Chaos (9 page)

              A vein throbbed at his left temple. “I apologize,” he gritted in my direction through clenched teeth.

              “Apology not accepted,” I smiled in sickly-sweetness. “But you can make it up to me by answering the questions I have.”

              His smile matched mine in kind as did the mocking bow. “I am at your service,
Your Highness
.” He spat the title at me like a curse.

              I ignored it. I had more important things to do than go back and forth in some juvenile game of tug-of-war with verbal barbs.

              “Have you ever heard of a man in Decretum rumored to possess knowledge of sorcery or magic? You know the real kind?”

I said I wouldn’t indulge him, but I couldn’t help myself. He’d sorely gotten under my skin.

              His eyes sparked with recognition, which was how I knew the next words he spoke were a lie.

“I do not recall hearing of such. I can consult my crystal ball if you like, but it is how I make my living. I would, respectfully of course, have to charge you my usual rate.”

              I smoothed my expression into the epitome of acceptance and compliance. “I understand. We all must make a living. You know how I used to make mine? As an assassin.” I un-sheathed the knife secured beneath my skirts as I spoke. “You are right about me being a common person. It’s why I became an assassin in the first place. A girl has to eat and needs a place to sleep. It is also the reason I became so good at how I made my living. I can slit a man’s throat before he ever has the time to cry out in alarm. It’s thrilling you know. Watching the life seep from a man’s eyes, especially when he’s a scumbag like yourself. I sometimes miss it. Perhaps I should indulge myself in a moment of nostalgia?”

              Without me moving an inch toward the con man every bit of color his face possessed drained from it.

              “No…no…need to get hostile,” he stammered. The laugh that followed his words was both shaky and uneasy.

              Mine was both unyielding and threatening.

“Tell me what you know
now
.”

              His eyes flashed in resentment but he kept his mouth shut about his less than savory feelings towards me this time.
Smart man
.

              “I have not heard much but the people of Decretum sometimes speak in hushed tones about an ancient witch or sorcerer who appears as an old man and dwells in its mountains. It is one of Decretum’s timeless legends. No one can confirm if it is simply a story parents started telling their children at bed time for some reason lost to time or if it holds a modicum of truth. Anyone brave enough to venture into the mountains to confirm or disprove it never return. It is rumored to be the reason Decretum’s mountains remain largely uninhabited.”

              “Do you know where in Decretum’s mountains this man is rumored to reside?”

              “I…I do not.” The fear for his life in his voice at not being able to answer my question told me he answered truthfully.

---

              “What’s our plan for finding this mysterious possibly magic wielding old man once we dock in Decretum in the morning?” Zander asked me as we ate dinner in the solitude of our room.

              “I was hoping you had some ideas about that. I’m fresh out. The con man proved to be about as much help as Kade. The only thing useful we now know is that we should focus our efforts on the mountains, but Decretum’s mountainous region is vast and wide. We do not have the time it would take to scour its chains looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack,” I admitted more than a little disheartened.

              “You could threaten to disembowel everyone we encounter until answers turn up,” he teased me to cheer me up.

              “Ha ha very fun,” I drawled. “That guy was a jerk and a swindler. He had worse coming to him. He’s lucky I did not actually make good on my threat. You may have been too noble to make good on yours but I’m not nearly as high-minded.”

I didn’t say it to insult him. It was the opposite in fact. Zander’s strong sense of right and wrong and vehement adherence to principles of virtue was one of the driving forces behind my love for him. I both admired, respected and was attracted to him all the more for it.

              His drawl mimicked mine. “I’m not as high-principled as you think. I can be depraved when the situation calls for it.”

The wink he gave me from across the table paired with the mischievous curl of his mouth at its edges made it clear exactly what kind of situation he was referring to.

              I fought the urge to fan myself. I reminded myself very, very forcefully that although we were betrothed and alone in a room with a bed not twenty feet away, the idea playing itself out in my mind would be very, very bad to execute.

I flew out of my chair in the middle of my mental chastisement at the same time Zander flew out of his. The same
boom
that preceded the force that dislodged us from our seats sounded again. If my butt were not still on the ground, it would have connected with it a second time.

Zander and I got to our feet and looked at each other in alarm.

“Are you alright?” We asked at the same time.

“Yes,” we said in unison.

