The Poison Princess (17 page)

The men, meanwhile, went below deck,
gathering various crates and chests and carrying them onto the
docks. Some of the cargo was fairly standard and probably not worth
much, but others matched the stories she had heard of pirates
looting chests of coin and treasure. One pirate carried such a haul
past the princess, but he stumbled, and a bit of the contents
tumbled out and onto the deck of the ship. Catching her eye was a
brooch made of shining white pearls, combined together into one
large piece on a silver backing.

Picking up the brooch, Ruby asked, “What is
this?”

The pirate put down the chest and picked up
the other dropped items, as he seemed hesitant to answer her.

“She asked you a question,” she had Wesley
say. “I expect you answer her.”

“Yes… yes, of course,” the subservient pirate
answered to Wesley. Turning back to Ruby, he explained, “That
particular item came from a woman on a vessel from the east…
madam.”

Ruby turned the collection of pearls over in
her fingers. “And what happened to the woman that had worn it?”

The pirate would not meet her eyes. “Dead,
madam.”

The princess thought she should have been
angry that these men had likely raped and killed the woman along
with whatever other crew was on board her vessel, but that didn’t
matter. She needed their help to get out of Gloomport. Besides, as
she looked into the perfectly spherical orbs, Ruby lost any
conscience for this piece of jewelry’s former owner. Now, it was
hers. She pinned the brooch to her purple dress, just below her
left shoulder. The fingers of her left hand resisted such delicate
work, but she forced herself to use them in an attempt to hurry the
healing process.

The pirate was still looking up at her, when
she finished pinning it on. “Back to it,” she ordered him in a
harsh tone.

He did as she said, and soon the crew had
finished unloading the vessel of the stolen treasures and storing
them on the Gloomport dock. The crew then assembled on the deck,
awaiting orders from their new captain.

“Well?” Wesley asked. “What are you waiting
for? I said we’re going to Elythine.”

“What about the haul?” one of the pirates
asked. “You want we should just leave it there.”

“My men will come and collect it soon,” the
possessed gang leader was made to say.

The pirate who’d asked seemed hesitant to
abandon the treasure there unguarded, but regardless, he still
followed the order, as did the rest of the crew. In truth, Ruby
realized that no one would be coming for it, now that the Underlaw
was scattered and hopefully defeated. She’d destroyed most of them
with her maelstrom, along with many homes and businesses that were
unfortunate enough to be nearby. Though not her intention, she did
hope that leaving the pirates’ stolen treasure there would prove to
be a way of repaying the people for the damage that she had done.
She wasn’t even certain whether or not she had hurt anyone in the
chaos. Leaving the treasure there was almost a hollow gesture, as
she found herself not caring that much for the innocents of the
town. Even the tailor and his daughter had fled from her
thoughts.

As the pirates began to leave the docks, Ruby
and Scarlett found the captain’s quarters and went inside. She
would leave the running of the ship up to her poisoned minion, but
the Black Wave was now hers.

A storm roiled and thundered outside the windows. Lightning ripped
through the black night, and the turbulent seawater splashed
against the wood of the ship. The vessel moaned and creaked, as
though it was going to give into the crashing waves and the fierce,
howling wind, but it persevered nevertheless. Despite sealed
windows, the water had somehow found its way into the musty old
cabin. The wood of the ship had a distinct smell that had filled
her senses since their departure, but it was mixed with the salty
smell of the sea as well. The captain of the Black Wave had not
kept tidy quarters, and the room stank of his scent.

A seafaring life would not have suited the
princess, she realized. With every sway of the vessel, she could
feel her stomach shift and lurch within her. If she could’ve
vomited like a normal person, she probably would have. Such as she
was, the poison inside her didn’t allow for such a purge. She and
Scarlett had spent the majority of the voyage in the captain’s
quarters, with Wesley stationed at the door in case any crew came
by asking questions.

