by S. K Munt
‘There are people that will grovel at my feet without questions asked, and those that would shake their fist at me in defiance until their last, and I only have interest in the latter. You, Martya, Sam, Bastien... you are the fist shaking kind, and you are powerful for it. If this particular Adonis were not angry with me right now for all the ways he thinks I have disappointed him, I’d think him a fool, so I’m glad for his defiance because it has kept him hot with anger and alive!’
But if he’s so defiant, then who’s to say that my helping him won’t just give him more leverage to attack me in hot blood?
‘Because I have seen inside his soul, Larkin. I have been inside his head: everything that he yearns for in life can be provided to him by forming an alliance with you, and when you save his beloved ship, he will know it.’ She sighed when my thoughts were immediately coloured by skepticism. Perhaps she misunderstood how mad he was with her, or how helpless I felt, to be so certain that this would end well for any of us. ‘No, I’m not. I have not caused the blizzard and I cannot intervene- he overestimates my powers in those regards, and so he is raging at me for things that I cannot control. However, if he’d listened to me and set forth on this mission six months ago like I asked him to, he would have found an easier path to believing in me! But like with you, I could not force him to do anything against his will, and I cannot reverse the winter I created when I was at my most powerful while I am already so exhausted, but YOU can counteract it for all of us! And you are right to believe that you must act quickly- some of the hearts of his men are beginning to fail!’
I hear what you’re saying, but defrosting his boat won’t change the fact that we’re all freezing to death! So are we to sail off on it after, or what?
‘Or what…’
Satan!
‘You’re saving the boat because it is his greatest love and if it is destroyed, he will be ruined with it. However as far as your destination is concerned, stop worrying about what will happen if you follow your instincts, and just follow your bloody instincts to their destination! I have seen only snatches of your future, I don’t have co-ordinates and a map for you to follow!’
How do I know that you aren’t just manipulating my instincts for me? Making them play a tune that you’ve orchestrated?
‘Do you think you’d still be stuck in the fucking ice with a bunch of backwards vagrants to attest for my glory if I was? No! I’d be in my own damn body on earth somewhere warm and candlelit asking permission to board Captain Delicious, and you’d be sent to your room for all of your backtalk! Sam too! You tell him every second he spends trying to talk you out of following your instincts is another second I’m going to keep him and his soul dangling on the line for!’
I didn’t know you still craved that kind of thing, I thought, ignoring the comments about Sam. I thought you were off men for eternity?
‘You too, and yet you added to the ice with your drool when you first laid eyes on him too.’ I flushed and heard her chuckle. I hated the fact that both she and Sam now knew that I’d optically approved of the varlet that had done nothing so far but prove how ugly he was on the inside. ‘Oh it’s nothing to be ashamed of, Larkin- women can’t help but long for a hero, and the more pleasantly-shaped they are, the more intense the longing. You might not think you’ll ever crave the touch of a man again, but Sam’s right- you will… just not until you’ve worked out how to be your own hero first. And that pirate there will throw himself into a stampede for the right woman, so I encourage you to play up to that if given the opportunity!’
He’s a romantic? Ha! He hides it well!
‘He does, but calling him merely a romantic is the understatement of a century! He has had one great love and although it ended badly, and incredibly sadly- it has defined him. He turned to me not in the face of some tragedy, but because he wanted me to heal the hole inside him that her absence created- the hole that God could not or would not heal. ’
Iana?
‘You get a hole in one. ’
I wrinkled my nose. You’re asking the wrong person to use her feminine wiles against a man, Satan.
‘No I’m asking my daughter, remember? If I could seduce a goody two-shoes like Bastien Birch for the good of mankind, you can wrap one measly pirate around your hot little finger, can’t you?’
