One of the pirates snickered. I glared at Kriska.
“Malá ryba,”Kriska kneeled conspiratorially, resting a hand on my thigh. “Do you see Burian’s eye? Perhaps you do not know. I’m an honorable employer to these men. When they lose a body part—say, finger or hand—I compensate. It’s part of the pirate code, yes? Merchants pay hot piss to sailors. The King’s Navy, even worse. Can it be honest work if they are conned out of their wage? Iprovidefor my men. They plunder under my name, and I promise that if something goes amiss, they will be paid for their loss."
“Now, Burian might lose that eye. It looks very painful. Are you in pain, Burian?”
Burian grinned, his eyelid half-closed. Jagged scratches ran down his orbital bone, his eye bloodshot. “Yhet.”
Kriska sucked his teeth and then turned to me, tsking. “See,malá ryba? I can't have such misbehavior on my ship. The other pirates wouldn’t approve. A mutiny might occur. I need you to drink the water. A glass today, a glass before we say goodbye, that is all. You have my word.”
“Don't,” Kye commanded.
I turned my cheek away from Kriska. The pirate sighed audibly.
“Bring me Polina,” he said to no one in particular. Staring directly into my eyes, he ignored the men as they shuffled behind him, stretching their shoulders.
Polina.
I hadn’t seen a woman on deck—but then, I’d only been carried above for a few seconds before being stuffed into the cabin. Another cabin of another ship.Mihauna, what bad luck. I chanced a glance around Kriska’s head, looking for Kye, but the captain smiled and tilted in the way.
Pug Nose brought a wooden box to his captain. The hinges of the lid croaked as Kriska opened it. He lifted a chain, fluid and sparkling, catching the dim light like a string of diamonds.
It was an unfamiliar structure, the cable itself strong yet fine, a silver loop on each end. He stretched it to its full length, about as long as the chain of my shackles, and leaned in to show it to me.
“Meet Polina,malá ryba. Like you, she has hidden talents. She has the power to make people open their mouths—or shut them forever. Let me show you.” He dropped one end of the glittering cable onto the skirt of my chemise, dragging it across my thigh. Hidden teeth burrowed into the fabric. Kriska lifted the cable away and the teeth held on, hooked in like a row of needles. His eyes flicked to mine as the hem of my dress lifted, and he pulled the material out fiber by fiber, each tiny tooth releasing in protest.
“Will you drink the water like a goodmalá ryba?”
I stared menacingly at him, unsure what the threat was. Was he going to shred my dress? Fine. I’d spent enough time naked as a Naiad these past few months. I didn’t care. I was still too angry to be bothered with worries over my modesty.
He stood and stepped away, his humorous expression fading until he finally shrugged and looped his fingers into either end of the chain. It dangled, a glittering line between his hands.
In one motion, he turned and drew the cable over Kye’s head. The sparkling chain disappeared under the prince’s chin, his body lifting off the wooden chest. In an instant, his faceturned violet. His eyes bulged. Hands chained, he twisted and wrenched, but the more he moved, the more the cable dug in.
“Stop!” I shrieked in horror. The clang of Kye’s metal cuffs vibrated through the walls of the room. He worked his mouth. No sound escaped.
Kriska’s shoulders ballooned under his shirt, the veins in his neck and face visible, his knuckles white as he held Kye suspended just over the wooden chest.
“STOP!” I scrambled to stand and slid off my seat. Blood ran down the length of Kye’s throat. Neck stretched, caught between Kriska’s pull and the weight of his own body, his feet danced across the floor, desperate for purchase. His movements slowed, distended like a rag doll in midair.
“I’ll drink it!”
“Ah.” Kriska released the cable from one hand and whipped it away with the other. The men in the doorway dodged the chain, bright red and glistening. It tore from Kye’s skin with a sound like ripping paper, and he doubled over, body raking with guttural breaths as blood dripped from his chin to the puddle of water at his feet.
“Kye?” My voice sounded watery in my ears. Shoulders heaving, he lifted a limp hand in response.
Burian shoved himself in the way, holding the water out to me, and I kicked at the air in his direction, warding him away.
“Just let me see if he’s okay!” I hissed.
Kye lifted his head, the veins in his eyes aflame. Tears streamed down his cheeks. I released a rough sob, my chains hard on my wrists as I struck the empty air in fury. He inhaled, the cavity of his chest filling and emptying like a listless fish out of water.
“Maren,” he wheezed, his voice full of raw gravel, “Don’t.”
One of the menawww-edmockingly.
Tears tracked freely down my cheeks as I stared at him, bent and heaving for breath.
I refused to watch that again.
