Her breath is coming in quick pants, but I don’t know if it’s from what I just did, what she endured from the captain, or if she’s just in shock from it all.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She only blinks at me, mouth open, hair disheveled, tears drying on her cheeks.
My head is beginning to swim, an ache blooming out through my temples, while a heaviness is threatening to settle over me. I rub my forehead for a moment, as if I can ease the oncoming headache. It feels like all of my strength is dripping out of me, like a tree oozing sap.
I gesture to the late captain. “He’s much better like this, don’t you think? No more talking or moving...” I glance down at his cock that’s still standing at attention, my lips pursed in thought. “I bet we could even hack that thing off with a hammer if you wanted to.”
She makes a choking noise, though I’m not sure if she wants to scream, sob, or laugh. Maybe a combination of all three.
Ripping the belt from her throat, she rubs at the red marks marring her skin before shakily getting to her feet and pointing. “How did you do that, Auren?”
“Umm…”
She walks over, unbothered by her nudity as she circles around the captain, her trembling hand reaching toward his chest. She makes a fist and knocks on it before snatching it back. “Great Divine, he really is solid gold,” she breathes. Her uneasy eyes lift to me. “And he’s...dead?”
“Oh, yes,” I assure her. “Very, very dead.”
A weighted exhale tremors through her body. “But King Midas…”
Her words trail off and fall at our feet, but I don’t pick them up for her. I’ve already revealed far too much. I can’t explain how it all works, with Midas and me. I can’t let her know anything more than she already does.
She shifts on her feet, and the wooden boards beneath us give an ominous creak. We both freeze and look down, where the floor is sagging beneath the weight of the captain.
I wince. “That...that’s probably not good,” I admit.
She gives me a vexed look. “You think?”
If the captain breaks the floor, it will be incredibly loud. And if it’s loud, then the pirates will come running. I can’t let that happen, because I can’t let anyone see what I’ve done. Doing this in front of Rissa was bad enough. But if the pirates find out...a shiver travels through me at the thought.
“Rissa,” I say, forcing her eyes to lift and focus on me. “You can’t tell anyone. Ever,” I stress, my expression hard, my tone absolute. “You have to keep it a secret. Please.”
I can see her mind working, her cogs turning, and I wish I knew what she was thinking.
“You told him to stop hurting me.”
I nod carefully. “I did.”
She considers me for a moment. “The last time you tried to help me, you chucked a book at my head.”
I grimace a little. “I’m a bit impulsive.”
She looks at the captain. “I’ll say.”
Worry gnaws on my bones like a starved mutt as silence stretches between us. Sure, I tried to stand up to the captain, but she’d already been hurt. Despite everything that’s happened tonight, I can’t assume I’ve earned any kind of loyalty from her.
But she finally nods. “Okay.”
For now, that okay will have to do.
I blow out a breath, shaking out the tremble in my hands, trying to push back the aching tiredness and anxiety pouring over me. “Alright. Now, we don’t have much time before the commander comes for us. We can’t let anyone see this.”
Rissa shoots me an exasperated look. “And how in the world are we supposed to hide him?”
I bite my lip, praying to the Divine gods that the floorboards don’t buckle as I look around the room. But it’s not as if I can simply toss a blanket over him or shove him under the bed. The Red Raids are going to notice when their captain doesn’t emerge from his room.
My eyes catch on the trunk of gold coins next to his desk, and my mind sparks. “I have an idea,” I tell her. “Get dressed.”
Rissa spurs into action and goes to gather her gown from the bed, while I go to the captain’s open closet and snag a pair of thick gloves left on the floor. As soon as I slip them over my hands, the white changes color, like the leather was soaked in a vat of gold.
Since the captain tore the front of my dress, I snag a short brown overcoat on a peg near my head. Unlike the white leathers and furs that dominate the rest of his clothing, this one has large brown feathers down the back and the sleeves.
Despite how light it is, it’s surprisingly warm with the feathery down adding another layer of protection. It’s also short enough in the back that it’s not a detriment to my ribbons, and when I button up the front, it holds my ripped bodice in place.
As soon as Rissa is dressed, she looks over. “Alright. What do we do now?”
My eyes go from the captain to the windows behind him. Rissa follows my gaze and shakes her head. “It’s not possible.”
“It’s the only thing we can do,” I argue. “He can’t be found like this. Under any circumstance.”
She lets out a puff of breath like she wants to argue some more, but settles for muttering under her breath. She then ties her hair up out of her face while I go to the bed and snatch up the sheets.
In all honesty, she’s probably right about this being impossible, but it’s the only chance I’ve got. I’m damn lucky he’s close enough to the window to even attempt it, or there would be no hope of this. Even so, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to shove the bastard out the window.
But I have to try.
With Rissa’s help, the two of us move as fast as
