Chapter 10
Andy's arms wrapped around his stomach, groaning as the darkness swirled around him. His head scratched against the wooden walls of the crate, breathing deeply.
I hate ships, he thought to his self, hiccupping on the bile churning in his belly once the ship jerked forward. He pressed further against the head of the crate where a small hole was cut in, catching pale slivers of light that barely fluttered below deck. Andy's lips thinned out, tucking his head in his arms.
"To think I could be sleeping in a comfy bed right now," he mumbled.
A flint of guilt pierced the whirl of nausea roiling through him at the thought of home. He nibbled on his bottom lip, reminiscing of Georg's constant nagging as he disappeared into his library of dust covered books; of Svena's playful head buts that left his ribcage feeling sore for weeks; and of golden brown eyes that narrowed intently on cutting through a block of ice, sparing him a smile whenever she caught him staring at her for too long. At that thought, Andy felt his mouth run dry.
"She's so going to kill me," he groaned, shifting around in the crate uneasily. His back knocked against the wood with each twist as if the crate was slowly constricting him. He huffed and plopped his chin on his arms. "If this crate doesn't kill me first."
Andy yelped as the crate slid, clacking against the other wooden crates beside him. His head banged against the top of the crate and hissed. The boy buried his chin in his arms, squinting at the sliver of light fading quickly. The deep rocks of the ship combined with the darkness veiling the lower deck made Andy's eyelids grow heavy until drowsiness seeped through his limbs.
A little snooze never killed anyone, he thought drifting off into squeaking silence. Andy carefully curled his legs to the edge of the crate, a slight snore tickling the back of his throat as an hour passed. Yet, the hefty slam of door that shattered the carefully weaved peace jerked Andy from his slumber. He shook his head, blinking the last web of sleep from his eyes as voices began to speak.
"—should be in here." A cabin mate whispered, shuffling through the storage room. "Captain always keeps the best of it here."
Andy swallowed thickly, catching the faint shadows that were darker than the rest of the room. A pair of boots stomped past the crate Andy was in, mumbling under his breath as he shifted through the crate of bottles. A grin split across the cabin mate's face, pulling out a bottle of black liquor from the crate and turning towards his companion.
"Found it!" he breathed, giving a quick peck on the side of the dusty bottle. "Licorice Bermuda, the rum even gods envy." He plucked the cork from the top of the bottle, taking a large swig from it. The rim of the bottle popped from his lips, a giddy grin hiccupping over his lips as he plopped down onto the crate Andy was in. The boy's muscles cringed, sucking in a sharp breath while the cabin mate gulped noisily.
The cabin mate licked the corners of his lips and tilted the bottle to his companion, who took a small sip.
"Bet you don't have this in the Southern Isles," The cabin mate laughed, whipping his greasy hair from his eyes.
Andy's shoulders hunched at the low groan coming from the other. The man smacked his lips, humming, "I suppose not. This puts a real fire in your belly unlike ours."
"You know it!" the cabin mate snatched the bottle from the other's hand, gulping down the liquor eagerly.
Soft banter between the two flittered past Andy's eardrums as he kept as still as possible until King Westerguard's man asked, "How far away from the storm are we?"
The cabin mate paused his gulping, belching lowly, "Well off." He scratched the thick stubble on his chin adding, "And even if it did hit, Roanne could still take it head on."
"Of course." The man nodded, watching the other quietly. The man tapped his side, asking, "Where exactly did your captain get this liquor from?"
The cabin mate's Adam's apple bobbed, licking his lips as his lips twisted in thought. He shrugged, "Barlina. Just north of here."
"I see."
The man's fingers wrapped around the hilt of his waist, yanking out a blade from its sheath. The blade twinkled weakly under the frail light as it cut through the air to meet the cabin mate's throat. The other gasped, a mixture of the liquor and his blood burning the back of his throat. He gurgled weakly, clawing at his neck as he stumbled forward. The man flicked the blade in the air, the crimson dotting its edge flinging off onto the other crates, and slid it back in its sheath.
Andy's teeth buried themselves in his tongue at the thud of the cabin mate's body while the man lazily plucked the bottle from his hand. As he turned on his heel, the man brought the bottle to his lips, chuckling lowly, "Thanks for the tip."
Andy pressed his hand hard on his mouth, his fingers digging into his cheeks as the cabin mate choked quietly beside him. His hands trembled, catching the silent cry falling from his mouth until the doors crashed open again. Footsteps thundered through the room, causing Andy to shrink deeper into the crate as the men tore through the crates.
"Throw these 'gifts' overboard!" a voice snapped.
The men heaved the crates in the room over their shoulders as they raced in and out of the room. Andy choked back on a yelp as his crate was lifted up, and jerked roughly. The crate was thrown carelessly around by the men, making the bile in Andy's stomach roar to life until fresh sea salt drifted through the cracks of the crate—along with fresh copper.
