T’ruck looked at the witch again. He’d transported Lady Tsokei halfway across the world in the bowels of his ship, and not once had he seen her look so dishevelled. Her black hair was dull and greasy. Her skin was dirty, coated with a sheen of grime. Her black dress was heavily ripped and stained, hanging loose and tattered upon her small body. Sweat dripped down from the witch’s forehead, running down her cheek and chin and disappearing beneath the iron collar.
“Quickly, please,” Lady Tsokei hissed at the guard. She was shaking a little, as if cold despite the warmth and closeness of the brig.
The guard slid a key into the lock and the door to T’ruck’s little cell squealed open. T’ruck had to duck as he wasted no time in exiting his prison, the doorway clearly designed for smaller men – but then, most men were smaller than him. Squat-face stood by with a curiously expressionless face as T’ruck pushed past him.
“Please kill one of these men,” Lady Tsokei said, steadying herself against the bars to T’ruck’s former cell. “I cannot keep them both bound to me much longer.”
T’ruck wasted no time in choosing. The officer would likely be more useful, and the guard had already proven himself to be unworthy of life. He wrapped his giant hands around the smaller man’s throat and began to squeeze. At first there was no resistance, but soon the man’s eyes lit up as the witch released her control – T’ruck saw her collapse against the bars at the same time that the guard began to struggle – but he was no match for an angry giant. T’ruck watched the life fade from the guard’s eyes before he let the corpse drop to the decking. The officer didn’t so much as blink at the death of his crewmate.
“I will be glad when that one is dead too,” Lady Tsokei hissed, nodding towards the officer. “The fool tried to claim me as any man might an errant slave. I will teach him the error of his ways. I will make him watch as I burn his ship and force him to kill his own friends. I will drag the knowledge of his family from his mind and release him just long enough to realise he has condemned them all to death.”
T’ruck ignored the vengeful witch and scooped the squat-faced guard’s keys from where they’d fallen. He decided right then it would probably be a bad idea to ever look into her eyes again. The iron collar she wore was supposed to stop her using her magic.
“Release me, Captain Khan,” Lady Tsokei said, “and I shall send this monstrosity of metal and wood to Rin’s court.”
T’ruck stopped, the keys in his hand and vengeance within his grasp. “I told you before, Lady Tsokei,” he said, not looking into her eyes out of both fear and pride, “I do not want this ship sunk. I want it taken. I want to sail it against my enemies. Against the Five Kingdoms. Against the bastards who murdered my family. I would use this monstrosity to break them and help carve out the new home Drake Morrass dreams of.” He laughed. “T’ruck Khan, once mightiest leader of the clans, displaced and driven from his home, again sitting in a position of power. I believe that would taste bitter to even…”
“Spare me your speech, Captain,” the witch said with a sigh as she pushed away from the bars. “I do not care one bit about your new home. I wish only to stay one step in front of the Inquisition’s dogs.”
T’ruck grinned and risked a look at her, hoping she wouldn’t have the strength left to take control of him. “And what makes you think the Pirate Isles and Drake aren’t also your best chance?”
“What?”
“The free cities stand up to the Inquisition. They grant the witch hunters no power within their walls. We are carving out a new kingdom here, and we can set the same restriction. You would be safe, protected.”
“If you believe my kind are safe from the Inquisition while in the free cities, you are very much mistaken, Captain Khan. The Inquisition hunt us no matter.”
T’ruck raged inside at the witch’s stubbornness. He spat on the deck in frustration. “Then you would sink this ship and die along with your captors, taking us all down to Rin with you. You may not feel it, but we have been sailing for days. Like as not, we are far from friendly lands, and if we do not take this ship then we sink with it.”
That seemed to bring her up short. No matter how powerful she might be – and T’ruck was fairly certain she was powerful – she would die here with the rest of them if she couldn’t find land to live off.
“Help me take this ship,” T’ruck continued, “and I will drown that collar. Never again will you be leashed.”
Lady Tsokei smiled, and when she spoke her voice was like silk. “You will offer me a permanent position aboard the ship for as long as I wish to remain on board. My identity will remain secret and you will guarantee your crew’s silence. And I will not take on any of the ship’s duties.”
“No bewitching any of my crew.”
“I’ll need a bigger cabin.”
“You can take your pick of any but the biggest.”
For a moment T’ruck and the witch stared at each other.
“Good?” T’ruck said eventually.
“Good,” Lady Tsokei said.
“Rest of the crew are just down here,” T’ruck said. “I’ll get ’em freed while you figure out how you’re gonna help us take this ship.” He turned towards his crew’s cells, keys in hand.
“Captain Khan,” the witch said, a hint of humour in her voice. “The collar.”
T’ruck looked back, ambition warring in his head with what he assumed was probably better judgement. He towered over the small woman and yet she showed no fear, even with her powers limited. A memory flashed through his mind of Lady Tsokei before she’d willingly donned the collar and bound it to T’ruck. She was terror given flesh, fear pulsing off her in waves that had terrified men and women alike, even though they didn’t know why.
With a greedy smile, T’ruck reached out towards the witch’s neck and placed his thumb on a flat panel on one side of the iron band. There was a click, and the collar opened up and fell away. T’ruck winced, expecting to feel the same fear he’d experienced when he first met the woman, but it didn’t come.
Lady Tsokei rolled her head around and stretched out her shoulders as though a great weight had been lifted. She glanced at T’ruck and laughed.
“Do not look so surprised, Captain Khan. I would not have eluded the Inquisition for so long had I not been able to control my aura. Before, it served my purpose to keep you and your crew scared. Now, I believe it to be otherwise. Release your crew and let us lay waste to our enemies.”
With the lantern in one hand and the keys in the other, it didn’t take T’ruck long to find his imprisoned crew. They were crowded together, twenty-one living bodies and one dead, in just four cells. Some of them were in fine shape, with only a few scratches and bruises from the fight, whereas others had obviously been the victims of beatings and bore more serious wounds. Yu’truda had survived, though she now walked with a painful-looking limp, but her husband, Zole, had drowned when North Gale went down. The grief was plain in Yu’truda’s eyes, but she was a clansman the same as T’ruck, and they were well used to the death of loved ones.
After a few words of caution to his surviving crew members, and some assurances that freeing the witch was in all of their best interests, T’ruck gathered them near Lady Tsokei and they prepared to leave the brig. There were just twenty-three of them in total, and T’ruck wagered they faced nearly a thousand.
Chapter 5 - North Gale
With wooden cosh in hand, T’ruck burst through the doorway and out of the brig. He’d been escorted through the guard room twice and knew the layout well. There were three men inside, two sitting around a table playing dice while the third was bent over a desk, writing something on a sheet of parchment. T’ruck leapt towards the table and the first soldier went down with a cracked skull before he could even gain his feet. T’ruck swung at the second just as the man launched out of his chair. The doomed guard managed to get his hands up, but they only delayed his fate, and T’ruck rained down blow after blow until the man collapsed into a quivering, bloody heap.