Silver Shadow Book Two In the Lore Trilogy, page 4
There was a knock on the door, and John came in with Tom trailing behind him. “Cedric, could you take a look at Tom? There was an incident with a stone door.”
Cedric nodded and looked over at the girl one more time before seeing Tom. There was a long purplish bruise across his back where the door must have pinched him. There were spots of blood where the force of the doors had broken the skin. Peter felt his heart sink in shame. He was so focused on the girl, he didn’t even think about Tom or the others who were with him.
John looked over at him, almost seeming to sense his shame, and said, “Silver needs you on the deck.”
“Right, on my way,” Peter replied, and with one more look at the girl on the bed, he turned and walked back up the stairs to the main deck.
The man deck was bustling with activity, with crew members running to and fro, yelling directions and replies to each other. He spotted Silver who was at the helm and began making his way towards her. As he walked over, he looked over to the starboard side and saw the island had grown much smaller. He could still see it, but just barely, which meant they were making good time.
He walked up the short flight of stairs and sauntered over to Silver. “You needed me?”
She glanced over at him, with anger burning in her eyes. “What?” he asked, already starting to feel his defenses rising.
“Oh, I don’t know Peter, maybe it’s that you weren’t there to help us cast off. Or the fact that you completely ignored Tom’s injuries. I bet you didn’t even know he was hurt, did you?”
Peter felt the shame wash over him again, making him bristle. “Well, the ship didn’t sink, even though I wasn’t on deck. Tom seemed fine. He was walking around and walked himself to Cedric. Look there he is now,” Peter finished as Tom came walking out of the captain’s quarters. He did seem fine, maybe a little shaken up from the whole ordeal, but he had a pep in his step from his latest adventure. He went around the deck showing off his bandages and telling anyone who would listen about how he got it. “Don’t blame me for your decision to take him on this trip. He didn’t have to go to the island with us.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she snapped, glaring at him.
“Well, you act like you don’t!”
They glared at each other for a moment before they both simultaneously took a breath and let it out. “I’m sorry,” Peter said, running a hand through his hair.
“Me too,” said Silver, loosening her grip on the wheel. “We’re both under a lot of pressure.”
“And a near-death experience,” Peter added. “All in a day’s work.”
She laughed at this. “So, it would seem.”
“Lots of sacrifices were made,” he said leaning against the railing next to her. “My sword, for example, was lost to this latest adventure. I’m not sure what I will do without it. I feel as though I’ve lost a friend today.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “We’ll get you another sword. Keep your shirt on.”
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said, looking out over the ocean.
“You were certainly taking a lot of risks.”
“But that’s what saved our necks,” he reasoned.
She sighed. “Next time, let’s try not to tackle the strange creature that we don’t know anything about, alright?”
Peter stood up straight, puffing out his chest he gave a salute and said, “Aye, aye Captain.”
She laughed at him, completely breaking the remainder of the tension around them.
“Sil? I’m glad we’re okay.”
“Me too.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying each other’s company and the salty ocean air. They saw John come out of the captain’s quarters and begin walking towards them. “Here comes trouble,” Peter said, which got a smile out of Silver.
“Captain, Cedric needs you.”
“Is there a problem?” Silver asked as she gave him the wheel.
“Not exactly,” he said looking at both of them. “But the girl’s awake.”
Chapter 3
Silver
Silver walked into her quarters with Peter right at her heels. The girl was beautiful and delicate, her bright green eyes were almost mesmerizing. She was looking at Cedric when they came in, but soon turned her eyes to them. Silver almost felt a shock go through her at the intensity of her gaze. She looked briefly over at her before turning her eyes to Peter. Silver felt him stiffen next to her as the girl’s eyes rested on him. “It’s you,” the girl said in a voice that was clear as a bell.
“Peter, how does she know you?” Silver asked, turning to him.
“I may have touched her when we were in the tunnel,” he answered in a husky voice, never taking his eyes off the girl.
“So, that’s why you were acting weird then?” At Peter’s nod, Silver rolled her eyes but continued. “I believe introductions are in order,” Silver said, coming forwards. The girl turned her eyes to her as she approached. “My name is Silver, and I’m the captain of this ship. This is Cedric,” she said, gesturing to him. “He is our doctor. And I take it you and Peter have already met.”
The girl nodded, showing she understood, before looking back at Peter.
“What is your name?” Silver asked, trying to get the girl’s attention back on herself.
“I’m Aisling,” the girl answered.
“Do you know why you were in the tunnels? Or why were you hooked up to the stone? Where is it, by the way?”
“On the table,” Peter answered but made no move to retrieve it.
Silver sighed and walked over. She unwrapped it, careful not to touch it. Now that she had a chance to examine it, she saw it had about twenty sides that were all smooth and shiny. Each side had a different symbol carved on it except for the front which had one large symbol painted gold and the strange metal band that ran around it.
