The Bone Ship's Wake by R. J. Barker
Author:R. J. Barker [Barker, R. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780356511870
Google: IwQGEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2021-09-27T23:00:00+00:00
33
The Woman in the Corner
He was numb. Numb and bound and stumbling forward between two guards feeling like life had outrun him, like he had jumped into the depths expecting to drown and been caught in a riptide which had thrown him up on the shores of a strange and foreign land. Everything had changed, and so quickly.
Numb.
The seaguard escorting him were not gentle, they laughed as he stumbled, not realising he was playing less able than he was, exaggerating his limp in the hope they would not take his spur from him, but maybe he worried too much. They showed no fear of him. Either Karrad had not shared he was the Black Pirate or they believed their power in this place was absolute. They walked him down through the bothy and into the tunnels toward the dungeons. Down here the walls wept moisture and those in the cells around him wept and moaned in misery. A door opened, he made to step through but one of the guards stopped him, undid his shackles and ripped the mask from his face. Turned him so they could look on him, immediately recoiled.
âWe know what you are, who you are,â the guard said, face twisted in hate. âWe know what you did to us and look at you, as rotten in your body as you are in your actions.â
âSo you will kill me?â He meant to sound defiant, instead he sounded resigned. âI had hoped to die at sea.â The man laughed, his face was lined, older than most seaguard and Joron wondered whether that meant Karrad was forced by the plague to bring older, less capable seaguard into his forces.
âI would love to kill you, lost my boy and my woman to the pox the beast in the harbour brought.â He took a step back. âBut Karrad has said I must not, and besides, what he has in store for you is worse than any death, even from the rot, be sure of that.â He smiled and gave Joron a gentle push into the cell. âI will listen for you, as you give up your secrets. I will dance to the song of your pain, Black Pirate.â He shut the door, then spat through the bars into Joronâs face. The spittle was warm on his cheek, stung where it hit the sores, but he did not wipe it away. Only stood, staring at the man, unblinking as it rolled down his face, warm as tears.
âI will not forget your kindness,â said Joron. The man laughed, turned to his friend.
âYou hear that, Franir, I think the rot-cursed pirate threatens me, ey? From inside his cell.â
âLook to what pride gets you in this place, pirate,â said Franir from the shadows, then they left, taking the torch with them and leaving only the faint glow of one wanelight behind.
Joron wiped the spittle from his face with his sleeve. âWherever I go, it seems I make friends,â he said to himself. Then laughed. A
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