I walked to the small trunk I traveled with and dumped out its belongings. Secured beneath them at the bottom were a pair of throwing knives, a short sword and a longer, broader one. A girl never knew when she needed a good blade, or two, or three. I had not lied to the con man. Some habits from my days masquerading as an assassin were hard to kill. I strapped the knives to sheaths beneath my skirts and kept the short sword in my hand. Something told me I didn’t need to bother with concealing it.

“We should see what the commotion is all about,” I said to Zander as I tossed him the longer sword.

Having trained with the kind of sword traditionally used by palace guards and carried as decorative pieces by nobility he wielded a longer blade better than a shorter one.

---

The situation unfolding on the top deck made the source of the commotion clear. As a group of pirates who’d rounded up the vessel’s passengers, all of who were in the dining room having dinner, marched the nobles too overstuffed to fight back onto the deck, more of them poured over the ship’s railing. One of them approached us, keeping his sword at the ready.

“We heard the Crown Prince was onboard. It’s good to see our information not proven false. You will be coming with us,
Your Highness
,” he sneered at Zander.

I stepped in front of Zander and brandished my own sword. “Like hell he will.”

“Step aside little girl,” the pirate laughed.

I laughed back. I loved it when people underestimated me.
Their mistake.

“The only way I am stepping aside is if my body is lying limp and dead and you literally drag it from in front of him.”

“That can be arranged. My patience is wearing thin.”

I silently willed Zander to stay behind me, but to both his credit and my dislike he stepped up beside me.

“If we fight, we fight together,” he offered by way of explanation.

We did not have time for me to argue the point.

The pirate advanced on us swinging his sword in a broad arc. Zander swung his at the same time and steel met equally hardened steel.

A second attacker approached us from the side. I spun to the left to meet him, unsheathing one of my throwing knives as I did. It embedded itself in his jugular before he got within arms reach.

A quick glance back to my right told me Zander was safe and still holding his own against our initial attacker. I pivoted in a one hundred and eighty degree motion just in time to skewer a third man in the gut with my short sword.

The pirates came at us one after another, first in singles then in pairs and finally all at once when I had cut down too many of their men for them to continue dismissing me as some silly girl who could be easily overpowered.

Having finally taken care of the one that approached us initially, Zander engaged the pirates alongside me in combat.  There were at least a few dozen of them left, way too many for the two of us to fend off. I meant what I had said. As long as I was able to stand and fight, I would continue to do so. They would literally have to cut me down to stop me. I kept fighting even though I knew we were outnumbered and out muscled. I was prepared to die rather than be taken by the pirates. I’d heard tales of the vile things they did to their captives. Their brutality rivaled even that of Belial’s. Apparently Zander shared my thoughts because he continued to fight beside me just as fiercely.

A small metal canister landed on the deck of the ship in the midst of our battle. It emitted a high-pitched noise that made my ears ache. Then it erupted in smoke. The last thing I remember were my limbs growing limp and the feel of my head connecting with the hard wooden deck beneath it.

Chapter 17

"
S
kyler. Skyler wake up," I heard a distantly familiar voice say.

I latched on to the life preserver that it offered. I used it to drag myself through the haziness and out of the darkness.

Regaining consciousness, I opened my eyes to the dank interior of a cell. The world around me was turned on its side. Zander, whose arms protectively encased me, helped me to a sitting position. My eyes took in the metal bars and the cramped space within them and I knew the answer to my question before I asked it.

"Where are we?" I said the words anyway.

"On the pirates' ship. Whatever that gas was that came out of the canister, it had a sedative in it. I only regained consciousness moments before you did."

"What do you think they want?"

"Gold of course. They're all greedy immoral scourges on society. The lot of them. A messenger is probably already on his way to my parents demanding a hefty sum of it in exchange for my safe release." His eyes darkened as he spoke. "They are no better than the scheming nobles at Court."

“Oh surely we’re not all that bad.” The half amused, half insulted reply came from a man entering the below deck space we were confined in.

A black and white striped scarf tied his inky black hair back and a tacky gold hoop hung from his right lobe. Seriously did all pirates have to dress in a manner that reinforced the cliché?

“Considering we were kidnapped and locked inside a cell, I would say yes you are.” Zander’s tone lacked any of its usual relaxed warmth.

The man shrugged his shoulders letting the accusation roll off of them.

“At least we didn’t place a price on your head. Unlike your nobles, we prefer you alive to dead. You can’t collect a ransom on a dead man.”

“When we get out of here every last one of you are dead,” I warned him.

I would start with him first by wiping the smug grin he wore off his face.

