Shackles And Iron Bars

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The shackles dug into Sanem's wrists, rusted metal against pinkened skin - but not brittle enough to give way under her offences. She'd been trying for three days. Leaning her head in defeat against the wall of iron bars that was her guest room, as she sunk to the floor.

The brig was as intimidating as the rest of Fabri's ship, but then, it had been built for war. Her Albatross was a mere shetland pony compared with Fabri's destrier, and every beam and nail of the ship knew it.

The admiral seemed confident enough to leave her unguarded, though it was becoming more apparent that faith was well earned - her confinements would not budge. She hadn't yet worked out a plan beyond breaking them, it seemed a start, and it would be nice if her wrists weren't so raw. Walking was a luxury her legs had forgotten, she could stand, though it made the restraints pull at her arms, and she could sit, but the floor was cold. Sleeping had been fun.

A sound, her ears turning to something rattling down the hallway, an echo that she recognised as keys turning in a door, and the creak of it opening.

And then Yigit was standing by the barred entrance to her cell, glaring down at her.

"What do you want?" She asked, her tone like static.

He'd come alone, which was perhaps... alarming. True, they'd be handed more money for bringing her in alive, but no one would argue if she arrived covered in bruises.

Sanem pushed herself on to her feet, stepping back what little she could as he allowed himself into the cell along with the ungodly squeak of the iron door.

"We'll be in Ikaran oceans by tomorrow," He informed her casually, as if their arrival wasn't likely to bring her a necklace of rope. He was twirling a dagger in his hand, Sanem noted, watchful as he stepped closer. "Do you ever wonder how appalled your pretty little country would be if they were aware of how often you sneak back here?"

Sanem's eyes snapped up to meet his, the knife suddenly feeling less of a threat. How could he possibly know about that? Nobody was supposed to know about that.

"How long have you been following me?"

"Long enough to figure out whatever it is they say you found in Anaiga must have been stashed away somewhere. It's quite ballsy of you, I'll admit, but whatever your hiding must be of great importance for you to even consider taking that risk." He moved, threateningly close. "The wealth of a whole kingdom, Sanem, is not something one would just flaunt around. But keeping it all for yourself just seems greedy, even by my standards."

Sanem's thumping heart began to slow, she could let him keep believing this story he'd fabricated, it was why she'd allowed this lie after all. "Then you clearly think too highly of yourself."

He smiled then, a crooked expression, his grip around the weapon tightening as he paced the room in a way Sanem's legs could only dream of.

Something clicked in her head then, a realisation. Yigit hadn't figured it out, he still believed she'd already found a way to the fabled city. Which meant...

"Gods," It was anger flaming her chest now. "You're about to sell my soul for stealing that map from you and you don't even have a god damn clue what was hiding in that cavern from all of us, what it was guiding you to, do you?"

Anaiga was lost, as it had been for millennia, but she was as close now to finding it as she'd ever been - while Yigit was unaware he'd possessed, and had stolen, the only handwritten guide to the last piece of the puzzle. She thought he'd known, that he'd been smart enough to figure it out - that this was more than just an ordinary treasure trove sparkling through shifting blue at the bottom of the ocean. But he hadn't. And yet he wanted to kill her over it anyway.

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