WILL

This was a mistake. The realization that I’d somehow chosen to board a military vessel was a cold weight in my chest. As I backed away from the box, my gaze darted to the door of the cargo hold, wondering with dim hope if I could open it before the ship moved. The sudden lurch of the ship, the groan and grind of machinery, informed me it was too late for that. The airship was pulling away from the dock, and I could only hope they wouldn’t find me before they made port in a new city.

Gritting my teeth, I turned away from the ominous crates, knowing I still needed to conceal myself if I wanted to survive. I expected there to be tightly packed crates at the back of the cargo hold, a perfect place to squeeze into to stay out of sight; but it was alarmingly empty, a space of vacant floor surrounding a chillingly familiar chest crafted of copper and gears. My steps faltered for a moment before I dashed across the floor.

I’d seen several designs of that machinery, but never one this size; it was several feet long, its lid on level with my knees. Breath catching, I brushed my fingers against the complicated mechanical lock. I knew it required a precise combination of motions across the gears to unlock it; my hands worked quickly, fingers sliding the metal fastenings before I completed the pattern. The lock came open with a hiss of steam and a solid thunk, releasing the top of the chest to slowly rise.

The hiss turned to a sharp, shrill, pulsating whistle; an alarm that no doubt echoed through the whole ship.

I should have hurried to hide, but my attention was on the contents of the chest. Small, opalescent black crystals were carefully stored in tempered glass bottles, neatly arranged against the padded cloth that lined the chest. There were hundreds of them in tidy lines, streaks of iridescent rainbow colors cutting through the black shards. My hands trembled as I reached for one...

Just as my fingers were about to brush the cold glass, thudding footsteps sounded from behind, followed by a heavy weight crashing into me. The breath was crushed out of me as rough hands slammed me down against the wood floor; a pained grunt left me as my assailant kept me pinned in place, a knee driving into the small of my back.

I fought back desperately, and managed to turn my face enough to see the man who’d tackled me to the floor. He had dusky skin, dark hair falling across his face as he leaned over me; his green eyes were narrow, teeth bared in a snarl as he caught my arm before I could reach him. His fingers squeezed my wrist, grinding bones together as I hissed in a breath against the flare of pain. While I had expected a uniform, I saw a glimmer of gold in his ears, a shimmering chain laid against his chest where a loose white shirt was half unbuttoned, before his other hand wrapped in my hair and slammed my face down against the floor.

I froze, ending my struggle as I felt the cool barrel of a pistol at the back of my skull. “You move, and you’re dead, thief,” a hot breath said in my ear. “Understand?” the man shouted louder, making me flinch and close my eyes.

My voice was caught behind the fear for a moment, and I had to swallow hard to get past it. “I understand,” I rasped, my hands pressed against the floor so I wouldn’t seem like a threat. My thoughts were spinning, searching for a way out, but I had a feeling I was in way over my head. It didn’t stop me from trying to appeal to him, my voice shaking as I said, “I wasn’t planning on stealing anything, I swear. I just needed safe passage out of Nighbrook.”

The man sneered as he yanked me back by the hair. “The fuck you were. Just need safe passage? The hell you doing snooping through our cargo, you little rat—”

“Tarren!” A softer voice called from somewhere in the shadows, making the man detaining me stop. Though I couldn’t see her, I could tell she sounded calm and sincere as she said to her crewmate, “Enough. We need to take him to the captain.”

The man she called Tarren clicked his tongue against his teeth in displeasure, pressing his knee harder into my back before he grunted in a savage tone. “Fine! We’ll take ‘im to the captain. But who do you think he’s going to blame for letting the fuck’n rat aboard?” Without restraint, the man put away the gun quickly before he clasped my wrists behind my back in heavy, rusted irons. Yanking me to my feet, he stayed behind me out of sight, the gun once again pressed to my neck for persuasion as he demanded through clenched teeth, “Don’t try anything.”

I looked up at the man with a gun to the back of my head, biting back a sharp retort about my lack of a death wish. I didn’t want to give him a reason to pull that trigger. Searching what I could see of the dark cargo hold, my gaze found the woman who had spoken against him. Scanning upwards from her high leather boots and dark trousers, to her corset and white blouse, and past the large gold hoops that hung from her ears, I finally found her face. Sharp green eyes were focused on me, luminous against dark skin; the same as the man who’d attacked me. I met her gaze, not sure if I should thank her for convincing her crewmate to spare me, at least for the moment.

She shook her head, a silent warning; the motion flipped the tail of her long braid of deep brown hair over her shoulder.

I drew in a steadying breath, and I grudgingly went along with the demands. “No escape attempts, I swear,” I assured the man with the gun.

It seemed to satisfy him as he gave me a nudge to start walking forward, saying to the woman, “Cordy, get the door.” Once our way was clear, he gave me a harder shove, practically snarling as he whispered, “I’d say it was a pleasure knowing you, but it hasn’t been. Hopefully you’ll have learned yer lesson for the next life.”

A shiver of dread crawled down my spine as I wondered what the military would do to me now that I’d been found on their ship; I did my best not to show it, gritting my teeth and refusing him the satisfaction of a pleading response. It only served to aggravate him further as he pushed me into the body of the ship.

My worries grew as I was forced down a long hallway with plush red carpeting running along the wood floor, gold embroidery shimmering in the light. The walls were bare, and while nothing cluttered the space, I could tell the wood paneling on the walls was as high quality as the cut crystal chandeliers that lit the hall. I’d never been inside a ship like this; clearly intended for someone of high status, it made me nervous that I’d ‘escaped’ onto the vessel of an army general.

Cordy opened the door at the end of the hall, and I stumbled into a large room. My eyes searched over it, taking in the luxury. The furniture bolted to the floor was all high quality and sturdy. A table with gilded carvings along its legs was set against the far wall, a worn map with torn edges pinned across it and several more displayed on the wall. Shelves built into the room’s surroundings displayed riches, statues and jewels, like trophies; gold coins spilled carelessly across the rich carpet from an open chest in the corner which shone with treasure.

The room was a display of stunning wealth, and yet it couldn’t compare to what attracted my attention at its center. In front of a crew of impressive looking figures, a man lounged on what I could only describe as a throne, with a high back lined with rich red velvet. Leather cavalier boots were kicked up onto the armrest as he leaned back comfortably. I took him in, knowing he was doing the same to me.

He wore no uniform, but his breeches looked expensive, not quite as worn as his crewmates, and he wore a waistcoat made of fine burgundy silk. His long frock coat had gold embroidery upon the lapel, pearls stitched into the fabric. His hands were folded on his lap, white frills covering most of his pale skin, but not enough to hide the multitude of rings he wore on each finger. Wearing a wide-brimmed cavalier hat, topped with a large black ostrich plume, I caught the glimpse of brilliant blue eyes, glinting against long, thick black hair that covered his face in the shadows.

Realization hit me like a train. This was no military vessel; the man in front of me was no officer or warlord...

He was a pirate.

I was pushed forward, Tarren’s voice rising as he said, “I found a rat sneakin’ around the hold, Captain.” My heart sank as Tarren shoved me down on my knees in front of the throne. “Had his hands in our goods.”

I couldn’t argue, stricken by the gravity of the situation. I’d stowed away on a pirate airship, and they were under the impression I had tried to steal from them, no doubt a bounty pillaged from a military ship. For pirates, there was no obligation to follow any law or sense of reason to my punishment; I would be lucky if they gave me a quick death.

As the captain smirked down at me, taking in a deep, sarcastic sigh, I curled my hands into fists, wondering bitterly if I would have been better off in the alleys.