37
The liar and the betrayed: A drowning tale
C alico stood between the prince and Alastair, his hands chained, his face a swollen mess of bruises. My breath caught in my throat as Prince Edmond sneered at him.
“Glad to see you could join us, Leonardo,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.
Leonardo.
The name crashed through me like the drops of rain that fell on my face that night. When he mumbled that name incoherently as I stood there beside him. And I believed him, I really did. But then he didn’t speak a word about it, and I thought it was the ramblings of a man lost in his dreams. But now…
My heart pounded as Prince Edmond drove his knee into Calico’s stomach. He collapsed, crumpling to his knees in front of me. His expression was a mask of anguish, gasping for breath .
I tried to move, tried to break the chains holding me, but the more I struggled, the tighter they seemed to get. The iron dug into my wrists, biting through my skin.
He was on his knees, face bruised and swollen, but his eyes were on me. Pain twisted inside me like a blade. My body felt cold, nauseous, as I watched him kneel there.
What had they done to him?
Before I could say anything, Prince Edmond grabbed Calico’s hair, yanking his head back, forcing him to meet my gaze.
I couldn’t breathe.
“I want you to look at how her pretty face is going to break when I tell her the truth,” he taunted, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
I felt sick. My chest tightened.
Betrayal.
The word echoed in my mind, louder and louder until it was all I could hear. What truth? What was he going to say?
My greatest fear clawed at the edges of my thoughts, creeping into my bones. I couldn’t take my eyes of him, kneeling in front of me, chained, bruised, and broken. And he just stared at me, his lips parted, his breath ragged.
Prince Edmond laughed, his voice thick with cruelty. “Shall we start from the beginning, Your Highness ?”
My mind reeled. What did that mean? Why was he calling Calico that? I searched his face for any sign of denial, but he remained silent, still looking at me as if the words hadn’t touched him at all .
Prince Edmond leaned closer, whispering into Calico’s ear, but loud enough for me to hear. “Should I start from when we were kids, and you filled my head with stories about some Lady of Love ?”
The blood drained from my face. I froze, the sound of my own heartbeat crashing in my ears.
He continued, his voice smooth and dangerous, like a serpent coiling around my chest. “How you wouldn’t shut your mouth about the Gods telling you about her. About the dreams they sent you. How special you were because of it…”
I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Every word seemed to stab deeper into me, the pain unbearable. Lady Love? Dara’s Lady Love? Edmond pressed the dagger to Calico’s throat, smirking as he spoke. “Or should I tell her how you lied to me. How I helped you steal from your own father. How you betrayed me by going after that Lady Love of yours and left me behind. Alone. You were my only friend at court, and you betrayed my trust and loyalty, for what? To come back as a filthy pirate ? To go after Lady Love , even though you didn’t know if she was even real.”
Every word twisted in my stomach, turning everything I thought I knew into nothing. My heart felt like it was being torn apart, ripped from my chest piece by piece. The truth was unbearable. He was a prince? All this time and he was someone I didn’t know? And why did Dara call me Lady Love all this time? Who was she?
Calico just stared at me, silent. Not a word of defense, not a single explanation. He let the prince’s words sink in, let them settle deep into my soul like poison. And the worst part was, he didn’t deny any of it. Not one single part.
I felt as if the room were spinning, the walls closing around me. Every fiber of my being screamed for answers, but the silence between us spoke louder than the words I was seeking ever could.
“Say something,” I whispered to him, my voice cracking, barely audible over the pounding of my heart. But he remained still, broken, watching me like he knew the damage was already done.
Prince Edmond’s voice slithered through the air, wrapping around us like a tightening noose. “Oh, prepare yourself, Gods whisperer. The worst is yet to come.” His smile twisted with malice, and my stomach dropped into a cold, endless void. Fear surged through me, freezing my blood, and I could feel the pull of the storm gathering, unseen but ever present, ready to drown me.
Edmond kept his grip on Calico’s face, forcing him to meet my gaze, forcing him to witness the unraveling of everything between us.
“He found Captain Tristan Pierce’s ship, and of course, he stayed with him. How could he not?” he chuckled. “The heir of Pearlspire, with all that education, all that knowledge in art… knowledge he used for stealing from his own country. His Kingdoms.”
He was Governor Waverider’s son? Leonardo Waverider?
The prince laughed, a sound that crashed over me like a rogue wave. I was sinking, each word pulling me deeper under, and there was no shore in sight, because he kept talking, and I kept drowning.
“You knew piracy was the most punishable crime,” he said to him. “They taught you that pirates were the enemy, didn’t they? Just like they taught me, and every kid raised in a palace. And what did you do? You took a pirate’s name, you stole, you killed, you became captain.” He spat on the floor. “You bloody bastard. And all for what? Because the Gods spoke to you about a made-up Lady?” His laughter grew darker, rippling through the room like a tempest.
He turned to me, the dagger gleaming as it traced the curve of my cheek, the cold metal brushing my skin like the icy waters of the northern seas. I felt the sting of tears welling up, but there was nothing left of me to break, even as the blade hovered too close. I was already feeling like I was dying.
“I told you, I am more than your Gods. So after years and years, I found him. I knew where he was. My little birds followed him.”
The prince’s voice was a cruel melody, and I could feel every word like saltwater in an open wound. “Tidia. He kept sailing to Tidia every night, hiding his precious ship and visiting its shores… and why? I wondered what he could po ssibly want from such a horrible place. What could possibly be waiting for him there?”
I could only watch, helpless and trembling, as the prince leaned in, the dagger caressing my face, and whispered, “His Lady Love.”
The words crashed into me like a tidal wave, knocking the breath from my lungs. Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them, hot and bitter like the sting of sea spray against raw skin. I couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Every truth I had clung to was swept away, drowned beneath the enormity of it all.
I met Calico’s eyes, and in that moment, I could feel we were both adrift in the same tide. The sadness in his gaze was deeper than the darkest ocean, endless and untouchable, like he was a shipwreck trapped beneath the waves. It was the kind of sadness that lingered at the bottom of the seas, where no light could reach, where only the weight of the water pressed down, crushing everything beneath.
I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but the words caught in my throat, swallowed by the rising tide of emotion. All I could do was look at him, tears falling like raindrops on the deck of a ship, and he looked back, his eyes filled with a sorrow so vast it felt like it could swallow the world.
Edmond’s laughter snapped me back, harsh and jagged, breaking through the fragile connection between us. He reached out, his thumb brushing against my cheek, wiping away my tears as if they were nothing.
That was when Calico moved. Despite the chains, despite the exhaustion weighing him down like anchors dragging him into the depths, he lunged forward, his body straining with every ounce of strength he had left. But the chains held him fast, pulling him back. I could see the fury in his eyes, burning like fire beneath the surface, but it was hopeless. He seemed too tired. And yet… he tried.
“Well, well…” Prince Edmond purred, amused. “Didn’t know you two bonded so much. It’s going to make this even more entertaining.”
He laughed again, so cruel. My heart twisted painfully in my chest, like the currents pulling me in every direction at once. Every part of me ached, not just from the fear or the pain, but from the weight of the truth, from the unbearable sorrow in Calico’s eyes.
He had known me before I even knew myself.
And yet, here we were, both chained, both helpless.
The liar and the betrayed: a drowning tale.