Cousin stood on Haven’s rolling deck. Her dark green hair was bound in one long braid down her back. She held a bloody dirk in one hand, and a cutlass in the other. She stared out over the ocean.
“Wake up! You zone out in a real fight and you die!” the grizzled quartermaster, Kor, yelled, and swung his sword in a cross body slash. The blade missed by inches.
“That why you’re bleeding, Kor, and she isn’t,” Gabb said coming on deck.
Kor’s lip curled up over sharp white teeth. His grey eyes were hard stone. Blood ran from a shallow cut in his shoulder.
Gabb snarled back, then turned to Cousin. “Kraken want’s you, Cousin.”
“Aye, Sir.” With a final look over the ocean Cousin walked away. At the Captain’s cabin, she raised a hand to knock.
“Come.”
She opened the door, and stood at attention in the door way.
“Come. Sit.” Kraken looked over charts and ledgers. Rolls of parchment littered the floor, and rolled with the sway of the ship. His desk was covered layers deep.
Cousin sat across from the desk and waited. She stared out the widows behind him. Time passed.
“Kor’s been complaining about that, “ Kraken said. “The staring. Gabb says it’s nothing to worry about. Which is it?”
“Sir?” Cousin met Kraken’s eyes.
“Is the staring a problem? You’ve been with us for six months, and you’re still not really here.” Kraken watched for the Serpent Shadows to cross the bottomless pools of Cousin’s eyes. He still couldn’t say what color they were.
“Captain?” Cousin focused on the scars over his left eye.
Kraken sighed. “Do you want to stay with us? We are two days out of port at Cape Simling. If you want, you can stay there. I won’t force you to stay on Haven.”
Cousin thought about the scars. She believed Kraken liked them. The skull on his flag had three scars. A motion drew her attention out the window, a distance shimmer, there, then gone. “Something is there. Beyond the horizon. It’s been there a few days. Trailing. Waiting. Too far away to see.”
Cousin walked to the windows.
Kraken turned. He saw nothing. But he had felt something in his joints for awhile. Since the last battle a week ago. He looked back at Cousin. Saw again her hands covered in blood, nails like razors. In battle she was a primal force.
“How far?” he asked, standing and placing his hand on the glass.
“Far. Too far. There none the less.” Cousin turned and looked up at Kraken. His jaw was shadowed by a sparse beard. It made him look hard, unyielding. “I’ll stay. I don’t want to go. I’m better. Here.”
Kraken looked down and fell into her eyes. “Good. Go get Gabb. Have him double the watch, then you both come back here.”
“Aye, Captain.” Cousin snapped to and saluted. She spun to leave, then spun again, and flung herself into Kraken’s arms.
He caught her with ease, and held her to him. He reminded himself that she was damaged, stunted, and not able to understand adult relationships. He told himself she was too young, even if she were healthy. “A sister. Nothing but a sister,” he thought over and over. He set her down. “Hop to,” he said in a sand paper voice.
Kraken sunk into his chair when Cousin shut the door, and turned to look at the water. He was a feared pirate. Men all over the world gasped, and trembled at the mention of his name. He trained hard to be powerful. He could sink a ship with the force of his will, bring men to their knees, withstand bullets and blades. One damaged girl, and he was powerless. Worse, vulnerable. Damned if he wouldn’t leave it all behind, and become a farmer if she asked him.
“I’m lost,” he said to the ocean.
A knock brought him out of his thoughts. “Come.”
Gabb and Cousin walked in, and shut the door. Kraken waved them over. He tried to focus on the chart of the area they were in. A few small islands were close. All uninhabited, most with coral reef and sandbars. Ships as large as Haven rarely visited them.
“Cousin says we have a shadow. My joints agree. Ideas?”
Gabb crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. “Last time Cousin said someone was out there, we were attacked a few hours later. She was staring over the ocean then too.” Gabb smiled an open mouth smile. He looked like a predator enjoying a challenge.
Cousin looked at her hands.
Kraken nodded. “This one here,” he pointed to an island on the chart. “Do you remember it?”
Gabb leaned over the chart, his brows drawn. “Our ship was smaller then. Less crew. But yeah, it could work.” He turned to Cousin, and poked her knee. “What do you say, Cousin? Can you help us draw less water?”
“Yes.” Cousin looked at Gabb. She liked his Death Smile. It made her feel protected.
Kraken stared at the cart. “Fine. Cousin can get us over the reefs and into the cave. From there we can find a way to spy on our shadow when they pass the island. Once we know what we’re up against, I’ll choose our heading.” Kraken took a deep breath, and looked at Cousin. “What do you need to prepare?”
“Meat. I need meat.”
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