The sad thing was that this story wasn’t too uncommon in the world, especially with wealthy families.
“You could hide it.”
“And say that I just ran away?” Sharra said, wiping her tears but still distraught and sniffling. “They’ll think I ran away with Heneran, a boy that I liked. They’ll check and see what has happened to me and throw me out!”
“Well, you’ll have to find your place in the world,” Daylen said as he turned away. “That’s what most people have to do.”
“Can… Can I stay with you?”
Whirling, Daylen replied incredulously, “What?”
“Please. Let me stay with you.”
“No. That’s impossible.”
Sharra began to weep once more.
“Go back to your quarters,” Daylen said. “Things will be all right.” With that, he walked back to the desk.
Leaning on it, Daylen rubbed his head. Oh, what a mess. Poor girl. Sharra’s sniffling had stopped, but the door didn’t open. She was still in the room.
Turning, Daylen saw that indeed Sharra hadn’t left, but now her dress lay at her feet. She stood completely naked there and looked at him nervously from under long lashes.
Oh, Light!
“No… No,” Daylen said, looking away. “Sharra, get dressed right now.”
“If you let me stay with you, you can have me…”
“Stop!”
“It’s not like I haven’t done it. I mean, they made me do it… They did it to me, but I know it now. I’d rather let someone like you have me than anyone else. You’re a hero, and I want this. Just let me stay with you,” she begged.
Daylen’s young virile body had reacted the only way it could. Damn it all! Why does she have to be so blackened beautiful? Daylen clenched his fist as he struggled with a now surging desire. Out of all the vices of his past, why did this one have to cross him? Why did it seem so less wrong now that his physical body was the appropriate age, even though he was still eighty-two years old?
She must be only sixteen years old, you wretched old scum, Daylen told himself. “Sharra, this is wrong. You’re too young and you should never… You need to leave.”
“You’re not that much older than me. It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not.”
Daylen felt a hand on his back. She was so close, the warmth of her body radiating. Another hand took his own and Sharra pressed it to her breast. “It’s okay if you haven’t done it before. I…I can show you.”
Daylen’s strength to resist had been crumbling with each second and this was too much.
He had lost this battle.
Daylen turned, giving into his desires and was about to take Sharra with all the passion his young body possessed; but looking upon her, upon her innocence and beauty, it was impossible to not see all those young innocent girls he had ravaged in his past.
There had been so many, all a reflection of Sharra in one way or another. He had told himself that their tears had come from fear and nervousness, not from the truth that he willfully ignored: that they had been coerced to his bed. And here he was, about to commit the same crime, for Sharra clearly felt that this was her only choice. She was as coerced by her circumstances as much as the young girls of his past had been coerced by his servants.
And Daylen was still willing to take advantage of someone’s vulnerability.
Suddenly Daylen felt revolted at himself. He was truly the most despicable thing that ever wormed its way out of a mother’s womb. Self-disgust surged inside with such power that he felt sick to the core. Daylen pushed Sharra away and lunged for the waste bin, where he threw up everything he had just eaten.
“Daylen, what’s wrong?” Sharra asked.
“Get out,” Daylen spat.
“But…”
With murderous rage Daylen turned, and screamed with such ferocity that it would have given an army pause: “Get out!”
Sharra gasped in fear, and after a few hesitant steps backward, took up her dress and fled.
Daylen lay spitting the vomit from his mouth before lying next to his waste, where he cried bitterly, hating everything about his existence.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
After I had conquered Daymony, my people were already becoming discontent with life in the Dawn Empire. They had gone from being grateful for having food to complaining that they weren’t being given enough, even though the quantity I allotted to them hadn’t changed. The empire produced far more food than was necessary, of course, but I stored all the excess away for my armies, potential famine, and my larger plans.
I saw their complaints as threats to the stability and safety of the nation, so I punished anyone who spoke out against me severely.
* * *
Sleep well?” Ahrek asked as Daylen met him on deck at Early High.
“I didn’t sleep.”
“Hmm, if you’re not feeling well…”
“I’ll manage. Has everyone had something to eat?”
“Everyone except our guest in the brig.”
Daylen nodded, glancing to the few girls up and about. Sharra was among them and was looking at him pleadingly.
Guilt surged inside him, making Daylen feel sick once more, and he groaned, cradling his forehead.
“Not liking the attention?”
“You’ve noticed?”
“It’s rather hard to miss. If these girls weren’t so distraught I’d expect they’d be throwing themselves at you. You’re their dashing young hero, after all.”
Daylen sneered. “They’re a bunch of doe-eyed immature nits who need to grow up.”
“Daylen, they’ve been forced to grow up far quicker than anyone else their age. How could you forget what they’ve been through?”
“I haven’t! I’m just in a bad mood, all right?”
“Very well.”
“I’m off to retrieve our guest,” Daylen said, making his way below. Daylen dragged Sain out of his cell and made sure the snot followed behind him, but before climbing even one flight of stairs, Sain edged his way over Daylen's imposed five meters mark.
