Chapter 6 Lily #3
“Such as?”
He gave a slight shrug like he didn’t have an idea right away, but it was obvious there was one already sitting on his tongue.
“Captain Moonscar sails with a fleet that calls themselves the liberators. They came for us a few months ago, and if we hadn’t been ready for the attack, we could have lost the battle.
They’re expert sailors and even better pirates, so capturing them and defeating them has been impossible. ”
“And what do you want me to do about that?” I asked.
“Burn their fleet to the bottom of the sea,” he said simply. “Earn the loyalty of the pirates who only know you as a stranger. Avenge their loved ones who died protecting this island that many pirates call home.”
It seemed easy and straightforward, but it left a pit in my stomach that could swallow an avalanche of stone.
“It feels wrong to massacre an armada of people who haven’t personally wronged me or my kingdom.
I’m relying on your word that they maliciously provoked you, but without actual evidence of that, you could easily be trying to make a fool of me.
Get me to do your dirty work so your hands remain clean.
” Wrath would be helpful in a moment like this, because he could confirm whether this was true or false.
But I remembered that my father said pirates were known for their brutal honesty.
Jack suddenly stood up and addressed the room with just his stare.
It took less than a few seconds for the entire room to reach silence.
“Queen Lily Rothschild of the Southern Isles asks for our aid in an impending war against the Barbarians, a group of ruthless men who seek to claim the kingdom and their neighbors for themselves. They sail on unsinkable, golden ships and yield swords that inflict permanent wounds. I will not command my fellow pirates to fight in a cause, but I will ask for volunteers. Raise your hand and say aye if you’re with me. ”
Everyone stared at him and then at one another, like there was something missing.
I stood up beside Jack. “I promise to grant you the golden ships they sail on as your reward for your bravery.” I turned to the pirate beside me and spoke under my breath. “You left that part out.”
Again, I was met with silence, pirates exchanging looks with one another. The bar maidens continued to work behind the counter like they couldn’t afford to slow their service with such demand.
When no hands were raised and I wasn’t greeted with any ayes, I realized the golden ships weren’t enough.
Jack returned to his seat and crossed his arms again as if the matter was settled.
Conversation returned to full volume, as if the intrusion had never happened.
I returned to my seat and dropped into it, my eyes scanning everyone around me who carried on their conversations as if nothing had transpired.
My eyes eventually fell on my brother, who stared at me with his chin propped on his closed knuckles.
Then he gave a dramatic shrug that said, “Hey, we tried our best.”
My eyes found Jack again. “Let me think about it.”
I told Hawk everything, the two of us standing near the edge of the terrace, the city lit up with torches, the sounds of monkeys howling in the trees nearby. The waves had quieted as they came to the shore, but they could still be heard.
“I don’t think they’re worth the investment,” Hawk said. “King Ithaca has an entire armada trained for battle, so his obnoxiousness is worthwhile. I’m not even sure why you thought this was a good idea in the first place, honestly.”
Because Wrath said it was, and I trusted him with my life.
We wouldn’t have won the battle at Riviana Star without his intervention.
My mother would have lost her husband and her eldest daughter, and our souls would be compromised if the Barbarians understood the significance of the Great Tree.
And he saved my life from those assholes the first time too. If only I could tell Hawk all of that.
“I’m sure it would be easy for Zehemoth and Movack to destroy that fleet with their fire, but we’d be asking them to kill a bunch of men they don’t know.
Despite what most people think, dragons are only violent when they feel threatened.
A killing crusade without reason goes against their reputation they fight to preserve. ”
“I know,” I said simply. “But you weren’t there, Hawk.”
He leaned against the rail, the light of the torches reflecting perfectly off his shiny armor. His eyes were locked on mine in full concentration, like he wanted to hear every thought that floated in my head.
“You weren’t there when they killed my crew. You weren’t there when they challenged Riviana Star. Trust me when I tell you they’re a formidable enemy that could easily crush us under their might.”
“If that were true, we would have lost the forest and everyone in it.”
My eyes dropped as I tried to find the right words to say.
Hawk hadn’t asked me about what I’d said to King Ithaca, that I commanded the dead.
