The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 14 - Alex (Part 2)

Two long, but luckily dreamless, naps later Kaisa stood by her hammock once more. Without saying a word, she removed the bandages, cleaned the wound, then applied a thick layer of a stinging and stinking orange ointment to her ribs. Golden Milk, Alex guessed. Rare in The Greenlands, but a popular wonder balm in the South.

As Kaisa reapplied the bandages, Alex spoke up, "Have you talked to your Captain?"

"Not yet."

"When will you?"

"Soon."

Soon did not mean the same day, nor the day after. Three days passed in total. Three days during which Alex didn't leave the quarters and watched countless men and women move in and out their hammocks. Their necks and faces were covered in silver and gold, with too many rings in places where they didn't belong. Lady Victoria would instantly faint if she ever met them, and Queen Crystal with her.

Some pirates stared at her as she pushed herself up and tried reaching her toes to stay in shape (she got further each time), but most of them pretended she wasn't there. She studied each and every one of them in detail, but none carried Seb's dagger.

Kaisa came back at regular intervals, sometimes to change her bandages and sometimes to bring her an old crust of bread, dried shrivelled apricots, and more of that bitter drink that she grew to like. The first two times, Alex asked whether she had talked to her Captain, but when the grumbling turned to cursing, she stopped mentioning it altogether.

On the fourth day, Kaisa woke her up by hissing in her ear. "Rise and shine, Greeny, you have work to do."

The pirate woman didn't give her any time to change. She stepped up the stairs that were barely any better than a ladder. Still clad in the nightdress, Alex followed her, glad she had trained the muscles around her bruised ribs. It was still painful, but manageable. 

The bright light of the afternoon sun blinded her as she clambered up on deck. Obediently she trailed behind Kaisa crossing the crowd and held her hand above her eyes to help them adjust to a life outside again. Though easily double the amount of people occupied the Kraken's Kiss, the ship was notably smaller than the Acedia's Revenge had been, with only two masts instead of three. Above the highest white sail waved the flag of a giant white squid in a sea of blue. Ten tentacles, she counted, each of them ending in deep red puckered lips.

Too focused on the world above, Alex bumped into Kaisa, who had halted by a large wooden barrel filled to the top with greyish creatures that resembled small river lobsters without the claws. She handed Alex two iron buckets. "The Captain has no intention to let you stay beyond Mora, but you can peel prawns until we get there."

"But I can do so much more," Alex pleaded.

Kaisa didn't budge. "Throw the heads into the ocean. Put the rest—including the vein in a bucket. Kokki can use it for his soup."

Reluctantly, Alex put down the buckets, grabbed a handful of prawns, and sat down on some wooden crates by the edge of the ship. Her head felt light as the foamy waves splashed against the side, the faces of Boy Jorn, Cici, Stellan, Fellan, Captain Ivar, and grumpy old Krill flashing in front of her eyes before settling on Len. Len, the magician she had kissed.

"Don't just stare at the sea, Greeny! Those prawns won't shed their skin by themselves." Kaisa shouted from the shroud that led to the crow's nest. 

Ten feet above her stood a man, the silver ring in his sharp nose shimmering in the sun. He was leaning on the wooden rail and chuckling, mocking her even.

And thus she grabbed the first creature. She tugged at its head and pulled it off in one go, then without looking, she tossed it down. Then she removed the tail and threw that into the bucket before peeling off the shell and ten little legs. A thin black vein ran over the prawn's back. She picked at it, cursing she did not have her dagger.