"Anne's mother passed away?" The news floored Edward and broke through what had been happening up until then.
Jack stopped stroking his scar and looked at Edward. "Yes, almost a year ago," he said. "Does she not know? Where is she right now? Did you leave her behind?" He waved his hand. "No matter, perhaps after you've failed, she'll try her hand at revenge." Jack placed the empty glass on the table. "It doesn't seem you want to talk with your dear father, so let's get this over with."
Jack walked past Edward and Herbert and left the room.
Edward was still reeling over the news of Anne's mother. She had been a thorn in their side and announced Anne had died as a means to tell Anne she had been disowned, but deep down Anne still loved her mother. If he made it out of this alive, he would have to break the news to her.
The guards picked Edward up off his feet, and one of them pushed him towards the door. Edward stumbled forward as he looked over his shoulder towards Herbert who was still bleeding from his back. The other guard picked him up with no regard for his wound, and Herbert let out a yelp of pain.
The guards brought the two of them out of the room and down the stairs to the first floor. Jack was already gone, headed to the gallows ahead of them.
Herbert's wheelchair was at the foot of the steps. Edward remembered the weapons Herbert had hidden, as well as the secret weapon built into the wheelchair by Nassir. It could be crucial to getting out of this alive. He needed to get Herbert into the wheelchair, even if he was injured.
After they descended the stairs, and it became clear the guard was just going to carry Herbert the whole way to the gallows, Edward stopped.
"Let Herbert have some dignity in his last moments," he said. "Put him in his chair, for God's sake." The guards didn't listen and pushed Edward forward. What could he say for them to listen? He couldn't make it sound like he was desperate.
"Just put the boy into the wheelchair and be done with it," someone said from the front door of the villa.
Edward turned around to see Grace standing there. As usual, she looked ready for a fight wearing her copper greaves, which Edward guessed were loaded and prepared to fire.
"You'll be pushin' 'im, though," she said, pointing at Edward.
The guards put Herbert in his wheelchair, and he winced from the wound. From what Edward could see, the bullet didn't go all the way through and was still lodged inside. It would get infected if they didn't treat it soon.
The guard pushed Edward back to the wheelchair. He looked down at his locked hands and then at Grace. He opened his mouth, but Grace put up a hand.
"Don't even try it," she said, her tone as filled with annoyance as her face showed. "Ye can still push him with yer hands tied. Ye think me daft, boy?"
Edward closed his mouth and didn't say another word. He pushed Herbert's chair forward, and Grace left the door open and went ahead. Behind Edward, the guards were following on his heels.
Edward pushed Herbert over the lip of the door and down the steps towards the villa's gate. Outside, he could hear loud shouts of many voices from the centre of Nassau. From beyond the gate, some ways down the road, a crowd had begun gathering.
Edward looked up at the other buildings crowding the street, and he could see all eyes were on him and Herbert. It hadn't taken long for news about the execution to spread.
Once outside the gates, with the noise of the looming crowd providing some protection, Edward leaned down to whisper to Herbert. "Are you well?"
Herbert was sweating and visibly in pain. "Well enough," he said.
"Get it ready," Edward said.
Herbert looked up at him, looking confused. Edward motioned with his eyes to the compartments in the armrests of his chair. Herbert nodded, then went to work.
First, Herbert had to shuffle around, stifling groans of pain as he did, to get his blanket, which had ended up underneath him. He pulled it up and unfolded it to cover his legs and hide what he was doing with his arms.
Edward kept pushing Herbert forward, keeping with Grace's pace. He didn't want to risk her paying more attention to them at that moment.
As they went down the road, the crowd that had gathered became thicker, with more bodies standing in the street waiting for the hanging. As they came closer, Edward could see the podium.
The noise grew louder as people began noticing them approaching. Those in the crowd were more varied than Edward had thought they would be. Many looked to be sailors—pirates, Edward could tell—but some women and men appeared to be more respectable. Traders, business owners, some people of import, and even some children about. But pirates outnumbered the others by ten to one, so it was clear that pirates ruled the town. And Edward's father was their leader.
Herbert looked up at Edward and nodded. The weapon was ready, but if they unleashed it now, they wouldn't get far. As soon as they had been captured, their opportunities had narrowed to only one choice.
The only way out alive was to kill his father and end this. Grace and his father's words confirmed that it was what he wanted. 'I know it's gonna kill Jack that ye weren't up ta snuff.' ' Maybe she should be the one in your place.' His father had set all this in motion as a test, that much