Daylen broke his arm.
Falling to the deck and crying out in pain, Sain managed to scream at Daylen, “I just forgot!”
Daylen dragged Sain the rest of the way. “No, you didn’t! You were testing me—did I pass?”
“Go screw a goat, you Shade’s tit!”
“I told you what would happen if you tried that again.”
Sain continued to scream in pain.
“If there’s one thing you should remember about me, it’s that I keep my word.”
“You broke my arm!”
“Ahrek will heal you, so stop your whining!”
Sure enough, Ahrek met Daylen at the door to the deck. “What under the Light happened?”
“Just teaching someone a valuable lesson.”
“Light, Daylen, you didn’t need to break his arm!”
“I told him what would happen. So, actually, he broke his own arm.”
Ahrek healed Sain and asked, “Is that better?”
“Thanks,” Sain said, testing his arm.
“The girls should all remain inside throughout the journey,” Daylen said to Ahrek.
“Yes, I agree,” Ahrek replied as he left to gather the girls, sending one last look of disapproval Daylen’s way.
Sain quickly got to his feet as he saw Daylen leaving.
Good, he’s finally learning.
“This is only temporary,” Daylen said to Sain. “You’ll be free to go when I’m finished with you.”
“Get stoned.”
Daylen laughed. The kid really had balls to show such backbone even after what Daylen had done to him. The strength of growing up in one of the roughest places in the world, Daylen supposed.
Reaching the helm, Daylen began working the flight levers and the ship sunk out of the bay it had been docked in. “Now, my fine navigator, point the way.”
“You know we’ll get attacked,
right?”
“Well, that depends. Your old ship, the switchback now strapped to us—was it well known?”
“The Bloodrunner? Of course it was. Blackheart made sure of it.”
“The Bloodrunner? That’s its name, really?”
“Yeah.”
“Light, Blackheart really liked cheesy names. Anyway, because of his reputation, would any other pirates try and attack him?”
“Not unless they had some big brass balls and thought they would win. So no. No one ever attacked us.”
“So what do you think they’ll do when they see the Bloodrunner strapped to us?”
Sain nodded. “Yeah, I get it. They’ll simply think he’s captured another ship, only that the Bloodrunner was damaged.”
Daylen’s brow leveled at that. “Another question: did Blackheart steal the ships instead of merely robbing them?”
Sain shrugged. “Not at first, but recently he was focused on capturing any ship that he could. We flew off much farther than usual to find them. The captain was pretty happy to have spotted yours so close. Didn’t turn out well for him, though, did it?”
“So he was trying to build his own fleet?”
“He didn’t have that many in his crew. No, Black sold them off.”
“He must have gotten a blackened good price to make it worth his while.”
“Yeah, as much as if they were sold second hand.”
“He had a buyer that would pay retail in the Floating Isles? But that means the buyer is keeping the ships; they’d never pay so much if they planned to resell them. What would they want with a small fleet of stolen ships?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many ships did Blackheart steal and sell off?”
The boy paused, thinking. “Twenty or so.”
“And the crew of those ships?”
Sain didn’t reply, but he pursed his lips and looked away.
“Right…”
“I didn’t kill anyone. Black didn’t trust me to hold a sword.”
“Still, twenty… That’s a lot when it comes to skyships. Whoever is buying them must be running a big operation of some sort, but there wasn’t anything in Black’s cabin.”
“He did most of his planning in his room at the hideout. None of us were allowed in.”
“Then we’ll make sure to take a good look there. But until then, you better be hoping we don’t run into any trouble, because I'll have no other choice but to blame you if we get attacked.”
“Blame me?”
“I’d have to assume that you led us into an ambush, and then I'll have to kill you.”
“What?” Sain asked in a panic. “Even with Black’s reputation, we still might get attacked if they think we’re vulnerable. Especially if they think we took a hard enough hit that his ship can’t fly!”
“My, my, that would be an unfortunate turn of events—for you, that is. I suppose you’re going to have to take us along the safest route to your hideout and hope we meet no one along the way.”
“You really are a bastard!”
Daylen smiled. “Yes, yes I am.”
Sain paced back and forth a few times. “There’s a crew in the hideout.”
“I already figured as much, but that you told me just saved your life. Well done.”Sain sneered. “Well as soon as they see you, they’ll attack.”
“Really? When I first saw Blackheart, I thought I was looking at myself.”
“Yeah, that is weird. You two do look alike.”
“You think your friends…”
“They’re not my friends!”
“Fine, your former crewmates. Do you think they could tell the difference from such a distance?”
“Probably not.”
“My thoughts as well. And for added security, you're going to guide us so that we approach the hideout from above, so no one will see anyone on the deck until it's too late.”
“What’s your plan once we get inside? Kill them?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Yes,” Sain replied coldly.
“They really aren't your friends, are they?”
“They're a bunch of blackened sons of Shade. Like I said, I was only with them because I had no other choice.”
