Moonlight Waves

Loyalties

   Roman and I make our way towards the brig, our warmed fingers interlaced. Robby and Charlie had to return to their duties a few moments ago, but Captain Dax called Ian, Roman and I to the brig to speak to Sí before we called it a night.
  A low rumble echoes through the ship and even makes it tremble a little bit. I stop in my tracks and a second later a loud clash breaks the silence of the foggy night.
  "That storm has finally caught up to us." I comment out loud.
  Roman merely nods his head and we continue on our way. When we get to the brig, Sí is sitting on the wood bench in her cell with one knee up and her other leg hanging off the side. She's staring out the side of the porthole into the darkness and looks perfectly casual sitting in her iron cell.
She hears us coming and she turns her head to look at us. For I second I think I see guilt in her eyes, but the look is gone in the next instant and replaced instead with a blank expression.
I sit down on a barrel right outside the door and Roman stands next to me leaning against the pole I'm using for a back rest. Ian stands to the side of the cell as Captain Dax approaches the barred door to talk to Sí.
"Miss Sígrun," Captain Dax addresses her, "Cal has placed a serious accusation against you. Care to defend yourself?"
"I ain't going to deny it if that's what you're asking." She answers.
I see Ian cross his arms angrily in the corner of my eye and I know that the boys probably feel the betrayal more than anyone. They accepted her into their group and trusted her, and they don't do that with just anybody.
"You admit you're one of the Widower's crew?" Captain Dax continues questioning her.
"Not just one of the crew," she says, a sad smile covering her face. "I'm Captain Nico's baby sister."
Now that's a shock.
My mouth drops open and I look up at Roman in disbelief. He meets my gaze and nods his head once, confirming it. Ian walks over and stands next to Roman and I, my own shock mirrored in his face. Though he's more angry than I am.
I'm angry, sure. I'm angry that she kidnapped my boyfriend then left him with pirates. I'm angry that she knew all along where the Widower was headed and didn't say a word. I'm angry that she lied to us and used us. I'm angry that she was planning the entire time to raid my home. And I'm angry that she could've gotten the boy I loved killed.
But I also realize we have an advantage now. We have Captain Nico's sister. She's got to mean something to him, right? So we now have an upper hand by having her as our captive now.
If only I'd figured out who she was months ago, we could've planned a prisoner exchange and called it a day. Though I doubt if Captain Nico would've just let us sail away, he doesn't seem like one to uphold his end of a deal.
"You were scouting out Crescent Island for your brother then?" Captain Dax asks her, drawing me from my thoughts.
"Yeah," she answers, not even trying to lie. "We got word that the King's treasury is on your island, but I didn't see anything while I was there. I was hoping to scope the place out a little longer, but you guys were leaving and I didn't want to take the chance of you heading to the kings true treasury without me."
Captain Dax doesn't flinch or give away anything that he knows what she's talking about, but Roman, Ian, and I exchange a look.
It would seem were right in our speculations.
"What can you tell us about the Widower's defenses?" Ian asks.
"I can't tell you that." She answers quietly, her gaze fixed on the bench where the wood is splintering.
"If you felt any sort of remorse for lying and betraying us, you'd help us." I tell her.
She looks up to meet my gaze and I'm surprised to see her eyes shining with tears. "I'm sorry, I truly am. But some old loyalties are stronger than the new ones."
"But sometimes the new ones make the old ones obsolete." I retort.
She looks confused for a second and that's when I realize she's been a pirate for who knows how long. She probably doesn't know what the word 'obsolete' means. But she seems to get the jist of its meaning.
"I'm being honest when I say I was the happiest I've been in a long time when I was on the Moonlighter." Sí continues, "Here with you guys and your tight nit family."
"You still would've been accepted here in this family if you'd been honest with us when we first picked you up out of the sea." Roman speaks up, "You could've saved lives instead of taking them."
That last comment seems to push Sí's waterworks over the edge and she starts to cry. She looks down at the floor to hide her tears and I start to get up to go to her when I stop myself, remembering the situation we're in.
"I'm sorry." She sobs quietly one last time.
Captain Dax catches our attention and motions for us to follow him. We are exiting the brig when Sí calls after us.
"What are you going to do with me now?"
Captain Dax turns around to face her and pulls his hat off his head and runs his fingers on the inside of its brim before placing it back on his head and answering her.
"I don't know." He says almost sadly, "I don't know."

We all convene afterwards in the captain's cabin. Rain has started to fall, creating a soft patter-patter sound as it hits the ship. The ship has started to sway more as the wind pushes the sea around and the lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the cabin cast eerie shadows on the walls.
"We have the upper hand now." I say, finally breaking the silence that's been going on for too long now.
"We're not going to use Sí as leverage." Ian says, "We'd be just as bad as them."
"We don't have to right away." I continue, "I'm just saying that if things aren't going our way we can let Captain Nico know that we have his sister."
"We don't want to put her in any danger, no matter what she has done." Roman says.
"We're not going to hurt her so she wouldn't be in danger from us. You think her brother would hurt her?" I ask.
"I don't know what to think." Captain Dax suddenly snaps at us all, but his eyes are on me.
We're all taken aback for a moment and I feel like I've been reprimanded. My face flushes and I feel like crawling under the desk.
Captain Dax sighs and walks slowly over to his desk where maps are still laid out and stares blankly past them.
"I'm sorry." He apologizes to me, "I'm just a little tired."
Roman steps closer to me and lays a hand on my shoulder.
"Maybe we should call it a night." Roman suggest, even though I'm pretty sure we're into the early hours of "tomorrow". "We'll keep Sí in the brig for now and sleep on it."
Everyone nods their heads in agreement and Roman and I leave the cabin, stepping out into the rain. The first cold droplet hits my face and Roman and I run down the steps to below deck. We've just gotten dry and have no intention of getting wet again so soon.