“That is the stone that they were using on me. They took me to the tunnels for… experiments,” she said, looking down and shivering slightly.
“What kind of experiments?” Silver asked, taking her eyes off the strange stone to look at her.
Aisling shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest, and began to shiver in earnest.
“Why don’t we give her some time to recover?” said Cedric, looking at Silver with meaning in his eyes. “Perhaps she will feel better after some time to rest.”
“Very well,” said Silver, re-wrapping the stone, and placing it securely in a chest she kept nearby. She locked the chest and went over to her wardrobe. She pulled out an extra shirt, pair of pants, and boots and brought them over to Aisling.
“Here, why don’t you wear these? They’ll be more comfortable than what you have now.” Aisling nodded and pulled the clothes closer to her.
“Go ahead and rest. One of us will come and check on you in a while.”
“Thank you for being so kind to me,” said Aisling, in a quiet voice. “And thank you for rescuing me.” She looked up at Peter when she said this, and their eyes locked together.
“You’re welcome,” Silver said, as Cedric made his way out of the room. “Rest well.”
She turned to walk out but saw that Peter looked like he had no intention of leaving. She grabbed his arm and half dragged him out of the room. As soon as the door shut, Peter seemed to come out of his trance. He shook his head slightly, almost as if to clear it. Silver punched his arm.
“Ow,” he said, rubbing the place where she had hit him. “What was that for?”
“Just trying to knock some sense back in you,” she said sweetly before heading up the stairs. Things were quiet on the main deck. They finally couldn’t see the island they had come from. She made her way up to the helm and stood next to John. He nodded at her and then continued looking at the horizon.
They stood in silence for a few moments, before Silver said, “John? Thank you for everything you did today. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”
John inclined his head towards her, before saying, “Of course, Captain.”
“I take it we’re off to your client?” John asked, after a moment.
“Yes, I would like to get this orb off my ship as quickly as possible,” Silver took a cautious look over her shoulder like she had been since they left the island. But there was no one following them, just the endless blue of the horizon where the ocean met the sky.
“We should be able to make it to them in a week or so if the weather keeps up.”
John said nothing but continued steering. They stayed in comfortable silence for a while, in a way that two people who know each other so well can. The feeling of unease grew in Silver’s chest. Hopefully, it was nothing, just her being paranoid. She couldn’t help but feel that everything that happened was just a bit too easy.
A couple of hours later, Silver knocked softly on her door and walked in. Aisling was standing and looking out the window. Wearing the pants and shirt Silver had given her. She was so tiny they almost seemed to hang off of her. Silver quietly closed the door behind her and strode into the room balancing a tray of food and water.
“For you,” Silver said, placing the tray on the table. “Did you sleep well?”
The girl turned to her, fixing her in her piercing stare. “I did, thank you. And thank you for the clothes and food.”
“You’re welcome.”
They stood awkwardly for a few moments, eyeing each other. “Where is Peter?” the girl asked, looking over Silver’s shoulder to see if she was about to walk in the door.
“He’s probably got his ear against the keyhole,” said Silver, rolling her eyes slightly. “I’ll send him in, in a few minutes, but I was hoping that you might feel up to answering a few questions.”
“Of course,” said Aisling, and took a seat that Silver gestured to.
Silver sat down opposite her and crossed her legs leaning back. “Where did you come from?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” she said looking into her hands. “I don’t have any memories until I was about eight.”
“How’s that possible?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know that was a strange thing until just now.”
Silver was silent for a moment gathering her thoughts. “Why were you in the tunnels? And do you know why you were hooked up to the stone?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know that either. I may not be very much help in all of this,” Aisling said, beginning to look a little worried. “They didn’t tell me much, so it’s hard for me to relay any information.”
“They probably did it on purpose. That way in case something like this happened you wouldn’t be able to tell us anything.”
Aisling nodded. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Can you tell me about the bird people? Do you know anything about them?”
“A bit,” she said, beginning to look uncomfortable. “But again, it’s not very much. They call themselves the Cleansers. Part of their job is to get rid of the people who are sick. They come into towns where a disease has begun to spread, and then they eliminate it. At least that’s what they told me. I’m not sure how reliable that information is.”
Silver’s blood ran cold at this information but she tried not to let it show. “What did they want with you?”
“Again, I’m not entirely sure. They performed a lot of experiments on me. I don’t remember what exactly they did to me, I just remember the pain.” Her eyes had begun to grow distant at some memory she was reliving. She looked so fragile, sitting there bent over herself. It made Silver feel enormous pity towards her. She leaned forward and looked into her eyes. “It’s alright. You’ll be safe with us.”
Aisling looked up with fear clear in her eyes. “I’m not sure about that. I want to believe you, but you don’t know the Cleansers as I do. They will stop at nothing to get me back.”
