The door creaked open with a gentle push. Torches glowed dimly in the light of the chamber, illuminating a large bed, several fruit-laden tables, and murmuring women lined along the walls. A large Roegadyn man lay upon the bed, tucking a reluctant Keeper woman, dark of hair, under his massive arm. She did not struggle, nor did she look up toward the intruders. No woman dared acknowledge their presence, lest they be named guilty by the barest of associations. Ever could feel their eyes on her shoes as she approached the bed, defiance streaming from her silhouette like heat from a flame.
"Well now, who do we have here?" sneered the rogue, casting the looming Elezen a lazy glance. He tossed the Keeper woman off the bed, sending her atumble. "A new damsel come tae sate the Cap'n's desires?"
"Your friends are dead," said Ever, evenly.
"Oh, they weren't my friends." Slowly, he rose to his feet. His grin broadened, revealing a set of blunt, yellowed teeth.
"Leave this place," said Eyrisunn, addressing a trembling maiden. "We have cleared a way out."
"No, ye haven't." The pirate swept Ever aside, nearly knocking her off her feet. "Not so long as I'm here, see?"
"Let these women go!" insisted Pudada, who lingered beside Eyrisunn's leg. "We have come for your captain!"
"Hah. Is that why ye've come to his quarters?" Another grin. The rogue closed in on Eyrisunn, his gaze sharp as a shark's tooth. "He ain't here. But I can't let ye find him, now, can I?"
Ser Archer took it upon himself to kick the doors shut. The women shrieked at this, scattering, hurrying to the back of the room.
Ever stepped forward. "No, you can't. Any last words?"
The pirate erupted into laughter, throwing a punch at her merrily. "Last words! Ye'll be wishin' ye'd thought o' yers soon enough!"
The punch landed on her shoulder, so strong that she landed on the floor like a flat board. No one had ever punched her before and the man had not held back. What in the world was she thinking, putting herself blatantly in the line of fire?
"Here, you fool!" Eyrisunn lobbed his shield at the pirate, hitting the rogue in the head.
This did little to deter the Shallowtail, for he quickly found his footing and thrust forward his sword. "So it's to be a cockfight? Whip it out, then!"
"Shut your vulgar mouth!" roared Eyrsiunn, and steel clashed with steel.
The women wailed, shuddering against the walls, paralyzed by their fear. Ever struggled to rise midst this chaos, her head pounding. To her great relief, Pudada reached her and began weaving a spell to mend her wounds.
"You've hurt more than your shoulder," she said, softly. "You ought to be more careful, Miss Starfall. You and I are too vulnerable to confront our enemies directly."
"Should you be doing this right now?" Ever watched as the rogue kicked a table into Eyrisunn's belly, fruit flying everywhere. "Ser Eyrisunn may need your help."
"I believe in him," said Pudada simply. Then, she rose to address Ser Archer, who was carefully releasing arrows at the rogue.
When the Lalafell parted her lips to speak, and Ever was sure a name passed over them—but at that instant, a woman cried out, "I'm not one of them! I swear it on what little remains of my virtue!" This woman, a buxom Hyur of chesnut hair, bolted toward the door, past the danger of swords and strangers, and out into the grotto. Her wailing echoed as she disappeared into the darkness. A mewling followed it. Lumpy darted after the woman, equally terrified, tail thick and fluff.
"Miss Pudada—" began Ever, knowing full well Pudada had not spotted her spotted boy.
"She's mad!" cried another woman, clinging to her wailing friend. "Sally's gone mad!"
"They'll kill her!" cried still another. "They'll kill her!"
"Nobody's gettin' killed," said the archer, putting his bow away. "Come on, ladies. This way. We'll get ye out tae safety, aye?"
"We can't! We can't! They're out there!" cried a Lalafellin girl, clinging to the shaking legs of her companions.
"They're dead," snapped Ser Archer. "They're all dead! We killed 'em all! Every single bastard!"
A silence came over the women. Not one of them moved. Some lowered their eyes and others stared at their supposed hero. Ser Archer took a deep breath and shook his head. It did not dilute the ruddy red upon his swelling-stiff face, but a softness returned to the blue in his eyes where, in the heat of passion, it had been replaced by commanding sharpness.
"Wait," whispered Pudada, turning her head this way and that. "Where's Lumpy?"
"Get back here!" shouted the Shallowtail. He raised his blade, furious and vengeful.
Eyrisunn caught the swinging sword on his shield. "Don't forget about me!"
His distraction allowed the wenches an escape. Wailing, they rushed out the door, and Ser Archer's voice could be heard ushering them through the darkness of the grotto.
"We must hurry," said Pudada, massaging Ever's shoulder. "Is there any pain left?"
Ever rolled her shoulders. "None. Let us hurry."
"None o' ye is goin' anywhere!" With a vicious kick, the rogue thrust Ser Eyrisunn to the ground. Grinning wide, he turned to them, and his eyes were red with rage. "Don't think ye can escape! Not a single one o' ye!"
The rogue brought down his sword with the speed of lightning; and it was lightning that Ever called to shield herself and her conjuring comrade. A web of light crackled from her fingertips, sizzling at the tongue of steel relentlessly, staying its strike. The rogue pushed with a loud cackle; the lightning began, slowly, to give way. Damnation!
"Not so fast!" Eyrisunn slid his sword between the rogue's shoulder blades. It looked to cut as easily as butter to the naked eye; but Ever was sure this feat had taken much strength skill, enough to overcome fibrous muscle and the force of one's instincts, for one was never quite prepared to kill.
Ever herself was not prepared for the blood spilling from the rogue's chest. It splattered across her face and the front of her robes. She stared into the gaping hole, blood oozing from it like a geyser waiting to burst, until the rogue dropped to his knees, the life faded from his eyes.
"Awful," Pudada whispered, clenching tightly the edge of Ever's robe. "Just awful."
Ser Archer returned to the Captain's chambers. He cast a cursory glance toward the dying rogue, then looked to Eyrisunn. "He's gone deeper. We oughta hurry, if they've got ships down here."
Eyrisunn started out the door. "We won't let him escape."
"E—Excuse me!" A girl emerged from the dark, younger than the rest of the women, but dressed as one of them. She approached Eyrisunn hesitantly, fixating on her laced together hands. "I know you said we ought to run, but… I couldn't leave without giving this to you."
Eyrisunn questioningly outstretched his hand. The girl dropped a key into his canyon-wide palm.
"It was on his person," she said. "He told me to hold onto it until… he was finished."
"Thank you, lass," said Eyrisunn, nodding sternly. "There are numerous tunnels in this grotto, by the look of it. Know you the way the Captain may have gone?"
"If he's trying to escape, there must but a harbour where the ships are docked," said Ever. "Have you seen it?"
"I have," said the girl. "It's the way they brought me here... brought us all here. It goes deeper. The door is quite large. Follow this path, that way." She pointed toward a large gate, cerulean in hue, with two doors. "Go as far as you can. You will find the ships."
"The Yellow Jackets—you must ask the girls to report to them," urged Pudada. "Your testimony will provide evidence for the crimes committed in these halls."
"Yes, Miss," came the girl's meek reply as she curtsied. "We will report to them at once."
"Go now," said Eyrisunn, turning away from her. Purpose made firm his stride as he approached the large door. "Go now, before there are men to chase you."
"Safe travels, wee miss," said the archer. "There's Yellow Jackets right outside."
"Thank you," whispered the girl. Her eyes did not meet the archer, but there was a faint smile on her lips as she glanced toward him. Then, she turned and stumbled into the dark.