The Tempest Sea

by Robin D. Mahle

  How did they find me? How is he here, working with Clark?

  Locke started to set me on the bed.

  “No, I don’t want the covers to be filthy. Just put me on the floor, please, until I can bathe.” The warm covers looked inviting, but I couldn’t bear the thought of them smelling like I did.

  He obliged, and I settled myself against the wall.

  “Where are you injured?”

  “I’m not. If you’ll get me a little water and some clothes, I’ll be fine. I was just surprised and tired back there, that’s all.” It wasn’t entirely true, and I suspected Locke knew that. He nodded, though, and called up the stairs for someone to grab what I requested.

  It was Clark who brought the items. His hands trembled just slightly as he held out a small bundle of clothes and a water stein. His lips were drawn taut, his shoulders tense.

  Is he angry? I arched an eyebrow and took the clothes and stein, observing him as he spoke.

  “Nell has us set due Northwest,” he said. “Gunther and Xavier are above decks keeping watch, but it looks like Gunther did his work well. They aren’t following us yet.”

  Locke nodded.

  I gasped. “Nell’s alive? She’s here?”

  Clark nodded, throwing an awkward glance at me. “She’s manning the helm right now. I grabbed these from her room. I’m not sure if they’ll fit…” He trailed off, eyes taking in my atrocious appearance.

  I looked away, flushed with humiliation. I had never wanted anyone to see me like this, let alone him. Guilt gnawed at me for the things I had said to him on the ship when he had apparently come across the world to rescue me. Or he had done it to catch up with Xavier. I wasn’t sure which. My head hurt from trying to decipher everyone’s motives all the time.

  “I’ll just go now,” I said to both of them. “I need to take a shower.”

  There was a pointed pause before Locke asked in a soft voice, “Do you need assistance?”

  And now my humiliation was complete.

  “Do you want to see Nell? We could call her, have her be down here when you’re finished,” Clark suggested. I sighed.

  Another person with questionable motives.

  I loved Nell, and I was so grateful she was alive, but I didn’t want to see her just now.

  “No, leave Nell be,” I said to Clark, and then to Locke, “I’ll be fine. I can make it to the lavatory by myself, thank you.” To prove my point, I forced myself up on shaking legs and teetered past them into the lavatory. To their everlasting credit, neither of them wrinkled their noses at my stench.

  It was a process from there, taking frequent breaks while trying to wrestle off my clothes. I carefully placed my clockwork heart locket on the tiny counter, trying not to wince at the blood which covered the container for my sister’s ashes. I could take care of that later.

  A cursory search showed there were rags under the sink and soap already in the bathroom. It didn’t take long for the water to warm. I stepped under the spray, avoiding the mirror all the while.

  I didn’t have the energy to stand for as long as it would take me to get clean, so I sat in the tiny shower. Water ran clear from the shower head, then turned brownish red after it hit my body. I watched, transfixed, as the coppery liquid swirled down the drain, around and around.

  Numb fingers scrubbed at my arms, my chest, everywhere the blood had settled onto me like a second skin. It didn’t seem to be doing any good, though. My heartbeat quickened, and I scoured furiously at my tender skin with the rough cloth.

  Still, the water ran red.

  My breath hitched, and I bit back a sob. There was blood everywhere, gushing around me like it had when…

  Don’t finish that thought.

  I couldn’t help it. The memories rushed in, unbidden. His hands on my skin, forcing me to my knees. His rancid scent infusing my nostrils and the sure, inescapable knowledge of what he was going to do to me and how utterly powerless I felt to stop it.

  How close he had come.

  I curled up with my arms around my legs, trying to stop the uncontrollable shivers racking my body, and my heartbeat thundered in my ears. It took me a moment to realize there was a separate pounding coming from outside myself. Someone was calling my name, but they sounded far away, under water.

  The door opened, and I couldn’t bring myself to care who it was. I barely even registered someone climbing into the shower until Nell’s arms wrapped around me.

  She didn’t seem to care about the water soaking her clothes or my state of undress. She held me firmly, muttering soothing words I could hardly make sense of, until I stopped shaking.

