Mortance: A Miscarriage of Hope

Jade Ⅴ

It was dark and dank in the brig of the Blind Beauty. A night down there hadn't made it much more bearable. I hadn't intended to sleep, but weariness from rowing and swimming for hours on end drove me to it. We were still jailed when I awoke. Christopher James was still asleep next to me, but someone else was awake in the cell next to us.

"Welcome to the brig," a handsome vir dressed in expensive rags said. He had messy hair that was a mix of brown and blonde, just barely visible in the dim light, and the beginnings of an uneven beard sprouted from his chiseled face. "I be Dael."

I groaned and sat up. "Hi... Dael," my voice sounded dry. "Do you have anything to drink, perchance?"

He held his open hands up. "I got nothing, sorry," the vir shook his head. "Captain Patch'll probably bring some whenever he comes."

"When will that be?"

"I'd prefer not to think about it," the vir shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, I went to sleep alone and now I wake up with two friends in the cell next to me. How'd you get here? Surely I didn't sleep through the taking of your ship?"

"We had no ship to be taken," I said. "Just two sailors adrift at sea."

"Two sailors who found haven on the wrong ship," Dael said. "I wouldn't have expected Captain Patch to let you live."

"It's because of him," I gestured towards my cellmate. He was only just barely waking up. "Christopher James, first mate under Captain Ahryn formerly of the Woman Scorned."

There was a groan beside me. "It's jus'..." Christopher James groggily sat up. "Jus' Chris."

Oh. I felt stupid for not guessing or asking that earlier. "The Christopher James," Dael sounded almost incredulous.

"Aye. That be me."

"I see," Dael smiled. "It's no wonder Captain Patch..." he trailed off. A sudden fear filled his eyes.

I heard it too.

Footsteps echoed from somewhere nearby, growing louder with every passing second. Dael was watching the dark staircase that was the only entrance or exit to the brig. There was a dim light glowing from somewhere within it, and it was getting brighter as the footsteps grew louder.

"I don't pay ye te talk, Dael," Captain Ethan Patch's voice echoed from the stairs. I watched as the pirate emerged. He had a patch over his left eye, but his right eye, the uncovered eye, regarded Chris and I with mild annoyance before landing on Dael.

"You don't..." the handsome vir's voice shrank away quickly, filled with fear.

Captain Ethan Patch wore a long jacket over a baggy shirt, and in the dim light, I could just barely make out the coloring. Blue over white. The colors of Sacreon. "Ye've got yer life. Ye've got food and a place te sleep. That be far more than ye deserve," he said in a gruff, commanding voice.

"Yer Cap'n Patch, I presume," Chris said.

"Aye," he answered. "I'll come for the two of ye later, see 'f I want te kill ye or not." the captain strode over to the cell next to us, where Dael was, and produced a key. The vir cowered away as Captain Ethan Patch licked his lips. "Dael."

"Captain," Dael's voice was small, and filled with fear.

"Come do what I pay ye fer," he opened the cell door. No, I thought, realizing what the captain meant. Not when he doesn't want it. The handsome vir bowed his head, letting light hair fall in front of his eyes, and complied with Ethan Patch's command.

"Wait-" I started.

"Ye'd do best te keep yer mouth shut, girl," the captain interrupted. "I'm yer captain so long as yer on my ship. My word is law. Yer life is in my hands. I'll send Haeli fer ye when we're done."