by J. Avarez
“Sarah?” Said Mia, looking at her in awe. They both watched as the grey spot glowed with red light, and revealed the silhouette of the bullet inside Sarah's chest. She looked up at Mia with a gaped mouth, who returned her shocked expression with a shaky sigh. “Tyserra’s tits, Sarah, that's a red diamond!”
Sarah felt her body warm and shaking. All the events of her past came rushing into her mind. That fateful night all those years ago. The bullet Jayden left lodged into her chest. Finally the truth had found her. Jayden hadn’t betrayed her….he was protecting her!
There was a feeling to bask in her emotions, but Sarah had to focus on the here and now. Though the pearl still had to be returned, Sarah paused for a moment and tried to spot Jayden…but not a trace of him was left.
“He’s gone.” Said Sarah softly, standing by the top of the temple steps.
“He’s probably running,” said Mia, as she rose up to her feet. She looked down at Blackbeard's body and felt a cold chill in her spine. “Nearly every pirate in the world loves Blackbeard. This Queen of theirs, she won’t be happy when she hears about all of this.”
The Pirate Queen. Though Drake was a pirate she had been glad to put down, Sarah’s desire to take out his Queen was far greater. A small bump against her foot caused her eyes to dart downward. The blue pearl had rolled from Blackbeard's hand and knocked into her boot.
Sarah bent down and felt a new ache in her back, a sign of the years she had paid to cast the Magi spell. She hid her pain from Mia’s watchful gaze, and took the pearl toward the white altar.
“Please work.” Sarah whispered, her trembling hand placed the pearl onto the top of stone pillar.
For a brief moment the pearl rested plainly at the center of the altar, but soon it grew brightly and engulfed them inside of a blinding blue light. Sarah rubbed her eyes as the light retreated and returned inside of the pearl. She looked out into the sea and saw the rippled reflection of a white moon. With some hesitation, Sarah slowly lifted her eyes toward the night sky. Out beneath the stars, and amongst the fleeting dark clouds, the moon shined its white light over the temple. The tension in her heart had eased, for the first time in many days. The curse was over, and the Red Sea was safe again.
Sarah followed the sound of groans and turned back toward Mia. To her delight, Cookie and Charlotte were alive again. The Royal quickly tended to their wounds with her red mist, while Cookie rubbed the side of her head.
“Where’s that jerk at?” Cookie demanded. Her eyes glowed as she stomped her foot, which caused the floor to crack beneath her. “That psycho pulled my hair!”
Sarah laughed at Cookie and fell to her knees in exhaustion. Mia rushed over and controlled her red mist to cover Sarah’s body.
“Don’t move,” said Mia. Her Secreto had already begun to seal Sarah's wounds. “That's it, everything's going to be fine.”
Charlotte gave Sarah a curious look, the effects of the Magi spell was not something her clever eyes could ignore. “What’s wrong with your face…your hair?”
Charlotte stood behind Mia, her amber eyes tracing the bags underneath Sarah’s tired eyes.
“I just took about forty years off my life,” replied Sarah. Though her crew looked both concerned and saddened, she met their gazes with a confident smile. “No big deal.”
After Mia finished healing their wounds, Charlotte activated her Secreto and warped them back onto their ship. They all emerged from the cloud of black smoke, and landed over the wooden boards of the main deck. Waiting for them was Daisy and Gizmo. The oracle stood happily on her shoulder, while he occasionally peeked beneath the top of her dress.
“Ah, I kind of missed staring at that rock in the sky,” said Gizmo, his bronze diamond eye still stuck over Daisy’s breasts. “Good work, kiddo!”
Sarah approached Daisy and smacked Gizmo in the head. The oracle quickly hopped off Daisy’s shoulder and pursued his diamond eye, which popped out and rolled toward the back of the ship.
“You did it,” said Daisy, holding Sarah's face and kissing her cheek. “You really did it!”
“No,” replied Sarah, she gently took Daisy hands off of her and gave her a warm smile. “We all did it…together.”
“Yeah, but,” Cookie looked around the main deck in confusion. “Where’s Charlie?”
“I don’t know,” replied Daisy, shrugging her small shoulders. “After we fought off the dark hawks, he just vanished.”
“You don’t think…?” Mia began, looking toward Sarah.
She had already figured what Mia was thinking and gave her a nod. “Yeah, I think so. Charlie and Jayden were probably in on it from the start.”
“He did show up to save us at Arkon.” Said Charlotte.
“And gave Cookie the pendant.” Daisy happily added. Cookie felt where the pendant had been and clutched onto her chest. Though she was devastated that she had lost his gift, the thought of Charlie still made her heart flutter.
“Wow,” said Cookie, her blue eyes were wide with wonder. “They were helping us the whole time?”
“Looks like it,” said Sarah, patting Cookie’s freckled face. “But we can figure that out later. Kyla, Cor-Ray!”
The blue dragun turned her head toward Sarah and let out a weak cry, her body remained still as the moon shined brightly over their ship.
“Why isn’t she moving?” Asked Mia.