Ruby hadn’t let the Underlaw leader sleep
more than a few minutes in days. The princess had allowed him to
drink and eat only enough to stay alive, functioning, and playing
his part. She was effectively torturing him, and she was not upset
at his clear distress. After what he had done and tried to do, she
believed him to deserve such a fate. She wasn’t wrong. Regardless,
Wesley had lost several pounds over the journey, his eyes were
bloodshot, and his skin was greasy and pale. His poisoned and
decaying flesh had grown to encompass more of his face since they
left Gloomport, and he looked more ghastly than the princess
would’ve liked. The smell of the flesh was drawing attention from
the crew, but Ruby didn’t find herself actually bothered by it. Her
senses were a bit off since the poisoning attempt. She had Wesley
use the cloth that had been previously used as an eye patch to
conceal as much festering skin as it could, but the endeavor was a
bit futile. Too much skin had been infected in the struggle in
Gloomport. The crew acted very suspicious of him after he’d killed
their captain and brought two strange women on board, but for the
moment, they continued to follow his orders.

Worse still, the poison in Wesley’s body
continued to eat deeper into his body, and there was little Ruby
could do to slow its progress. He was going to die, and her great
fear was that it would be before the Black Wave made port in
Elythine. What would the crew do then, she wondered. They had no
loyalty to Ruby and her demon servant. Surely, they would turn on
the pair of women, and the princess had very little capacity to
fight them off. Controlling Wesley had been draining to her
venomous powers, and she had used up almost all of the toxic
reserves they’d brought on board. The last time she had seen it,
the poison flask had only but a drop pooled into the deepest curved
bubble at the bottom of the glass. Scarlett had been keeping it
away from Ruby in hopes of rationing the fluid, but there wasn’t
enough left to hold onto at that point. The next swig would have to
last her until they arrived in Elythine, where she would have to
find another way to poison herself.

She wished for the journey to simply be over
and for them to arrive safely in the southern kingdom. A growing
pit in the princess’ stomach said that this would not be the case.
Ruby and Scarlett both sat in the captain’s stinking and stained
bed, leaning against its backboard. Neither was able or needed to
sleep, so the choppy journey had been experienced in its entirety.
Sniggle, as you might expect did not have any such problems. He
slept soundly at the foot of the bed like a loyal hound, oblivious
to the chaos outside. The storm that the Black Wave experienced
now, however, was different than it had been. The waves were
growing higher and more violent, and the sounds of the ship no
longer sounded as though they were natural or expected.

A loud crack exploded at what sounded like
the center of the ship. It couldn’t be ignored, and the thunderous
blast couldn’t have been confused for part of the storm. It was too
close. Ruby had to send Wesley out to investigate it. She forced
him to open the door, and the sounds erupted into the small room.
Thunder roared, and the wind screeched past. The princess thought
it sounded like nature simply wanted to destroy something that
night, and the ship played the role of its victim.

Wesley shut the door, as he walked out into
the storm. He was drenched to the bone within seconds. Grabbing the
first pirate he saw, he asked, “What was that?”

Pointing to the cracked mast at the center of
the ship, the pirate answered, “See for yourself!”

The man then frantically ran off, joining the
rest of the crew in attempting to somehow save the ship. It was
doomed, however, Ruby realized. The thought didn’t come a moment
early, as Wesley saw something otherworldly rush by. It wasn’t just
a storm. There was something else out there, something that was, in
part, causing this destruction. Then he saw another of what could
clearly be identified as a tentacle. The sea merchants told tales
of terrible beasts roaming the waters, attacking and devouring
unlucky vessels. Survivors were rare, and she could see why, being
trapped in its grip. The beast, apparently ready to attack in
earnest, raised its large, suckered tentacles up from the depths of
the sea and began wrapping them around the hull of the ship.
Several of the pirates were yanked off the deck, while others were
crushed under the weight of the slamming limbs.

While the crew was being picked off, a loose
board of the ship’s hull ripped away because of the intense winds.
The plank flung toward the Underlaw leader and pierced his chest,
pinning him to the wall leading into the captain’s quarters. He was
dead almost instantly. Ruby shivered suddenly, contorting in pain,
from the shared experience of his death.

