Chapter 5 - Kovar's Fate

  “That bitch had him killed. Flames! Flames and Ashes!” Hawthorne spat.

  Aki sat in the shadowed corner of a dreary tavern. Morning light spilled through the sole window in the far left side. The tavern's keeper was not in attendance, and nor were any of the servers present. Her throat itched for a drink, but she hadn't the confidence to grab one herself. Not after having discovered what it was Eksa had done. The gore and horror of the aftermath… and the girl had been present there herself.

  “It was that madman. Jackrin or whatever. She had him waiting in the alley. Flames knows what it is she holds over him to extract such obedience. Dhorjun's gone and everyone knows who killed him. Many will join her side for fear, while others will join for her bloody conquests and management.”

  Aki stifled a snort. And whose fault is it that she manages her crew better than you and Dhorjun ever did, she wondered as Hawthorne slammed his fist on the table. Rule by fear. It was something Crow was against, and yet that was how Dhorjun had gotten the Tarmian sailors on his side over Eksa's. Now that he was gone…

  Aki leaned back in her chair. Its legs creaked from the subtle movement. Hawthorne snapped up, frothing as a mad beast. His cane fell to the side and he didn't bother picking it up, instead hobbling to the front counter and popping open a bottle. Drinking so early in the day? It was something he was strictly against, and yet today he broke those rules.

  Oh sure, Crow had plans to upend Dhorjun and claim the title of fleet admiral for himself. More fancied himself the king of Kovar than the leader of a merry band of pirates. Aki knew all of his grand ambitions. There existed not a man who did not loosen his lips after expending himself on a woman in bed. But having a wrench thrown into his carefully calculated devices was the worst thing to him. The Man with a Hundred Plans.

  It was admirable in a way, how Hawthorne built each scheme up brick by brick as if building a grand mural. Then came Eksa with a sledgehammer named Jackrin, tearing down every carefully placed block with but a single swing.

  Crow cursed further, throwing the half empty bottle down. It shattered and drink went spilling across the room. The few raving drunks sleeping with their heads down in dark corners grumbled incoherently. “That bloody jester. I should have kept him for myself,” Hawthorne said.

  Aki silently excused herself from the bar. Perhaps it wasn't that Eksa had control over the man, but rather allowed his indulgence in violence. Perhaps violence was the leash with which he obeyed her. It wasn't rare for a body to turn up mutilated in Kovar.

  Yet the fact that Eksa had been the one to come to this decision… She was there. She was present last night when the murder happened. She led Dhorjun into the alley. The girl hadn't broken since her lover's departure. She'd become more hardened. More ruthless. More… vile.

  Should not I have expected that? After all, Eksa raided innocent merchant vessels as every other pirate on Kovar. But this time, it felt like a true loss of innocence. That was what Aki thought to protect of the girl. That was why she'd ran to that alley, only to discover Dhorjun's mutilated form. A work wrought with knives. How was it a giant like Dhorjun was killed with knives without making a single sound or raising a ruckus?

  Aki continued to walk until she realized where it was her feet had led her. She was in south Kovar, the place somewhat bustling as a functioning town might, though rather than regular people roaming the streets, it was Eksa's hands that roamed them, maintaining a sense of order and oppression all in the same breath. Aki had had plans of her own. Plans to… apologize and find a way back on Eksa's crew. The girl had a screw loose since Aaron's departure. She needed someone to be her voice of reason.

  And I'm to be that person? When I can hardly even control myself? When I knowingly betrayed her? Flames, I spiked her drink once with a lust inducing drug.

  Aki growled at her own growing frustration, but her feet carried her regardless, straight to the white beaches of south Kovar and the docks to their side.

  ***

  “You what!?” Eksa shrieked.

  “Killed Dhorjun just as you asked,” Jack said.

  “Ashes. Oh Ashes and burning bodies.” Eksa began tearing at her own hair. She had a splitting headache and constant bouts of nausea bubbling at the base of her throat. But every time she gagged, nothing came up. “Why? Why did I ask that? Why would you listen to me when I was obviously drunk and distressed? Why?” she demanded, pounding on Jack's chest. She needed to hit something. She didn't care what, it just needed to be alive. Surely she could bleed her own pains away through force.

  “It wasn't the first time you asked,” Jack said. He frowned. “You mentioned it multiple times. I was sure you were serious.”

  “I must have mentioned it when I was drunk or upset every time! You idiot! You dolt, stupid, imbecile, impotent, incompetent, ugh! What do I do now? What do I do? Oh, Flames, heavens, Ashes, what in bloody Ashes do I do now?”