  I had to get the blood off of me, I had to get him off of me. The harder I scrubbed, the worse it felt. Not enough. I wasn’t scrubbing hard enough. I couldn’t stop seeing red all over me. My skin was on fire.

  I have to get the blood off.

  “I have to get the blood off.” The words sounded too loud in my own head. I was hyperventilating, my breath hitching on each word. I couldn’t get enough air.

  “I have to…”

  “Shhh. Breathe with me, Addie.” She took a deep, measured breath in, and I tried to imitate her.

  My own breaths came in trembling spurts, but eventually I managed to match her even breaths.

  “I can’t get the blood out.”

  Her almond shaped eyes shone with sympathy and something it took me longer to place. Guilt.

  Without another word, she took the cloth from my shaking hands and gently wiped at my raw skin. Moments later, I felt her fingers massaging shampoo into my scalp. Gradually, my breathing became steadier. Nell directed the flow of water at my head and rinsed the lather out. I couldn’t see the drain anymore, but I could picture the red-tinged water in my mind. I concentrated on taking slow, even breaths while she repeated the process two more times.

  “It’s gone now,” she said at last.

  “All of it?” I hated how vulnerable my croaking voice sounded.

  “Yes. The water is clear.”

  I turned to confirm her words while she gracefully exited the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself, then turned back to me.

  “Do you want me to leave you to get dressed?”

  I nodded.

  I hurried to dress, not wanting to look down at my bruised, frail form any longer than I had to. It took the last vestiges of my energy to don the too-large clothes, which turned out to be cotton pajamas. I picked up the locket but left the clothes. Perhaps we could find a way to burn them.

  Locke was waiting for me on a bolted-down desk chair. And he wasn’t the only one.

  A white ball of fluff came meowing up to me. My lips parted in surprise, and my eyes burned with another wave of tears I refused to let fall.

  “Shensi! How are you here?” I picked my kitty up, leaning my head into her fur and letting her purrs calm my frazzled nerves. Those weeks I had spent in the cell, I had tried so hard not to think about home or anything that might be comforting. Locke and Shensi together were almost too much for my overloaded emotions.

  The tears I had tried so hard to keep at bay fell freely now. I buried my face in Shensi’s bulk to no avail. The racking sobs working their way through my body refused to be hidden. Each convulsive gasp tore at my raw throat, but I hardly registered the physical pain at all.

  A firm hand on my shoulder grounded me, but even Locke’s steady presence couldn’t stop this torrent that had decided to rip its way out of my soul. Part of me wished Locke would leave so he didn’t have to bear witness to this. It was bad enough Nell had already seen me cracking. But the larger part knew I might fall apart entirely if he did.

  Finally, I managed to get myself under control.

  “Ms. Kensington,” Locke said as though nothing unusual had occurred, “I must assess the situation on deck” His face darkened, and I wondered if he really meant that he needed to monitor Xavier. He continued. “But I don’t wish to leave you alone right now. Shall I send Ms. Silbeque down?”
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  “I’m not alone. I have Shensi.” And she was really the only company I needed. I didn’t even care how she had gotten there.

  “Please, Adelaide, let someone stay with you. A human someone.” In over five years of guarding my life, Locke had never once asked anything of me. He had been like a father should be, unfailingly supportive and unconditionally caring. I couldn’t deny him this.

  I considered my options. There was Nell. I appreciated her help, but I still felt raw from everything that had happened to me. And despite the fact that she was here now, the cold, hard truth was that none of this would have ever happened to me if one of the few people in the world I trusted hadn’t dealt so carelessly with my life.

  I was profoundly relieved Nell was alive, and I didn’t want to stay angry with her. I just needed some space until I felt a little more in control of myself.

  Xavier was clearly out of the question. And Clark. I paused on the name before dismissing him. I didn’t have the energy for the complications he presented. I pictured the faces of the occupants on the boat one by one and knew there was only one answer.

  “Gunther can stay.” The kind man was the only one aside from Locke whose motives had never felt murky to me.

