Okay, here are review responses for the last chapter!
millisiana: You'll see about Will being nice sooner or later. And yes! I will definitely have Will's history explained sometime during the story. I'm super excited about it, so I hope everyone else is too!
nononononononono: What a fun name you got there :) I'm glad you like this idea! Awww yeah I'm a Wessa fan too, so I hope this goes according to plan. Enjoy the chapter!
TessaElsaHerondale: Yeah, he is an ass. Maybe your reason is right though ;) Oh wow I didn't even notice that Jessie wasn't in this! Guess I'll have to add her, so thanks for that haha. I think I will add more Sideon to this later.
Guest: Thanks! Here it is!
SecretCookies: Happy that your excited for that! I can't wait too, especially with CoHF out. Hmmm you'll find out about Will later :)
Sapphire131: Ugh tell me about it. The red wedding was just awful :( Here's the new chappie!
Personorwhatever: Thanks! I'm glad you like my stories :) You will see Cecily in this chapter actually haha.
Guest: I tried to write as fast as I could! I'm glad that you're eager for this :D
Vialovesbooks: Thanks! Awww glad to know the anticipation is high :)
LightwoodLady25: Thanks! You're too kind :) Hope you enjoy this chapter!
"Will, try and be reasonable here," Jem argued.
"I am being completely reasonable Jem!" Will exclaimed in exasperation, pacing back and forth.
"Then explain to me why throwing Tessa in a cell and giving her nothing to eat or drink for the past couple days is reasonable," Jem challenged dangerously.
They were in the Will's room, or the captain's quarters as the others called it. It was attached to the private dining room where Will had his dinner with Tessa the other day. It was roomier than the other rooms aboard the ship, which made sense since he was the captain. However, Jem was the only one allowed in Will's quarters. Well besides Cecily, who was Will's sister.
"You're calling her Tessa, are you?" Will sneered. "I guess you both are on a first name basis. What's next, you're going to sleep with her?"
"Will, don't," Jem said coldly, narrowing his eyes right at Will. An understanding of some sort passed between the two, and Will subdued.
"Fine," Will sighed in defeat. "But what were you doing visiting her, James? You knew it was strictly against my orders."
"You were starving her, William," Jem said, enunciating every word. "What were we supposed to do? Let her die? You know he wouldn't like that."
At that, Will perked up. There was a long pause, then, "If you were any other man, then I would have thrown you off this ship." Jem tensed, but Will kept going, "but you are more than a brother to me, James I cannot punish you in such a way."
Jem closed his eyes and rubbed his temples in exhaustion. Being the first mate was more difficult than what most others thought. He was in charge of overseeing the entire crew and relaying messages to and from Will, which drained the energy out of him. Sometimes, Jem felt he had much more to deal with than Will. But he couldn't complain; Will was the captain after all.
"Why can't you just release her, Will?" Jem said finally. "Why is that so difficult?"
"I just can't," Will said without further explanation.
"But why?" Jem pressed on.
Tiredly, Will sat down on his chair and sunk into the seat. He buried his face into his hands, his curly black hair falling everywhere.
"I know why," Jem said so quietly that Will had to strain to hear him. "It is because you're weak. And you don't want your weakness to show. Once upon a time, you were William Herondale, part of the respected Herondale family. But you lost everything so you built up this persona of Heron the Great. Tough, notorious, feared Heron the Great. You do all of this just to hide who you are. But that's the catch to all this, isn't it? That you're weak."
"James," Will said feebly, his dark blue eyes looking up from his hands.
Jem walked over to him, staring right at him. "Show me that you're not weak. Show me that you are the strong man that I once knew. I know this is not you and deep down, the real Will Herondale is trying to break free. Not the Heron, but Will."
Will finally lowered his hand and stared into one of the lanterns hanging on the side. He gaze was so deep and focused that Jem thought he would blow out the light.
"You win, Jem," he said in a steady voice, devoid of any emotions. "Tell the crew to prepare a room for Miss Gray."
Tessa was hungry one again. She completely lost track of time; had it been hours or days since Jem and Sophie had visited? Tessa had no human contact whatsoever since then, and it would only be a matter of time before she descended into madness.
There was a rattle of keys and the door banged open. Tessa looked up to see only one person standing before her.
Jem.
He rushed over to her, laying before her a tray.
"Eat," Jem instructed. Tessa didn't even think twice and dug straight into the food. It was warm bread and hot soup that definitely tasted fresh. Something was definitely up.
When Tessa was done, she wiped her hands on her dress. It was the same dress that she had worn to that awful dinner with the Heron. Or Will. Or whatever he wanted to be called, but Tessa didn't care. What she wanted was a bath… she probably reeked now.
