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She nodded.
“They look like good people,” I said.
Alice didn’t take her eyes from the images. “They were taken from me a long time ago. When my father gave me this bracelet, it was a necklace. Now it’s only big enough to fit my wrist.”
“Your parents died together?” I said.
A flash of images fluttered through my mind.
My mother clutching me close…
Taking me far from the dangerous men…
My father heading out to face them, sword drawn…
“My father died first,” Alice said. “My mother died ten years later.”
When she peered at the photos, I expected her to look sad, instead she smiled.
“How can you be happy when you think about them?” I said.
“Because they were loving parents.”
“But they were taken from you.”
“I still remember them, remember the love we shared, the memories. Such beautiful memories, each one precious. One year after my father died, I was really sad. My mother came into my room with a bunch of photo albums. At first, I didn’t want to look at them. I was sad and it would make me cry.
“But then, as she kept turning the pages, I lived those brilliant memories again. The Christmases, the birthdays, the holidays… So many positive things. They made me laugh. And yes, I cried. I was still a little girl that lost her daddy. My mom made me realize that even when someone dies, you can still remember the good times.”
It was a beautiful thought, but not one I could replicate. Not by the way my parents had been taken from me…
“Tell me about your parents,” Alice said. “What’s the best memory you shared with them?”
I giggled happily, tugging at my mother’s skirt…
But then I felt something cold and wet and I pulled my hands away…
They were soaked with her blood…
I turned away from her. I couldn’t discuss it.
“My father was a good fighter,” I said. “The best. He was good and strong and honorable. When I grew older, I found I had inherited some of his fighting skills. After that, I became a part of the Silent Shadow’s crew.”
Alice smiled but it was distracted. My ploy to avoid her question without her noticing hadn’t worked.
“There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you since I woke up,” she said.
Uh-oh. Here we go. “What?”
“Why does your crew want to remove you as captain? You’re a strong fair leader. Why would they want to replace you?”
My tone turned hard. “Because they want to deal with child slaves.”
She blinked in surprise. “You don’t abduct children?”
“No. Never.”
“Why does that matter? If you’re going to abduct adults, why not abduct children too?”