I snorted, and that snapped me out of my momentary reconnaissance and alerted my attention to the fact that the sailor that I’d set on fire was now being rolled around in the snow and was probably going to be fine. Martya and Sam had dragged me a few feet back with Gabby’s help, but my people had rushed forward to surround me and were screaming advice into my ears, while the pirates that weren’t helping their friend or moving to shield their captain were hollering out things like ‘Demon!’ while pointing my way. It was almost impossible for me to focus on any one thing amidst all of that chaos, but I looked for the wolf to see if it had survived, and dropped my jaw when I saw that it had grabbed the fallen pirate’s crossbow in his teeth and was now dragging it backwards across the snow- towards me!
‘As I was a soul...’ Sam’s voice was audible, even if it was still somewhat croaky due to his disguise. ‘Lark… that’s the same one that’s attacked us twice now! Have you been training the bloody thing on your free time?’
But I couldn’t answer him, because I was looking at the pirate Captain again. He had been looking from me to his men to his ship with stupefaction as I had been looking from him to my own, but the wolf’s movements snagged his attention as it had mine so he twisted to track its actions with his eyes, and the look on his face when the animal dropped the weapon at my feet was priceless. He looked up at me after, brow furrowed in absolute bewilderment, but I tore my eyes away and smiled at the dog instead, accepting another packet of jerky off Arial and holding it out to the wolf who came over, snatched it right out of my hand- and then trotted off to a safe distance so that it could eat while watching the pirates warily.
Looks like I’d found a male that I could count on after all. Inoborna had the pirate called it? I didn’t know what that meant, but I liked the way it sounded and just like that, I named my very first pet.
21.
The Wildlands
Larkin
‘Enough of this insanity!’ the Captain’s booming voice caused us all to flinch, and I steeled myself when I saw that he was striding across the snow towards me again. ‘Who are you, kid? One of her Nephilim leeches? Is it only wolves and fire you control, or will you change into a bat now and suck us dry too?’
‘Leech?’ I repeated, breaking away from my own ranks so that I could meet him in the centre of the divide. ‘Leeches and bats drain life from things, Captain; but I am offering to restore your will to live! All I ask for is your promise that no harm will come to us if I do!’
The captain laughed. ‘You want me to promise that no harm will come to you? We are all currently covered in winter’s breath, and freeing my ship won’t change that!’
Larkin wait! I’m picking up on some stuff now! Memories of his hands covered in blood! Visions of you covered in it too! He’s plotting your death, and your little pyrotechnic display only further convinced him that you are a demon that is deserving of one!
‘From you, Captain,’ I was listening to Sam, but I couldn’t respond and talk out loud at once. ‘I want you to swear to me that if you are given this second chance at life, and that if I restore your faith in Satan, no harm will come to me or my people or another innocent again, thanks to you.’
What good is his word? Sam demanded. He’s a pirate, Larkin! He despises Nephilim, Arcadians, anyone that aligns themselves wholeheartedly with Satan OR God... and the only reason why he wanted to come this far north to begin with is because he’s determined to attack Arcadia from the closest range possible!
How do you know that? Satan just told me that he’s a big ol’ romantic that’s looking to fill a hole inside him thanks to losing his love! Didn’t you hear her?
I didn’t hear a bl
oody thing, and I don’t know anything about his great loves, but that pirate is finally entertaining fantasies about what he would do if he had that second chance, so I can see all of his plans, past and present, rather clearly right now and none of them seem to involve cuddling up to anyone, but stabbing people through the heart!
But my mother swore-
She’s probably lying to you to get her own way because she suspects- rightfully- that you will rebel if you realise that this pirate is looking to start a war!
My blood began to cool again. With Calliel?
More specifically, with Arcadia. From what I can tell, Satan promised him that he’d attain every personal success that his heart could desire, yes, but his most pressing desire is to bring Arcadia down, and Satan promised him it would be easier to do once he found a safe harbour closer to his enemy’s territory- which you now know is right here! Once he discovers that he can sail south through that canyon and come out just north of Eden, near The Factory and bypass Arcadia’s checkpoints while he’s at it, he’ll start a war!
And do you honestly think that’s what Satan wants?
It has to be! She knows you won’t start one against her enemy of your own volition, so she’s linked you to someone who will!
