"THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR LIES!" Finn roared, his voice cracking with a desperation so sharp it felt like a blade. "YOUR RECKLESSNESS WILL KILL EVERYONE ON THIS BOAT! WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN INSOLENT TRASH LIKE YOU ON BOARD! I KNEW IT! I JUST KNEW IT!"
Rissa flinched as if he had struck her. She looked up at Finn, her heart shattering. This was the most she had ever heard him speak. They had become good acquaintances if not friends she had thought. But to hear him speak only against her with such venom, his face twisting in hate, was worse than the curse itself.
"BUT NO WORRIES," he snarled, his eyes burning with a false cruelty that hid a sea of pain. "WE STILL HAVE TIME. THROWING YOU INTO THESE DARK, COLD WATERS WILL BE THE PRICE FOR OUR LIVES! CAPTAIN! ALLOW ME!"
He made a move toward her, and Rissa scrambled back with fear, a sob breaking from her throat. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, her eyes though getting blurry fixed on him with a look of profound, agonizing disappointment, her trembling hands in front of her as a shield ready to attack if he got any closer. She was trying to look at the man she had begun to trust and found only hostility in his eyes. And then she could look no more and looked down turning her head away, tears still drenching her collar.
Finn's mask was slipping now. His own face was becoming a sorry picture of pain and agony. His heart breaking and screaming while staring at her. Every word he just spat felt like he was swallowing glass, stabbing him from insides. And then when he saw her falling tears, the way she shrank from him in terror; his entire body flinched with disgust and hate for himself, and for a second, his foot moved forward to comfort her, to apologize to her. But, he caught himself, shaking his head and stepping back, his grip on the Captain's arm tightening until his knuckles turned white.
Feeling the tightness, Captain looked up at his grandson's face. He saw the hurt and misery behind Finn's eyes, the boy was breaking himself apart just to scare the truth out of her.
A faint, sad smile touched the his lips. He forcefully cleared his throat.
"Captain!" Finn cried out, his attention snapping back.
"Lad..." the Captain whispered, "You might as well take my arm off if you like."
"Wha... what?" Finn asked, blinking.
The Captain tenderly grinned, looking at his arm, then at the sobbing Rissa, then back at Finn. He saw the boy's ears turn red as he realized how hard he was squeezing. Finn's grip loosened, his shoulders slumping as the mask of fury fell away, leaving only a boy who looked like he wanted to vanish. The Captain chuckled, though it turned into a wet cough, and he began to massage his bruised arm.
The silence stretched until it felt like it would snap the very timbers of the ship.
"My child..." the Captain said softly, moving toward Rissa. His demeanor had shifted; he looked older, weaker, and the casual rasp of a sailor was gone, replaced by a haunting, noble gravity. "Only if you tell us, can we help you. We won't hurt you. I promise."
Rissa looked up and towards the people who were still there looking at her like a funny scene. Afterall it was not daily that they would come across a spectacular drama of a dying woman, her crying helpless aide, black magic object and a dying traitor among them.
Finn looked at the door, sensing the crew's ears pressed against it and realized her intention, "OUT! Everyone out!" he barked at everyone in the hall. The Captain nodded, and the room was finally cleared and finn ran up and locked it from inside.
Rissa took a jagged, sobbing breath. She looked at Aeryn, who was fighting for every gasp of air.
"Grandpa... She..." Rissa whispered, her voice cracking. "She... we aren't just travelers. She is the High Queen of Sahirra. Her Royal Highness, Queen Aeryn Thalen... the only daughter of High King Maeron and Queen Elaira. The only Blood Weaver left in this world. The Daughter of the Trinity."
She wiped her eyes, her voice rising in a panicked plea. "The Hegemony doesn't want a hostage. The ones who want to cage her, to use her... they are waiting there. She will die if she goes back! She is already sick! She cannot go back!"
The names echoed like thunder in the small cabin. Finn's jaw dropped. He stumbled back, his shoulder slamming into the wood as the color drained from his face. They weren't just carrying a girl; they were carrying the flickering soul of a kingdom.
The Captain simply looked down. He had always known, that she was the missing Red Witch of the Spire. But hearing it aloud hearing the names of the monarchs he once served shattered something inside him. He collapsed to his knees, his head bowing so low that his forehead touched the floorboards.
"Captain, get up!" Finn hissed, reaching for him.
But the Captain was an unmovable anchor. "I forgot," he croaked, his voice thick with a sudden, agonizing grief. "I treated her like a commoner. I let her walk these decks like a beggar. I gave my word to the Crown years ago that I would be the shield for the bloodline... and I let a curse sit under her head for a thousand miles. I failed her... even though I knew!"
He looked up at Finn, the black veins of the curse now crawling up his neck like spiders. "I failed my mission son. I wasn't just a sailor. I was the one sent by the late King to wait... to return when the Crown called. I am no Captain." He closed his eyes, a single tear tracing a path through the grime on his cheek. "I am a disgraced Knight. A fallen General of the Silver Rose. I don't deserve to live. Kill me please… Kill me…"
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