Cookie looked toward the water and noticed the sea had become quite still. The lifted curse had somehow eased the raging water around them.
“The water’s too calm,” replied Cookie, remembering Zahweh’s warning. “Kyla can’t use the waves to see anymore.”
“What does that mean?” Asked Daisy, frantically.
“It means we’re stuck here,” replied Charlotte, holding up the Magi riddle in her hand. “The storm isn’t meant to be crossed without a map, and Sarah just shot the only guy who solved it.”
“Hold on,” said Sarah, taking the parchment from Charlotte and flattening it over the top of a wooden barrel. She read the riddle again, whispering the words as she went. Given to the selfish, never to be shared. I can’t exist if no one cares. What am I? Her heart felt a flutter as she softly spoke her answer. “Love.”
The parchment glowed with white light and revealed a map of the storm. Sarah looked up and saw a path magically open through the wall of clouds around them. Kyla let out melodic hum and turned her glowing eyes toward her captain.
“Come on, girl.” Said Sarah, happily. “It’s time to take us home.”
Kyla nodded and swam slowly along the path revealed by the map. As they sailed through the storm, and watched the temple fade behind them, Sarah thought of Jayden and all that he had done. She wanted to find him…she wanted to help him face the Pirate Queen who tried to pit them against each other. It was in those thoughts that she had felt, for just a brief moment, a pair of lips pressed against her cheek.
Chapter 24 Beautiful Thieves
The word of Sarah's triumph had begun to spread like wind across the islands of the Red Sea. It was a fact that many Royal men spoke unfavorably about behind closed doors. The tale of ladies saving the islands from certain death inspired many women to demand more rights from the empire. It was everything Sarah could have ever wanted. The respect, the fame, and the loyalty of a caravan.
Her journey had not yet concluded, however, there was still the matter of her official approval as captain. Calow and Mia went to work on that accord. Together they were able to release Julius from Akron, and arrange a hearing for Sarah and her friends. It had caused Sarah a bit of sadness, though she kept such feelings to herself. She had hoped that Mia would have wanted to join her caravan after their adventures together, but the Royal hadn't shown any sign of it.
The triumph of Sarah and her friends weren't all that had the islands talking. Blackbeard had managed to create much speculation and intrigue for himself. Not only had the captain survived a bullet through his chest, he had a
lso managed to avoid the guillotine. The drunks, who often fancied themselves conspiracy theorists, had flirted with the idea that Blackbeard somehow shared blood with the Royals, or even the emperor.
However, even the wildest theory wasn't more puzzling then what had occurred. It was discovered from a few pirates that Blackbeard's daughter had vanished during the battle. The emperor did not take their confessions well, it was rumored he had even beheaded the messengers who delivered the news. A bounty for the capture of Blackbeard's daughter surfaced not long after, two thousand gold diamonds. Such a bounty was enough for most captains to retire, which had several caravans eager to hunt her down.
Pirates and bounties were far from Sarah’s mind, though. She had nervously stepped into the main court of the town hall, anxious to hear her fate. The court was completely empty, except for the judges waiting happily for her. Charlotte and Cookie were by her side, all of them still dressed in their black battle outfits. Julius, Blusef and Mia sat behind their long table and overlooked the ladies with glee. None looked happier than Julius, his purple eyes were bright and hopeful. His heart at ease to see some place other than the dark cells of Arkon Prison.
“Sarah Dreamstead,” he said, looking down at three of them. “Charlotte Black, and Jasmine Daystone.”
“Heh, you can just call me Cookie, sir.” Said the freckled beauty, her face was red from hearing her real name.
“Yes, of course. My apologies. Now ladies, could you please step forward,” Julius leaned over the table to get a better look at Sarah, who stood just a bit ahead of her crew. “I want to first give you my thanks. What you and your friends accomplished was inspiring, courageous, and above all else, it was incredibly selfless. Unlike the other Chancellors, I believe what makes a good captain has little to do with who you are, and everything to do with what you stand for. The emperor doesn’t make it easy, I know. The truth is you had every reason not to help us. You could have turned your backs and let the Royals on this island suffer, but instead you chose to save us all.”
“We were only trying to help.” Said Sarah, smiling as she waved off the Chancellor.
“And you did much more than that,” said Blusef, practically hopping in his seat. “To capture Blackbeard not once, but twice! That, my dear, is nothing short of extraordinary.”
It was strange to hear men praise her so well, the emperor, after all, had done his best to ensure women rarely received praise for anything. Sarah, however, cared very little for the praise. In truth her mind had been on Jayden, wondering whether he was safe from the reach of the Pirate Queen.
“It takes a unanimous vote from the judges of this court to make you a captain,” said Mia. Sarah blinked, unaware that she had been staring blankly at the floor, and quickly gazed up toward the smiling Royal. “It's a shame though, it would seem Greymore isn't with us today.”
Sarah looked and saw an empty seat among the three judges. She had learned from a few locals that Greymore recovered from Jayden's attack, furious that he had been bested by an alleged pirate. Her body had begun to tremble with excitement. Surely Greymore would have voted against her, but now…
“No matter, we'll simply have to cast our vote without him,” said Julius, looking particularly pleased. The Chancellor then turned to his left. “Blusef Alamar, what is your vote?”
