The Maelstrom

Chapter 16: Betrayal

"You were telling the truth." Deep within the walls of the castle of Fha rested a small medical center. Small was but a comparison to the size of the city however; in any other lands this center would be considered a village in itself. Medicine men, shamans, apothecaries, alchemists, and even witches settled within the buildings that dotted the area. Different people from across the Seas of Nine came together to advance their crafts and be accepted amongst one another; if one practice was unsuccessful there would be ten others to try.

One of these buildings laid claim by the Queen's navy as a place to recuperate and rejuvenate the soldiers at her command. The best healers of the city resided and worked together in this building. Their current patient was someone once thought dead, turned missing, and now returned. "I would not have risked me life and crew if I wasn't." Gabriel stood over Kietsaru's bed, holding her hand tightly. Across from him was Elizabeth who stood next to Grog. The three of them looked down at the tired and weakened young woman.

"It-it was horrible." Kietsaru let loose labored coughs as Gabriel helped her sit up. "Brotha, you-"

Gabriel took his hooked hand and moved some loose strands aside from the girl's face. "I saw a monster before me, not me sister." He said in a saddened tone.

Elizabeth reached a hand forward, placing it upon her daughter's forearm. "How did you survive?" She said softly, rubbing her thumb across Kietsaru's skin.

Kietsaru pulled her arm away from the Queen. "Don't touch me." She said turning to look at Gabriel. "How did I get here? Why we be in Fha?"

Elizabeth jerked her hand up to her face, biting her finger to hold back tears. Grog reached his good arm around the Queen and pulled her close and into his comfort. "We need their help..." The caretaker spoke softly, holding his old lover in his arm. "..against those monsters in the Maelstrom."

"So we be working with an enemy to take down another?" Kietsaru snapped back in a sarcastic yet angered tone. "What if she turns on us? Then we be fighting two armies!" The young girl glared at Elizabeth and spit at her. "Get out of me sight."

Elizabeth stood in shock as she was spat on. Half her mind told her to raise a hand to the girl, and the other half told her to cry. Her body was caught somewhere in the middle; tears ran down her face as the back of her hand swept across Keitsaru's face. "Don't you dare speak of me like that!" Grog and Gabriel stood in shock at what just happened, even Kietsaru held her cheek and in awe. When the realization of what Elizabeth had done washed over her body the woman took a step back. "Kietsaru, I-"

Grog moved himself between the two women and looked down at Keitsaru. "She be no enemy las." He glanced back at his lover and then back to his crew mate. "There be no more enemies. This be not the time for hatred amongst ourselves." The old pirate sighed softly and looked between the three as he spoke. "If ye wanting to tear each other limb from limb; do it after that damned army be sunk below the Sea." With that Grog turned and left the room, his nerves could not handle the bickering no more.

Elizabeth reached out to Grog as he stepped away but her hand was brushed off. "Grog, wait!" She looked back at Gabriel with eyes of worry.

The pirate captain gave a soft nod to the Queen. "Go, I'll stay here." Elizabeth nodded in return and ran out the room after Grog.

Once the two were out of the building Keitsaru slowly turned to sit upon the edge of her bed. Her eyes glanced about the room as she let out a chuckle. "Mother hasn't changed one bit. Still so hot headed and emotional."

Gabriel pivoted on his heel and walked toward a nearby window, leaning upon it with hand and hook. "I admire her. Time has proven itself rough upon her soul. Her family be lost two her twice, her city crumbled to ashes, yet she still follow the goal to protect her people." Gabriel could see through the window Elizabeth was quick to catch up to Grog; his mind played with several scenarios of what they were discussing. "Grog as well, both of them have gone through hell and back."

Kietsaru looked down at the floor and grinned. "Their spirits be strong, but their minds are clouded." She said turning her head to look up at Gabriel's back. "When this war ends, there still will be no peace between our kind." A dark grin pursed the young woman's lips as she slowly stepped off the bed. "Father knew that, and so do ye."

Gabriel looked out as the sky turned shades of yellow and orange from the setting sun. "He was never our father, he was just a monster who molded us. His greed and pride are what lead him to his grave. It was the same greed and pride that lead us to where we be now. I be the cause of this, but I can be the one to fix it. I won't be following in that man's footsteps."

Kietsaru made her way across the room and wrapped her arms around Gabriel's waste. "Ye took on his name, ye took his legacy, why change now? Ye can rule the seas." She said resting her head against Gabriel's back.

Gabriel let out a soft chuckle as he felt the warmth and comfort of his sisters embrace. "That storm changed me, opened me eyes. I let myself believe that he was the right man. I believed he be the one to never leave me like the others did, but he clouded my memories. I've been realizing the right answer laid before me all this time." The large Captain watched as Grog and Elizabeth disappeared into the distance outside. "I am Gabriel, I am not Captain Raines."

Keitsaru's hand inched down to the holster that held Gabriel's flintlock pistol. "The storm changed me too Brotha." She said with a darkened grin. "It made me realize things as well. I realized that you are the only obstacle."Quickly the girl pulled the flintlock from Gabriel's holster and raised it under the large man's chin. "Long live the king." Before Gabriel could react the sound of gunfire rang out from within the building, yet would fall upon deaf ears...

....as an explosion lit up the darkening night from the docks.