  Locke only nodded and headed above decks. Minutes later, Gunther entered my room, carrying a small, soft roll and a cup of ginger tea.

  “Try to keep this down,” he said gently. If he noted my puffy eyes, he didn’t comment.

  “Thank you.” I sipped the tea gratefully, letting it thaw my frigid core, and took tiny bites of the roll over Shensi’s head. I still hadn’t let her out of my lap, not that she seemed to mind.

  Gunther looked me over, not with pity or condescension, but with unveiled concern. “I won't ask if you’re okay, because I know you’re not, but are there any injuries I can tend to? Is there anything you need?”

  “No, no injuries. Thank you.” I set the mug down and leaned against the back wall, not ready to surrender to sleep. I wanted to be in the open air above decks but not enough to face the others yet. I shifted my weight and my hair caught between my shoulder and the wall.

  All at once, I was back there, being pulled to the ground, helpless. I gasped, grateful Gunther couldn’t hear me. My expression must have been enough, though.

  “What is it?” he asked, leaning forward.

  “It’s nothing. I’m fine. Just —” A thought occurred to me. “You asked if I needed anything. Do you have any scissors?”

  He looked confused. “I can see about finding you some.”

  He left me alone with my racing thoughts for a few moments before he returned holding a large pair of metal scissors.

  Perfect. I held out my hand for them, and he hesitated only a moment before giving them to me. Is he afraid I’ll hurt myself? I almost smirked. Not likely. I’ve been hurt enough.

  I grabbed a chunk of my hair, but Gunther held out his hand instead.

  “I’ll do it, if you want. About here?” He gestured below his chin. I nodded, and he motioned for me to sit in the chair.

  I took Shensi with me, of course. Surprisingly, she didn’t hiss at Gunther. Normally, Nell was the only other person she actually liked, and she begrudgingly tolerated Locke.

  Neither of us spoke. I mutely watched the strands fall to the floor, only the snipping sound of the scissors, Shensi’s rumbling, and the movements on the deck above us making any sounds at all.

  At one point, I put a hand on his arm to still his movements and turned so he could read my lips.

  “Can you fix it, so it covers my face?” I gestured to the area I could feel swelling up.

  “I’ll do whatever you want Addie, but you have nothing to hide. The only ones who should be ashamed are the ones who did this to you.”

  I grasped his gloved hand in my own. I couldn’t feel the ridges of the scars he kept hidden beneath the supple leather, but I knew he rarely let himself forget them. “I could say the same, Gunther.”

  His eyes widened thoughtfully, and I turned back around.

  When he was finished, he left to get a broom. I tugged at the shortened ends of my hair. For as long as I could remember, I had kept my dark tresses long. After Amelie died, I would try to replicate her complicated braids and pretend she was there helping me. Cutting it off felt like starting a new chapter of my life. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I wasn’t sure how I felt about anything.

  I settled onto the bed, laying down this time. Shensi settled in next to me. Gunther came back in and cleaned up the hair, then sat down at the desk. He pulled out a pile of metal pieces.

  “I’m just going to work on this now. You can sleep, or not. Whatever you feel like.”

  “Will you tell me what happened?” I asked. Gunther was likely to be the only one who would give me a fair, unexaggerated accounting. I almost laughed at the idea of Nell’s outrageous retelling of events. Almost.

  He smiled. “Of course.” His voice was even and soothing, punctuated by the quiet tinkering of his tools. I listened without interruption, not that he would have seen me anyway.

  By his telling, it was hard to say if Clark was more aggravated by Jayce’s presence or Shensi’s. A month ago, the thought would have made me laugh.

  Somewhere in the middle of a story about Clark threatening their unwanted ally — again — I unexpectedly drifted off to sleep.

  I was awakened by the sound of arguing voices in the hallway.

  “Give me that. I’ll take it to her. That is, if you’re sure you didn’t poison it.”

  “Really, Clark?”

  “Well, you seem to have no problem putting her in harm’s way. I thought maybe you’d want to go ahead and finish the job yourself.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. Why would I have told you how to save her?”