  “Lead, as you've always done? As Aaron wanted you to do?” Jack suggested.

  “I'm not ready. I'm not Flaming ready. Flames! Why is it always Aaron with you? Why did he…” she trailed off rummaging through her drawers for something, anything to dull her pounding headache with. She remembered now. Dhorjun was to be killed to begin a power struggle, but Flames, she just wasn't ready. Her hands moved faster, turning up nothing. All her flasks were empty, bottles lay about around her cabin with dust marred surfaces, and Ashes, what was that horrid smell? Is that me?

  Eksa turned back to Jack, noticing his evident struggle with breathing in this environment. She flushed immediately, fleeing from her own cabin to bring the conversation to open air. Only, that exposed her disheveled appearance to the crew idling about on board The Scarlet Reaver. She turned on Jack. “Get me a drink,” she hissed.

  He cringed at her breath. “No,” he replied.

  Eksa swallowed what little moisture she had in her mouth. She flexed her fingers in a struggle to not scream in that moment. “Then leave the ship,” she said hotly. “Leave and return to Aaron and tell him he'll never have Kovar. Not while I live. Tell him I'll tell the world of all his secrets for betraying me. That I'll reveal everything about you and Viper as well!”

  That would certainly have him running down to Kovar.

  “Obligingly,” the jester replied, giving a deep bow. His blond bangs were plastered across his forehead. He was sweating for some odd reason.

  Eksa watched as he disappeared below deck, and reappeared shortly after with only a sack of his clothes and that notebook of his. He skipped down the gangplank, whistling all the while, that irritable mask of his bound to the back of his head, its violet lips smiling ominously at Eksa as she watched him disappear into town.

  A silence hung over The Scarlet Reaver. Not even a single gull hovered over it. The scattered members of her crew were staring at her. She glared at the nearest of them in turn. “What are you idling for? We've work to do. Dhorjun is dead! This island is mine. Go out there and make it known to all that the Red Serpent is now the Queen of the Aegis Basin. Do not suffer any resistance.”

  Everyone knew of her endless victories, of her triumph over the Great Serpent, and the obvious luxury and order of south Kovar compared to the north. They would come to her, surely. They would come to her than go to Crow. Only his loyal mercenary dogs would stay with him. Strong fighters, but they were some three hundred men at most. Eksa would have more ships, around a thousand men if enough joined her side, and the favor of Kovar's former residents that were kept under her watch.

  She breathed out a long breath as her idling crew descended to complete her orders. This was it. She'd done as Aaron asked. She'd taken Kovar, and would thus own the entirety of the Basin as well. Now she just had to wait for his return…

  Silence surrounded her. The sun glared down on her pale skin. Eksa's heart began to drum as she realized how alone she truly was. She'd just sent away her only remaining protector and friend out of sheer anger, and fear for who he was. A storm of emotions was all it took. Jack must have hated her. No. He hated being near her. He hated what she'd become and had certainly been searching for a reason to leave. She called him names, threatened him, and told him to go.

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  So he'd gone.

  'So long as you don't break their trust' Aaron had once said. Flames, what had she done? She'd threatened to reveal his race to a band of seafaring thugs and brigands. She hadn't betrayed his trust, she'd shattered it completely. All because of her own fragile ego.

  Footsteps clacked up the gangplank.

  Eksa fumbled out her cutlass with trembling fingers. Aki stepped aboard, looking as confident and determined as ever. She stood tall, arms rigid and hands curled into fists. “Stay back,” Eksa warned. The cutlass shook in her hands.

  Aki threw up her hands. “I'm unarmed, little snake.”

  That didn’t stop Eksa from keeping her distance. She had no doubt Aki could take her down barehanded. She glanced to her side for any escape, any ally. I'm alone…

  ***

  Aki sighed.

  The girl's hands shook more than a shase addict's when pillaging purses. Her belly bulged slightly against her leather waist corset and her face was flushed to near match her hair. What happened to her?

  Excessive drink, that's what. For which Aki was partially to blame. “I'm not here to hurt you.”

  “Back,” Eksa warned, stepping farther back herself.

  Aki stopped walking. “Why did you do it? You led Dhorjun into the alleyway. I thought… You had him ambushed, mutilated, murdered. That isn't like you.”

  “I don't know what you're talking about. I didn’t lead anyone anywhere.”

  “Girl, I was there! You led him into the alley with the promise of your body. The Eksa I knew wouldn't ever consider such a thing.”

