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I can't think up a good title for this chapter. Let me know you're struck with any ideas.
“Oh, will you relax,” Madison whispered, slowing down to match step with Riley. “Nobody even knows you’re here yet.”
They weren’t alone. Madison had brought most of her settlement with them. Sanctia was starting to close up shop. They were sending civilians away to ports that Ioria held little interest in. Large fishing towns, mostly. The Sanctians would blend in well.
It had been two days since she’d agreed to come back, and although Riley now felt certain that this course of action was the right one, she couldn’t purge the urge to jump off the dock and swim away. The little problem of not having anywhere to swim to kept her solid ground.
Those two days had been some of the best in Riley had ever had, marred only by the fact that it couldn’t last. She had grown accustomed to Madison, who wavered between doting and criticizing.
Madison was back in uniform. She had lent Riley some of her civilian clothes, which fit pretty well, and were in a much better state than the remains of her dress uniform. She had pleaded with Madison to give her a weapon some kind—it didn’t feel natural not to be armed anymore, but Madison had pointed out that it would give the wrong image since she was supposed to be turning herself in.
They had arrived at the smaller docks used mostly for civilian fishing boats. To her right she could see patches of the steel giants peaking through the fog. The naval docks stretched out much farther from the island, due to the size of the ships there.
It was strange to think that this amazing city would soon be empty. Soon these docks would be filled with Imperial soldiers. “Can they really evacuate everyone?”
“We’re a nation of sailors and fishermen, so we do have a large capacity. But, no, not everyone. It’s mostly families with young children that are going to the mainland. To most people, running just isn’t an option for them. This is their home.”
Riley looked away. Did those people know what to expect? The Empress wouldn’t treat those who stayed with any mercy. They held no value, and wouldn’t be a threat, but she would make sure no other nation ever thought of following in Sanctia’s footsteps.
Riley expected them to make for the military docks, but Madison led her off to a loading and unloading area for the larger fishing boats. There wasn’t much fishing being done, so the area was mostly empty.
Straightening her uniform, Madison said, “Wait here. I’ll report to Captain Onslow and tell him that you’re here.”
“But—”
“It’ll be easier this way. I can answer some of his questions, and make sure he understands you’re not a threat, and want to cooperate.”
Riley knew her well enough by know to know not to argue, even though she didn’t feel comfortable with this idea.
“Don’t be stupid and decide to run off, again. You’ve got nowhere to go and it won’t do much for the whole ‘cooperating’ thing. Understood, Miss Riley?” She looked at her over the tops of her glasses.
“Okay,” Riley said with a sigh, dropping down onto a crate. Her usual self would have argued that this war her problem to take care of. She would have told Madison that she did intend to run off if she wasn’t brought along, though it wasn’t true. But she didn’t.
Once Madison was out of view, she stood up again and walked around the loading dock, moving between crates and empty pallets. The whole place smelled of salt and fish, but it soon became masked as the sky opened up and a light rainfall began.
She stepped off the wooden walkway. The tide left pools of water in-between the rocks. Careful not to slip, she stepped from rock to rock. She wondered what it would have been liked to be raised here. It was hard to imagine herself as a child, playing out in the open where anyone could see her or talk to her. Trying to picture it, she imagined her mother as someone like Madison, who would have taught her how to swim and fish.
Madison hadn’t brought it up, and Riley hadn’t asked, but she knew from the number of bedrooms in the house and the extra lanterns outside that she and Granny had had children.
It was unfortunate her deal with Remington wasn’t going to work out. She supposed it was a moot point, now. As Madison had said, there wasn’t much she could gain from staying in Sanctia. Besides, being a Seabright probably negated the fact that she had done her job and determined the spy.
Riley heard the sound of footsteps on the dock. She pivoted around on the rock she was perched on, and saw the vague outline of a person in the fog.