“What is it?” her horned demon asked.

“Wesley just died.”

“What’s going on out there?”

“The ship isn’t going to make it,” Ruby said,
standing from the bed. “We need to find a way out of here.”

The ship roared again, as shattering wood
fragments and glass from the windows exploded all about the room.
The ceiling ripped off, and the vessel cracked in half. Both women
were knocked to the floor and rolled toward where the center of the
ship used to be. Each was thrown painfully into furniture of the
small room. The door leading out to the deck swung open and the
princess saw her purple imp fall through the nearly horizontal
opening. He was the least of her worries in truth.

Scarlett was upright before the princess
could manage such a feat, and she braved the slanted path over to
Ruby, jumping the distance of the doorway, which led down toward
the mouth of the enormous beast. The demon then helped her master
up from the floor, but neither knew where to go from there. The
ship had been snapped in half, and either side was arched toward
the creature’s terrible maw, open and devouring everything that
fell into it. Everywhere else, there seemed to be slapping,
swarming, and twisting suckered tentacles threatening to grab
anyone that tried to escape. She could smell a scent of decaying
flesh permeating from the beast’s mouth, and it made alternately
slurping and crunching sounds as it ate and swallowed parts of the
Black Wave and its crew.

“Give me the flask!” Ruby yelled at her demon
over the cacophonous roar of the storm, the sea beast, and the
cracking of the ship.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, wary
of what her master was planning.

“Get us out of here!” She held her hand out
to Scarlett, palm up.

Softly biting her lip, her demon servant soon
agreed, retrieving the flask from the folded layers of reality. The
shaped piece of glass looked like hope to the princess. The sickly
sweet smelling liquid had become a vision of life to her, rather
than the death it would mean to everyone else. Scarlett handed her
the flask, and uncorking it, she raised it to her lips, sucking out
the very last drop of poison and restoring herself. She felt energy
flow through her system, and though it was only a small bit of
toxin, it was enough to rejuvenate the poisonous lever hidden in
her chest.

The beast took another chomp of the ship, and
its tentacle swiped at what remained of the cabin. Most of the
walls were gone, torn off just like the roof had been. Overhead,
Ruby could see a tentacle preparing to slam down directly on them.
She had one last gambit to save them. The princess mentally
searched for Sniggle, who she suspected was inside the beast’s
stomach. Though her powers were rather weak, Ruby found her imp
exactly where she thought he would be. Despite the purple imp’s
disobedient, lazy, and generally worthless ways, she was still
rather fond of the poisonous creature. Squelching any feelings
toward him, Ruby knew that she had to sacrifice the imp. The
princess focused on the toxin that constituted Sniggle’s oozing
form. She mouthed a silent goodbye to him, as she caused the venom
inside him to explode, destroying him and spreading his vile
poisons throughout the sea beast’s vast, dark stomach. Her gambit
worked. The beast lurched in pain, and all the tentacles came to a
momentary stop. The one that had threatened to slam them was paused
right next to the ship, wrapping slightly over the edge of the
deck. The princess then spit some of her venom into her good hand,
while she held the weakened one out to Scarlett.

“Hold my hand!” Ruby shouted.

Her demon took it, and the princess guided
them away from the center of the ship. She’d tried to judge which
direction was closest to the shore, but Ruby wasn’t completely
certain of her decision because of the fierce nature of the storm
raging overhead. Stepping over the shattered wood of the former
wall, Ruby quickly glanced around to the rest of the ship. From
what she saw, there were no pirates left, having either been
devoured by the beast or lost to the sea. She was determined to not
be among their numbers.

Approaching the hovering tentacle, the
princess reconsidered her plan, but there was nothing else she
could do. She had been left with little choice, and if she didn’t
act, the sea beast would swallow the entire ship along with her and
her demon.

“Don’t let go!” she yelled back to her
servant, who nodded in return.