The Belladonna

Chapter 42 - Cells

Sky ran down the stairs to the middle deck her mind still a mess. She reached the hammocks and leaned against one rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet to distract her hazy thoughts. When that did nothing to clear her head she moved past the hammocks to the next stair case. The further she grew to the brig the colder Sky felt, but whether that was due to the actual temperature or her numbness she wasn't sure.

It was defiantly much darker though and Sky tripped twice on her way down to the lowest deck. When she finally arrived, she was momentarily distracted from her thoughts of a certain captain. The brig was the much the same as how she remembered it from her time there; cold, dark and wet. But when she had been thrown into the cell it had seemed a lot bigger. The schooner's men were all tightly crammed into the minimal space and there was not enough room for all of them to lie down so many where sitting and some stood on their feet leaning against the hull or the bars.

Not to her immense surprised, Sky found Jenkins hunched up across from the cells fast asleep and looking very unattractive with his mouth open and his head limp on his shoulder. Sky was tempted to kick him and tell him that he has a job to do, but at the same time she was thankful the shunned pirate was asleep.

It had not been Sky's intention to find herself in the place she started with only bars separating her from men who wanted to kill her. But now that she was there Sky didn't want to leave for reasons unknown to her.

Many of the officers were facing away from her but some; the ones closet to the bars, watched her silently with narrowed eyes. They faces were dark with anger but lacked the urge to rebel, like men who had accepted their fate and were thankful for their spared lives. It was only when she made eye contact with the men that Sky realised how young some on them were.

Does the King not care that he is sending young men to war? Sky sighed at as she did not have to hear an answer to know that he did not.

One of the men, he looked to be only a few years older than her in his twenties, studied her with cloudy eyes. "Captain," He said very quietly. After his single word a slow mummer went through the crowd until it reached the part of the cell furthest away from the bars.

"What?" A growl sounded from behind all the men and those sitting shuffled as the schooners captain materialised through his crew scuffling with his sore foot and stood against the bars staring Sky down. "Come to apologise?" He snapped at her.

"I owe you no apology," Sky said back her voice strong, "You would have taken my life. It is you who should be thanking me for sparing yours." The captain laughed and some of his men joined in, though rather half-heartedly.

"You consider yourselves the noble ones." It wasn't a question, more like someone pointing out an obvious flaw in a plan. Sky remained calm, her mind still slightly numb from before. "You think you are the heroes?"

"We are not the ones murdering innocent people." Sky said in response and was answered with a harsh laugh that made Jenkins stir in his deep sleep.

"Aren't you?" The captain looked at her with serious eyes, all mockery gone. The cell was quiet as the schooners crew awaited Sky's answer. "Do you know what your dear captain has done? Are you really stupid enough to not see the blood on his hands?"

Sky remained silent but her head felt heavy like it was filled to overcapacity. The captain and his men watched her with knowing eyes.

"You aren't even the hero of your own pathetic story. And as long as you follow that man you never will be." He turned away and shoved his way back into the mass of bodies.

"But what you are doing is no better." Sky called out to him. The captain stopped and faced her. He shoved some of his men away and lowered himself so that he was sitting next to the bars. The young man who had called him before helped him down.