My heart sinks. She thinks my father is here to help them and I feel pure fear for her.
Other people are daring to appear from their homes now too. What are they doing? Do they think this is safe? My heart beats so loudly it’s deafening. They’re all in danger. No, no, no. Don’t bring your children out. Get back inside. Hurry.
My father shoots first. Lazily he lifts his pistol, the bullet passing straight through the old man’s head. The woman springs back in horror and starts to scream. Then all I can hear is a murderous chorus. Screams. Crying. Pleading. Begging. My father doesn’t even need to issue an order; his crew quick to take his lead.
The villagers are slaughtered in less time than it takes for my father to plunder their remaining supply of crystal – all that they had left to trade for food. They won’t need either now.
My mind is a tempest of horrors, my thoughts tossed around in nightmarish fragments, but finally one thought pushes through to make itself heard. Run.
I have only minutes – the time it’ll take the crew to gather up anything of value – to return to the ship and make sure my presence here goes undiscovered. Scrambling to my feet, I stumble and slide as I race back towards the shore.
They killed them. They killed all of them. Defenceless, unarmed innocents. Children . . .
I shake my head. I can’t think about that now. I have to hurry, but I trip over myself as urgency propels me faster than my body can go. Tears are clouding my vision and I wipe them furiously away as I try to keep to my path. Finally the Maiden comes into view and I dive recklessly into the sea. My mind screams with panic at being in the water but I press on, knowing some things are more terrifying than the ocean, clambering up the side of the ship and collapsing on to deck before managing to hurry back to my cabin unnoticed.
Only when I’ve changed my wet undergarments for my dress, and rubbed my hair as dry as possible do I allow myself a moment to breathe and it’s then that a sob escapes my lips. I press my hand to my mouth hard, silencing the sound, panic rising like sickness up my throat.
They killed them all. Even the children.
I knew my father was a ruthless man, but I thought he’d limit his cruelty to depriving them of their crystal. To slaughter an entire settlement? That was beyond what I’d thought him capable of. Finally I understand what a fool I’ve been.
I believed that the Viper existed to protect. Lethal? Yes. Morally questionable? Most definitely. But always to defend the innocent. It is this fundamental core value that I have clung to.
Now I see that we have become nothing more than common thieves and murderers. Brutal killers who take whatever we please, helping no one but ourselves. I cannot become one of them. I won’t.
I hear the crew coming aboard the ship. My presence will be required to greet the returning party and I try to arrange my face into a neutral expression, then check my hair. It’s still a little wet, but hopefully won’t raise too many suspicions. No one would believe I’d willingly go near water anyway. It’ll be much harder to keep my anger and contempt masked.
As I make my way up to deck, a jolt of movement beneath tells me we’ve already weighed anchor, my father apparently not keen on staying here any longer. That makes two of us – if I never return to this awful place again, that would be fine with me.
When I reach the open air I see most of the crew are splattered with blood. My father is striding in my direction, deep in conversation with Cleeve and Bronn. Grace walks slightly behind them.
‘Welcome home, Captain,’ I say as is my duty. ‘Did you have a successful journey?’ You murderous bastard.
He doesn’t answer – in fact, I think he’s going to walk straight past me – but then he pauses as he takes in my appearance, his eye lingering on my damp hair. He says nothing, just carries on, but the slight smirk he gives me as he sweeps past nearly destroys me. In that moment I understand I’ve been played for a fool. My father knew I’d disobey him, knew I would follow them to the settlement. Which means that everything that just happened was intended for me. He wanted me to see the slaughter, wanted me to see that there was no limit to his cruelty. And he wanted to drive home to me the reach of his power, that he’s as fearful on land as he is at sea.
Grace avoids me altogether and I understand that she too was part of Father’s plan. A warning that even those who are important to me ultimately belong to him. To open my eyes to what even my closest friend is truly capable of. A painful reminder that her loyalty lies with him, and not with me. It hurts to be forced to admit that she belongs to a world I do not, and that I must leave her behind. But I’ll have to come to terms with it. Because the next time I get off this boat I don’t intend to come back.
I need to escape, but I have to wait for the right moment – and in the meantime I can’t arouse further suspicion. The easiest way to do this is to continue preparing for my Initiation, which I assume my father means to happen before he marries me off. As far as I know there’s still no date set for the wedding, not that anyone would necessarily tell me if there was. Channelling my energy into my training gives me purpose through the long hours at sea, and as my body strengthens so does my mind. Every ability I perfect will be vital to my eventual survival away from the Maiden and that knowledge drives me hard.
Though I would be happiest focusing purely on combat, that would mean spending a lot of time with Grace, and since she returned from the Sixth Isle I’ve been doing my best to stay away from her. Fortunately Initiation requires other areas of study, and after one particularly gruelling session climbing up and down the rigging, my skirt constantly tripping me up, my hair flying in my face, I head to the cargo hold in search of our cooper. He’s a master at repairing the essential wooden barrels that contain everything from food and water to treasure, and it’s a craft I need to work on. We call him Cooper – though I honestly don’t know if this is coincidentally his name or if it’s just the nickname he earned from his talent. Either way, he’s good with his hands, which are as deadly as they are skilled.
It’s gloomy down in the hold, and it takes a while for my eyes to adjust, but it’s soon apparent Cooper isn’t here. I’m about to leave when a noise stops me. It sounds like a dog whimpering, but there are none on board. Something’s not right, and I quickly scan Cooper’s tools for his broadaxe, pulling it out of the barrel it’s resting in. It feels reassuringly heavy in my hand as I head towards the sound.
Toby is on the floor. He’s been beaten, his right eye already swollen shut and a steady trickle of blood coming from his nose. Cleeve is bent over him, his arm raised to land another blow.
The broadaxe has left my hand before I even think of the consequences, pinning Cleeve’s arm to the wall by his sleeve. He stares at the blade, which is alarmingly close to his flesh, and yanks it free, spinning round to face me, his expression nothing short of murderous.
‘Leave him alone or I’ll make you regret it.’ And despite it being unlikely I can carry out the threat, I wholeheartedly mean it.
‘You bitch,’ he says, his voice a growl. ‘You dare interfere in my business?’
‘It is my business what happens on this ship. One day it’ll be mine.’ A stupid thing to say when I plan to escape, but it spills out before I have a chance to stop it.