  “Who knows why you do anything you do, Xavier?”

  My lips tugged upward. Some things never changed. Then, memories of the last few weeks came flooding in, and all urges to smile vanished. I frowned when I saw Gunther asleep at the desk. He should have gone to sleep in his cabin, not stayed here babysitting me until he was exhausted. I couldn’t deny that I was grateful, though.

  There was a quiet knock at the door. I sat up before answering, noticing immediately how much warmer the air in the cabin was.

  “Come in,” I rasped. A few hours’ sleep had not improved my voice.

  Clark entered, balancing a soup bowl in one hand. It smelled familiar.

  “Did Locke make that?” I asked.

  Clark chuckled. “Ah… no. The last few weeks have taught me that the man can barely make toast. If I didn’t know you weren’t related to him, I would think that was a hereditary trait. Xavier made this.” His face darkened. The poison comment made more sense now. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, about Xavier being here at all, so I didn’t address it. My new normal.

  Clark looked to Gunther and smiled again.

  “I didn’t mean for him to —” I started, but he waved me off.

  “Don’t worry about it. That’s how Gunther sleeps a solid twenty percent of the time. He’s always passing out mid-project.” Clark grinned.

  That did make me feel better. I sat up the rest of the way and saw Clark’s eyes flit to my hair. I forced myself not to fidget self-consciously with it.

  “It looks good. Gunther cuts all of our hair. That’s why his own always looks so ridiculous.” He whispered that last part, and I was surprised to feel a wan smile forming on my lips.

  In light of everything else, caring about something as trivial as my hair felt silly, but also comfortingly normal. I took the soup he held out and gestured for him to sit on the other end of the bed. It wouldn’t be the first time we had been in a bed together. From his slightly-flushed cheeks, the same thought had occurred to him.

  No sooner had he sat down than Shensi hissed at him from her spot next to me. He glared at her before clearing his expression. I briefly wondered about the trip here, whether she had stayed with Nell t
he whole time.

  “What time is it?” I asked. “I’m surprised Nell hasn’t come beating down the door.”

  “It’s close to noon. And she wanted to, but Locke threatened our lives if we disturbed you. She only came in long enough to drop that off.” He gestured to Shensi.

  “I think you mean her.” I tried to smile, but I could tell my expression wasn’t getting there. At least it didn’t appear that he knew about my breakdown in the shower.

  Suddenly, this cabin felt too confining. I needed air and sunshine and to know what was going on. I looked down at the soup in my hands, knowing I couldn’t both get myself up the stairs and carry it. Swallowing my pride, I looked at Clark, who was examining me with a careful expression.

  “Would you mind carrying this upstairs for me? I’d like to get out of here.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the desperation in my voice.

  “Yeah,” he said softly.

  His steady fingers covered my shaking ones before taking the steaming bowl, and I had to look away from his eyes. There were unexpected emotions swirling in them I wasn’t ready to process right now. I was grateful he had come after us, but he had still lied and kept things from me. Besides, it didn’t matter anyway. I was broken now, a victim and a murderer, nothing like the girl who traded insults with him on the way to Alpina Island.

  I carefully put up my heiress face. “Lead the way.”

  His eyes shuttered. “Of course, Highness.”

  His face told me the wording was deliberate, and I narrowed my eyes before following him up the stairs.

  The Protector

  From the minute Clark had volunteered for the necklace mission, injured, Xavier had known something would go wrong. Aegis was supposed to be keeping him out of this. Father had said that Aegis would keep Clark away from trouble. When Xav pointed that out, Aegis merely said that this was one of the many things the brothers were kept in the dark on.

  This didn’t feel right, but heeding the general’s advice had kept Clark safe so far. Xavier pushed his misgivings away.

  Later though, when Xavier had called to check in from Wesley’s lab, Aegis had been markedly more heated. By the time Gunther and Xav got back to base, the Commander had been downright furious. But not nearly as angry as Gunther was when he found out Xav had told Aegis where to find Clark and Addie.