Her hand flew to her side, but she didn’t have a sabre or a pistol. It hadn’t been long enough for Madison to reach the Roanoke, but anyone could be at the docks for any reason.
The person dropped down from the walkway. Whoever it was seemed to be heading straight for her. She noticed a glint of metal, and was able to pick out a naval uniform.
Stay calm, she told herself and stepped down onto a sandy patch of ground. She walked towards the uniformed man, intending to be cooperative.
“Riley,” the man said, and became fully visible out of the fog.
Riley stopped, the voice making her breath catch in her chest. “Commander Remington,” she said.
They stared at each other, neither moving for a moment. Steeling herself, Riley took a step forward. “How did you know I was here?”
She wasn’t all that surprised, somehow. If anyone could have tracked her down in that short period of time, it was him.
“I knew you’d come back eventually, Ensign Tucker.” His voice betrayed nothing, but there was something a little wild in the way he looked. Rain dripped down his face from curls that were escaping from his normally tight leather wrap. There were traces of imperfection in his normally perfect uniform. The brass on his coat looked like it hadn’t been buffed recently.
Her eyes traveled down his arm to the pistol that he gripped in his hand. She swallowed, and forced herself to meet his eyes so she wouldn’t stare at it.
“Though, it’s Kendra now, isn’t it? Imperial Princess Kendra Seabright.” He sneered.
“I haven’t been her in over a year, First Officer,” she said, hoping that using his rank would make him a little more rational. She didn’t get the impression he was here officially.
He stepped over the rocks towards her. She clenched her fists and held her ground, although she saw his grip shift on the pistol. “Commander Ramone brought me here. I’m turning myself in.”
He moved. She didn’t have a chance to even try to get away before the full force of him knocked her down and he was on top of her with the gun pressed into the underside of her jaw. The fall had knocked the wind out of her and she struggled to regain her breath as she stared up into his eyes.
“I trusted you,” he said, his voice harsh and grating. “I actually thought you were for real, can you believe it? He laughed, which was almost as frightening as the muzzle pressed against her throat. “I fell for it. The whole thing. I knew it was too good to be true.”
“What was?” she asked. Keep him talking. He won’t shoot you if he’s talking. Even if he wasn’t making sense.
“You. Being some jaded, Imperial officer. Except it wasn’t some corrupt commander you killed. It was the one copperblood who was on our side.”
He knew about Lucas? And he thought that was the person she killed. “I didn’t mislead you. And I can explain if you get off of me.” She was surprised that she managed to make her voice sound so even and calm, when her heart was racing as fast as it was.
Remington’s expression didn’t change and the pistol stayed where it was. “You don’t want to kill me,” Riley said. “You would have shot me already.”
She felt it. Just for a moment, the pressure eased off. Her heart pounded in her head, but Riley reached across with her unpinned arm and placed it over his hand, pushing the gun off to the side. He didn’t stop her. A second later, the grip slipped from his hand and the pistol dropped into the sand.
He let go of her and she let out a sigh of relief. Moving into a sitting position, she struggled to get her breathing under control.
Remington sat back against a large rock, seemingly unaware of the water that pooled around him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, letting the rain hit him in the face.
Riley moved so that she wasn’t sitting in water and wrapped her arms around her knees, watching him.
“Lucas Seabright was my mentor, my friend, and probably the only person I ever cared about before I came here,” she said, looking for any kind of reaction. “My brother killed him, most-likely with the Empress’s approval. The person I murdered wasn’t my uncle. I killed my brother.”
He looked like he was going to ignore her, but then he spoke without looking up. “Prince Calvert ... the Empress’s heir.”
She nodded, even though he wasn’t looking at her. “I never misled you. True, I was a bit higher ranking than a lieutenant in the Imperial Army—” Remington snorted. “But everything else is true. I killed one man and was framed for the death of the other.”
He opened his eyes then, and looked at her. “I swear, if you’re lying now, I will kill you before this war is over.”
