Silence

Chapter 25

Capsize

I find myself extremely uncomfortable with Silvertooth staring at me. I've never liked the man, honestly. He's always talked to me like that, with no respect and using nicknames that make me uncomfortable. All because he knows I can't answer back as other people can. I can't even find a replacement for him in the crew since most people don't want to go through the training just to understand me. Now he's gathered a group of people to beat Andrew half to death because... well, I can't even think of a reason! I know he wants rid of me but how does that exceed to my brother's boyfriend?

"Shut your damn mouth, Silvertooth!" Lotus yells. I put my arm in front of her in an attempt to get her to stop. Even if Silvertooth is currently behind bars then I know she won't hesitate to fight him. I don't want her in trouble again when I'm here to get her out. I can deal with Silvertooth's comments. We're on our way out of here and it's not as if he can follow. I turn away from him, about ready to leave the cells when I see Jordan in the corner of my eye moving towards the bars.

"Why did you call her that?" I feel my throat go dry. I don't want Jordan to ask that. I don't want him to know Silvertooth's sick thoughts about me. Desperate to leave, I attempt to get Jordan's attention by pulling on his sleeve. He looks away from Silvertooth for a moment but not long enough for me to sign anything. I find myself feeling hollow. Why won't he let me sign? I can sense Lotus' eyes on me which just makes me more upset that Jordan turned away so quickly.

"What? You mean treasure?" I flinch at the repeated use of the nauseating nickname. Silvertooth laughs a little when he sees me do so, making me feel even more uncomfortable. Tears threaten to spill despite how I know they're just another thing the bastard will find funny. Why couldn't we have just left? Why did he have to be in that cell? Before he speaks again, Silvertooth flashes a dark smile at me. It's the sort he normally reserves for when we're the only two in the room and he's about to say something particularly revolting. It alone is enough to make my stomach churn. "I call her treasure because that's what she is. Has she not told you? She's nothing more than a treasure from a smuggler's ship that her 'parents' felt sorry for."

I can't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I feel tiny. As I notice Jordan looking at me, I end up feeling worse. I'm pathetic. I shouldn't have a reaction like this to hearing Silvertooth say something he's said so many times. Hearing him say it to Jordan though, knowing that Jordan is looking at me with tears running down my face. It makes me want to run out of here because that way I might be making less of a fool of myself. Then, without warning, Jordan turns back to Silvertooth and there's a loud crack.

"Hey! No attacking the prisoner! I don't care if you are Ianite's champion!" The guard (who I'd honestly forgotten was with how little he's done) yells and rushes forward. He pulls Jordan back away from the bars and I see blood coming from Silvertooth's nose. Did Jordan punch him? He... he must have. I feel a slight smile. I don't think I've ever actually felt happy when Silvertooth was this close to me. Lotus has a smile on her face too. The guard looks at the three of us, clearly annoyed. "I think the three of you should leave."

Of course. I sign before turning to leave before he changes his mind and tries to arrest Jordan (though I doubt that would go down well). I don't find it hard to retrace the route out. It isn't my first time leaving the cells with Lotus in tow, after all. The walk is quiet since I'm in front and Lotus and Jordan aren't talking to each other. In fact, neither of them speaks until we're outside.

"Gods, am I glad to be out of there," Lotus says, stretching as if that wasn't possible before. Still, I smile knowing that my most trusted friend is no longer falsely imprisoned. Even if I only learned she was about an hour ago. She smiles back at me with the same overly-confident smile I'm used to her using. Quickly, though, she turns to Jordan. "Now, who exactly are you? I'd quite like to know the name of the man who finally got Silvertooth to shut his trap."

"Oh, Jordan. My name is Jordan. I'm Ianite's champion," Jordan says, offering his hand to Lotus. Despite looking a little shocked, Lotus shakes his hand with a smile. At least he's made a good first impression. I'd hate for him to have embarrassed himself in front of Lotus (even if he doesn't embarrass himself nearly as much as he seems to think he does). "You're Lotus, right?"

"The one and only, first mate of The Siren since Capsize here became the captain," I smile, though I do realise that Jordan might not know the name of my ship. I don't refer to it by name very often so it would be reasonable if he hadn't realised it even had one. Hopefully, he'll be able to put two and two together. I mean, even if he doesn't it's not as if I named it. I just didn't want to rename Dad's ship when he passed it onto me, it seemed disrespectful. "It's nice to see you decided to come here to bring the heart. I'm sure everyone must have been excited to see Ianite's champion in the flesh."

He isn't the only one who came. The rest of them are with Red and Andrew, or at least they should be. I see Lotus' smile grow. I find myself happy Lotus isn't the sort of person to judge those who follow other gods. 'As long as they aren't bastards,' I recall her saying once. It's nice since it means she'll wait to make her own judgement on Tom, Tucker, and Sonja. I just hope she likes them. I mean, they're going to be here for a few days so if she doesn't like them it'll make things awkward.

"Well, then, let's hurry up so I can meet them. That and I want to hear what trouble you've gotten into when you were in the Champion's Realm."

A/N:

I'm honestly not sure why it took me so long to write this but I'm happy that I managed to finish this chapter now. I did enjoy writing the chapter though so I hope the fact that it took so long doesn't take anyway from it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Comments and feedback are welcome :D