Pirate; The Seavey Pendant

18. Derane's Untold Plans

Cinnia stared without watching as Doc locked the rusted padlock to her cell.  Her mind was still in shock, absentmindedly replaying the previous moments in her mind.  Doc stared at her sympathetically, appearing as though he wished she hadn't done it; hadn't murdered Gambara.  But she hadn't.  Cinnia wished she had seen this coming.  How could she possibly prove she hadn't done it?  Derane obviously wouldn't leave a single piece of evidence lying around that would suggest he had been the murderer of the Captain.  Another dreadful thought occurred to Cinnia: would Kieran believe me?

Cinnia didn't know what Derane had in store for the future, but if his goal was to turn her crew mates against her, he had succeeded.  But Cinnia knew that Derane's ultimate goal was revenge on her father, and framing Cinnia for a murder wasn't accomplishing that.  Whatever he's planning, this was definitely a part of it, she thought to herself.

She reached into her shirt to pull out the pendant.  Despite the fact that it had played a part in Derane discovering what family line she belonged to--bringing her nothing but trouble--she couldn't help feeling such a heartfelt connection to it.  It was after all, proof that she had more family than just her mother.  And powerful, admirable family at that.  She squinted through the poor light--a single oil lamp that hung on the wooden wall across from her cell--and looked at the half-pendant.  Where was the other half?  What was the other half?  A pearl?  But what curse did that pearl carry around?

She shook her head at all the questions.  At this point, she thought she would never live long enough to find out.  She let the pendant fall back into position underneath her shirt and listened instead to the angry shouts she heard from the deck above.  Cinnia truly did fear for her life now.  If Derane didn't get to her first, one of the other pirates might.  After a few minutes, the commotion died down, and Cinnia wondered how Doc had managed to silence the angry pirates.  The door at the top of the stairwell opened, allowing the moon light to shine in, and causing the person's shadow to be cast along the floor.  Cinnia stood up and walked over to the bars, pressing her face to the bars to see whoever it was.  She hoped it was either Doc or Kieran--a Kieran that would believe her side of the story.  Instead, Adorno walked into view, looking somber.

     Adorno looked at her with sad eyes and shook his head, "You didn't kill him, did you?"

     Cinnia frowned.  The two of them had never gotten along in the past, and he wasn't one of the people she thought would believe in her, "No, I didn't.  You believe me?"

     "How couldn't I?  I was with you the entire time in Raelith.  I would have known if you had gone off to buy some of that wolfsbane or whatever-it's-called poison.  I just don't understand why you would be framed for it."  He said, sliding down the wall across from her cell into a sitting position.

     Cinnia mirrored his action and with a sigh, she leaned her forehead against the cool, metal bars.  She decided to trust in Adorno, because in all honesty, there were few people left who she could trust in who would believe her.  "Derane framed me."

     Adorno raised an eyebrow, "That's a pretty dangerous assumption."

     "It's not an assumption," Cinnia sent him a long, hard glare.

     Adorno shrugged, "But why would he want to frame you?"

     "It's a long story.  You do know where he came from?  Who his previous Captain was?" Cinnia asked, preparing to explain everything.

     Adorno thought for a while, "That infamous Captain Seavey from the north, right?"

     Cinnia nodded.  "Yeah, that's right.  The thing is, after he was kicked out of the crew, he developed a grudge against him.  He wanted revenge."