“I’ll make it work.” I leaned on the tree over the boy. He was scared, but still pretending to be tough, the brave little bastard.
“You hungry, young vermin?”
He licked his lips. “Why? You gonna let me taste that cunt?”
My mouth fell open, and I had to turn so he wouldn’t see my reaction. Was this how the Saxons felt around me? He couldn’t have been older than twelve. He shouldn’t have even known what that meant.
I didn’t have a motherly instinct in my body, but I found myself wanting to take him home with me to see what kind of man he’d become if given the smallest amount of love and structure.
If being raised by a notorious murderess on a pirate island sounded like an upgrade for this child, his real upbringing must’ve been hellish. Besides, I wasn’t going back to Ocracoke. And I had no business taking in strays when my days were numbered.
“You the son of one of the bandits?” I mused.
He spat again. “Fuck those bastards. Killed my family. Kept me as a slave.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. I’ll avenge them if you tell me what I need to know.”
He’d started to tremble when he mentioned his family, but I wouldn’t insult him by pointing it out.
“Not telling you nothing, bitch. Hate the Saxons more.”
I squatted down in front of him, now truly convinced this was how Bastian had felt being forced to deal with me. “I shared that particular sentiment too up until recently. But they’re not all so bad.”
Bastian met my eyes, and my heart did the thing it always did when he looked at me like that.
Down the slope, closer to the riverbank, Elric paced shiftily, looking conflicted. My powers were muted, but the instincts honed from a lifetime of reading people were still there. My suspicions about Elric were beginning to form into an idea.
“Want to fuck with the Saxons down there? If you play along with me, we might get the best of them.”
“How?” he asked, eyeing me skeptically again, but there was a gleam of interest in his expression.
“I’m going to pretend to torture you, and all you have to do is scream believably while I cover the sound.”
He nodded cautiously and allowed me to put my hand over his mouth.
“Bite me, and it’ll be the last thing you do.” I wouldn’t kill him, but he didn’t need to know that.
A soldier handed Bastian the shovel, looking uncomfortable. I might have developed a wary trust with the men after our battle, but they still believed me capable of torturing a child. I didn’t bother to point out that they were all willing to stand there and let it happen if it got them the outcome they needed.
How many times had I been painted as the monster while others stood by and benefitted?
Bastian walked up the slope and handed me the shovel, but it was clear from his calm expression he had some idea of what I was up to. Even if he didn’t understand that I was testing Elric, he trusted me.
“Hold him,” I said to Bastian, giving the boy a wink.
Elric came sprinting up the hill. “Leave him alone! I know where the Shrikes are.”
He broke long before I thought he would.
Dutifully playing his part, the child said, “Don’t tell her a thing, you slimy cunt!”
“Gods, I like this little heathen. A slimy cunt is a truly horrifying insult, don’t you think, Captain?”
Elric reached us and pushed his way between me and where the child sat at the base of the tree.
Elric gripped the pommel of his sword. “This isn’t a laughing matter, Princess.”
I stepped back, not actually interested in starting a fight with him. “No shit, slimy cunt. The Captain of the King’s Guard knows where the Shrikes are…and I think he knows other things he hasn’t been telling us. And he’s going to fucking tell us now. My new little friend here will let me know if you’re lying, won’t you…what’s your name, boy?”
