New Horizons (A Pirate Story)

Chapter 16: Prisoner

Astryd woke up with an aching pain in her right shoulder that led up to her neck. As she started to take in her surroundings, she noticed she was laying on the floor with her neck bent at an askew angle against the wall.

She groaned as she tried to sit up, carful not to make any sharp movements. Once she was in an upright position, she slowly rolled her neck in little circles until the ache mostly faded.

Suddenly, the throbbing pain came flooding back, and she gasped as she gripped her leg. Her ankle looked like it had grown to twice its original size. Whoever put her in the room she was in didn't even bother to get her a bandage or a splint.

Astryd blinked a few times to regain her vision, but her surroundings made it hard to adjust. The room she was in was dark and musty. Some stray pieces of straw littered the floor, and there was a small wooden bench to one side.

The room was small, maybe just big enough to hold a few people if needed. Astryd noticed a small beam of light, and she gently lifted her head to see a small porthole about the size of her opened hand.

Directly across from her and to her left were iron bars, caging her in.

The memories started flooding back to her. How long had she been trapped there? Days? Weeks? If it wasn't for the tiny porthole, she wouldn't even know it was daytime.

Kincade did this. He did this to her. She told him everything. She trusted him with everything. Astryd handed him all of her faults and weaknesses, and he turned them against her to save his own skin.

"Filthy pirates!" Astryd screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed so loudly it hurt.

What hurt Astryd the most was that the Crescent was starting to feel like home. She had friends, people who cared about her. She was a leader, and people listened to what she had to say. She thought she had...a family.

But that family betrayed her, and if that was what a family was, she didn't want it.

"I think you're mistaken. There are no pirates around here. Well, except for you, of course." A figure with a familiar voice emerged from the shadows, still wearing his oversized hat. "We are men of honor. We follow Esterbell's king."

"There is no honor in following Bancroft," Astryd snapped while adjusting her sitting position.

"Even behind bars you find ways to insult. Do you really want to test your captor, Astryd?" James's voice was cool and calm, and it made Astryd feel uneasy.

Still, she knew she had to stand her ground. She couldn't appear weak to the pompous man. Being physically weak and immobile, she knew her voice was her only strength. "I'm surprised you even called me by my name, considering to you I am just cargo with a generous price tag."

"Do you think those snarky remarks will get you anywhere, Astryd?" His voice had turned to ice as he approached the cell wall. As he stepped into the light, Astryd could see a bruise forming over his eye where Carmen hit her mark. She grinned.

"Funny, I should ask you the same thing," Astryd said. "Why are you here? Have you come to gloat?"

"I'm here because I want to know what you did to cross Bancroft so that I can make sure not to do the same thing."

Astryd subconsciously gripped the satchel that was still discreetly at her side. "You don't need my help gaining his favor. You're already turning me in."

James huffed. "Fine, have it your way. But good luck finding any scraps to eat." He pulled out a piece of bread he had been concealing and tossed it just out of reach of Astryd's cell. It was so stale it landed on the ground with a dull thump. With one last wicked grin, James disappeared out of sight.

So this is it, she thought. Everything I did wasted for nothing.

She felt a lump in her throat but forced it down. Crying wouldn't get her out of that cell, though her eyes still watered from the putrid stench. It smelled like...week old ale?

"Looks like 'ere in the same boat now. You and me."

Astryd could have sworn her heart had stopped. She thought she'd never have to hear that voice again.

She slowly turned her head, and in the corner of the cell to her left was the figure of a large man leaning on the bars behind him with his arms crossed. He leaned into the light, and Astryd could see the scar that had formed from his brow and down his left cheek where Astryd cut him.

"Nice scar," Astryd mocked, though on the inside her heart was still racing.

The man charged across the room to the other set of iron bars separating Astryd's cage with his. He gripped the bars and rattled them, and it made Astryd flinch. She didn't have the strength to move, and she feared she was within the former boatswain's reach.

He towered over her, making Astryd feel even smaller than she actually was. Slowly, he kneeled down, his nails scratching the rusted bars and causing a screeching noise, until he was face to face with Astryd. Their faces were mere feet apart.

His breath still smelled the same.

"If it weren't for these blasted bars," he said in an eerily quiet voice, "I would have strangled ya the second I saw ya!" He shouted the last part and thrusted an arm through the metal bars separating them. Astryd jumped and whimpered while covering her face with her arms. His grimy hand was mere inches from her shoulder. Astryd used what little strength she had to scoot a few inches farther away from the bars.

"That's right," he scoffed. "Cower away." He turned around to cross the gap of his cell. He turned around once again with a loud grunt that startled Astryd and he laughed.

All afternoon and evening she sat in her cell, constantly aware of the beady eyes watching her from across the room, observing her every move.

She craved for even the smallest chance of walking around and stretching her legs. Without her injury being treated, she knew it would take a long time for her to heal. That is, if she lived long enough to heal.

No doubt when they returned to Esterbell she would be presented before Bancroft and handed over for ransom, and she would be hanged. Astryd rubbed her neck. All that effort just to stall her death sentence a few months.

But if Astryd allowed herself to admit it, it was worth it. Despite the betrayal that still severely stung, she loved that little ship called the Crescent, and just the thought of it forced a faint smile to form on her face.

Tom was right. She loved the sea. She loved breathing in the salty air and feeling the wind rushing through her hair, and she even loved the hard work. She loved feeling like she had a purpose in life.

Most of all, she loved the people. People who would lay down their life for her. How could she ask that of anyone? And yet they did. Morgan rescued Astryd, Carmen used all her power to protect her, and Tom...

He gave his life for her.

The guilt was overwhelming. It was like a poison that coursed through her, slowly crippling her until she was nothing. That little orphan boy had so much life still in him. So much potential in how he could have lived his life. And yet, he gave it away for Astryd without a second thought. That was a kind of selfless love Astryd had never known.

"Astryd? You in here?"

AN:

Trading one cliff hanger for one that's even worse. Oops! Who do you think it is?

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