Tessa nearly forgot that Jem was still there, watching her intently.
"Come now," Jem said, standing up and helping Tessa up. He had a surprisingly firm grasp.
"Where are we going?" Tessa said in confusion, as Jem let go of her hand and led her out of her prison cell and once again through the narrow corridor.
"To your room," Jem said.
"My room?" Tessa said, perplexed by this sudden change.
"Yes your room," Jem said, not looking back.
"Let me guess, captain's orders?" Tessa said in sarcasm.
"Actually, yes," Jem simply replied.
Tessa was struck speechless and totally taken aback. Since when did Will care about her and her wellbeing?
They had reached the outside, and the sunlight struck Tessa directly that she had to shield herself from being blinded. It was most likely high noon; otherwise, it wouldn't be as bright. As they made their way across the deck, Tessa could see the crew, hard at work in keeping the ship going and afloat. Jem and her reached the other side, where the captain's quarters were, but instead of going in there, Jem led her to a set of stairs that descended below deck.
As they made their way down, Tessa noticed that there was another hallway, but this one not as narrow and very well lit. They passed the mess hall, which had a few stragglers, probably finishing lunch, judging by the position of the sun.
Jem careened around the end of the corridor, Tessa on his heel, and they were face to face with a door. Jem pushed it open and ushered Tessa inside.
"This is normally the guest room, but you will be staying here during the duration of your time aboard Ithuriel," Jem instructed. "I'll let you be. There's a tub to wash up and fresh clothes on the bed. Once you are done, you can meet me out here so I can give you a tour."
"Why?" Tessa asked, before Jem could step out.
"What?" Jem said, wrinkling his forehead in confusion. Tessa found that sort of cute, but brushed the feeling to the side.
"Why this random act of kindness?" Tessa reiterated.
"You are the guest aboard the ship, so it only seemed proper to give you the guest room," Jem said.
"But Sophie should be too," Tessa argued.
"Sophie is part of the crew now, so she sleeps with the rest of them."
Tessa raised an eyebrow dubiously.
"I told you that Will Herondale can be a kind man," Jem said, and then closed the door.
Perhaps, Tessa thought to herself. But she was not fully convinced; there had to be some sort of punch to this. A notorious pirate like Heron the Great would not suddenly do something this nice. There had to be a catch to this. Or maybe he was genuinely a good person. Tessa highly doubted that, though.
Tessa took a look around the room. It was much bigger than her cell that had been home for the past few days, but still small. She was on a ship, so that was to be expected. There was a bed in the center of the room, with an intricate wooden nightstand beside it. If only Tessa had her beloved books to place atop it. There was also a folding screen in the corner. Tessa walked over there to see that there was a tub with water, as Jem promised. Where they got the water, Tessa could only ponder, but she could care less. She really needed a bath.
Tessa stripped of the blue dress, which had gotten looser, since Tessa had barely eaten. She probably lost significant weight, and looking in the mirror beside her, she could barely recognize herself. Her gray eyes appeared paler, with dark circles beneath her eyes. Her cheeks had sunken in and her skin had lost color, looking patchy. Her brown hair hung down in ragged strands, making her seem haggard and unkept.
Tessa lowered herself into the tub, and nearly jumped. The water was freezing. It was better than nothing. Quickly, she got to scrubbing herself with the lavender soap that was left on the side. Dirt and grime came off her skin, turning the water black. Once she was done, she got out of the tub and wandered over to the bed to get a good look at the clothes that were left from her.
There was men's clothing.
Women's undergarments as well, but men's clothing: a white shirtfront, black breeches, and black boots. Tessa didn't know what to do, but it was the only clothing she had, unless she wanted to put that dress back on. But it needed a wash.
Seeing she had no other option, Tessa reluctantly put on the clothes. At least the undergarments were familiar. But the breeches made her feel exposed and nearly naked. She was so used to wearing dresses, so the whole feeling was alien. Tessa tucked in the ends in the boots and made her way towards the door. She cracked the door open, unsure of herself.
"Jem?" she whispered.
"Yes?" came Jem's voice.
"Are you sure these are the right clothes?" Tessa asked.
"Positive," Jem said without hesitation. "You're part of the crew now, so you should dress like them. There are more pairs like that in the dresser across from your bed. Now come along so I can show you around."
Tessa stepped out, and Jem smiled at her, leading her towards the corridor again.
"This is the mess hall," Jem announced, gesturing towards the same one they passed before. Everyone was gone now. "You'll be dining here along with the rest of the crew. One short bell sound means breakfast, two means lunch, and three means supper."
