SEVEN DEVILS | ❝ Oh, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The devil is after both of us. ❞
❝ Lay my curses out to rest, make a mercy out of me. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. ❞
In which Captain Marya of the Repentance is ready to tear the world in half to f...
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THE CLOSER THEY GET TO NOVYI ZEM, the warmer the days become. Nights are pleasant and the salt air feels refreshing on the skin. The briny winds awaken Marya's senses; a much needed cleansing after the days of stale and sewage-ridden Ketterdam air.
The glass window at the center of her cabin brings colorful lights into Marya's cabin. Once upon a time, the window hadn't been more than a circle of rotting wood and badly sealed edges. But now, with time and care, the stained glass currently stands as a mosaic of colorful fragments, bringing a certain iridescence to her private corner of the Repentance. It goes along with the rest of the space, after all, the Captain's cabin has always appeared to be a jarringly out of place location— as if the moment you step through the door, you're no longer on a pirate ship.
Marya checks her pistols for what feels like the hundredth time, legs propped up against the arm of her chair. Ravi sits on her lap, playing with curls of her hair with the outmost focus while, just a few paces away from them, Emerens and Neyar hover around the center table. Or, well, Neyar hovers while Emerens sits with his boots on the table.
The girl from Ketterdam said that Sturmhond had left only a few hours beforehand. So, at most, Sturmhond is less than a day ahead. The good thing is that they've all been at sea for a good long while— and Marya knows what zones to avoid, what shortcuts to take. Where the winds threaten to wipe your ship off of the surface. Where to tread carefully. Where to march past.
The sound of metal makes Marya straighten.
Neyar looks unimpressed as she turns to the blond. "What are you doing?"
Emerens looks up at the Shu girl with his lips parted, flask in hand. He raises a brow. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He exhales loudly. "We're going up against a well-known pirate and his whole crew with little to no chance of infiltrating them beforehand. Not a chance to do reconnaissance." The Kerch boy raises the metal container, as if making a toast. "So, I'm drinking."
Now that they've finally put some distance between them and the island nation of Kerch, Emerens seems to be returning to his naturally annoying self. He takes another drink.
"Lovely," quips Marya.
Emerens goes to take a third sip, before he catches Ravi staring with those big brown eyes of his. He raises a brow, waving the flask in front of him. "You want some?"