She held her hands out to the side. “I have nothing left to hide.” Which was true, and that was a pleasant realization. “Besides, you’ve already tried once and failed.”
Neither of them said anything for a moment. The air filled with the sounds of rain pattering against the rock and the wooden docks.
“I wasn’t going to kill you.”
“I know,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she believed it. He had seemed pretty serious when he had a gun pressed against her.
“Back on the Roanoke. I could have if I wanted to.”
Riley was about to reply when she heard the pounding of boots and jingling of metal. She stood up, but Remington stayed where he was, seemingly uninterested.
The marines arrived first. She jerked as one of them grabbed her arms from behind and locked manacles are her wrists, but she didn’t struggle or object.
Captain Onslow and Commander Hazelwood followed behind them. Hazelwood looked smug, but Onslow seemed uncertain.
Remington stood up and met the Captain in the eyes. They exchanged a look that Riley couldn’t translate until Onslow nodded and said, “Him as well.”
Remington’s clenched his jaw as two marines rounded on him. One of them grabbed his arms while the other unhooked the sabre from his belt. It took Riley a second to realize that they we were arresting him too. She took a step back in surprise, but ran into her marine.
Madison stepped out from behind the two men. “What’s going on, gentlemen?”
Onslow continued to glare at Remington. “Commander Remington is being charged with attempted murder and disobeying a direct order.”
Madison’s hand flew to her eyes and she shook her head. Riley coughed. They cared enough to charge him with that?
“Don’t forget assaulting a superior officer,” Hazelwood said with a grunt. It was only then that Riley realized his right eye decorated with a festive mix of purple and green.
“You’re not my superior officer,” Remington said, shrugging.
Onslow waved his hand. “Just take him.” The marines pushed Remington forward. He planted his feet and shoved back, although he didn’t put much effort into it. It seemed to Riley that he was just trying to make the marines work harder.
Riley pulled forward. “He didn’t try to kill me.”
She saw Remington’s eyes widen before they dragged him out of sight. Onslow’s head turned with a jerk, as if just realizing she was there. “Really.”
He’d shot at her and held a gun to her head. If that didn’t count as attempted murder she wasn’t sure what did. She didn’t trust him not to kill her, but she couldn’t believe anymore that he wanted her dead.
She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position for her arms. “He came here to talk to me. That’s all. He wanted to explain that he wasn’t trying to shoot me down before—just scare me.” It didn’t sound believable, even to herself.
Onslow squinted his eyes and tilted his head. Hazelwood grunted and turned in a sweeping motion to follow the others, leaving Riley with the Captain, Madison, and a small detachment of marines.
Nodding to the marines, Onslow said, “Let’s go.’
Riley followed him of her own initiative to avoid being pushed and pulled over the uneven ground. Madison’s eyes lingered on her for a moment before she fell into step next to Onslow.
They took her, not to the fort or naval base, but to the ships. She thought he might be taking her back to the Roanoke, but Onslow led them to one she didn’t recognize. It looked like a grizzly class, although it seemed augmented, with more guns and armor. All of the latest advances in weaponry had been added to this battleship. She noticed that it flew a Sanctian flag with black and gold tassels, which she hadn’t seen before.
She stumbled walking onto the gangplank, which forced her to focus her attention away from the magnificent ship. Nobody offered its name or purpose, but her best guess was a flagship.
A feeling of déja vu passed over her as Onslow led her to a room inside the superstructure. The last time she had done this, it had been to explain Riley to Remington. Now, she had to do the same with Onslow, only she was starting all over again with Kendra.
“I appreciate your involvement in this matter, Madison,” Onslow said, stopping outside the hatch. “but I’ll have to ask you to leave us here.”
“I understand, sir.” Madison winked at Riley once Onslow turned away. She left the way they had come. Once she was gone, Riley’s muscles began to tighten again. She resisted the urge to hunch her shoulders.