“Well, you don’t know my crew,” Silver said, with iron in her eyes. “We’ll keep you safe, and that’s a promise.”
Aisling still looked skeptical, but Silver didn’t mind. She knew she’d be feeling the same if she had been in her position. They would prove it to her.
“Is there someplace we can drop you off? Anywhere you need to go?”
Aisling shook her head. “I don’t have anywhere to go, even if I wanted to.”
“Well, in that case, welcome aboard the Silver Shadow.”
Days had a tendency to run together when they were at sea. Every day was pretty much the same, unless there was a storm or another ship that crossed their path. As each day passed with nothing to show for it, Silver became more uptight. It wasn’t that she wanted bad things to happen, but she had come to expect them. It’s what has kept them all alive to this point.
On top of this, Silver now had to find a new place to set up her office. Aisling had taken her chamber and hadn’t wanted to leave. Silver didn’t blame her, the poor thing had been through so much as it was, but it did make it difficult to find a place where she could relax.
She ended up just keeping busy. There was always something that needed to be repaired on her ship. It wasn’t that the old girl was falling apart by any means, but the salty air took a toll on everything. The sea wasn’t forgiving, and while everyone on board had been alright, they were never able to get everything fixed.
The current thing that needed fixing was a small hole that had begun in the mainsail. It wasn’t a problem yet, but it would get bigger and bigger if she didn’t handle it now. Gathering her supplies, she tied them to her waist and began climbing. It was a windless day, meaning travel was almost nonexistent, but it also meant now was a good time to patch up the sail.
Making it to the top, she walked across the mast, until she reached the small hole. Sitting so her legs hung over the side of the wooden railing the sail was attached to, she began sewing. The sun beat down on her, causing sweat to pool in her lower back. Brushing her short dark hair out of her eyes, she began humming to herself.
“I know that song,” came a voice next to her.
She jumped, gripping the railing for dear life. “Peter!” she snapped, placing a hand on her wildly beating heart. “For the love of sailing, don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I didn’t sneak,” he said, unsuccessfully trying not to smile. “I made the normal amount of noise one makes when climbing a rope. It’s not my fault you were too busy to pay attention.”
Silver gave him a glare for good measure, and then got back to sewing. “Don’t you have first mate duties to attend to?”
“Sure, but the most important of my first mate duties is checking on you.”
Silver felt his eyes on her but she ignored him, intent on her task.
“So,” he began, but that’s as far as he got. Suddenly, there was a commotion on the main deck.
“What–” was all Silver got out before peaking around the sail. Aisling had emerged from her room, and the entire crew was surrounding her. “Great,” Silver sighed, standing.
“I’ll take over this,” Peter said, taking her sewing from her.
“Don’t you want to come and see her? After all, you haven’t spoken to her since that first day,” Silver offered. “I could always use backup.”
“You can handle the crew,” Peter said, turning away from her. “I’ve got this to finish.”
Silver eyed him for a moment longer, unsure where this shyness had come from. Peter had always been the one to welcome new members on board, making sure they were comfortable and the like. It was odd for him to suddenly be so shy. Up until this moment, Silver never would have used the word shy to describe him. Shrugging it off, she grabbed a rope and swung down, right into the middle of the crowd.
All the talking abruptly stopped as she landed next to Aisling. “Alright men, don’t we have work to do?”
“Aw, come on, Captain.” This came from Biff, a young man in his late twenties, who was always ready with a smile. “We just wanted to welcome the newest member of the crew.”
“It looks like you more than have. Go on,” Silver said when no one made a move to go.
The other men grumbled, but took the hint and broke it up. There were a total of ten members including herself and Peter. Eleven if you included Aisling.
“Sorry about them,” Silver turned towards Aisling. “They can be a bit overbearing and are terrible eavesdroppers,” she said loudly, as Biff had begun moving closer to them with the guise of sweeping the deck. She shot him a look, and he sighed in the most dramatic way she had ever seen, before moving a far distance away from them.
“Come on,” Silver led her to the small ladder that led to the helm. John gave them a nod as she led Aisling to the railing. “Sorry about that, we can speak freely here. John won’t bite.”
Aisling nodded, her eyes growing wide at the expanse of the sea surrounding them. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed, her eyes never pausing as she seemed to be trying to take everything in.
“It is,” Silver answered, leaning next to her on the railing.
“Do you ever get used to it?”
Silver thought for a moment before answering. “To the beauty? No. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t feel my insignificance. But that’s part of its beauty, isn’t it? The vastness.”
Aisling nodded before saying, “It scares me a little.”
“Me too,” Silver answered. They stood in silence for a moment, both of them lost in thought.
Silver felt eyes on her and turned only to catch a glimpse of two crew members hurriedly scurrying away. She rolled her eyes.
