Page 23 of Kept to Kill
She followed Mal into the ship and down a steep flight of steps. It was gloomy despite the lamps that were strategically placed so that nowhere was in complete darkness. She followed him down a narrow corridor and down another set of steps and then another ladder. They must be in the deepest bowels of the ship now. Surely not where the cabins would be, she thought as she descended lower and felt the floor under her foot. She turned and saw where he’d brought her and her heart sank before she could stop it. Iron bars, a dank smell, a large lock, a small wooden bench.
‘The brig?’ she squeaked.
He simply shrugged and opened the barred door of the cell. She stood dumbly as the metal hinges screeched, feeling very disappointed. Looked like she’d be enjoying the voyage from a cage.
She forced her face into a neutral mask and couldn’t help but wonder if this was her punishment for not toeing the line on deck with Quin just now or if Mal would have brought her down here regardless. She supposed she should count herself lucky that she was the only occupant.
She stepped inside, not looking at Mal as the door creaked shut and she heard him lock it with a finality that made her spirits sink.
He stood there watching her for a while, perhaps willing her to turn around to face him, but she didn’t. She simply stared at the wall with her back to him until she heard him leave, the hatch above booming closed behind him.
She sank down onto the wooden bench, which also creaked beneath her relatively insignificant weight compared to the sailors who probably found themselves down here from time to time, but it held.
Lily let out a sigh. How long would it be until they got to Kitore? Would they keep her down here the entire journey in the gloom without a porthole? Gods, there wasn’t even a bucket to piss in. Resting her head against the solid planks of the wall, she closed her eyes and settled in to wait. If she had learned anything from her time in that tower, it was how to be bored for long stretches of time. She wouldn’t go mad down here, but if Quin thought that this was treating her well, she’d disabuse him of that notion the next time she saw the bastard. The deal was that she would kill for them and that would treat her well in return. Putting her in a cage in the dark was notwell.
Sometime later, when the lamps were burning low and threatening to wink out and leave her completely in the pitch black, she heard the hatch open. She didn’t move as two shady figures slid down the ladder one after the other so adeptly that she knew at once they must be crewmen. They stayed in the shadows, whispering to each other, and she was glad that they were out there and she was under lock and key in here.
Finally, they drew nearer, and she tensed as she heard the word ‘witch’. They stood in front of the door and both of them simply stared.
‘Are you sure?’ the taller one asked. ‘She doesn’t look the way the stories say.’
The shorter glanced at his friend. ‘Well, she isn’t going to wear a fucking sign, is she? And I’m sure. Heard them talking in the town. She’s a killer.’
‘Pretty, though,’ Tall said. ‘I dunno. I think witches are meant to be wrinkled old hags. What if ye’re wrong?’
‘I’m not,’ Short insisted. ‘And if I am, we throw her over the side, leave the cage open and they’ll think she escaped.’
Tall sighed. ‘Open the door,’ he said, pulling a long, sharp-looking knife from his belt.
Lily’s eyes widened as Short pulled a set of keys from his pocket. The same set of keys that Mal had used. ‘Wait!’ she said. ‘I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m not a witch. I’m merely one of the Brothers.’
‘Then why are you locked up down here while your friends enjoy the hospitality of the upper decks?’ the short one scoffed, trying another of the keys.
‘A jest,’ she tried, and they both chuckled.
‘Don’t listen to her,’ Tall muttered to his friend. ‘Witches are tricky.’
The lock opened and Lily jumped to her feet, looking this way and that for somewhere to go, but of course there was no escape except through the cage door. Should she take her gloves off, she wondered? Was she prepared to kill them? She should be. They clearly meant to kill her.
‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked.
Tall slunk into the cage and she put her hands behind her, slowly pulling off a glove.
‘It’s our duty, as good citizens, to kill any witches that we come across.’
‘But, as I say, I’m not a witch,’ she said, letting her glove fall to the bench before slowly working off the other one.
Neither of them replied as Tall came closer, brandishing his knife.
‘The Brothers will know I was killed if you do it here,’ she cried desperately. ‘I’m valuable to them and they’ll gut every last man on this fucking ship if you don’t turn around and leave!’
Tall paused and looked back at the ringleader. ‘We could take her to the aft hold. No one will be anywhere near there until we get to Kitore, and by the time they find what’s left of her, we’ll already have our reward money.’
‘Reward money? Kitore?’ Lily felt sick.
‘Aye, we’ll get gold for your pretty head in the capital, witch.’
‘Come on.’ Tall pointed with his knife and she slipped past him out of the cell.
