Chapter 11
"Zarabeth, are you listening?"
Startled out of her distracted thoughts, the girl looked up at Felix in front of her, swallowing hard in an attempt to try to make her breathing somewhat even again.
Pulling his hand over his muzzle in aggravation, the first officer turned to look back over his shoulder toward the open stateroom door, the violent bursts of wind blowing through its frame making it difficult to hear sometimes. "We go out on deck. You get Jim to cooperate. You go down to the brig with everyone else. That's the compromise. I can't protect you beyond that, so don't be stupid. Alright? Zarabeth look at me. Alright? Good. And don't worry. You're as safe as you can be with me. I promise."
Releasing a heavy breath as she dropped her gaze, Zara couldn't help the hushed words mumbled to herself. "Small comfort."
Zarabeth had to squint against the heavy gusts flying towards her as she was led out of the room onto the upper deck, her trembling breath caught in her throat once her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the early morning, the sight below making her stomach turn and twist on itself.
The deck was littered with clusters of rough looking men, most of them dealing with some of the crew she knew to be more hot-headed than the rest. The sounds of yelling and sometimes pained cries set her teeth on edge, her eyes frantically searching over the faces for Jim.
One voice made itself heard above the others, its higher pitch sending chills of dread through her already shaking body, Zara's focus instantly drawn to the struggle causing such sounds. She had to do something.
In a single motion, Zarabeth yanked her arm free from Felix's hold, ignoring his angry protests behind her as her trembling legs carried her down the steps and across the deck at a frantically determined pace, her voice somehow ringing above the din in order to be heard. "Let him go! Leave him alone!"
Managing to fight and shove her way into one circle of brigands, Zara didn't stop kicking, yelling, and clawing her way through until she was kneeling on the rain-soaked wood of the deck, the trembling cabin boy surrounded in her protective embrace.
Like a wild animal defending her young, Zara's look was cold and threatening as she searched the faces of the men surrounding them, each one too shocked at her presence to react right away.
The girl let her head gently rest against the boy's, her words soft and gentle as she tried to calm his quiet sobs. "I've got you, William. They can't hurt you now. Everything's gonna be okay."
"For him, yes. You, I'm not so sure."
There wasn't time to turn to see who was speaking behind her, the hand taking hold of a fistful of Zarabeth's hair making her instinctively let go of the boy with a sharp breath as she was roughly pulled back away from him.
Forced to move as she was urged, she found herself at the mercy of the man who had confronted Felix before, Ewen, his deformed face smirking down at her in cruel satisfaction as he pulled Zara to her knees. His hand still firmly holding to her hair, the man abruptly yanked back on it to tilt her head higher, taking obvious enjoyment as the girl winced in pain, her hands clinging desperately to his to try to relieve some of the pressure.
The man's bulbous lips parted to reveal the rancid colored teeth behind them, his breath washing over Zarabeth's face just as foul as one would imagine. "Well now. The wench likes to play hero, does she? You think you're special, sweetheart? Think you're safe hiding behind that spineless officer's petticoats?"
No one made a move to stop him, the man's words only met with a low chorus of grotesque snickers and mumbled comments.
Zara's chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing, her eyes unable to leave his even as she noticed his hand reaching for the pistol on his hip.
The man called Ewen chuckled low in his chest as he slowly drew the gun out, moving a piece of stray hair behind Zarabeth's ear with its barrel before smirking in satisfaction.
Zara instinctively held her breath as she felt the cold metal fall over her cheek and down to her neck, its threatening presence making her mind go blank as she fought to keep from flinching.
His mouth curved into an even deeper smirk, the look in his eyes too calm and matter-of-fact to give the girl in front of him any comfort, his next words low enough so only she'd hear. "You're never safe, my dear. Remember that."
"You get your filthy hands off my wife!"
All heads instantly turned to look at Jim as he called out above the noise, the boy struggling violently against the men trying to restrain him.
