Page 99 of A Touch of Savagery

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aspen didn’t remember the women bringing in a mattress, putting him on it, or wiping away all of the makeup and putting him in decent clothes. He woke up with clean blankets over him while Kalani sat in a chair.

The gold paint was gone, and she was back to being a Captain, although she was much nicer when she asked him if he knew where he was. Did he remember what happened?

He did, although he was faintly stunned at what he'd done to that man.

“Why did you save Starry and prevent that man from raping her?” Kalani finally asked him. “She’d held a dagger to your throat. We kept you prisoner, robbed you, and used you. You owed her nothing.”

Aspen stared at her as he sat upright on the mattress. “I used to be a whore on the street.”

She squinted. “Did your Father make you do that?"

“No! My Father’s actually been dead for a long time.”

He didn’t even know why, but the words tumbled out: How he’d been a street whore, a pleasure slave, and the night West Bay fell. He couldn’t get through telling her about the ship, but Kalani, who’d quietly listened, seemed to understand.

“Oriel escaped, and I went with him. I was going to stay with Queen Asara.” Aspen told the Captain how the Queen had wanted to poison him.

“I only said yes because Dariny had longer black hair like you and was about the same height," said Kalani. "Captain Regert was with the Dandelion Merchant Traders. They were ashore one night, and his brother, Dariny, took Nany to an inn room. We are prostitutes, and sometimes, we’ll find customers ashore too. Dariny strangled her to death and fled. We found him and killed him. His body is somewhere in the ocean, but Captain Regert didn’t know.”

“He didn’t look?”

“I’m sure he did, but Dariny wouldn’t be the first drunk sailor to miss his ship. They’re on a pretty tight schedule, so they couldn't wait or spend too long searching. If a sailor misses his ship, he’ll likely lose his job. Captain Regert would come back, and since Dariny was his brother, he’d be allowed his job back. We did some digging and learned other things about the Captain that I won’t tell you. It wasn’t the first time his men have done things, and he’s guilty of a few himself. His death was just.”

Aspen hugged his knees. “I didn’t want Starry to suffer that. Besides, I heard what you told Regert earlier, so I had a pretty good idea of why you did this.”

“I’m sorry we used you for that. You practically fell into my lap, and…sometimes we’re pirates, but we don’t kill and torture for fun. I figured something happened with the way you acted, but we already had you, and I needed revenge for Nany and to make sure Regert was dealt with along with his foul men. I also wanted the key to his lockbox.”

Aspen figured they wouldn’t toss him overboard now that they’d finished with him.

“We took their merchandise from the ship that didn’t catch fire and sank the other. I didn’t find that damn key to his lockbox, and he died from his injuries. All the bodies are gone. I don’t know what to do with you except take you to wherever you want to go as payment and an apology. I'll give you your money back too.”

“I need to meet up with Oriel. I have to tell him what his cousin did.”

“Do you want to meet up with the fleet of ships she sent?”

“Yeah, but…” Something occurred to Aspen.

“What?”

“What if they know I was supposed to die? I don’t know if I can trust them. Asara could have told her army anything. Maybe someone in charge knows."

Kalani thought for a moment. “We’ll ply our trade, find out what we can, wait for Oriel, and keep you hidden for now.”

That would work. Plenty onboard might be fucking to ease the boredom, but for any who liked women, a ship full of new, gorgeous ladies in shiny paint and silky bits of cloth would be tempting.

Aspen finally agreed to come out of the room. The change in the women was astonishing. Several wanted to kiss his cheek, and they acted like he was a hero for cutting off the cock and balls of an attempted rapist. Starry apologized for being so mean to him, and the others did too. One of the women could heal broken bones, and Starry’s snapped wrist was like new now.

Most of the women seemed faintly leery for a bit as if they thought he might snap again. He knew he must have looked like an utter savage that night, but he hadn’t cared. All of his anger had come to the surface and needed to be released. He had absolutely no regret for killing that bastard.

He had free roam of the ship, so he often sat near the railing with his cloak over him so he didn’t get burned to a crisp in the sun. It was easier to look at the water. The ladies fed him, drank with him, and treated him like a proper person even if he knew he probably seemed odd and refused to go below deck for any reason. At night, he slept in his room.

He was allowed to drink on board, although Kalani rationed him. They had nowhere to buy it on the open seas, and it needed to last. At least the rum helped blur edges a little bit now and then.

They started calling him King of the Doves, although he said he was hardly the King of Shit, much less them. They laughed and said Kalani made the rules, but he could have the title.

He didn’t expect to find the Queen’s ships at a standstill and separated into two groups. Kalani had their ship anchored a distance away as she used her spyglass to check out the two groups.

---