"Does Will eat with us?" Tessa asked, hoping the answer was no.
"No," Jem said. Good. "He never does. He just situates himself in his quarters and chooses not to interact with the others."
"But they're his crew," Tessa reasoned.
"They do their job and that's good enough for him," Jem shrugged. "Now come on." Jem led her up the stairs again to the main deck.
"Tessa!" shouted a voice. Tessa looked up and saw Sophie running towards them, beaming at her. Behind her was another girl.
"Sophie!" Tessa said, and gave the other girl a tight embrace. When they finally broke apart, Tessa took a good look at her friend. She was wearing similar clothing to Tessa and seemed to be healthier, even happier.
"I heard he released you! I'm so glad for you!" Sophie said, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Ahem," said another voice, and Tessa noticed the other girl. "I'm Cecily," she said, and extended a hand towards Tessa, who shook it in return. The girl was tall with long black hair and the same dark, midnight eyes that the Heron had, but instead of malice, they held warmth.
"A pleasure to meet you," Tessa said.
"Me too," said Cecily. "And I'm sorry if my brother was being a complete ass to you."
"Brother?" Tessa said in shock.
"And you have now met the friendly and open Cecily, complete opposite of her mysterious brother, Heron the Great," Jem said.
"Yeah, I'm so sorry about that Tessa," Cecily said, and she sounded genuinely sorry for her. "I wish I could do something about it, but my brother listens to no one. That is, except for Jem."
"Don't worry about it," Tessa said. "I'm just glad to be out finally."
Cecily smiled. "I see you're stuck with Jem," she teased, nudging Jem.
"Hey!" Jem shouted, scowling at Cecily.
"Just kidding," Cecily said, sticking out her tongue. "Well, I'll let you finish your tour Jem. Sophie and I have some work to go do. Let me know if you need anything, Tessa. It was nice meeting you!"
"Nice meeting you too," Tessa said, and watched as Cecily and Sophie leave.
"So what did you think?" Jem said.
"She's the complete opposite of Will. Remind me how these two are related?"
"That's what everyone asks," Jem smiled. "Although they are quite similar if you get to know Will a lot more."
"I would rather not," Tessa said darkly. "On with the tour?" she added before Jem could say anything.
Jem took her around the rest of the ship. At the top of the quarterdeck was the stern to control the ship. On the other side was the crows nest, the highest vantage point. Jem took Tessa up there, and she could see everything from there. Everything, meaning just more water.
Jem took her below deck again, where there was a kitchen by the mess hall. There were also the sleeping quarters, where the rest of the crew slept. Jem explained that they were currently all napping, which would explain why the ship was nearly deserted, as they often did after lunch when there was nothing else to do. There was even a small library down the hall, as Will was apparently a big reader, much to Tessa's disbelief. Jem had his own private quarters, right across from Tessa's.
Jem dropped Tessa off at her own room before saying a quick goodbye, explaining that he had some important business to attend to.
So Tessa was alone again. She slumped down on her bed, which was remarkably comfortable, and looked out the window onto the open sea. She wondered how long she would be on this ship and where they were taking her.
There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Come in," Tessa announced, flustered.
The door swung open, and standing before her was none other than Heron the Great.
"Oh!" Tessa said in even more confusion, jumping off her bed.
"Do you mind if I come in?" he asked. He was wearing the usual: white shirtsleeves tucked into his own breeches with his thick, but elegant, dark blue coat on top.
Tessa nervously bit her lip. "Of course not," she said, rather hastily. Will stepped in and shut the door.
"How are you liking the room?" he said, looking around, avoiding eye contact with Tessa.
"It's lovely, thanks," Tessa said, staring directly at him.
"You don't have to thank me, thank Jem," Will said, still not looking at her.
"Jem?" said Tessa. She knew Will wasn't behind this.
"It was his idea really," Will said.
"But you must have agreed to it," Tessa said. It had to be true, otherwise she wouldn't be staying in such a nice room.
"Yes," Will shrugged.
"So thank you," Tessa emphasized again.
"Well," Will said abruptly, "I hope you enjoy your stay here." He turned around to leave, but before shutting the door, he said, "and I'm sorry, for before." And he closed the door. Just as quickly as he came, he was gone.
And Tessa didn't even notice the faint blush that spread across her cheeks.
Awww so maybe Will does have a soft side :) I hope you all liked this chapter! I wasn't too pleased with the last one, so I tried to make this one better. There's only more to come from here, so get ready for a whirlwind ride!
Let me know what you think by reviewing, favoriting, following, and all that jazz. Honestly, you guys are the best!
Peace!
~The Pale Red Queen