Sorry I didn't get this up sooner! I meant to but I kept forgetting. I don't own Homestuck, just so ya know. Also I really appreciate reader response. I'll probably start replying to reviews soon, once I know for sure if I'll be finishing this story. Feedback is very important to me and me and is one of the reasons I write. So yeah, let me know how I'm doing and if you like it! And thanks for reading!
While I'm asleep in my cabin, regrettably alone, a sound assaults my ears. I reluctantly open my eyes and hear screams and chains from above me. Immediately knowing what must be taking place, I don't even bother to change out of my nightgown, instead racing up to the deck of the ship in a panic. The slaves are shackled together by their necks, wrists, and ankles, and whips crack at them as they're splashed with seawater. My lip curls in disgust. I have always hated this, and now I have even more of a reason.
"STOP!" I thunder. Surprisingly, everything does. I hurry through the lines of slaves, my heart faltering every time I see the empty shackles where one has been thrown overboard.
When I find her, there are whip marks all over her body, there is blood all over her dress, and she's dripping with seawater because she was unlucky enough to be put on the outside. Even so, my heart beats double-time with relief that she's alive. I pull her into my chest and she begins to cry silently. I glare at a deckhand.
"Get me the keys. Now!" he scrambles back, drops his whip, and runs. I hold my slave closer and kiss the top of her head, trembling slightly as I realize that she could have just been thrown overboard to die. The deckhand returns and holds out the keys. I step away from my slave and wrench them from his grip before shoving him back and making him fall. I release my slave from her shackles and kiss her forehead. She's still crying, I realize. I throw the keys at another deckhand and pick up my slave, keeping her close. "Either get them back to the hold or stop whipping them, understand?" the crew nods hastily, sensing how angry I am. They know that when I'm like this, they need to do what I say or they'll be cut and thrown overboard so when the blood attracts the creatures of the deep they'll die horribly. I kiss my slave's forehead again and carry her down to the medical bay. The medic isn't there, so I undress her and help myself to his ointments and bandages, gently dressing her wounds while she tries to be strong. I smile and lean down to kiss her gently as I finish. I dress her, wash my hands, write a note for the medic (but I don't say I'm treating a slave), and pick her up, carrying her to my cabin and setting her in my cot. I carefully undress her and help her into my softest nightgown, then kiss her forehead.
"Mindfang," she says softly. "Thank you for helping them," I smile and gently stroke her face, tucking her in.
"Don't talk. Rest your voice, hm?" I can tell she's been screaming; she's hoarse. "Sleep now," I sit on the cot and stroke her hair, singing a soft lullaby for her. She smiles at me.
"I...used to sing that for...my son," she whispers. I want to ask her what she means, who her son is, but I know she needs to be quiet right now. I resolve to ask her when she's better.
"Remember what I said about talking?" I say. She nods. "Enough said," so she closes her eyes and I keep stroking her until I know she's asleep, and even for a time after that. Then I dress, take the keys to my cabin, lock the door behind me, and storm up to the deck, where I strike the first deckhand I see. He cowers.
"Marquise?" asks another. I turn and strike him, too. I snarl in a feral manner.
"You animals! Fucking animals! You cleanse and whip them at the same time, then you throw them overboard while they're still screaming!" I shout. "You disgust me! I've put up with this until now, but no more."
"Is this about that slave you took down?" spits a deckhand. "The mighty Marquise, matesprits with a lowblood spawn like her?"
"And who exactly is scrambling to fill your quadrants?" is my reply. "If I ever find out you've hurt any of the slaves on this ship in any way without good reason, there will be hell to pay. I am the only one allowed to decide their fate. Understand?" they nod hastily and I return to my cabin, quietly changing and sliding into bed with my slave. I don't need sleep but I do need to be beside her, to reassure myself that she is and always will be okay.
