Journey of Flame

Chapter twenty-seven

"What the hell were you thinking?" Voss said the moment we were safely locked away inside my cabin.

"I was thinking that I was saving Bedelia from being tortured and killed!" I countered.

"You should've just let her go through with it," Faxon muttered.

I whirled to where he sat on my bed. "What the hell did you just say?" I snarled.

"You should've just let her go through with it," Faxon repeated, louder. "She would've saved us all."

"She would have been tortured and killed!"

"But at least then you wouldn't have made an oath that could ruin your life!" he countered. "You understand that, right? If you break that oath, you will never be able to sail again."

"And why wouldn't I?" I argued.

"How else do you think the God of the Sea would exact vengeance?" Faxon said. "Every time you try to sail across his waters, some disaster will strike if you break this oath. I guarantee it."

I shrugged. "Then I will simply not break the oath. And you're one to talk; you made a blood oath with Voss."

"That was different," he argued.

"And how was it?" I countered.

He bared his teeth, but it was Voss who murmured, "Because we made an oath to never kill each other, because we didn't trust each other at the time."

I faltered and said, "O-oh." But then I lifted my chin. "Well, what would you have done if it was Voss?"

At this, Faxon sighed. "Alright, fair enough."

"Well, these guys are here now, and they're not going away," Bedelia spoke up. "But we can probably still get them to tell us where that healer is. We just have to ask them."

"They could've been lying," Faxon muttered. "And now, with the oath Zai made, we can't do shit about it."

"We couldn't have done anything about it before either," I countered. "They could've lied, and then I would've lost Bedelia and not found a healer for you."

"Stop arguing with each other," Bedelia said. "We need to work together."

At this, I sighed deeply. "She's right," I admitted. "So, does anyone have any ideas on how to handle this? Because I'm at a loss."

Voss shrugged. "They're a part of the crew now. I say we treat them as such."

"And I guess we can try to ask them about the healer," Faxon muttered.

I gave a small smile. "Much better."

"And what about Pierce's magic?" Bedelia asked.

I sighed. "I have no idea. His power can neutralize both of ours. But I don't think there's anything we can do."

"Iron is immune to magic, but if we lock him up, that breaks the oath."

"I say we just do nothing," Voss said. "Pierce didn't seem like he wanted to hurt anyone. Not really, anyway."

"Sure seemed like he wanted to to me," Faxon said.

Voss shook his head. "No, he didn't. If he wanted to hurt us, he would have taken Bedelia off the ship." He loosed a breath, leaning back against my desk. "Honestly, we owe him her life."

If it hadn't been for Pierce's refusal, Bedelia would be on her way to Cleaver now. I had come so so close to losing her.

"Gods," I groaned, rubbing at my face with my hands. "Shit."