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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MARYA IS NOT ONE TO ADVERTISE HER BAD DECISIONS. Being a Captain means being the one to steer the ship. It means making the right calls— it means understanding that her word is currency. One sentence from her is a command, an order to be followed without question. She's the one meant to fix the mistakes members of her crew may commit.
Marya has donned the title for years already. It has sharpened her edges, hardened her resolve. She has long since learned that a pirate crew is only as strong as its Captain. Deckhands are allowed to stumble— Captains are meant to be unmovable, unshakable. Carved from the toughest steel.
Marya's first real stumble was a few months ago. Her brother was taken, her son was left on his own, and her whole world seemed to rattle in violent waves. She tried to fix it— tried to make it a one time incident. After all, she was a renown Captain— a pirate feared all across two continents.
Months have come to pass. Days that bled into nights, oceans that shifted into forests and palaces. Time is drying up. And Marya has yet to find her footing.
Mistake, after mistake. Stumble after stumble. Marya fears the taste of dirt in her mouth is growing too familiar for comfort. And as she looks at her reflection in a gilded mirror, a stranger stares back at her. She used to be someone who knew the path ahead. That understood what was to come. She used to shout commands and make the tough calls without a blink. But now she finds herself at a crossroads. Too many options, far too many outcomes.
As the sun rises and Marya strides across palace grounds, she finds herself going back to the same question that's been pestering her for days. What happens now? What is she meant to do?
Return to the Repentance. Stay in the Palace. Venture beyond. Go back to Kerch. Scour Fjerda. Continue the search in Ravka. But the results are far too damning for her to choose. Far too precious. It keeps her frozen, weak. Bones that become ice, limbs that grow covered with a gnawing frost. She's ran the scenarios in her head long enough to know there are only to outcomes.
Find Karim. Lose him forever.
And Marya, Captain Marya of the Repentance, Killer of men, Demon of the waters, feared on land and sea, cannot fathom facing a world where she makes the wrong call.
"You're here."
Marya turns towards the voice. "Don't sound so surprised, Starkov," she starts, "I had a moment of free time."