  Eksa frowned. “Jack… he must've worn a wig. I don’t, I wasn't…”

  Aki scowled. Hadn't that been the mad jester she saw walking dejectedly along the beach? Was he gone to do the girl's bidding, or did they have a falling out? Was she manipulated into this? Aki recalled clearly seeing Eksa yesternight. It was her voice too. Was she too drunk to recall any of it? What does any of it matter? The deed is done, and chaos will arise from it.

  “Why are you here, Aki?” Eksa asked. She still held up her cutlass, and her hands still shook.

  “I came to see your convictions, girl. You've begun a war. I hope you know how to end one.” That flinch and widening eyes was all Aki needed to know of Eksa's feelings on the matter. The girl had no clue what she'd started. She'd given orders, sure. There'd be fighting and scrambling, yes. And the odds certainly favored her, true. But small victories did not entail an end to a war.

  The way she trembles… Eksa was no murderer. Aki was now more than tempted to believe Eksa had nothing to do with Dhorjun last night, what with the way her knees were buckling. There was tell of the girl beating innocent merchants during raids in drunk fits of anger, but nothing beyond that. Hawthorne was not one to let slide such an obviously exploitable weakness, and he wasn't going to go about it kindly either. This alcoholic wretch that Eksa had become would not take long to fall before his schemes. Did she even know he had spies aboard her crew?

  “Well, know m-my convictions n-now,” Eksa stuttered. “I'll win. I'll b-bloody win and claim all of Kovar for myself. You can go c-crawling back to Crow and let him know I said that!”

  Well, it'd be easy as that if she were planning on another assassination. But Hawthorne was sure to have guards near him at all times. “Where's the blond boy gone to?” she asked carefully.

  “I kicked him out. He was questioning me too often.”

  Aki flinched. You did what?

  “I don't need him. Nor do I need Aaron. They made me look weak. Everyone assumed my victories arisen from those three. Now they'll see who truly was behind it all. This island is mine. And I'll have won this stupid war without their help.”

  Three? Was she even in her right state of mind? The mad jester was a symbol of fear keeping her men in line. I see now. You ordered Dhorjun's death in a state of stupor, the boy went and mutilated the giant, and you're left with the aftermath. You stupid girl.

  And Aki had been the one to get her hooked on alcohol. I had no choice.

  No, she thought, seething through her teeth. There was always a choice. Eksa flinched at Aki's anger and held up her cutlass a little higher.

  “You're here because you're worried about me,” the Red Serpent said. “I remember clearly. You saved Aaron that day we faced the Great Serpent. It's not too late to join the winning side, Aki.”

  Aki folded her arms. “You sound desperate now that your guardians are gone.” There would be no apologizing today. She could not return to the Reaver. She would be more use to Eksa aboard Hawthorne's ship as a spy. The Red Serpent had a strong reputation, and her skills as a leader were respected enough for all her achievements. She just but had to hold on to that reputation.

  At least she hasn't fallen into senseless violence as I'd assumed. “Lay off the drink, girl. You're growing a gut and your breath reeks.” Eksa flushed. Aki turned to leave. That was about all she could offer for the moment. Shuari had it the girl's embarrassment put her off from drinking. Her capabilities less than halved with such poison running through her system.

  For which of course Aki was partially to blame. It was, after all, the choices she'd made in obeying Hawthorne several years ago that had led to this moment today.

  ***

  Aki twirled around a rod of iron she'd picked up on her return to north Kovar. She was expecting to meet riots and chaos halfway through, a clash of Hawthorne's mercs with Eksa's brigands. But that hardly was the case at all.

  The midsection of Kovar that had burned and left as a half square mile worth of ash and stone refuse was finally being cleaned up. The homeless thieves without allegiance to either pirating crew were being picked off the street by citizens of Kovar and convinced into joining Eksa's side. Her fighters stood ominously at the mouths of streets, guarding them like hounds and letting through men expressing their will to join the Red Serpent.

  Aki almost began laughing. The sheer order through which these pirates scum were working suggested this was long in the planning. The captains beneath her had received plans should an event like this arise, and they were enacting it in haste, stealing from sight any and all resources left unclaimed. She gave them victories and coins, and they obeyed. So they would continue until fortune favored Hawthorne's sails.

  Perhaps there won't be fighting. Perhaps Crow is actually frustrated enough to have gotten drunk and isn't mounting any sort of a counter response.

