Page 45 of Wicked Tides
I shrugged. “In a sense.”
“Speak plainly.”
“I can’t speak plainly about something I barely understand myself. Those who have been to the depths return mad and soiled by the darkness, and they do not share their secrets with others.”
“That cannot be all you know. Tell me more.”
“Why? You’ll execute me after I give you what you want. My only value is in the knowledge you don’t yet have. And you don’t have my sisters, so what exactly do you think you can bargain with? My own life means much less to me than you might think.”
He blinked at that. I wasn’t intending to say it out loud, but perhaps it was a good thing. Perhaps if he knew I didn’t care about dying, he wouldn’t use the threat of death against me.
For a long while, he just studied me. His eyes narrowed and wandered and then focused on me countless times before he finally stepped forward and pulled a ring of keys from his belt. He jammed one into the gate’s lock and turned it. When the gate swung open, I was stupefied, eyes round with surprise.
And then he had the guts to turn his back on me and pick up a bundle of clothing off a stool behind him. He tucked it under his arm and walked right into my cell, confusing me further.
Vidar grabbed my cuffs and unlocked the irons on my wrists, letting the heavy things fall to the floor. My heart was pumping at the discarded weight and the feeling of freedom. I could grab him. Fighthim. Break him. He didn’t even have his men with their guns aimed at my face. I didn’t know what was going through his head. Stupidity. Carelessness. Whatever it was, it meant I had my chance. My teeth were sharp and his neck was exposed.
But I refrained. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but if he was clothing me and uncuffing me, perhaps he had more to tell.
Vidar tossed the clothes at me and stepped back, crossing his arms expectantly. Brows furrowed, I stared at him and unfolded a white cotton underdress and a thin, linen coat with wide cuffs.
“Take off the skin,” he demanded.
I pursed my lips and lazily removed my clothes, tossing the old thing at him. He raised a brow when it hit his chest and fell to the floor. Then I replaced my garments with what he’d given me. If he wanted me changed, perhaps it meant he wasn’t going to kill me any time soon.
I slid on the cotton dress, not bothering to tighten the ties between my breasts, and then slipped the coat on. It felt awfully heavy, but not overly uncomfortable.
When my eyes darted briefly to the bronze cutlass on Vidar’s belt, he moved his hands to hang on his waistband.
“It’d be stupid of you to try,” he said.
“Why are you dressing me?” I asked, rubbing the raw flesh around my wrists. “And why is the gate open?”
He turned his back on me for a second time and started walking toward the steps. I was so puzzled, my feet didn’t even move.
“I could kill you and your entire crew in the night,” I called after him. “Iwill.”
He stopped midway up the stairs and ducked down to look at me from behind the roof beam.
“Then you’d be stuck in the same predicament you were before.”
“What predicament is that?”
“Not knowing how to sail a ship.”
“I don’t need to sail a ship,” I said bitterly. “The water is my home.”
He groaned, rolling his eyes. “If you try to kill any of us, we’ll have to kill you.” He continued up the steps. “And I think you want to stay alive long enough to see those girlsgo home.”
~ 18 ~
Dahlia
You know so little of the sea…
And all the horrors deep beneath
~Matron Ethra
