Chapter 13: Getting to Work

Evie Stanton I cursed Thane with every fiber of my being. I must've been scrubbing the deck for an hour. My knees hurt from shuffling around, stomach parallel to the wood. Ever so often, I would glance at the cabin boys next to me to make sure I was doing it right. Thane's eyes were on me, and I knew he looked smug. The bastard. Was this a punishment from last night? For using him? My cheeks burned, but I put it into the back of my head, pretending it was a fever dream and it never happened. "Careful, princess, your privilege is showing," he remarked, watching with several of his men. "Yeah, you missed a spot," another one jested. Tears welled in my eyes, but I would wipe them away, refusing to let them see how humiliated I felt. Men laughing at me. Laughing about how I knew nothing. How I was a brat who never lifted a finger in my life. And I hated they were right. "Shut your mouth or you'll be joining her," Thane's voice dropped, losing any smugness he had with me. "Same goes for anyone else. You all did your time. Show some respect." "Aye, Captain." "Sorry, Captain." "Won't happen again." Thane made a throaty noise, authority clear in his voice. "Take the sparring to the lower deck." Not a single word of pushback, only agreement. Just the sound of shuffling feet as the crewmen left. I looked behind me, seeing only Gunner and Thane. As Katarina came up from the center deck, he wasn't watching me anymore. I turned back to what I was doing, now determined to do a good job. "What's Evie doing swabbing the deck?" Katarina asked, a touch of warning in her voice. "Earning her keep as we all did," Thane answered. By Katarina's tick in her breath, she didn't like that answer. "That's not fair, Thane. She didn't ask to be here." "Neither did we, mother," he hissed. His words struck me. He didn't ask for a life at sea? I found myself curious about where he came from. Why he ended up as the captain of the Sea Serpent. Katarina's leather boots came into my field of vision. "Come now, Evie. You don't have to do this." I leaned back onto my heels and looked up at Thane's mother. I rubbed my nose with the back of my hand. Good god, my hands were filthy. They swab the deck every morning. How on earth could it get this filthy? Her blue eyes stared down at me, and I saw something in them. Something softening the coldness normally residing there. Thawing the ice. I cleared my throat of any thickness from humiliated tears. I didn't feel any of that anymore, just determination. "No. I'm almost finished," I replied. "I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty." Katarina's lips parted, but she paused for a moment. Then she nodded. "Carry on." I got back down to my knees, and I scrubbed and scrubbed until my hands felt raw. Several of the cabin boys had already left, but I stayed. Still working on stubborn stains. "Evelyn." Thane's voice. "You've done enough." I didn't look up at him, palms bright red. "I'm almost done." "You were finished twenty minutes ago," he stated firmly. I ignored him. Why couldn't I get this damn stain up? I was going to prove them wrong. All of them. I wasn't above hard work. I could work twice as hard as anyone on this fucking ship. Why it bothered me all of a sudden had me confused. Maybe because Thane was right. And I hated that. Suddenly, his hand closed over mine, stopping me. I glanced up. Thane had gotten on his knees in front of me, his piercing eyes only a few inches from mine. "It doesn't have to be perfect, Evelyn. Nothing here is. And that's okay." My lips parted at his closeness, inhaling his briny scent that made my knees go wobbly. I rocked back onto my heels and he pulled my hand up, removing the scrub brush held tightly in my fist. My palm was covered in blisters. My knuckles were red and cracked. Thane sighed. "Come with me, Evelyn." Wincing, my hands burned as his fingers brushed over mine. I didn't argue as I followed him back into his cabin. He sat me down on the side of his bed before disappearing into his side room. That same side room where I watched him pleasure himself. And I got off on it. A shiver ran down my back, my core clenching hard. I averted my eyes. No. That never happened, I reminded myself. Thane returned, oddly quiet for him. There was a small basin of water and a jar of salve. He knelt next to me, setting the basin on the bedside table. He held his hand out expectantly and I slowly offered him mine. Even kneeling next to me, he was still taller than me. He took a damp rag and wiped the muck off my knuckles, revealing the angry, chapped skin. He didn't say anything when he dipped the rag into the water again and made fast work of cleaning my hands. I was silent, watching him curiously. The tenderness of his ministrations squeezed my heart, and warmth flooded my face again. He sighed, and suddenly I became all too aware of his breath, the cool breeze against my inflamed knuckles, bleeding only slightly. He placed the cloth back into the bowl and popped the top off of the salve. "This will help," he murmured. The silence was so loud and encompassing, I had almost forgotten what he sounded like. The salve was thick and sticky, but my aching hands were met with relief almost immediately. "Thank you," I whispered, afraid if I was too loud, it would break this soft spell emanating between us. His eyes met mine. "You're welcome, Evelyn." The door to his cabin slammed open. "Thane!" his mother snarled. She froze in her steps as soon as she saw the position we were in. I didn't even realize how close we were. He knelt between my thighs, tentatively spreading ointment across my injuries. Thane released my hands, getting to his feet. "Mother," he greeted, stepping toward his desk, away from his mother's warpath. "Are you alright, Evie?" she asked, her eyes glaring at Thane. I tucked my hands behind me. "Yes, I'm okay." She snatched my hand, observing the welts forming on my palms. She sighed, "I remember those days." Her