My leg throbs as we walk, but that’s nothing compared to the fire in my chest that has ignited from his words. He keeps getting me angry. So very angry. I want to hit him some more. It takes every ounce of strength I have to let him take me back aboard that cursed ship.
I try to get out of the lifeboat once, but Riden kicks me, and I act as though the blow knocked the air from my chest. When a rope ladder is let down for us to climb aboard the Night Farer, I punch Riden in the face and try to jump into the water, but he catches me and practically carries me up the ladder. He’s stronger than he looks.
These fake attempts at escape are the only satisfaction I allow myself for his daggered words.
Riden returns me to my cell. He ignores Azek and Jolek as they try to offer explanations for how I escaped. He simply orders them to leave.
Riden disappears from the brig for only a moment. Then he returns. I’m surprised when he locks himself into the cell with me.
“Have you decided that you deserve to be behind bars as well?” I ask.
“I decided that long ago, but that’s not why I’m here.”
I notice now the clean linens and bandages. A little while later, another pirate brings down a bucket of hot water before disappearing again.
“You want me to clean your wounds?” I ask with a snort.
“Of course not; I’m here to clean yours.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Captain wouldn’t like it if he knew I’d sliced you.”
“I goaded you.”
“Doesn’t matter. I should be better than that.”
“Pirate,” I remind him.
“Still doesn’t matter. Now…” He picks me up and sets me on the table so I’m sitting with my injured leg extended in front of me.
“I can sit all by myself,” I say, completely off balance by the effortless way he lifted me.
“I know, but that was more fun. Now, take your breeches off.”
“Ha. Not a chance.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“You haven’t seen me before. Nor will you.”
Riden gives me his devilish smile. How quickly he can muster it up.
“I’ve a better idea,” I say, reaching down. I grab the bloody rip in my breeches and tug. The cloth gives, ripping away from my thigh. I wince.
“And here I almost believed you couldn’t feel pain.”
“Shut your mouth, Riden.”
He’s quiet, and I know it’s not because he listened to me. Instead I realize he’s staring at my leg. No, not my leg. My scars. I have them all over my arms and legs.
“What happened?” he asks.
“I was born to the pirate king.”
He reaches his hand out, about to trace one of the many thin white marks.
“Don’t,” I say. “I’ve just had to fend off Sheck. I don’t need anyone else touching me.”
“Of course,” he says hurriedly. “Forgive me. But I wasn’t going to—” He cuts himself off, ending the awkward moment. Instead he reaches down and brandishes a cleaning salve and clean rag.
“Give me those,” I say. “I’d rather do it myself.”
“And that is why I’ll be doing it for you. You’re a prisoner, and you tried to escape. You don’t get to make any more demands.”
“I could just hit you.”
“And I could make cleaning this cut hurt more than it needs to.”
I sit still, but I don’t look at him as he rubs a foul liquid onto my leg. Bubbles come up from the cut, and the pain is searing hot. I grab Riden’s arm and squeeze to keep from crying out.
“It’s all right, Alosa. Almost done now.”
I’m amazed at his soothing tone. It sounds a lot like the one Mandsy uses when she patches me up. Strange to hear it coming from a man.
He wipes the remaining liquid from the wound. The cloth becomes stained with pink. With steady hands, he cuts a bandage strip and ties it around my leg. His hands are warm in this freezing cell.
“It’s over,” he says. “It should heal quickly. It was a small cut.”
“Yes, I know. As you can see, this is not my first injury.”
“Why must you always be so defensive? I was helping you.”
“Yes, and what a sacrifice it must have been for you. I’m sure you didn’t enjoy every moment of it.”
Smiling, he leans forward a bit. “You are by far the most enjoyable prisoner ever aboard this vessel.”
“I assure you, I’m not trying to be.”
His smile fades. Intensity takes hold in his eyes. “I know.”
Riden’s hand is still on my bare leg. His eyes capture my gaze. I swallow, lick my suddenly dry lips.
Riden places a hand at my cheek. “Alosa.”
“Yes?”
Uncertainty flashes across his face. He lets his hand drop. “How did you get out of your cell?”
Instead of answering, I shrug, mostly because it takes me a moment to find my voice.
Riden takes a step back, observes me carefully. “You’re clever, Alosa, in a way that is uncommon for a pirate. And you’re talented. There’s no doubt about that. And I’ve always known you’re hiding something. But now I’m starting to get the sense you want to be on this ship more than I do.”
“Want to be on the ship?” I ask incredulously. “If that’s your concern, then by all means, let me go.”
“Why else would you go to the pirate quarter of town? You had to know we’d be there.”
“You’re joking, right? You locked me up and then sent Sheck and Ulgin down here. Do you know what I had to endure? I set out to find the two of them and kill them before I left. They aren’t men. They don’t deserve to live.”
“I know. That’s why I let you kill Sheck. Because I couldn’t do it myself. But why risk it? You could have gotten away easily if you had just left.”
“I have a hard time letting things go. I wasn’t about to leave until everything sat right.”
I can’t tell if he believes me. He’s still trying to read my face.
But then his eyes travel down to my bags.
I step in front of them protectively. “What are you looking at?”
“You know I’m going to have to search your things. Unless of course you want to tell me how you got out of here?”
“I just got out, all right? Leave me and my things alone.”
“I can’t do that. Now step back.”
“No.”
He steps forward and reaches for me, trying to physically move me out of the way.
I kick him square in the chest with my uninjured leg. The force is enough to knock him onto his back. Oh no. I put way too much into that one. I’m practically telling him all my secrets. He’s the one most suspicious of me. I need to pull back. But he threatened my clothes! They’re all I have on this ship, and I’m rather attached to them. I don’t want his sticky fingers going through them. And I suppose it wouldn’t be good if he looked too closely at my books.
When Riden stands, he looks at me with new understanding. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
“It was a pretty decent shot, eh?” I try to make it sound like I got lucky, but I don’t know if he falls for it.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”