Zara's breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, her instinctive attempts to get to him quickly remedied as Ewen's hand tightened in her hair, yanking her up towards him so that she was now on her feet facing Jim with her back towards the man. Struggling was pointless, the ever-present threat of the pistol cradled against her throat enough to convince her to stay somewhat still.
"Well, Captain, glad you could finally join us. This little whelp yours? Huh. And here I had you pegged as more of a blonde-lover."
Ignoring the man's remarks, Jim continued to struggle and pull against the hands which held him back, his eyes pleading with just as much desperation as anger, speaking to one person and one person only. "Zara, honey, are you ok? Did they hurt you?"
Shaking her head as much as the gun would allow, Zarabeth desperately hoped her voice wouldn't tremble like the rest of her was. She knew she had to get him to calm down, the visible bruises and fresh cuts she could see making her heart clench at the prospect of him further ignoring his own safety for hers. "Jim, it's ok, I'm ok. They didn't-"
"Let her go, Ewen. I said, no one touches her."
Zara could only turn her head so much to try to see Felix as he finally caught up to the group, his look still calm, but by no means pleased with the present situation.
Wincing with a sharp breath as the man pulled back harder on her hair, making the gun's presence painfully obvious not just to her but to Jim as well, the foreboding 'click' of the pistol's hammer made Zara's heart skip a beat in panicked fear, Ewen's voice resounding in her ears.
"Let me make myself clear, gentlemen. I would not lose a wink of sleep if I pulled this trigger right now. You, Estrada. I don't know if you've realized it yet, but I don't much like being told what to do, especially not by some nobody navy dog. Let me do what I need to until after we're done with Rhitan, and the ship is yours. Not before. Cross me again, and you can just count yourself as an extra body for us to deal with. Savvy?"
Felix didn't make any move to answer, his only reply a small nod as he took a respectful step back, not trusting himself to look at either Jim or Zarabeth.
"Now, as for you, Captain Hawkins."
Turning her head once more to watch Jim in growing fear and dread, Zara could only plead with him through her eyes, not daring to speak up, knowing she'd only make things worse if she did.
"You've been rather troublesome so far. She's pretty, I'll give you that, but what's she worth to you? I mean, you're all gonna die when this is all said and done anyway, but is she worth keeping alive until then? You tell me, Hawkins. But you keep acting up like this and I'm gonna choose for you."
Gritting his teeth as he wrestled with himself, Jim couldn't take his gaze from Zara's, her eyes pleading with him causing his mind to falter.
"Tick tock, Hawkins. You gonna cooperate?"
No longer fighting against the men holding him back, the boy simply hung his head with a small nod, biting down hard on his lip as he tried to block out the remarks and snickering of the brigands around them, desperately hoping he was doing the right thing.
"Good choice. Barton! Make sure you finish locking away the rest of this scum, but keep the Captain and the lady together, as a courtesy you understand. Now let's move! We've got a lot of work to do!"
As if he'd completely forgotten about her, Ewen's hold disappeared from Zarabeth as he made his way back across the deck to bark out orders to his men, leaving the girl to crumple to her hands and knees against the deck, her whole body weak and trembling.
All of her concentration was on trying to get her breathing to become even again, her efforts dashed aside as she flinched away from the gentle hand laid against her shoulder. Looking up fearfully, Zara didn't know how to feel when she saw who it was, Felix's reassuring look doing her no good. She resisted his attempts to help her back to her feet, but, in the end, he did get her upright.
His hand, once again, urging her where to go, Zarabeth refused to look at him, too full of anger and hurt to acknowledge that he had at least tried to speak up for her. There was no point in saying such meaningless words of gratitude, not to him. She didn't owe him anything.
This man holding fast to her arm, practically dragging her down into the darkness of the brig, was her enemy. He'd betrayed them, sold them out, and now, he was going to be the reason for their deaths, hers, Jim's, all of them.
"Coward..."