Beyond

Day 14

"So what did you do this time?" Green Coat asked, cutting into Haiv's brooding.

Sure, now he decides he wants to chat. Right when Haiv is in the middle of rethinking the course of his entire childhood. He had grown up believing his father had loved him. Even though Hailoh expected so much, he had still been caring and compassionate. A couple crewmembers who'd known Hailoh had even told Haiv his father was better at the job than their own. Haiv had taken that with pride.

Idiot.

Green Coat kept talking. "Must have been something bad or they wouldn't have strung you up like that."

Haiv finally raised his head to look at the cell across from him. Rodigan had brought Haiv down here last night, after thinking good and hard about what torment would be the most delightful to inflict. Apparently that meant hanging Haiv's manacles on a hook in the sealing. His toenails just scratched the floor. The first few hours had been the worst. Pain tracing through Haiv's wrists and arms. His wounds screaming as his weight pulled on them.

Now he couldn't feel much except a dull ache and a tingling in his fingertips. He suspected if the captain let him stay there too long, Haiv's hands would simply fall off.

Green Coat stood, leaning against the slats of his cell. He'd stuck his arms through two of the gaps and studied Haiv through a mane of frizzled hair. "So I take it the mutiny didn't go well, did it?"

Haiv glared at the navy man, then realized he had a point. If he'd never gone through with the mutiny, he wouldn't be in this mess. Spir would still be alive.

But he would still believe his father was a saint. He wouldn't know he was a slave.

"No," Haiv croaked, his throat dry.

"Well," Green Coat grumbled, "you're lucky you weren't killed, boy."

"Wish I was." Haiv's heart twinged a bit with the words, not sure if they were true. But he'd spoken them, and now could not take them back.

Green Coat fell silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, it was in a hesitant whisper. "Are we really sailing to Beyond?"

"Yes." Neck exhausted, Haiv let his head fall forward again. The urgency fueling the mutiny seemed pointless now. So what if Rodigan wanted to get to Beyond? Haiv didn't even know what he wanted to do there. So what if the captain used and abused his crew to get what he wanted? None of it seemed to matter anymore. Nothing did.

Green Coat let out a breath. "Auru's Souls."

That about summed it up.

"So what's the plan?"

"What plan?"

"Well, we can't just sit here and let your captain sail us to the land of the dead."

Haiv snorted. "I already tried that. I failed. There ain't nothing we can do about it."

Green Coat fell silent. Finally.

For all Haiv knew his father would keep them stranded in the middle of the ocean until they all starved to death. Or until Rodigan gave Haiv the necklace. Why? What was so important about the soulless necklace anyway? Somehow it was directing their path towards Beyond. And why did it glow? Souls, Haiv didn't even know if the glowing was real or just all in his head.

It doesn't matter anymore, he reminded himself. Spir was dead, Haiv's father had sold him into slavery, and none of the crew had made any attempt to help him. What did Haiv have left to care about?

But he was still curious. An annoyingly naive part of him hoped that his father had a bigger plan. Something to do with the amulet. He knew better than that, but still...he dared to hope. Mostly because it just plain didn't make sense. How could his father go from a loving, protective, nurturing man to a slave trader?