Fuck! Why the dogged determination to take them down? To prove himself to Captain Kingslater, or to her?
He thinks that Elijah Barachiel ordered his father’s death, and because the assassin was successful, his son has been plotting his revenge since he became one of Kingslater’s captains and got a ship of his own! He’ll kiss your ass if you save his neck today, I’m sure of it, but the second you make it clear that you won’t support him in his quest, he will turn on you too!
How do you know that? Maybe he’ll just be grateful for the fact that I helped him as best as I could-
Because this is a blood feud, Larkin, and pirates take them seriously! The blood will keep spilling until the vengeance has been extracted, and anyone that doesn’t help them is going to be considered to be an enemy too!
So what do I do?
I don’t know! But you can’t do a thing to help him until you make it clear that he will owe you after, and not the other way around!
‘Before I agree to anything, even allowing you to entertain me with your paltry little fire show, I must know- are you citizens of Arcadia? Because if you are, you are natural enemies of mine!’
‘We are refugees from Calliel and regions surrounding it!’ I retorted, taking my hood off my head. ‘We have fled the Barachiel’s rule and seek somewhere that we can live in peace outside of it! And if you try and take that peace away from us- for any reason- we will fight back!’
‘And Hel has led you here?’ I nodded and he smirked. ‘What a benefactress she has proven to be for both of us, no? She asks for your loyalty- and gives frostbite in return!’ He scowled. ‘We will die as fools, whether it as at one another’s hands or kneeling at winter’s icy feet, and God will laugh at us!’
‘Satan has saved my life a dozen times over in the last week, Captain- and the lives of everyone here, and is now encouraging me to extend that same kindness to you.’ I cleared my throat. ‘Mock her, if you’d like, or denounce her- but if you don’t give me the chance to do what she cannot, then you will die a fool sooner than you think- as will your men!’
I saw the pirate’s jaw lock in anger, but he looked back at his miserable, huddled and frosted crew and then back to me before throwing up his hands. ‘Fine, oh miracle-worker, you have your deal! Restore my will to live again, and no harm shall ever come to an innocent on my order… once I’ve settled my score with Arcadia, that is!’
I glanced over at Sam, who was shaking his head, then to the dwindling fires around his boat, then back to the pirate. ‘This isn’t a negotiation, Captain! You will swear to me that no harm will come to anyone at your hand- or by your men’s- from the moment I restore your will to live, or I won’t lift a finger to help you!’
‘But my will to live is tied in with my need for vengeance against Elijah Barachiel!’ The captain swept out his hands, but I could see that they were trembling with the cold now too. ‘So until he’s dead, I will kill whoever tries to stand between me and the justice that I plan to exact!’ He arced his arm around so that he was pointing the tip of his scimitar at me. ‘That includes you, whether you help me or not.’
A sudden thrill paired with that relentless chill made my body tingle all over. Heart pounding, I stepped closer to the captain again. ‘S-so the moment Elijah Barachiel is dead, you will cease to seek reparations against the people who protect and worship him as well as my own? Do I have your word on that, Captain?’
Iana! Make him swear on his love for Iana!
The boat?
The boat was named for the woman he loved, and her name is to him what God’s is to a zealot!
Ahhh… thank you!
‘Yes fine,’ the captain waved his sword. ‘I don’t see what it is you can do with your balls of fire if those actual fires we built haven’t done a thing to help but-’
‘Swear on it!’ I repeated. ‘Swear on your love for Iana, that I can hold you to your vows, and I will show you a miracle indeed!’
‘Satan promised me a lot more than defrosting my boat!’
‘Those promises will be hers to keep! The deal that I am making with you right now is my own!’
‘Fine!’ The captain looked beyond amused, but he stopped and bowed before looking up at me. ‘I swear on Iana’s name- and my own- that I will never harm another innocent… once Elijah Barachiel is dead.’
I smiled, and I heard my people begin to whisper amongst themselves behind me as they too realised what I was doing. ‘And what name would that be, Captain…?’
