The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Victoria's hands grip the rails of the ship so tightly that her nails claw little lines into the wood. Ahead, in the darkness, she sees the lights of another ship. It's a tiny dot on the horizon. She has no idea how many miles away it is. To swim there and back would take too long. The Sea Witch's beasties would descend upon her location before she even made it there.

Her stomach twists painfully and she clutches at it. Her teeth sharpen in her mouth, making her drool.

"We are a week out, Vici. You can hold out until then, can't you?" Aurora asks behind her. Victoria's jaw clenches and she takes a few moments to answer, thinking about what she says before she speaks so as to not say something to Aurora she may regret.

Slowly, she turns around.

"I can hold out," she says lowly, then glares at the captain as he walks on deck. He stops, looks at her, and then at the lights of the other ship on the horizon.

"No."

The word comes out cold and harsh. Rage sweeps through Victoria in a rush of heat, making her hands tremble. The captain turns away from her, ignoring her anger and storming below deck to shout orders at the crew.

Victoria's stomach clamps again. She shuts her eyes and takes in a long, slow, deep breath as she rides the wave of pain out.

Aurora looks at her apologetically, then jumps as the captain calls her name. She disappears off to do the job the captain asks.

"Victoria! Get back to work!" he shouts as he walks back past her again and into his cabin.

She glares at the door, the vein in her temple throbbing with rage. She clenches her body, resisting the urge to barrel in there after him and beg him to head for the ship in the distance.

Before she convinces herself to do it, Victoria spins on her heels and heads back to the kitchen to help Otto with dinner.

She is silent as she works. She barely blinks as she peels and cuts the potatoes. Otto jumps at every thump of her knife as she angrily slices through the vegetables. Even he knows better than to say anything to her.

When dinner is served, Victoria sits in silence, staring at her hands and trying to ignore the pain in her stomach. The smell of the food wafts into her nose and she almost gags.

The captain ignores her. He sits at the head of the table, eating as though nothing is wrong.

"Do you enjoy seeing Victoria in pain?" Thessaly suddenly asks him. The crew go silent. Victoria looks up, watching as the captain pauses then slowly puts down his fork.

"Of course not," he replies curtly.

"Then why aren't you helping her feed?"

"Because we're trying to keep a low profile. Attacking ships is not that," he says, his voice cold, and cruel. "Do I need to remind you all that we are embarking on an extremely dangerous mission? This is the calm before the storm. The moment we find out how to kill the Sea Witch, everything changes. Keeping ourselves out of trouble before then allows us this moment of peace before the real war begins."

"We don't have to attack the ship," Thessaly argues. "We just have to get close enough to Victoria can swim to it!"

"We are not going anywhere near another ship!" he shouts, slamming his hand on the table and making everyone jump. "We do not even want anyone to know we are in this part of the ocean. What part of keeping what we are doing a secret don't any of you understand?"

He turns to her. "Your feeding is your responsibility. You made the decision to board this ship and you decided to come with us instead of staying in Ship Wreck Cove where there would have been plenty for you to eat. If you didn't make the necessary preparations for a long journey, then that's on you."