Buck came shortly after Bastion administered the antidote to Ulla.
He appeared like a jackal around a campfire, alarmingly close and arrogantly bold, drooling with anticipation.His lips pulled into a pitiless grin.The movement emphasized the new scar that marred his tanned face.It stood out like a broken tooth, jagged and white.
Three men came with him, their eyes shining with glee.Haddrick trailed after, as timid as a mouse in the shadows.
Buck pointed and rolled his wrist.Without a word, the men descended on Bastion.A key scraped in the lock, and harsh, grubby hands pulled him out.
Bastion struggled, elbowing one man in the ribs and landing his heel against another’s knee.The third seized his neck with one massive hand, walking Bastion backwards so quickly that he had to hurry to keep up or fall down.His back slammed into a beam.The force expelled his breath, leaving him gasping as the man pinned him in a chokehold.
The others staggered over.One lifted Bastion’s hands high over his head while the other fumbled with the manacles hanging there.They closed over Bastion’s wrists with a forebodingsnap!
As soon as the men stepped back, Buck gut-punched him.
Bastion sucked in a painful breath as his knees buckled.The manacles bit into his already raw and torn wrists, the salt crust making them burn.
Buck leaned in.“I’m going to break you,” he whispered, “so that when I get to your Yvri whore, you won’t be able to do anything but watch.”
Panicked, Bastion glanced at Ulla.
He thought he saw the barest pinprick of lamplight glimmering through her slitted eyes.Before he could be sure, Buck threw a rope around his neck and twisted.
Bastion choked and kicked out, unable to draw breath.The other men swept his feet out from under him, forcing him to scramble as Buck bore down.Heat and pressure built in his head, and he strained to suck in any amount of air.
Then, Buck released him and stepped back.Bastion coughed, his lungs screaming while he gathered his feet beneath him.Buck slapped the rope against his palm, closed his fingers around it, and pulled it through his hand.
Slap!Vrrrrr!Slap!Vrrrrr!
“You weren’t really escorting her, were you?”Buck asked.
Slap!Vrrrrr!Slap!Vrrrrr!
Bastion decided this was as good a time as any to gamble.
“You don’t–” he coughed “–really know who I am, or you wouldn’t have dared take us.”
Slap!
Bastion leaned against the beam.He tipped his head back and let his eyes fall to his sword at Buck’s waist.In his periphery, Bastion saw Haddrick’s eyes widen over twitchy fingers covering his mouth.The other men shifted.
A wicked smile spread over Buck’s face.
Vrrrrr!
“You’re nobody, Bastion.Just a Royal Guard on leave, following his dick.”
Those last words soured any triumph Bastion felt at wheedling a tidbit of information out of Buck.Bastion’s nose wrinkled in a sneer and the captain said, “Who else did you tell about Windwick?”
When Bastion didn’t react, Buck glanced at his men and jerked his head.In an instant, they were on him, their fists slamming into his jaw, his ribs, his gut.Nausea rocked through Bastion as they pummeled his abdomen and diaphragm until he began to vomit.They stepped back, and Bastion twisted away, emptying what little he had in his stomach.The manacles dug deeper into his wrists.He cried out as someone pinned him against the beam, beating his kidneys.
When they finished, Buck stepped forward, bracketing his arms around Bastion’s head.
“Where were you really going?”His tone was as caustic as his breath, and vicious light filled his eyes.Bastion turned his face, clenching his teeth.
Buck stepped back, and a flash of gold caught Bastion’s eye.He looked up, only to be backhanded.The harsh sting of metal made his eyes water.Blood oozed down his face, the heat a disorienting contrast to the chill of the ship's belly.
Bastion spat a wad of blood onto the floor and pulled in a deep, stuttering breath.He’d always imagined himself dying in battle, with a sword in his hand, fighting.Not pinned to a beam with the blood of countless others beneath his feet.
They didn’t give him a moment, raining down a barrage of blows against Bastion’s ribs.He screamed as they cracked, feeling the pain reverberate up his spine and into his skull.
