JAMES
S uffocating. Trapped.
My chest is tight, anxiety and anger crawling under my skin, but I try to keep my pace measured as I exit the stifling hold of the Seraphine .
On deck, the cool air catches the canvas above us, the snap and creak of rope and cloth ominously echoing over the otherwise dead-silent audience.
My crew parts as I approach the Captain who is huddled near the main mast, visibly shaking.
No one meets my eye and that’s exactly how I like it.
“Why does your hold look like it recently transported human cargo?”
The Captain seems to shrink under my attention. The ship is a De’Vero merchant vessel but the hold looks like it housed human occupants which would make him a slaver. It appeared to be too many humans to simply be a charter.
“This isn’t a slave ship if that’s what you’re implying, sir,” the Captain says.
“Is that what I’m implying?” I ask.
“They were refugees,” the man’s voice shakes in earnest.
“You expect me to believe that?” I scoff. “A De’Vero ship, shuttling refugees? To where exactly?”
De’Vero never did anything so noble. I would know—this is exactly the type of ship I was once a slave on.
The Captain’s lips thin and I see the first spark of defiance flicker in his eyes before he casts his gaze down on the deck beneath his feet.
I step closer, using the barrel of my pistol to turn his chin up so he’s forced to meet my gaze.
“Where exactly?” My voice is low and dripping with warning.
“Verdun,” he says, but I know it’s a lie. My lip curls in displeasure.
“You’d think you’d be a better liar,” I say in disappointment.
I let the gun drop and the man slumps back in relief as I step away. It will be short-lived because I have no intention of letting this ship continue. There’s enough evidence to condemn her and I don’t feel like drawing this out any more than I have to.
“Problem is, I don’t believe you—” I turn back. “De’Vero has a nasty habit of selling slaves from their conquered settlements.”
“That’s not what this is!” The Captain insists. “I’m telling the truth! They were refugees, I swear it!”
I walk past the Captain who’s frantically looking around for help from anyone. A few of the Seraphine’s crew foolishly jump up and attempt to support their leader. A quick scuffle and they’re in hand once more.
“Which one is your quartermaster?” I demand.
I watch the Captain’s eyes jump to a man who’s on his feet glaring in my direction. I grab the man by the shirt and drag him forward, knocking him to his knees.
“He’s tellin’ the truth,” the quartermaster growls.
I lash out, my pistol catches him across the face and he falls onto his side.
Before he can pick himself up, I pull the trigger and he falls dead.
I step over him, already bored with all of this and ready to get off this infernal piece of driftwood.
I’d approached the Seraphine with the hopes of lifting any goods they may have been shipping, but that proved a waste of time with the discovery of an empty hold filled with debris and litter from quite a few people.
I wave my hand at the Captain. “Tie him to the mast—torch the ship.”
I head back to the Tempest, irritated that this charade isn’t going to yield anything but a frustrated crew and serve no purpose but to compound my anger at De’Vero further.
“You’re a monster!” The Captain screams at my back. “We’re good men! Just tryin’ to help out others—”
I ignore his words, hearing the crack as Harrison slaps him to shut him up.
I step down onto the deck of my own ship.
Regardless of whether or not the Captain is telling the truth—the past is too close to the surface for me to just let this ship go.
My vengeance needs to be answered with blood and nothing else will do.
My hands already drip with it, it eddies in my ship’s wake and still it’s not enough. It won’t be enough until I drag the crown through the halls of De’Vero, drenching the castle in vivid crimson. As I make my way to my cabin, I admit the Captain is right about one thing though—I am a monster.