This room was much larger than the one Remington had interviewed her in. The table was large and circular, with ten chairs bolted to the floor around it. The black and gold Sanctian flag hung from the back wall. It had the same tassels as the one flying from the mast.
The marines removed the manacles and indicated a chair for her to take, but they and Onslow remained standing. Riley had to strain her neck up and to the side to look at him. She resigned herself to looking forward instead.
“Commander Ramone told us what you told her,” he said. She could hear him pacing behind her. “I’d like to believe you’re sincere. This could provide us with an unexpected advantage.” His voice was dry and unenthusiastic. “However, I’m not going to get my hopes up. I believed my ship had been granted a surprising gift when we discovered you were a pilot—and look how that turned out.”
“I was a pilot for you,” Riley said, twisting to look at him.
“And what else?”
“Nothing. M—Commander Ramone told you how I ended up at Galkava. It was no intention on my part that landed me on your ship, sir.”
He circled the room until he was standing opposite her. He leaned forward and rested his palms on the table. “Let’s start there. I need to hear everything—and I mean everything—with my own ears.”
She began the story again. It still felt strange; this was only the second person she had confided all of the details in herself. It wasn’t as emotional with him, however. The facts were the same, but she laid it out more as a sequence of events with informational detail. Onslow was attentive and didn’t interrupt, but he didn’t seem particularly impressed until she reached the part about her execution. He sat down, then.
“Just before they were about the fire, the Empress arrived and told them to wait. She gave the six Guardsmen on the firing squad instructions to load me into a waiting carriage which would take me to a train where a prison-car was being loaded. Those six were to act like the execution had been completed. She threatened to carry it out herself if I told anyone myself.”
“Why didn’t she want you killed, then? It doesn’t sound to me like you were worth anything to her. Was it because of the blood tie? You are one of her only two remaining descendents, aren’t you?”
Riley shook her head. “My grandmother didn’t care about things like that. It was Calvert’s abilities and popularity with the masses that made her choose him as her heir; nothing else.”
“Then what was it?”
“I can’t answer that. She must have had her reasons. Maybe there was some political interest in keeping me alive. If she wanted this war with Norovi, she might have decided she needed someone high-ranking to marry off to one of their leaders. I just don’t know.”
“Except you’re dead, supposedly.”
Riley placed her hands on the table in front of her. “Captain, you could spend a lifetime trying to understand what motivates her to do anything she does, but every time you think you’ve figured something out, you’ll just discover another layer. Nobody plays the game better than her. She can read your innermost desires and your greatest fears. With that, she can tweak the world to her advantage without anyone ever knowing.”
“She may play the game better, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of it completely. You have inside knowledge that none of us come close to, don’t you? If she knew we had you—”
“You intend to use me to bargain?” She clenched her teeth.
Onslow leaned back in his chair. “What would you do if I said yes?”
She dropped her hands back in her lap and glared at him. “You can forget about any help from me in regards to that ‘inside knowledge’.”
“I admit. I think you’d be of better use as an informant, but that’s not my decision. It might help your position if you gave me something I could take to the Admiral. Something that could help.”
“No,” Riley said, glaring. “I won’t be used that way.” She was pleased with her ability to sound confident, but inside she was trembling. “You get nothing until I’m promised that I won’t be sent back there.”
Onslow stood up, a hint of amusement on his face. “No promises, then.” He motioned to the marines, who hauled her to her feet. “Take her back to the Roanoke. Private cabin, but I want a guard on her door at all times and with her wherever she goes.”
“Yes, sir,” the two men said in unison. They reattached the manacles and pulled her out the door, but she kept her eyes locked on Onslow as long as she could.
Questions:
How was the beginning of the chapter? Did you feel too much was brushed over, or did you like where it picked up at?
Did the scene with Riley and Remington flow well? Did his reactions make sense to you?
Music I listened to while writing this chapter: "Recessional" by Vienna Teng