The light inside the cell was minimal, barely enough for Helen Dunn to move around properly. The ex-marauder was reduced to sitting down next to her cot, doing nothing as she counted the minutes that went by. Something suddenly dimmed the already darkening room, catching the woman’s attention.
Helen’s gaze moved to focus on the small window above her, the only source of her light. The white feathered raven was back, its unnatural blue eyes looking down at her as if in pity. Helen scowled at the creature as she stood up from her cot. Just as she was about to shoo the creature away, a door from the hallway opened.
Light from the outside temporarily lit the hallway before it disappeared. Footsteps sounded out through the hallway, as well as what sounded like arguing.
“I don’t like this, James. It’s ripe for disaster.”
“I trust Haggard. She could be of help.”
“It’ll be fine, Felix! Trust me!”
Three men came into view, their silhouettes varying. One was a mountain of man, his height towering over the other two easily. Another wore a cloak around himself, but Helen could tell that he was spry and lean. The last one was somewhere in the middle. Stockier than the second man, but not as massive as the first one.
Helen had recognized the first two. She knew them well enough, as they were the ones she had fought back during Havor’s failed attack on Yorktown. She even remembered their names.
“Awake already?” Felix asked as he squinted through the dim light, a frown on his lips. He was the archer, the one Helen had hesitated to kill back then. It was clear in the man’s eyes that he hadn’t forgotten about the Fireball she had used on him.
“It has been a while.” Haggard, the other man, was drunk during their fight on that day, his swings nearly lopping Helen’s head off during the encounter. Confusingly enough, however, the man called Haggard was the reason Helen was still breathing.
“Are you sure about this, Haggard?’ Felix asked.
“Don’t ask me. James is the reason we’re here,” Haggard answered the guard before gesturing to the third man.
Helen squinted through her poorly lit cell to examine the third man, James. He was familiar, but Helen couldn’t place where she had seen him before. She then noticed his blue eyes, which shone dangerously in the low light. She nearly jumped at the eye contact, swearing that she had seen his irises shine with an otherworldly light. The other man blinked, his eyebrow raising as he leaned into the cell door.
“I remember you,” he said finally. “You were with Deimos and Havor the day you came to Yorktown.”
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Helen’s eyes widened as she finally remembered the man’s face.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” she answered back, furrowing her brow.
“I get that a lot,” James answered, a hint of a grin on his face.
“What the hel do you lot want?” Helen asked, scowling as she crossed her arms, her eyes wandering to her window. The raven was gone, possibly scared off from the sound of the others. James was the first to speak up.
“I don’t really have much time, so I’m going to cut to the chase. I need a navigator to guide that ship your friends left behind. You’ve been at sea longer than most people on this island, so you must have at least some experience or knowledge, right?” The blond man asked.
Helen turned back to James, wondering how naïve he had to be to assume that she had any experience navigating because of her occupation as a marauder.
‘Then again, I do know how to navigate through Valenfrost’s seas. Still, had he asked Havor or any of those idiot marauders, he wouldn’t be so lucky…’
“What do I get out of it?” She asked, knowing full well that she was not a damn charity.
“Well, what do you want?” James asked dumbly.
“Gods, I don’t know… what could I possibly want?” Helen sarcastically pondered before she extended her arms into the air.
James winced. “Good point.” He turned to Felix, who sighed.
“Look, freeing her is... Complicated. We have to consider that she can go running to the marauders for help,” the guard explained.
“Oh, that won’t happen,” Helen answered. “Those assholes left me for dead. Even if I wanted to go back—which I don’t—they’d kill me.” Helen knew Deimos hated cowards who surrendered, and she had no doubts that he’d kill her if she returned alive from Yorktown. “Just leave me at Vindis or Bernis City, and I’ll never come back here. Ever.” She really meant it, as she had no desire to stay at a small fishing town that posed little to no threat to her.
Felix seemed to mull this over, his eyes closed.
“As long as you behave, I’ll consider letting you free.”
Helen held back a scowl. “Then we have a deal.” She obviously didn’t see it as fair, but what else choice did she have? The former marauder thought for a moment about why James needed a navigator, prompting her question.
“What do you need a navigator for? What are you even doing?” She asked, turning to the young man.
James seemed to hesitate, but Felix cut in.
“We don’t need to explain much to you. Just guide the ship and behave. Nothing more, nothing less. Haggard here will watch you the entire way, making sure you don’t make any funny moves.” The guard gestured for his companions to leave, his back turning to the ex-marauder. “We’ll come for you tomorrow at daybreak. No funny business.” Felix and his group then walked off, leaving the blonde woman by her lonesome again. Strange, all strange.
‘Better than rotting in here, I guess…’
Helen sighed and glanced back at the window. The raven was back, its blue eyes watching her. It was almost as if it was judging.
Helen scowled.
“Piss off.”