Page 85 of The Sky Pirate's Stowaway
Minutes later, Sunada officers swarmed our dying vessel. Eric stood among them, pointing in my direction as he spoke urgently.
“—mastermind behind it all,” I heard him say. “Lieutenant Commander Blackwood orchestrated everything. The smuggling, the classified information sold to pirates. I tried to stop him when I discovered the truth, but he’d turned half the crew against me. And now most of them are dead. May the goddesses bless their souls.”
The officers’ faces hardened as they looked down at me. One of them—a captain by his insignia—nodded grimly.
“Treason against the kingdom,” he declared. “We’ll make an example of him.”
Eric’s eyes met mine one last time. There was no love there, no remorse—only the cold satisfaction of a man who’d successfully rewritten the narrative to suit his purposes.
“Take him away.”
My mind reeled, unable to process the depth of this final betrayal. The man I’d loved—had given everything to—was erasing me as easily as wiping chalk from a slate. All ourwhispered promises, our shared dreams—none of it had meant anything to him. I had been a convenient tool, nothing more.
The pain in my chest eclipsed even the agony in my crushed leg. The silver ring felt like a brand on my finger now. With the last of my strength, I slid it off, tossing it as far as my feeble arm could throw it.
As the officers moved to free me from the crushing weight of the mast, the pain overwhelmed me. Darkness closed in, sweeping away both the physical agony and the deeper wound of betrayal.
The final thing I saw was Eric’s face.
A sledgehammer of pain shot through my head. My mouth tasted of ash, and my body felt trampled.
The room swam into focus—stone walls, iron bars, a flickering lantern. A prison cell. I tried to sit up, and agony lanced through my leg.
My leg.
The flashback hit—me, strapped to an operating table, screaming at the surgeon not to cut it off.
Please, please, please, please, please.
I threw back the thin blanket. Where my left leg should’ve been was nothing but a bandaged stump, cut off midway down my thigh. A pathetic gasp tore from my throat.
“Ah, you’re awake.” A voice came from beyond the bars. “Surgeon said you might not make it.”
I looked up to see a guard watching me, keys jangling at his belt. He was young, with kind eyes out of place in this setting.
“Where am I?” My voice came out as a rasp.
“Embergate Military Prison. Highkeep Tower.” He approached, offering water through the bars. “I’m Ben. I’ll be watching you most nights.”
I took the water with shaking hands, spilling half before drinking. “How long have I been here?”
“Two days. They brought you in half-dead, leg crushed beyond saving.” Ben seemed almost apologetic. “Surgeon took it off right away. Said gangrene would’ve got you otherwise.”
Two days sinceThe Valiantfell. Since Eric betrayed us all. Since he condemned me to this fate.
“The crew?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Ben shook his head. “Aside from the captain, there’s only four survivors, including you. Though the others are being treated as witnesses, not prisoners.”
“And Captain Cunningham?” His name tasted like poison.
“A hero, they’re saying. Uncovered a treasonous plot within his own ship, fought valiantly when the pirates attacked.” Ben leaned closer. “Between us, he’s been given a commendation.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. Of course he had. Eric always landed on his feet.
“You need to eat.” Ben pushed a tray through the slot. “And you’ll need this.” He passed a crude wooden stick through the bars. “Not much of a cane, but better than nothing.”
I stared at the stick, reality crashing down. I would never walk normally again. Never run, never climb rigging. The leg I’d lost was the least of what Eric had taken from me.
