Obey Your Captain

Just as he disappeared into the shadows, the door opened, a burly human stepping out, his boots crunching on the side of the basket.

Kaliyah’s boots smacked against the cobble stones of the streets hard with every step. A sickness in her belly she wanted to run from. Whilst Baron knew her true race, no one else could. If that meant her family lost everything and had to start again, so be it. No one was going poking in her head.

No one.

The gold Baron had given her for her services to the ship could go to her mother. She’d find somewhere that was kind to elves. East. East had a higher elf population. If she had to she’d build her mother and sister a house… she had never built anything before but she was sure it wouldn’t be beyond her capabilities. She had her magic, she was strong… she could do it. Even if at the start it was a mere one roomed abode. It would keep the elements from her family and have a fire.

She’d miss the sea whilst she set her family up, she’d miss Baron. But if that were what she must do. She’d do it.

Her feet stopped suddenly. A thick wooden door drew her attention. She knew what the place was… everyone did. A guard stood to attention outside. Her feet turned almost without permission. “Sir, I believe you have a prisoner by the name Cormack.”

The guard looked at her, almost bored. “No visitors to the dungeon without written permission from the lord.”

Thinking quickly, her hand went into her breeches before she morphed her face into a panicked look. “I… I had it just here!”

“No permission, no entry.”

“Please, I’ve just been from Lord Neverember’s study. I had it! Please, Cormack is a dear friend and I’m back at sea on the ’morrow. I must see him before I depart. Please, sir.” She felt she was very convincing.

“I’m sorry, I cannot go against the rules.”

She sniffled. Men had always been suckers for her tears. “Please, Cormack is the closest I have to a father since my daddy died. I-I saw you at daddy’s funeral. P-please, I don’t know why he’s been imprisoned but I just want to see him… j-just know he’s well. P-please.”

“You are Merchant Warren’s daughter?”

“A-aye sir.” She swiped at her eyes, giving it the full effect.

He looked left and right as if searching the street before giving a definitive nod. Turning he pressed the door open, his hand going into his jerkin. “Miss Warren to see prisoner 519,” he announced, gesturing for Kaliyah to step forward.

A long drawn out sigh could be heard from within the dark, as she stepped under the guard’s arm, she could see an older guard getting wearily to his feet. “Did she provide the correct document?”

“Aye, a letter from Lord Neverember.” The guard waved a bit of parchment at him.

“Very well, come girl.” The jingling of keys accompanied his command which she followed. The door shut behind her and she had no choice but to walk further into the dim building. She’d never been into the dungeon before, but the guard ahead of her turned down a corridor before getting to a locked, barred door. The key grinded noisily before it swung open.

His boots thudded heavier than hers on the stone stairs. They were rough and jagged as if no one had really cared for safety when the prison was constructed. Candles dotted the stairway, wax had dripped onto the stone and the holders were little more than just mounds of wax; clearly each candle was merely crammed onto the previous one. Her hands went to her arms the further down they went, the chill piercing through her skin whilst the smell… did the same to her senses.

Defecation and piss was strong in the air, if she weren’t so used to bunking on a ship with 20 others, she’d surely be gagging. It was clear no fresh air came through the cells.

Walking along the corridor, she peered between the bars into 6 by 4 rooms made of rough rock and stone. A solitary candle was placed upon a stone ledge in the far side, creating flickering shadows over the prisoners.

The guard ahead of her stopped, kicking the bars to one of the cells. “Got a visitor,” he barked within before walking a little further down, allowing Kaliyah to see a man getting to his feet. His clothes hung off him more than she ever remembered. His tall frame much… much thinner. “Cormack,” she breathed in disbelief. “What happened?”

“Miss Kaliyah? Is that you?” He came closer to the bars, his high cheekbones pronounced with his sunken cheeks. She had never seen a gaunt elf.

She slotted her arms through the bars, grabbing onto his waist in a hug.

“No touching!” the guard roared but she ignored him, pretending there was no metal between her and her valet, her friend. “What have they done to you?” Her sobs real this time. She’d never seen him look so frail.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and yanked her back. It was automatic, she didn’t think. Her hand was ablaze in a second. “Miss Kaliyah, no!” Cormack barked instantly, much as he did when she was a child.

“Touch me again and you’ll bear witness to the last male that touched me,” she hissed, extinguishing the flame.

He sneered, his chest heaving before he lunged at her unexpectedly, launching her into the bars painfully. His hand enclosed around her chin, wrenching her from her feet. “Burn me, bitch, and you’ll never see the light of day again.”

Her feet flailed below her, trying to find purchase, her neck burning with her weight being dangled from her head.

“Sir! She meant nothing by it, let her go, please!” Cormack begged from behind her.

The guard slammed her against the bars, her head blossoming in pain, her vision spinning. If she burnt him… it was true, she’d be locked up, it mattered not that it would be self defence, the guard would claim she attacked him. This wasn’t the sea, this wasn’t the harbour.

“Please,” she gasped.

“What the fuck is going on?”