Andy buried his head into his arms, gulping back the bile with as much force as he could muster. He forced his breaths to be even as splashes grew louder in his ear drums. Just as the lull of endless splashing fell in tune to his raging heartbeat, the men carrying his crate stumbled forward. The crate clattered onto the deck, the wood splitting over the hole as Andy groaned. The widened hole, just around the size of his fist, revealed the men keeling over as the captain swung a spare board in the air.
The captain beat the backs of the men with a roar of curses. The rest of the men quickly huddled around the captain, snapping his arm free of the board until he was locked in their grasps. He yanked weakly at their burly grips as another man approached him.
"You just couldn't stay down could you?" the man snarled, wiping a rivulet of blood from his brow with the back of his sleeve. He pointed the edge of his sword at the captain's chest.
The captain mirrored the snarl, spitting out, "No one takes my ship."
The man's snarl twitched into a smirk, burrowing the dark scar around left eye into a broken star shape. "Funny seeing how we just did." He jerked his head over to his other men tossing bodies over board. "This should teach your monster not to cross our king."
"He's no monster!" The captain snaps, jerking towards the man only to double over the large fist buried against his stomach.
The man clucked his tongue with a roll of his eyes. "You Arendelle folk are sick in the head." The captain growled under his breath, spitting at the man's face. The man's snarl returned as he wiped the spit from his cheek. He brought the sword back into its sheath. "Throw the rest overboard, but keep this one!" He grabbed the captain's cheeks and hissed, "You're gonna wish you went down with the rest of your crew."
The captain felt another burst of pain creep across his side as he was dragged away, shuddering at the heavy splashes that resumed. Andy's stomach coiled, pressing his self deeper against the crate. His mouth opened and closed, his voice itching to shout yet clung to his windpipe.
The king probably didn't give them orders to spare royalty on the ship. Fear murmured in the back of Andy's mind. Before he could retort, the crate was lifted up again. Andy's heart gripped onto his uvula, the reckless swinging of the crate not helping him the slightest. His lips moved absentmindedly, whispering every prayer he could think of until the feeling of arms fell away. I'm free. I'm free! Then gravity's hands snatched him away.
The crate crashed into the water, the waves bobbing around it becoming mere sloshes compared to the cheering thundering from the ship and the boy's raging pulse. Andy gasped, sucking in a deep breath as salt water flooded the crate—dragging it deeper into its dark belly. Andy tumbled against the crate, jerking against the amorphous arms and firm wooden back around him. The boy's lungs burned as he squinted up at the quickly fading hands of light that stretched down to him through the cracks of the crate.
Andy's heart skipped a beat, his fingers blindly patting for his waist until they caught around the hook of a pouch. He dug through the satchel, lungs beginning to knock on his chest, and yanked a small dagger into view. The boy pushed his self up towards the head of the crate, digging the dagger into its edges. The blade silently sawed through the wood, jerking hectically as the light grew dimmer and dimmer.
Come on. The pressure building in his chest slowly began to pry Andy's lips open. Come on!
The dagger suddenly split through the top of the crate, and Andy slammed his head and arms against it. The top of the crate broke away, drifting through the waters aimlessly as Andy's body squirmed towards the surface. The pushed away from the crate only to feel a tug around his neck; he glanced down and felt his heart sink at the corner of his cloak caught onto the crate. His fingers dug into the cloak, yanking at the bottom of the fabric only to feel it grow more tangled. Salt stung the boy's eyes as he fumbled with the clasp around his neck. Jerking the golden metal off, Andy's arms pushed through the water; leaving his anchor to sink without him. Andy squirmed and swished through the water, squinting at the glowing halo of light just above the surface. His heart swelled in his chest as he broke the surface of the water, heaving in a deep breath.
Then his heart dropped deeper than the crate was drifting off to.
Rain drops whipped across Andy's cheeks as the waves roared around him, flinging him about like a ragdoll. A wave crashed over Andy, pressing back under mercilessly until he broke through again. The boy spat out the salt water, a bitter tart of salt clawing at his tongue as another wave pushed him back down again. Andy's arms frantically splashed through the water, gasping every chance he could until he wrapped his arms around a spare board. His nails scratched across the wood as the wind howled by his ears, no doubt blowing them out.
Andy's body trembled uncontrollably, squinting through his matted hair to see endless black waves beating one another. He gulped, tightening his self around the board until a spark of light crashed through the darkness drowning him. The boy felt his heart freeze, listening to the echoing crackle thunder behind him. He twisted his head to the side, watching as the waves climbed towards the sky; the flickering edges of their mass growing sharp like teeth all the while the lightning in the distance reflecting menacing eyes. Andy eyes clenched shut, weaving his whole torso to the board as the jaws of the ocean crashed down on him.
And let nothing, but shadows whisk him to a foreign night.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. Homework decided to be merciless. Thank you for reading and warm hugs for all! :)
