Eyes of the Sun and Sea

v.

The door between us is but a lie. Its aged wood is the only thing keeping me from returning to the room. The fragile ounce of self-control that I cling to is hanging on by a thread. Like cracks in a mirror, one pin drop is all it takes for me to shatter. 

As I grapple for sanity, my mind betrays me. The image of her sprawled out on the bed runs in a continuous loop, repeating over and over. The sheer power of having her at my mercy, hearing the stifled cries of pain, feeling the heat rise to her skin. How her full lips parted in rapture as the remainder of poison filled my mouth. How her twisted hands relaxed in the frail bonds I created from my torn blouse. 

Anger ripples through me at this newfound hunger. I crave control over this, but a twinge of fear licks at my consciousness. This is her ruir. It has to be. 

A small fire slides along my calloused hand, the burn of her skin against mine as I held her down is almost too much. I clench my hand into a fist, the tic in my jaw spasming as my rage intensifies. Prying my back from the door, I force the boiling rage down to a pathetic simmer. I won't last a day on her ship should this continue. As if I am some starved beast that has tasted of meat for the first time. 

Pathetic. 

I rub a hand down my face before bending to grab her belt of weapons and scabbard. Each step I take is brutal, but as I tear down the stairs my mind slowly clears. The fog of her fades into welcomed nothingness. With staggered steps I stumbled through the semi-emptied bar and out the front door only to be met with rain cascading from the skies. It is a baptism, freeing me from her possession. I lift my face up to the darkness, sighing as droplets gently kiss my hot face. Cooling me... Sedating me. 

Even with such a brief meeting, me saving her life isn't enough to gain passage on her ship. I need time to think, to figure out how to turn whatever this is... off. She will remain where she is until I decide otherwise. Locked in the room. Tied to the bed like a pig ready for the slaughter. 

My lips quirk slightly at this. To be the one to break the Queen of the Black Seas...

A novice might falsely believe leaving her three days alone with no food and no water would be enough. But I am no novice and she isn't just any woman.

Ideas stream through my mind, each one worse than the last. Without her guidance, I am lost to the seas. With her, I am lost to her. Simply taking her eyes would do nothing for me until we once again reach land. I rake my hand through my damp hair with a groan. You need her alive. A voice slips into my mind. Do not forget why you have come here. 

For my dead brother. For the years I laid awake in terror from dreams turned nightmares. Eventually the fear was replaced with fury and the boy was replaced with the very monster that tainted his young mind. It was easier that way... to become the very thing I feared rather than to let that fear destroy me.

I grit my jaw, forcing each dark memory away until the only thing I think of is dealing with Blade. My eyes trail along the recently sharpened weapon in my hand, the warmth of my touch lingering on her hilt. The kills she must have made with this thing... I lift it, light to the touch but heavy at the end of the blade. It isn't made for a woman's hand./ This sword belonged to a man. Most likely her father. The very person who murdered my brother. 

Something is off. 

Suddenly, everything feels heightened. Each raindrop that falls is brutally loud in the thickening silence. Clouds slide along the sky, casting me in fresh shadow. My eyes adjust slowly and I peer out into the rain, hand gripping the blade. 

A shadow drops over me and instinctively, I thrust my hands up just in time, stopping the cloth from wrapping around my neck and cutting off my breathing. Her body collides with mine, forcing me to my knees as pain explodes throughout my body. The blade clatters loudly to the stone road, yet still I hear her. 

"Last wishes?" 

She must have leapt from the window, the damned fool. The cloth tightens around my neck, burying into my hands. My knees dig into rocks, but her feet are planted firmly behind me. She pulls, forcing me to bend my spine. Her lips brush against my ear. "Cat got your tongue eh?" Something wet slides along the rim of my ear. "Pray to Aba she doesn't cut it off." 

I throw my body forward while ramming my head back... meeting air. She darts to my side in a rain covered blur, twisting the cloth, throwing her legs around my waist and slamming her forehead into my nose. A sickening crunch echoes in the dark air. Hot, sticky liquid instantly pouring down my face and into my mouth. It is a pain I am use to and I gather the blood in my mouth before spitting it into her face. 

I am rewarded with her smooth laughter blending with the thunder in the sky. My one hand is still barely keeping the cloth from cutting into my throat. My other hand is pinned under her legs as she tightens them. At any other time, I would find this erotic. But right now, all I feel is fury. 

"Cap'." A deep voice stirs beside me, laced with confusion and something else I can't pinpoint. 

Blade simply smiles, glancing over in the darkness.  "Take him."

Pain erupts at the base of my neck and as the black begins to consume me, I fixate on her twisted smile.

For the first time in a long time, I feel the tendrils of fear once more.