Dawn took its time arriving. I hoped that the arrival of the sun would cause the ship to start moving for the sake of not being caught. Kirkland's emotions were already overwhelmed with panic. Something must have woken him up early. I sincerely hoped that he would find us once we started sailing. Shifting around, I rested my eyes on the sleeping figure of Lovino. My poor mate was battered and bruised like there was no tomorrow. The cuts on his face had started healing, but there was no way to clean the silver off of his face and body. The body I ached to hold and love as I had so many times before. The body that was within my reach that I was denied the ability to hold.
I couldn't rest as my mate slept. One of us had to stay awake, and Lovino had barely gotten any sleep the entire time he was on this cursed ship. Even asleep, he looked exhausted both mentally and physically. The dirt and blood on his face was cracked around his eyes and forehead where wrinkles had formed in pain and worry. The creases were some of the only relatively clean areas on his body.
Hearing the familiar thump of boots on wood, I jerked to attention. Moving in front of Lovino's sleeping figure, I brought my guard up, prepared for whoever was coming. I wasn't about to be separated from him again, even if it was the last thing I did. The mad red haired pirate strolled past the other cells, hitting a stick against them to rile up whatever was inside. Instead of yells or pleads for mercy, a chorus of muffled grunting and splashing grew with each cage he struck. A pit fell through my stomach as I recognized the sounds. Each of these cells was crowded with other Merpeople, each one in pairs. Some were crying, others were just screaming in a futile attempt to deafen our captors.
Allistair Kirkland's vibrant green eyes stayed locked on mine as he made his way to our cell at the end of the passage. Malice oozed from his very being with that cocky smirk on his face. Before I knew it, I was staring at him above me, on the other side of my cell. A long roll of brown paper stuck out of his mouth, the end glowing a dim red. Taking a deep breath, he released a foul-smelling cloud into our cell. Struggling to not choke on the cloud, I shot him one of my best glares. This just seemed to amuse him.
"Ye' know, mermaid, I like ye'. If ye' were human, I'd prolly take ye as m'wife. Nice 'n fierce, not tae mention beaui'ful tae boot. Half these mermaid in here, they jus' dun have the same spark." His eyes strayed from my face to my now bare torso. The other man had all but ripped it off once I woke up. Kirkland's eyes locked onto the semi-circular scar on my shoulder. The smirk on his face grew into a grin. "Tha's another thing. This one, 'es yer mate, ain't he?" He gave me a moment to answer, which I didn't. He just shook his head, the stupid grin staying plastered on his face as he blew another cloud into the small room. "Tha's fine. Ye dun have tae answer. Everyone here's a mates pair. O'course, none o' them understand me. Ye seem tae, which is why I'm talkin' tae ye. I figure, yer gon' die anyway, so there's no harm in tellin' ye what'll happen."
"Ye see, when I was a wee lad, I became a sailor, jus' like m'father. Only problem was, a few months in, we got stranded deep in mermaid territory. They found us, but they didn' kill us an' make it quick. Nah, they circled us for a month, singin' tha' damned song. My Cap'n, he was one of the firs' tae jump over. Weak, 'e was. Maybe half the men join'd him in the water. The others went mad, actin' like nothin' was wrong. Just doin' wha' they did until they dropped dead. On'y a few men survived, an' they're on m'crew now. They're loyal, awright, an' devoted to the cause. Y'see, when we finally got out, we made a pact. With my magic an' the crew's help, we're gonnae end the lives of all mermaids. Startin' with seven pairs o' mates."
He burst out laughing at the sight of my horrified expression. "An' here I though' ye didn' have any emotions. Dun worry, it won' take long. We jus' have tae get to the righ' place an' wait for the righ' time. I have tae admit, I only let ye go the firs' time 'cause I though' ye were related. Didn' even see the mark on yer shoulder, I should'a checked. Not tha' it matters now, of course. All tha' matters now is getting' the job done." With that, he huffed one last cloud puff into the smothering room before heading back out past the other cages, smacking them each once more with a stick.
Apologies for the shorter chapter, but I know that the next one will be much longer. I'm trying to work on another fic, but it shouldn't distract me too much from finishing this one.