Blusef straightened his blue robes and cleared his throat. “I, Blusef Alamar, accept Sarah Dreamstead as captain.”
Cookie gasped and held onto Sarah's shoulders, with a bit more strength than Sarah would have liked.
“Mia Rose,” Julius then turned to his daughter and smirked. “What is your vote?”
Mia looked over at Charlotte, who looked quite anxious, and gave her a wink. “I, Mia Rose, accept Sarah Dreamstead as captain.”
Sarah could barely sense a thing. Not the smell of polished wood, or the sun beaming through the windows. All she felt was her heart pounding as Julius stared at her with his lavender eyes.
“And I, Julius Rose, Chancellor of the Red Sea, accept Sarah Dreamstead as c…”
“Cut the shit, Julius.” Greymore snarled.
The doors to the courthouse flew open and Greymore stormed inside. The disgruntled judge made his way through the aisle and stood in front of Julius, his face red with rage.
“I thought you said Jayden killed him.” Cookie whispered into Sarah's ear.
“I don't know,” said Charlotte, folding her arms. “The jerk looks pretty alive to me.”
“You’ve done some reckless things in your life,” Greymore barked toward Julius, oblivious of the ladies whispering behind his back. “Giving a pardon to that lunatic, Captain Kidd, defying the emperor’s orders on every turn, but having me locked in a closet by a deranged teddy bear!?!”
“Greymore,” said Julius, calmly. “I haven't a clue what you're talking about. You weren’t here on time, and so we were forced to vote without you.”
“Why are you even giving her a hearing again?” Greymore demanded. “Dreamstead’s application was already terminated by the emperor, you don’t have the authority to change that.”
“No, he doesn’t,” said a voice. “But I do.”
Everyone followed the voice and turned toward the entrance of the court. Calow had entered. He was accompanied by a gorgeous Royal woman, and a few Imperial soldiers. The woman wore a white suit and cloak similar to Calow. She had skin nearly as pale as a cloud, and icy blue eyes that glowed as if she constantly was in use of a Secreto. Sarah had never seen anyone like her, and even questioned whether she was human.
“Calow.” Greymore growled.
“Prince Calow, to you.” Said the pale woman.
“And you are?” Asked Greymore irritably.
“Emily Sue,” she replied, pointing at the emperor’s symbol etched into her suit. “I’m the ambassador of the Red Sea, here to ensure the prince arrives home safely. Greymore, is it? Heh, I'm aware little men such as yourself like to feel important, but you should know the mainland does not take kind to those who detest the wishes of the Royal family. Prince Calow has already reversed Ms. Dreamstead’s termination.”
“Is that true?” Asked Sarah, giving Calow a hopeful look.
The Dragoon turned his red eyes toward her and showed off his handsome smile.
“Definitely,” he replied. “You’ve got more heart than any captain I’ve ever met out there. You deserve the chance to sail with your own crew.”
“Thank you.” Said Sarah, softly. It was strange to be in the presence of Calow.
Sarah remembered him to be a reckless captain, sooner to fail a caravan mission for being drunk than he was to assist someone in need. To see him neat, and dressed in white Royal robes…it gave Sarah hope that the world could actually change.
“Now then,” said Julius, sifting through the sea of papers in front of him. “I know you left the name of your caravan somewhere here.”
“The Beautiful Thieves,” Greymore scoffed, remembering the name from Sarah’s original application. “A fitting title for a band of misfits.”
Charlotte made a move toward Greymore, ready to strike the judge in the face, but felt a hand pressed against her chest. Sarah moved her vice-captain to the side and faced Greymore with a calm look.
“You’re right,” said Sarah simply, she then pointed at each of her friends as she went on.
“She’s a lover, she fancies girls, and I’m a thief. Do you know what we all have in common, hmm? We’re different, and that scares you. Your emperor’s never met a woman like me, your Royal friends haven’t either,” Sarah stepped a bit closer to Greymore and gently patted the side of his face. “I won’t lay down. I won’t quit when you tell me to. I’ll take every opportunity that was taken from me, till there's not a place you can stand on that I can’t reach. That, judge, is what it means to be a beautiful thief.”
Her words left Greymore without a rebuttal, he merely fumed and stormed out the courthouse. Julius soon after completed
the process and Sarah was officially named, Captain Dreamstead. The girls happily embraced each other, ecstatic that they had broken a ceiling so many women had tried to reach. The celebrations however were cut short by Emily Sue.
The ambassador had a lengthy discussion with Sarah and her friends, and explained the particulars of her service as a caravan captain. Of the many things she was told, Sarah found the code of secrecy most disturbing. The secret of the sea connecting nine separate worlds turned out to be by purposeful design. Emily informed her that caravans were not allowed to reveal the existence of the other worlds to commoners, something that didn't sit well with the young captain. It was Sarah’s opinion that everyone should know the truth about the other worlds, but decided it best not to question the ambassador on her first day as captain.