“No, there were other pirate ships you could have joined. Also, if you really tried, you could have found your way out of the Floating Isles. So Blackheart had something on you to make you stay. It’s obvious that he liked blackmail.”
“So what if he did? I’m not going to tell you.”
Daylen smirked. “You think I’d blackmail you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s not exactly hard to guess. Is there anything else I should know about Blackheart’s den?”
“He’s got some angry dogs locked away in case anyone tries to sneak in. Nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle.”
“Still, good to know. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Well, the more I can be aware of, the better for the both of us.”
The boy paled. “The…the both of us?”
Daylen chuckled. “You think I’m going to leave you on the ship? Don’t worry, I’ll do all the fighting.”
“Yeah,” he said, swallowing. “Just don’t mistake me for one of them.”
Ahrek soon joined them at the helm after all the girls were safely below deck. Sain directed their way and Daylen steered the Maraven with the switchback in tow through the maze that was the Floating Isles. Sain did seem to take them a roundabout way, but Daylen expected this, as they were trying to avoid any other ships.
Sometimes they flew directly up for whole kilometers, weaving around islands both large and small.
It took a whole fall for the Maraven to reach Blackheart’s hideout. They weren’t exactly flying fast, what with the weight of the switchback they were towing. Any turn, stop or acceleration that happened too fast or sharp would burst the straps. Combined with the fact that they had to constantly weave through the isles, while also taking the safest route Sain knew of, their progress was slow indeed.
Impressively, Sain seemed to know exactly where to go. The Floating Isles were a maze of incredible complexity, especially considering that some of the isles floated in fixed circles, and knowing even a vague way to get to one location in it was a feat beyond most people. It wouldn’t have been hard at all for anyone to claim they had no idea where to go, yet Sain had simply accepted Daylen’s command to guide their path. Daylen suspected that this was an unintended concession on Sain’s part that he was still unaware he had let slip. Sain’s ability to navigate the Isles spoke of a much greater degree of intelligence than he let on. He would have easily made it into a university if he had been born on the mainland.
Blackheart’s hideout was a cave that opened to the side of a rounded and unevenly shaped island. It was about two hundred meters in diameter, medium in size compared to the other islands. Because the island had a rounded top, it was extremely unlikely that anyone would ever think to build something atop it. It was also surrounded by a whole bunch of smaller islands, providing a great level of concealment.
“How far away are we from the cities?” Daylen asked Sain.
Sain pointed. “Deadend is a few hours flight that way, if you’re flying fast. For us while towing the Bloodrunner, it would take us half a fall.”
Daylen looked back down to the cave entrance. “It’s a nice and secluded spot. Had I known of it I might have even picked it for a hideout.”
“Well, Blackheart is dead,” Sain replied. “I suppose you can take it once it’s cleared out.”
“You know, I might, if I could remember the way back.”
Ahrek was looking at Daylen curiously. “Why under the Light would you need a hideout?”
“Well, um, to hide, maybe? Though I could be wrong about that.”
Ahrek sighed and simply looked at Daylen, unimpressed.
“You never know when you might need a good hideout or supply
cache.”
“Your father thought the same. He was famous for his hidden weapon stockpiles and secret bases of operation. In fact, he had an Imperial Reserve that was never found.”
Daylen ground his teeth, looking to Ahrek. “Look, I get it. I have a lot in common with my father, and every time I do something that’s the same, you get worried that I might be too similar and follow the same path. Trust me, if I do, I’ll kill myself.”
“No, Daylen, if you truly become anything like your father, I will kill you.”
At first Daylen was speechless, and utterly shocked at the serious intensity in Ahrek’s voice. Ahrek was such a happy man most of the time, and yet there was this darkness in him. Perhaps this was the very reason the Light had sent Ahrek to Daylen in the first place. Unlike other Lightbringers, Ahrek truly would kill Daylen if he judged that he was too much a threat to let live, and this gave Daylen such comfort.
“Thank you,” Daylen said earnestly. “You’re a better friend than I thought.”
Ahrek smiled and replied in his normal, pleasant voice. “You’re more than welcome.”
“You two are completely insane!” Sain said, looking at the both of them. “And who in the Light is your father?”
“Dayless the Conqueror,” Daylen said casually.
“What?” Sain said. “So you and Blackheart were brothers?”
Daylen huffed at the ridiculous question. “Of course not.”
“But Blackheart was one of the Conqueror’s bastards. He boasted of it all the time.”
“He was obviously lying,” Daylen said. “Dayless never had any children.”
“Except you,” Ahrek said.
“Well, of course, but he had no other children.”
“Blackheart said there were heaps,” Sain replied. “That he had met at least seven of them.”
Even though Daylen knew this was impossible, his heart began to sink. “No, Blackheart must have noticed how similar he looked to the Conqueror and used it to boost his own reputation.”
“But what of the Conqueror’s harem?” Ahrek asked curiously. “Your father had a taste for young women, virgins to be precise.”
Shadow of the Conqueror Page 28
