Freedom's Horizon (WLW) (Full Trilogy - Ongoing/Editing)

Book One: Part One: Chapter Eight

November 1674, The Caribbean Sea, Onboard the Midnight Scarlet, Below Deck

Aimee winced with a whimper as Genny and Felipe led her to the crew's barracks with arms around her waist. They were nearly dragging her due to her legs feeling like dead weight, unable to contribute much to their progression. She gasped when Genny's hand grazed her back as she was set down on the floor next to a hammock. Aimee glanced up and spotted Felipe whispering something to Genny in a language she couldn't understand. He looked at her, visibly full of foreboding doubt, and Genny nodded.

Something about Aimee's back felt...wrong, momentarily distracting her from their odd expressions and mumbled words. Yes, it ached like the dickens at the slightest graze. Although once the surgeon and Genny tended to the gashes after the first mate whispered something incoherent to the former, the pain was gone. Her lashes felt as if they almost didn't exist unless they were touched. Still, Aimee was frail and tired. She wasn't in the mood for more whispered discussions. She'd seen the captain, Genny, Margaret and Felipe doing this time and time again when she was near. She'd even heard one of the conversations where Genny tried to convince Esme not to let Aimee stay in her cabin. They were all so...strange. This oddball crew was nothing like the ruffians she expected.

Regardless, Aimee wanted answers to the many questions rambling around her mind and all the inaudible muttering to cease. She'd paid her dues, right? What more could they ask from her? Why were people so greedy and why were these pirates so secretive even before she betrayed them? She had to know what it was they weren't quite willing to say.

"Feel free to tell me you have no love for my life any longer. I can take it. I deserve it. But I have paid for it, so stop skirting the edge."

"That ain't..." Felipe rubbed the back of his neck and peered around the room. Thumps could be heard overhead from the rest of the crew moving around the main deck and Genny inched closer to Aimee. Before she could speak, however, Felipe finally added, "You are...reckless. Obstinate. We are not typical pirates of these waters. We are sailors and you bring fright for Essie. She doesn't deserve it."

"I do not understand. What exactly have I done to offend you all even with my accepting culpability?" She felt herself growing more upset with their exchange by the second, but staved off her guttural reaction in favor of getting answers.

Genny squatted in front of her and held out a jar of ointment. "You look like her. Taria. In the eyes, I mean."

Felipe put a hand on her shoulder. "Hush, Genny. You ain't even--"

"I know, but I was there, Felipe. I saw it all and I knew her long enough to at least remember her face. To remember her kindness and mourn her." She said toward him, then glanced back at Aimee. The way she gazed at her was different. In fact, Genny's reaction toward Aimee had always been diverse from the other crewmates and she found herself leaning closer to her. "Your eyes look so much like hers and that is most likely why Essie set her claim. At first."

Aimee couldn't ignore the somewhat irritated expression on Genny's face and thought about it for a little bit, uneasy under its icy temperament. It would be no surprise to discover Genny didn't like her. That much Aimee could easily tell after her time onboard Esme's ship, though it appeared like she may hate her for other reasons aside from her latest deplorable antics. Something in Genny's gaze told Aimee not to challenge her. It was almost like looking into the eyes of an older sister, or parental figure. She'd noticed the glint in her eyes many times since meeting her, yet also found doting admiration there at other intervals.

Something about Genny just never made sense, though Aimee couldn't place her finger on precisely what that might have been.

Still, she couldn't stop the words flowing forth. "Who was she?"