Maybe because he thought it was an idle threat.
Maybe because he’d never heard of such a thing.
Our father had been a necromancer, but that had been purposely kept from both of us, so he didn’t have a clue.
“Unless there’s something you aren’t telling me…” His eyes narrowed on my face as his stare became suspicious rather than intense.
I felt the humid breeze move through my hair, felt his stare and could see his eyes in my head even though I was still focused on his shoes.
“Lily.”
I lifted my chin and looked at him.
“Are you saying when you told King Ithaca that you commanded the dead, you meant it?”
I fell still in his gaze, locked in place by his shock and incredulity.
He suddenly shifted his weight, his expression concentrating as he tried to compute the problem before him, as he tried to understand what was right in front of his face. “That wasn’t some kind of exaggerated threat.”
I said nothing, unsure where to start or how to explain. I could still replay my father’s voice in my head, how devastated he was to know that I’d broken my promise to him and did the one thing he begged me not to do.
“Lily.”
“No…it wasn’t.”
His eyes narrowed hard, and he looked at me completely differently after a single heartbeat. “What—what are you saying right now?” He shifted his weight again, visibly uncomfortable with this revelation and unsure how to carry the burden of knowledge.
“It’s a long story—”
“Then let’s get started, shall we?” His eyes were wide with both terror and anger, like he already assumed the worst of me.
“When my ship was lost at sea, we crashed into an island far out to the west. It was the one place Father told me not to ever go, but I somehow ended up there. That was where I met him…the god of the underworld.”
My brother hung on to every word I said, eyes wide, a bit disbelieving.
I was careful with everything else I shared, knowing I couldn’t tell him just how intimately involved I became with Wrath.
That was something I wanted to keep to myself…
for now. “He foretold the battle of Riviana Star. He said we would fall to the Barbarians without his intervention. I didn’t believe him at first—until his prediction came to pass.
He gave me the ability to raise the dead, and because of that power, I was able to save Dad and everyone else. ”
“In exchange for your soul?” he shouted.
“No, no, no,” I said quickly. “He didn’t take that.”
“Then what did he take?” he snapped. “Why would he gift you this power without something in return?”
“He did ask for something in return. He asked me to defeat the Barbarians because he has his own agenda against them, which he didn’t share with me.” I lied like I never had, protecting the relationship that was most precious to me.
He bowed his head as the cords in his neck popped from the strain of his whole body. He breathed hard, and both shoulders rose and fell with the effort. “If anyone else but you had told me this tale…” He lifted his chin and looked at me once again. “I would call it a pile of horseshit.”
“Trust me, I’ll prove it to you beyond a doubt soon enough.”
Now he stared at me with new eyes, like he didn’t know me at all.
“When Dad and the soldiers return home, word will spread fast about what happened in the forest. Khazmuda will tell Mom and Zehemoth…everyone will know.”
He was quiet as he turned toward the wooden rail and gripped it with both hands.
He looked out at the sea as the wind moved through his hair, taking his time processing all of this.
Another thought must have come to him because he stiffened before he dropped his head.
“That’s why you’re so strong.” He turned back to look at me again, to confirm it was true.
I couldn’t lie to him, not when he’d already figured it out. “Yes.”
“So that battle for the crown…was a bunch of bullshit.” He pushed off the rail as his temper flared. “I didn’t fight my sister, I battled a god. You deceived me. That was never a fair fight.”
“Dad chose me to succeed him, explicitly and irrevocably, and you still can’t accept that. So I wanted to do something that you would understand.”
“You lied to me.” He threw his arms down as he stepped back. “You fucking lied to me.”
My brother and I had felt closer than ever just an hour ago, and now the distance between us was the worst it’d ever been.
“Because of the gifts that I’ve been bestowed by the god of the underworld, I am even more qualified for the position than you are.
I can best any man in a duel, and I can bring forth the dead to fight for my cause.
And make no mistake, I still would have bested you in a duel without his strength. ”
“Well, we’ll never know, will we?” he said bitterly before he turned on his heel and stormed off, heading farther into the city and away from the beach.
He was too pissed off for a reasonable conversation, so I let him go.