  A feeble hope. That was not at all what Aki knew of the man from the years they'd spent together. But when she arrived at Hawthorne's territory, she found the streets and bars void of his men. She poked her head inside inns and brothels, finding the enslaved workers present still. The people jumped at her presence. It was commonly known she was Crow's most trusted aide. Fear tainted their every action, a present trembling in their legs and hands, a constant flitting of their eyes towards windows and doors as if others of Crow's crew would magically appear out of thin air to continue the torment doled out without end for two years.

  Aki heard mutters and whispers about 'seeking refuge south in the Red Serpent's territory'. They certainly had that opportunity now. To think Hawthorne up an ended his control over the local populous by leaving them unwatched…

  What game was going on here exactly? Aki marched further until she reached the docks, at last seeing where the men had truly gone. Hawthorne's mercenaries were boarding his ships. The bald man himself was standing before the gangplank of The Virulence while his former ship, Tidestrider, was given over to a tattooed mercenary hailing from Estraea allegedly; a white haired man named Jakart Blackfaust.

  Aki marched over to her captain, who stood with the support of his cane, fashioned with the silver head of a carrion eater at the top. Light reflected from its polished surface. He was subtly twisting the cane with his palm, letting its opposite end dig into the ground little by little. Still angry then, Aki surmised, but not drunken mad. The gloss of dark brilliance was caught in Crow's lone bloodshot eye. He'd thought of a plan, one he was mighty proud of, and that drew a shiver from Aki's spine.

  “So you've returned,” Crow said, sparing her but a glance with his single functioning eye. “I was thinking that you would not.”

  “And why shouldn't I?” she asked.

  That earned Aki a sharp slap she did not expect. Her lip tore and a line of blood was drawn. Crow stood straighter, putting most of his weight on his strong leg. He prodded the base of her throat with his cane. “Don't think I don't know you sympathize with that bitch. I saw you run after her last night. I haven’t forgotten your failure of two years prior, Aki. Nor dismissed the thought that perhaps it wasn't a failure at all, but rather intended.”

  “What? I would never—”

  Crow prodded her throat harder. He twisted his cane and Aki felt something sharp prick her skin. The bastard has a needle blade hidden in his cane.

  “You came back. That's loyalty enough,” Crow said. “But I have my eyes on you, don't forget that.”

  “You mean a single eye,” Aki sneered.

  Hawthorne gave her that wicked grin of his. “That's it. That's the cruel, heartless Aki that I know. Stay away from the Red Serpent. She'll soon get everything coming at her and more.” He turned to face the northern horizon. “I'm going to break her piece by piece, bone by bone. And when she's finally through, I'll help myself to her flesh.”

  Aki ground her teeth to prevent a gag. Hawthorne was soulless, but he'd shown that by measure of actions. He'd never put his malice to words. He's doing it intentionally. To see if I'll react. “And is that why we're running from Kovar with our tail between our legs?”

  “Running?” Crow asked, amused. He began laughing. “Oh we aren't running. We're attacking Qalydon. Our attack will commence in the veiled hours ere dawn. Qalydon will be my new base of operations. I'll do to Theodore's wife what he did to me, and let her live so that she can weep at the fate of her people.”

  Sick bastard. How was it she'd ever allied herself with him? How was it she ever got into bed with him? Now that he had power, he'd go to any length for petty vengeance. “And if we fail?” Aki asked. “If we fail and have to retreat, only to find the docks taken over by the Red Serpent? What then?”

  “That won't happen, Aki. She's busy taking over the inner city and bringing the people to her side. She doesn't have the numbers or the ships to hold the docks from us. There's no point in wasting my men on a pointless conflict that will result in my likely loss. I'll give these men a victory instead. A real victory that they can savor. A city of riches to loot and a new round of slaves taken to be enjoyed. The rest will then see what fools they've been for joining her than joining me. And that will only be the start of it all.”

  Aki nodded. He'd planned this well, and she had no way to relay this information to Eksa without seeming a traitor. From the surface, this would seem like fleeing to her, but Crow was likely factoring that in. Aki resigned to her role in this raid, boarding The Virulence.

  Hawthorne placed his hand on her shoulder. “You've a special part in this Aki. When we land, you will raid the Coraine manse with my best blades. Drag Tilda Coraine out by the hair before me. As for her child…”

  Aki swallowed. Don't say it. Don't dare tell me to kill an infant.

  He shrugged. “I'm not heartless. Leave the child alone. Worst comes to worst, take the child and it can be used as a bargaining chip against Tilda Coraine.”

  Aki shrugged off his hand and stalked up the gangplank. Not heartless my foot. Flames burn you, Hawthorne.