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“Following orders.”
“I thought we were past you hauling me around. Haven’t we established that I can walk on my own?”
Riden stands at the opening of my cell. He hasn’t shut me in yet, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking at the ground. “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You saved me.”
“Yes, and then you took credit for it. What kind of thanks is that? That was damned insulting. I ought to—”
“That was for your benefit.”
I’m too full of energy to sit. I usually am after a fight—should I not exhaust myself to the point of passing out. Father did have me do that on several occasions so I would know what it feels like to be worn thin, so I could be mindful of my own strength. It’s important to know how much energy I have, in case running becomes the better option. But so far no one except my father has been able to wear me out to the point of losing consciousness.
“Just how exactly was that for my benefit?”
Riden grows very serious. “I don’t know what you’re doing. I do know you had an opportunity to escape from us back there, and you didn’t take it. And you stopped them from killing me when you had no reason to. Now that leaves me with two notions. Either you’re not so despicable and heartless as your prior actions would suggest. Or you have some sort of ulterior motive for keeping me alive and staying on this ship.”
“I’m still not seeing how you claiming my kills is a kindness to me.” Riden thinks I’m up to something, eh? Guess I will have to up my act. I need to rid him of the idea.
“You don’t know my brother. So allow me to explain something to you. If he thinks you’re up to something, he’ll kill you. Now I owe you my life. So consider my silence part of my repayment.”
“There’s nothing to be kept quiet. You’re overlooking a third option, Riden.”
“And what’s that?”
“I was looking out for myself. There was no guarantee I could trust those men. If they found out who I was, they could try to use me for leverage just as you do, especially if they’re smugglers, as we suspect. And if something were to happen to you, Draxen would have someone else question me. And there’s a good chance I’d hate him more than I do you.”
Riden watches me. No amusement. No gratitude. No anything.
What is he thinking?
Finally, he says, “I suppose I didn’t think of that. Of course I should have considered that your only concern was for yourself.”
“I’m a pirate,” I remind him.
“Yes. I just can’t figure out if you’re a good pirate or areallygood pirate.”
“I’m not sure I know what that means.”
“Just know that whatever it is that you’re hiding from me, Iwillfigure it out.”
Clinking metal beats a steady rhythm. Not that of swords, but of chains. I know the sound well, as I’ve spent much time practicing how to get out of them.
At the sound, Riden goes ahead and locks me into the cell. Did he decide that our conversation was over, or does he not want Draxen to see him talking to me through an open door?
Draxen and two pirates—one who I’ve never seen before and the third pirate who helped bring my things down with Enwen and Kearan—lead two of the smugglers, who are clad in manacles, down the stairs. The conk to the head I gave them must not have been enough to kill them. ’Tis a shame for them, because death likely would have been better than whatever the pirates could have in store.
I may also be a prisoner, but they need me alive and in good health if they expect a ransom from my father. These two smugglers, however, do not need to be traded. Nor do they need information from them because the gold has already been found. The fact that they were brought on board alive, then, spells disaster for them.
“What is this?” Riden asks.
“Ulgin’s getting a bit restless,” Draxen says. “I thought he could use this.”
Riden nods, though he doesn’t look happy about what he knows will happen next. Yet he opens a new cell far away from mine. The pirate I assume is Ulgin leads the smugglers inside.
“And I came down to collect you,” the captain continues. “What with our fortunate find and all, I figure the men could use a payday on land. There’s lots of gold to be spent. I want you to oversee the distribution of each man’s share. We should be upon the shore by nightfall.”