eyes shot back over to her son. "You should know better! She's not built for this." Thane narrowed his eyes, setting his hat on the desk next to him. She's not built for this. I knew Katarina meant well, but I hated the insinuation. "Thank you for your concern," I interrupted. "But I am not an invalid." The room fell silent, Katarina looking back at me. It was then I saw the exhaustion plaguing her face. I wondered what she was before she took up life on a pirate ship. "Evie, come with me, please. Let's get you out of those filthy clothes," Katarina said. It wasn't what she wanted to say, but I couldn't argue. This blouse stuck to me in the worst way, my pants felt too tight under all the grime. Thane didn't say anything as his mother whisked me away, leading me under the deck to the lady's quarters. It was still half flooded. Rio worked a pump, the lever going up and down, pumping water from the floor out the window with a hose. The leak had been sealed, but there was still a considerable amount of water on the ground. She lifted her goggles, her face dotted with gray muck. "What happened to you, Evie?" Rio asked, halting her work with the pump. "My son had her swabbing the deck until her hands were raw," Katarina practically growled, helping me out of my blouse in the privacy of the room. Rio's eyes drifted down to my hands. "Ouch. Why would he do that?" Katarina didn't answer, and she didn't have to. Rio seemed to understand without it. And that made me feel incredibly out of the loop, but I didn't press it. "He had a point, though. I've been useless this entire voyage," I mused out loud, twiddling my fingers as Katarina passed me a fresh shirt. "This isn't your life, Evie. You aren't expected to fulfill these responsibilities," Katarina said, her voice softer than before. Her lips went downwards into a frown but I didn't know why. I gulped hard, swiping some loose hair behind my ear. "Not much of one. My parents were grooming me to be a wife my whole life." "Not the Queen?" Rio asked quietly. "No," I answered. "They wanted a son but had me instead. Never once did they let me forget that." Katarina leaned back. "That's ridiculous." "What's so ridiculous about it? I'm this frail, dainty little trophy. I don't know anything else," I replied. "Thane was right. I'm fucking useless." "Did he say that?" Katarina asked like she was ready to take her belt off and wallop Thane like he was a child. As much as I would've loved to see that, I said, "No. But I know what he meant. I don't know how to do anything for myself." "So you want to work?" As I finished getting dressed, Katarina mused, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. Rio beamed, "I can put you to work. Send you on rounds with Desmond… if he would ever wake up." She sighed. "Thank god I did the officer's quarters first. No excuse to sleep the whole day tomorrow." "Speaking of, will the beds be ready tonight?" I wondered. "I don't want to sleep with Thane again." My eyes widened as I froze. "I mean, sleep in Thane's quarters today." "If you want to sleep on a wet mattress, be my guest, but I'm dragging these to the upper deck to trade them out with the other ones. Won't be dry tonight," Rio explained, emphasizing her point by squeezing a handful of water from the sheets. "Thane was on his best behavior, right?" Katarina asked slowly, arching a brow. "He didn't lay a hand on me," I replied sheepishly. He didn't technically touch me. Even if we did everything except touch one another. "Good." Thane's mother nodded. There was a knock at the door, and since I was decent, she said, "Come in." The door opened, revealing a disheveled Desmond. He yawned loudly. "How's it going in here?" "Welcome to the land of the living," Rio commented. "Ha. You know how it is," Desmond answered, brushing his hair back. Katarina cleared her through. "Evie wants to work. Take her on the rounds with you." "Do you, now?" he asked with a smile. With conviction, I said, "Yes, I do." *** They weren't kidding about work. A lot went into keeping this ship afloat. Between crewmen adjusting the canvas sails to Jack maneuvering the wheel to keep us on course, every job was crucial. Shep catered to the livestock. Gunner maintained the armory. Rio ran around and instructed crewmen on how to make minor fixes around the ship. Desmond even took me to the bilge where a massive cat was in the midst of hunting a rat. Even the pets had their part to do. Finally, after all that, Des took me to the galley to help with dinner. I had always assumed cooking was straight witchcraft, always receiving the fruits of the labor and never seeing it firsthand. One-Eye chopped potatoes and made huge vats of stew. Katarina would often help him too, treating the crewmen like an extension of her family. I spent the evening helping them with the prep. I had never chopped anything before, so Katarina showed me how to use a knife and trim the edges of any nasty bits. One-Eye showed me salt made everything taste better, even mushy half-rotten potatoes. He told me how they usually rationed ingredients, but with safehold a day and a half away, he was going to make his famous "garbage pail soup," which was essentially everything they had left, thrown into a pot. Sounded disgusting, but it wasn't half bad. But the company was even more enjoyable. I sat at a long table, surrounded by crewmen and animated stories. I didn't hear the piano that night. Every hour ticked by, and apprehension filled me. This would be the second night in Thane's cabin. My heart fluttered in my chest, unsure what would happen. If I'd be able to keep my distance from him. I would glance down at my blistered palms and remember how he gently cared for my wounds, almost as if he was apologizing. He wasn't there when Desmond escorted me back to Thane's cabin. The bed was made, with the book Thane had taken from me perched on the pillow. He never came back to the cabin. I should have felt relieved he wasn't there. But I didn't.