Corvus (Stars and Sails, Book 1)

Forty-two

Jade woke up, the side of her head pounding. She blinked a few times and stared at the ceiling. She stayed up way later that she intended to the night before and finally passed out in a messy tangle of sheets and dirty clothes that she hadn't cleaned up yet. If a hangover wasn't bad enough, knowing that she had made a fool out of herself the night before was enough to ruin her day.

She couldn't remember half of it. All she remembered was that she had gone into the infirmary looking for a fight after clearly telling Sabik about a week ago that she refused to fight with him anymore. She had an excuse, of course—she didn't really want to hurt him. Just spar. Kind of.

She got out of bed, tied up her hair, and brushed her teeth. She had a bruise the size of a half-tyche on her cheek from yesterday's fight with Fairburn. Coupled with the heavy purple bags under her eyes, she found herself painful to look at. She wanted to crawl back into bed and disappear, but that wasn't going to get today's work done. Today was the day they arrived in Aydesreve, and with any luck, Fairburn was far behind. She needed a day or two to recover. She left her cabin. Out in the mess hall, Suzaku stretched in between sips of coffee. He had a bandage on his arm and a few bruises. Haworth ate a tomato with a sour look on his face. He always needed twenty minutes to get out of the morning funk. He saluted her.

"Stellar day, isn't it?" he rolled his eyes.

"It pisses," Dav replied. Jade could agree with that.

"Woah, kiddo. Better be quiet so your mama doesn't hear you," Haworth said in a mocking tone. Dav reached out and stole Haworth's tomato. His bare feet thudded against the mess hall as he ran away. Haworth's face grew red. He got up and tugged hard on the hem of his shirt. "Alright, that's it, you little shit."

Suzaku rapped his knuckles against the table.

"Quiet down," Jade growled, pushing on her throbbing temple.

He stopped. "A headache?" The chair squeaked as he leaned back. "Get those often?"

Jade glared at him. "The Admiral isn't very fond of me," Jade said. "I think he'll find some way to blame me for yesterday's events."

"I am close to him," He took a sip of his coffee. "I can't promise that he'll pardon you, but I'll try my best."

"Perfect." Jade was starting to get the feeling that she should have never gotten out of bed. She should have just stared at the ceiling and prayed for the sweet release of death.

She opened the door to Ollie's room. He was awake, laying on his side, his elbow tucked under his head. His wound was pink. It was tough to see Ollie missing a strip of his hair. He'd always had the fluffiest, fullest dark hair. And she guessed he still did, but that didn't stop her heart from breaking a little for him.

"Jade," Ollie looked at her, pulling the blanket up over his bare shoulders until he looked like he was in a little cocoon.

"How are you, Ollie?"

"He is doing better."The desk chair creaked. "He is in pain, understandably."

Jade drew a quick gasp and stepped back into the bunk, nearly falling on her cocooned friend. Sabik sat in the chair, looking back at his medical kit once she met his eyes. He was looking for something that he didn't seem very intent on finding. "Doctor! Good...morning."

"You look tired." Still uninterested in her, he searched through his bag for a distraction.

Jade ignored him and looked back at Ollie. "We're arriving at Aydesreve today. Just stay on the ship, alright?

"I can fight if you need me."

"Stay on the ship."

"Harris," Nejem cleared his throat. "Can I see you out in the hallway?"