The Traitor's Wish

18. The Lady's Plea

The Traitor's Wish
Chapter 18
The Lady's Plea

"But captain, what about the stone?" Smee suggested, a look of confusion on his face.

"I am not risking the crew's lives in a bloody suicide mission!" He said curtly, his hook meeting the wood of the table.

Emma set her fiery glare on him, determination locked in her gaze, "You are not losing your own life for honor!" She said sharply, turning that glare to Smee and asking- demanding- "What's the stone and how do we get it?"

Killian sighed as Emma pressed on for answers. He had heard a sailor's tale or two on the stone, and the serpent, but there was no proof of any of it, other then the bruises continuously swirling around his skin, darkening it more and more. But he knew that look in Emma's eyes, had seen it many times before. She was a determined lass. She would not give up first, and neither would he.

Wallace began to explain all that he knew. He'd been a part of the crew for only a few years. Killian had saved him from the wrath of another captain. Wallace was a sharp edged sword. He came from a well known crew, not as known as the Jolly of course, but this crew was known for their murders. They were not very successful in the taking of gold, more often then not they lost it in an attempt to gain more, but they could almost always wipe out an entire crew.

Almost.

They were not as lucky when they fought the Jolly. Once their Captain had been wounded, the men lost courage. He was making a final attempt to kill Killian, when Wallace struck down the murderous man from behind. His old crew turned on him, and Killian swung him to his ship in the nick of time.

Since then their trust was always understood. They did not talk as much as Killian and Brinley, or even he and Smee, but his loyalty was always there.  And since he had sailed different waters, he'd heard many a legends the men here had not.

"The Serpent is a sailor's worst nightmare, not just because of its impeccable stealth, but it's strength. The only way to know its coming is the swirls around your flesh, but even then, there is no way to know just when it will leap out of the depths and drag ye down." His voice was rough with age, his teeth a blackened yellow. He was a spitting image of what royalty pictured pirates as.

"It only comes after you when someone summons it- a dark magic that be- an there's not way to call 'em off. Only way is to hold him back: the stone." He says, a look of remembrance passed across his face.

"Saw it with my own eyes once, long ago. A crew mate of mine pried it from a dead man's cold fingertips. If only I could've held onto if." He looked distant. Emma was sympathetic, but he had not answered all of her questions.

"So it can save him?" She asked, eyes glancing to Killian. He could feel her worry, those small fears radiating off of her.

"Aye, but it may kill all of us just to get it." He said grimly.

"Where is it?"

"Uncharted waters," Killian said with a sigh. He stood up, searching through the multitude of maps on shelves in the corner, until he pulled one out and laid it out on the table.

It was on old, thick paper, that only had small signs of aging on it. The waters were painted blue, with creatures sprinkled throughout them. The lands were painted on in greens and browns, some of them with names Emma had never heard off. She'd studied royal countries at home with her mother, but these were pirate maps, they were entirely different.

"We're here." Killian planted the hook in the middle of the waters between Arrendale and a land named Shirston. Emma's gaze flicked to the tiny bland painted piece of land labeled Misthaven, home.