‘Kingslater,’ the pirate said. ‘Cairo Kingslater, at your service.’
The whispering behind me became a series of choked cries and exclamations, and although a shudder ran through me, I swallowed hard and tried to blot out Sam’s voice, who was now screaming at me inside my mind for me to turn and run while Cairo grinned at me knowingly, not unlike a wolf. He knew his name was enough to send a chill into anyone’s heart- especially a small, girlish one.
Paris and Cairo! Great cities from the past! Sam gripped my wrist, making his own terror obvious. You’re either dealing with Kingslater’s son, or his brother, right?
But I’d already figured that out and now, my brain was frantically raking through everything that he had already revealed about himself, and everything that Satan had revealed for him. ‘Elijah Barachiel killed your father, Paris?’ I asked, wetting my lips. ‘When? As far as everyone in Arcadia knows, he has been alive and terrorising our seas relentlessly since his last invasion!’
Cairo’s face constricted as he straightened. ‘Your king played up his half of the lie, so I have played ours: no one has spoken of my father’s death because as far as Elijah knows, his assassin perished before he could and I did not think it wise to enlighten them otherwise. And how could it be said that Captain Kingslater is dead…’ he swept his arm, gesturing to himself before bowing slightly again like a dancer ‘...while I am clearly alive and well?’
You mean alive and about to die because you’re not so well? Sam thought, and I snorted gently.
‘You inherited his title?’ I guessed, but immediately regretted it.
‘No, I earned my title!’ the pirate pushed through the last few metres of mist towards me, expression infuriated but no less dazzling for it. ‘Pirates don’t have a monarchical system in place, little Arcadian refugee, we aren’t as stupid as to hand power over to the next in line but to the most capable, and since I was thirteen I have been-’ but then his eyes dropped to mine, his handsome features contorted and his pupils dilated. ‘Jesus Christ!’ He ducked his head. ‘Forgive me! Jeg sverger meg selv til deg! Ta meg i armene din vakre jente!’
And then he dropped to his knees in the snow, took my cloak in his hands and KISSED it, and my jaw plummeted along with his airs, graces an
d bravado. A hush fell over that white wilderness as the massive captain hit the ice, but outraged babble- from his side- erupted seconds later, as they all began to shuffle forward and demand to know what the hell was going on- a sentiment I shared.
Jes- What? I blinked rapidly as he clutched at my cloak, trying to ignore the fact that whatever he’d just said had sounded pretty bloody poetic, even though there was a good chance he’d only said: ‘You stepped in wolf shit. Let me rub it off with your cloak.’
‘H-Hey...’ I stuttered, trying to snatch my cloak back out of the pirate’s grasp, but he relinquished it only to snatch up another part of it, which he kissed reverently. ‘Wh-what are you doing? What language are you speaking? Get up! You’re being foolish!’
I swear myself to you! Take me in your arms beautiful girl! Sam said, coming to my side, and I looked at him, mouth open.
THAT’S what he said? How do you know?
It was Norwegian, and I know some Norwegian.
How?!
I’ve travelled a lot, and while foreign languages are banned within God’s Kingdoms, they are encouraged outside of it. I’m not fluent in anything, but thoughts have feelings that I can anchor to various words, in various tongues, and that helps certain things stick in my memory. Like I said before, the Kingslaters like to pretend their Norse history is still alive and well even though it’s been irrelevant for centuries, and so they try to keep the language alive in the uncivilised world, especially amongst the pirates. Case in point- that was Viking-era woo that he just dribbled out. If my father had just thrown yourself at your feet, he would babbled something in Gaelic.
Impressive. But… I stared back down at the pirate, mind reeling. Why has he gone from threatening to kill me to coming onto me? What changed? I haven’t even tried to thaw out the ice yet!
What do you think? His eyesight changed, that’s what- he zoomed in and beheld the glory that is Larkin of Nowhere: up-close and in her snow-speckled wonder. Now instead of being a fortress of testosterone, he’s a fucking puddle of it.