Captain Phoenix. Taylor, you have to tell me everything you know.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “I ain’t gotta tell ye anythin’. I’m supposed to be teachin’ ye how to cross blades.”
She smirked. “What if I give you double my rum ration? Would you tell me about Phoenix then?” She smiled coyly, knowing every veteran pirate’s weakness.
Taylor glared at her and rubbed his bony thumb over the hilt of his cutlass. “Ye’ll make sure it’s got a little sprig of that sour stuff we took from the navy dogs?”
“Your wish is my command, sir,” Nova said bowing her head slightly.
“All right, all right ye bull-headed female,” Taylor said, resting his knobby hip against the rail. “All’s I know is the legends. Who’s to say if they be real or not? One thought has been that Phoenix died, and people just think they seen the Scarlett Moon; that’s what makes most sense to me. But there’s other talk that maybe he came back as an evil spirit, ye know; maybe some creature in the Unknown sent him back to do some dark bidding. And the soul they see captaining the ship is nothing more than an evil phantom of the real Phoenix.
“Perhaps that be why his legend is so whispered, so frightenin’. A pirate doin’ some demon’s dirty work. I wouldn’t steer into that ghost ship if ye paid me all the geldings in Launi.” Taylor shrugged his shoulders and swiped his sword across the air several times. “Now, let’s get to work.”
Her lungs were on fire after an hour fighting against Taylor. “I need to rest,” she gasped.
Taylor smiled and ladled lukewarm water from a wooden bucket, allowing it to dribble down his chin. “Ye are improvin’, lass.” Taylor paused as if thinking about how to word what he wanted to say. “Ye seem different lately. What is yer secret? Ye were terrible, but then ye take on that naval port two nights ago and ye seem to be fighting with another you inside.”
Hanging her head, she reached in the messenger bag and wrapped her hand around the hilt of the dagger. The jewels warmed beneath her palm as if they were alive and connected to her.
“She’s just got a great teacher, Taylor.” Atlas chuckled behind them and leaned against the opposite rail.
“Ye lazy bones are finally wakin’ up,” Taylor chided. “The sun’s been shinin’ for nearly an hour.”
“I’ve been up for a while now, but I was just admiring your work.” He teased and walked toward Nova.
Taylor chuffed. “Ye two will never pass as pirates, no matter how much I like ye. Too soft.” He pretended to be annoyed when Atlas slipped an arm around Nova’s curvy waist, but she knew he enjoyed their banter. “Ye didn’t answer me lass, ye seem different.”
Atlas eyed her cautiously, though she hadn’t shared with him what had changed even in the last few days. Since the naval port, her inner turmoil had only increased. It seemed to worsen when the ship veered closer to the Unknown, as if something about the dark barrier opened up the alter ego inside her. She’d felt stronger, more confident, but dangerously so. At times, Nova caught herself looking upon the other crew members as if they were nothing but small island flies she could squash with the flick of her hand. It scared her.
Nova had always been a kind person, thoughtful and loving. But something about the Vengeance, the Unknown, and the dagger was shaping her into someone entirely different.
“Ah, now I know somethin’ be troublin’ ye. I refuse to train ye another second if yer head ain’t in it, lass. Ye’ll get yerself killed,” Taylor said after she paused for too long.
“She’s fine, Taylor,” Atlas insisted.
Nova knew differently. She glanced at the hazy barrier out of the corner of her eye. The Unknown and the Below were brightened and didn’t seem as threatening under the happy sunlight. The peachy clouds drifted around them, hiding the gray, foreboding barriers of both mysterious places. But both the Unknown and the Below seemed to beckon to her inner darkness.
Tell him. The thought passed so quickly in her mind she almost missed it. Tell Taylor. It came again.
Her hand gripped around the dagger again and slowly she started lifting the weapon from her bag. “Taylor,” she began, “maybe you can help with something.”
“Nova,” Atlas warned, his eyes wide in disbelief.
“It’ll be fine,” she insisted. “I trust Taylor.”
She brought the dagger into the bright, morning light. The white sun radiated off the blue and silver jewels, creating a beautiful shimmer over their small piece of deck. She turned her back to the main deck, as more crew was stepping up from the sleeping quarters and tending to their duties.
Taylor’s eyes widened. “Where did ye get that, girl?”
“I think it’s my mother’s. I took it from my house when I ran away,” she said, the truth spilling out easily.