He exploded into raucous laughter in response. It floated across the room, echoing off the surrounding walls.

“Oh little assassin I would love to see you try. I assume you are ignorant to exactly who you’re speaking too. I am a far cry from one of my men you cut down, which will cost you triple the amount of gold in your ransom I thought to originally set by the way.”

            
 
"I see my reputation precedes me," I smiled sickly sweet at him. "Good. Then you know that when I tell you I am going to enjoy splitting you open like the pig that you are it is a promise I am more than capable of making good on."

"Please little girl. I am the Pirate Lord not one of the overstuffed nobles you're used to dealing with who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. You kill for personal gain, I do it for fun. I assure you I am the more deadly of the two of us."

A slow smile spread across my. I hoped he felt that way.

"I hear pirates have a penchant for gambling with their lives. Would you like to make a wager?"

"Why would I even waste the time?"

His eyes roved over me from head to toe. The mocking look on his face made it clear what he thought of me.
A silly girl playing dress up in a man's world.

Ha!
I didn't particularly enjoy or have a penchant for violence but I was going to love proving him wrong. It was one benefit leaving Faerie and masquerading as an assassin in the mortal world had conferred on me. When I returned I would be much stronger than when I left. I saw it as the one silver lining in Samael forcing me to uphold my end of our bargain.

"Why indeed? Maybe because we all know Zander's family will pay the ransom and you won't actually kill us because not even the great Pirate Lord wants the Crown of the mightiest kingdom in the realm after his head. There would be no place on land or on sea you could hide. As it is you're going to have to make yourself scarce for a time after you get the ransom and let us go. A subject of Anthame or not, the King will be looking to arrest you for treason and piracy against the Crown. But if you lay low and don't make too much noise your crime will eventually fade into the background. With all the gold you'll be collecting, I'm sure you can find something to pass the time. But if you kill the heir of Anthame, Zander's father will put a price on your head. He'll likely even go through the Assassin's Guild to get the job done. We both know the guild
always
completes its contracts. You strike me as an ass but not a moron. You won't take the ransom and kill us. You would never live long enough to enjoy it of you did. You're going to let us go. When you do I will be sure to spread the word amongst the guild, who will spread it to every other party you wouldn't want to know, that the notorious Pirate Lord was too scared to accept a challenge from a seventeen year old girl. Imagine what that would do to the reputation I'm sure you went through great lengths to cultivate and your retention of power lies so heavily upon."

I could practically see the steam coming from his ears by the time I finished convincing
him to accept my challenge.

"Fine," he bit off. "It's your funeral. I assume the conditions of you winning is your and the Crown Prince's immediate release?"

"You assume right. But I also want a boat and it made clear that we are to be released
alive
."

Pirates, like assassins, held strict to their word. Surprisingly, there was some honor among thieves and criminals. Also like assassins, pirates will use even the tiniest loophole to get out of actually having to make good on their word.

He nodded his head in acceptance. "And what are you offering if I win?"

"Four times the amount of gold you've already demanded from the Roths."

It was technically not my gold to offer up. Then again if I was betrothed to Zander it was, or at the very least it would be.

"Not good enough," the Pirate Lord dismissed my offer without thinking about it. "If I'm placing my life on the line it won't be for something as easily come by as gold."

His rejection completely dumbfounded me. Pirates liked gold as much as the High Nobles and were just as greedy about it. What could he possibly want more than it? I eyed him suspiciously through new eyes. Perhaps there was more to the man that stood before me than his despicable occupation suggested?

"What do you want?" I asked cautiously.

"You," he stated plainly as if it wasn't the most absurd thing he could possibly demand.

"Excuse me?" Zander, who had been silent until that point, said at the same time I did.

"Don't flatter yourself." His eyes shone with amusement.

Bastard.
He knew what his words insinuated. He was toying with me.

"I want use of your services free of charge and indefinitely. There are a few choice individuals that sometimes make it difficult for me to conduct my business."

"That doesn't make sense. If I'm dead I can't work for you. "

He smiled sinisterly. "Then I guess when I win I'll simply leave you writhing on the floor in excruciating pain rather than permanently ending you. I'll let you fully recover before I exact payment of your services."

He reached into his pocket and produced a key. He cockily unlocked our cell and allowed the bars to swing wide open.

"After you." He held out a hand.

I grumbled to myself as we exited the cell, irked at being stripped of my blades. If I had one I would've buried it in his neck as I walked by.