Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Secret Lead

Ava woke up the next morning to a knock on her door. Slipping out of bed, she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. To her surprise, Oceane stood on the other side of the door. She had not spoken to Oceane or spent time with her outside of meals. She looked as if she had been up for a while, alert and put together.

"Good Morning," Oceane spoke, "Theo asked the crew if anyone that was free would like to help you learn to defend yourself. I have a free morning and somewhat adequate skills with a dagger."

Ava's sleepiness had magically disappeared from her body, "A dagger?"

"Aye, I swung by the armory and picked one up for you just in case you were interested," Oceane said as she held it out for Ava to see.

"I am interested. Very interested- ″ Ava suddenly felt bad, "-but I do not want to get in the way of your free time."

"There is no other way I'd prefer to spend my morning than helping someone learn something new."

"Alright," Ava smiled, "let's do it. Fair warning though, I have absolutely no experience."

Oceane laughed and began to lead the way out of Ava's hallway and onto the deck, "That does not matter to me. Sometimes, a challenge is fun."

Ava was handed the dagger and taught how to stand. Oceane wasted no time in jumping into the lesson. Ava was taught how to hold it, how to wield it against someone moving towards her, and the different fatal points on a person's body. Oceane was a good teacher, encouraging yet firm. The sun rose high in the sky and began beating down on them. They didn't stop until the shift change was announced.

"You were born for the dagger," Oceane said.

It was genuine and heartfelt. Oceane was almost proud of what Ava had accomplished in such a short while. Oceane rarely found someone so willing to learn and accept criticism. It made Ava easy to teach and very quick to grab onto certain things. She was in no way excellent or proficient in daggering yet but now Ava would at least be able to have a chance at defending herself.

"I had an incredible teacher," Ava replied with a smile.

They went their separate ways, Oceane went to work and Ava roamed around the deck. There was not much to do around the ship during their suns at sea. She had no job and had no option but to aimlessly roam most of the morning and aftermorning. Oceane was a great distraction and it made the morning go by faster but now she was left with no options. Everyone she had grown to know during her journey was busy or unable to be found. Her footsteps ended up leading her back to the library, where she predictably picked up the same book and started where she had left off.

Yestersun's conversation with Cooker had been bouncing around in her head. Revisionist? She had never heard of that. Thinking back to the books she had read and what she had been taught, there was never an ill word about Baethos or the government. When she had been taught about the first six classifications, most of what she was reading about was not mentioned.

Had she been indoctrinated with falsehoods? Or were these the falsehoods created to make Baethos look bad? She wanted to talk to someone about it, ask questions, understand what people thought of the government. But Ava was scared. Scared that she would be labeled a government apologist and thrown off the plank.

Reading was the only solution. She had to find answers to the questions she had and she would have to do it by herself for the time being. So she resumed reading. There was a thirst inside her and every page she read only meant she wanted more. It was a few hours later when there was a knock on the doorframe. Ava looked up to find Morgana in the hall.

"I heard that you were being trained this morning," Morgana commented, "and I am insulted that I have not been given the chance to train my small friend."