Pirate Fantasy Flash Fiction: The Wicked Cat (Kin)

The 21st entry in the Pirate Fantasy Flash Fiction series The Wicked Cat and this one is interesting due to the revelation involved. I tilted my head when this came to me a month ago since I didn’t believe it either, but it does add a nice layer to the story. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy!

Brynn could feel her lip bleed as she felt her black eye pulse and swell shut. She lowered her head and saw she was still trapped against the wall in chains. Her weight supported by her arms. She felt the sensation of her shoulders ready to dislocate as she tried to shift her body. Her teeth clamped tight as she hissed. A man stood across from her. He lifted his head with a frown and poked at her with the metal butt of his spear. “Quiet, you aren’t supposed to make a sound, or I’m allowed to beat you again.”

She spat on the ground and tried to smile. The bruise on her lip allowed her to smirk. The man sighed and grabbed his staff with his scarred right hand. He spun it in his hand as he offered a sneer, “Do you think you can last for much longer, Captain Raedwolv? The Captain’s blessing can last for so long before she tires of her new toy.”

“Trust me; I am one toy she’ll never break.”

The man sighed as if she gave him the incorrect answer. He tapped the butt against the ground, spun his body and swung at her as if he intended to break the haft over her head. As the wood traveled in its murderous arc, they heard someone clearing their throat behind him. The man attempted to stop his momentum and pull the swing short. He stumbled forward and snapped his body around until he slammed to the ground with a loud thud. Brynn shook her head in disgust as she spoke to the mystery figure. “Where do you find these people, Cat?”

Brynn smiled as she heard leather gloves groaning under restraint. The figure released a sigh as it stepped into the light, the heavy sound of boot heels echoing across the room. The gait was measured and delicate even under the thick leather soles of the Hyril navy. Brynn struggled to keep her head level as her body shook from the effort. The chains rattled until she was forced to lower her head. Her eyes spotted the boots as they stopped an arms-length away. “I thought I told you never to call me Cat again.”

“What’s the matter, did you think sinking my ship was going to make me stop calling you that? Did you think burning my bar to the ground twice would make the people in the city love you? Trust me; they’ll always call you Cat, Emilia.”

Brynn heard Emilia sigh in disgust as the woman removed the gloves from her hands. She heard the leather squeak as it was folded and placed under Emilia’s arm. A moment later, she felt the sting of an open-handed slap lash her across her left cheek. Her head rolled with the attack. Her head lolled back to place as she dangled from the chains. She heard Emilia clear her throat, “You know I hate it when you make me hit you like that. I wish you would do what I asked you to and join the Hyrilan Navy; life would be much easier for the two of us if you did.”

Brynn’s body shook as she coughed, though it turned to laughter after her lungs relaxed. “Why in the world would I do anything you wanted me to? I thought you would have learned that lesson a long time ago.”

“You were always stubborn; I suppose you get that from your father.” Emilia accented the last word as if she tasted something sour. She spat at the ground and slapped Brynn across the right side of her face. “You would do well to forget everything he taught you. He was a liar, a thief, a scoundrel.”

Brynn cut Emilia off mid-sentence with the forcefulness of her words as the chains rattled from her rage. “He was also our father. He loved us both, but he knew we were different. You loved mother. You followed her as if you were a puppy. You were her daughter. She lavished you the only way she knew. When she died, you blamed our father. You blamed me for not being there to stop her killers. Do you remember that?”

Emilia grabbed Brynn under the chin and moved her head until they were eye-to-eye. Smoldering rage burned in her pupils as she stared a hole through her sister. “You did kill her; you bitch! The men who killed her were a part of the crew you signed to. They were under the charge of your father. He let them kill her. He took you on the sea and left me to deal with the pieces. Do you really think a father would do that to his daughter?”

“Those men were dismissed. They should have hanged before they touched mother. They would have raped you too, you know. They didn’t care that you were six-years-old you would have died like her. We did everything we could to stop them. We killed them, but it was too late. We should have stayed. I wanted to. Father had to sail or we would lose our home. He did it for us, though he did it for the wrong reasons. He didn’t trust me to take command, and he wouldn’t leave me alone with you since you were still so young.” Brynn replied.

Emilia leaned in close as her lips nearly brushed against her sister’s chin. She whispered her response as her lips moved closer to Brynn’s lips, “I will make sure they leave you looking beautiful for the funeral. I would hate to see what my men would do to you after I sentence you to the same fate mother had.”
Emilia released her vice grip on Brynn’s chin. She turned and snapped her fingers at the staff man who cowered in the corner as he listened to the intimate exchange. She slid the gloves over her hands as she addressed her concerns to no one in particular. “Make sure she suffers before you put her in the cell.”

“Yes Cap’n.”

Emilia’s hand grabbed the man by the stained collar and pulled him toward her so fast he didn’t have time to offer more than a squeal. “I have to meet with Lord Ulzon and his guest. I swear to the Eight; if you cut on her face, I will castrate you with my hands and shove your dislocated member down your throat. Do you understand?”

The man squeaked his in terror. Emilia smirked as she pushed him away. She turned to Brynn and offered a mock bow with a grand flourish, “You will forgive me for leaving you hanging. I will have to send my regards to the sea mage you had onboard. His false accusation made it much easier to turn your crew against you. Don’t expect to see the ‘Sorrow’s Bell’ again, they’ve sailed to the Drek.”

She cackled wickedly as she turned on her heel and left the room. The man stood and brushed the refuse from his threadbare clothes before he slammed the metal tip of his staff against the ground. “I told you the Captain’s blessing doesn’t last long.”

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