Taylor met her eyes. The gray color seemed to swirl in shock as he studied her.
“What is it, Gold-tooth?” Atlas said.
“I only heard of weapons such as this. Made up of jewels and gold. A blade so strong it can cut through anythin’, almost like magic. The king ‘imself would kill for somethin’ like this.”
“Taylor,” Nova said, her heart pounding harder against her chest with each anxious moment. “What kind of dagger is it?”
“Missy, ye need to keep it safe. But if I’m right, ye should only use this dagger in emergencies, ye hear me, girl?” Nova nodded, clutching the hilt and holding the dagger close to her chest as if it might disappear. “I believe this dagger be one of legends, a dagger of the Djinn temple.”
Nova held her breath, and studied the glittering jewels. Her thoughts whipped through her head. How did her mother get such a weapon?
“You don’t really believe that, do you, old man?” Atlas scoffed.
“Aye, and ye ought to believe in such powers, too, laddie, or ye might find yerself on the wrong side of the powers that be in Launi,” Taylor growled at Atlas before turning to face her. “Nova, this blade, if it be as powerful as I imagine, could make ye one of the most fearsome she-pirates in the skies. Imagine, lass, imagine all ye could do.” The old man chuckled maniacally.
“Wench, ain’t ye supposed to be swabbing the decks?” Kane shouted suddenly from behind them.
Slowly, Nova turned as he spit a long stream of brown muck and kicked a wooden pail toward her. She glared at him, wishing she could teach the nasty first mate a lesson.
Taylor stepped closer. “Time to return to pretenses. Ye’ll get yer chance to prove yerself, lass. Just bide yer time. Remember what weapon ye be holdin’ in them hands.”
He patted her arms before gathering his own blade and mumbling under his breath, occasionally laughing in disbelief before ducking below deck.
Nova’s hands trembled around the dagger as she slowly turned toward Atlas. “Become a fearsome pirate?” Her voice was small. She didn’t want to use the dagger as a pirate, but she also couldn’t deny the idea of the power appealed to a darker side of her.
Atlas’s expression brought her to a halt. At first glance, he appeared almost angry at Taylor’s declaration of her power. When he noticed her staring, his lips pulled into a soft smile before he covered her trembling hands with his.
“Probably best to put it away.”
Nova nodded and tucked the blade back into the leather bag, but she couldn’t help feeling as if Atlas was bothered by the strength of the dagger. She told herself it was because he wa
s worried for her safety, but she wondered if his darkened countenance was actual jealousy.
Atlas smiled before walking toward the quarter deck to join Chipper, who was leaning his drunken body against the helm.
“Ye heard, Kane witch,” Bartholomew, a squinty-eyed man with two scars across both eyebrows, snarled. “If this be my ship, I would slit a witch’s neck so fast, ye couldn’t call upon yer powers of the damned soon enough.”
Bartholomew wrapped one of his palms around her neck gently, caressing her pale skin. Nova glared at the open sky, fuming beneath the surface. She thought of something Taylor had shown her. In a fast, simultaneous movement, Nova ripped her cutlass from her belt, bent his arm behind his back with one hand, and had the tip of her sword pointed underneath his chin with the other.
Bartholomew looked at her in sudden fear, and other crewmen stopped to ogle at the confrontation. “Do you think it wise, Barty, to threaten a sky witch?” she whispered loudly enough for only him to hear. “Watch yourself, or I might have to cast one of my most wicked spells on you.”
Bartholomew’s rough face trembled under her intense gaze, but inside, she laughed at the absurdity of her statement. Finally releasing his arm and sheathing her cutlass, she allowed Bartholomew to rush away from her, watching as he stumbled slightly until he made his way below deck.
Nova turned and looked at the stunned spectators, feeling a rush of power as the dark wave of superiority brushed over her. “Anyone else want to tell me my duties?” she sneered at the men.
Everyone dropped their gaze and bustled back to their chores.
Nova chuckled and picked up the tipped pail. She glanced up at the helm and saw Atlas watching her. His eyes seemed worried, but also disappointed. Chipper shot daggers from his eyes in her direction as he led Atlas away toward the helm.
The fleeting arrogance seeped from her pores, leaving her ashamed of herself. Each day, she reveled in the dark power a little more, and from Atlas’s expression, she was different from the girl he’d first been drawn to. Something whispered to her heart—if the darkness kept growing she would lose him.