Fantasy Flash Fiction: The Old Sea Lion
A bonus entry in the Pirate Fantasy Flash Fiction series The Wicked Cat (Did you really think I was going to leave the crew stranded?). I felt bad the way Emilia was handled in the series, I had someone who was amazing and instead she limped out at the end of the story. I am hoping with this entry, you can have a better idea on Emilia and her relationship with Brynn and her father. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
My head shook while gazing upon the great pirate captain Hebert “The Sea Lion” Raedwolv hanging from the wall in chains, as though he were a common criminal. Two men stood next to him, though they turned to me with a swift salute and let me pass them. Herbert lifted his shaggy blond head, offering me a faint smile and gentle wink. His teeth were red from the abuse heaped on him as blood matted the large wooly beard on his face. “Hey there, Princess; it looks as though your men finally caught me.”
My voice trembled as my gaze shifted from the Sea Lion’s bruised face to the manacles that secured his wrists to the chain. “Where is Brynn?”
“You really think you’ll catch the little Lion? You Hyril sailors must be insane if you think you’ll find her.”
My fists clenched as my teeth started to grate. My mind flashed from the carefree new pirate captain who took Lyonhead Bay by storm to the men holding me down and ripping at my clothes. Their voices still rang in my head as they plotted to turn in the Sea Lion while ripping and clawing at my ten-year-old body. She was there, holding her cutlass with a disgusting smirk as her men ravaged me. If it weren’t for the Sea Lion stepping in and removing them from me, they would have completed their task and left my body in a shallow grave twenty years ago. Without looking at him, my hand lashed out and slapped his cheek, causing the chains to rattle with vigor. “You will tell me where Brynn is, or they will make your life miserable. Make this situation easy; turn her in and we will let you live in Hyril City as an example to those who choose to surrender to our might.”
The Sea Lion laughed hard enough to shake the chains once more. He smiled; it was the same smile he offered me when he pulled me from the ground after those men ravaged me. There was nothing that made me hate him more than that smile. “You’ve been with those Orchids for far too long, Princess. There is no way my crew would turn in the new wolf of Lyonhead Bay, much less her father and former captain.”
“You are making a foolish decision, Hebert. You could have a comfortable life away from the fighting. Spend your final days at ease, live as though you are a king. Tell me where she is.”
“They kept telling me children raised by privateers were unruly. Perhaps this old sea lion should have listened to them instead of laughing it off, eh?”
My hand shot out again, this time slapping his other cheek. Spittle flew from his mouth and splattered against my face and coat. My hand wiped the saliva from my face as my mind raced with anger and fear. This old lion saved me twenty years ago, but he couldn’t salvage my dignity. They might not have raped me, but they left me broken and stained with shame. He couldn’t arrive soon enough, the man who would forge an alliance with the Old Nimerian nations. We had heard it all before in our land, there was a new unifier every month. The saddest part was, until this happened to me, there was no reason to doubt the Sea Lion.
The Sea Lion laughed once again, though his lip started to swell as he spoke to me. “You’ve improved your strength; the last one hurt. It gladdens my heart to know you are happy.”
“Your flippant attitude annoys me, Captain. You would do well to understand your life is at risk.”
“We’ve already established you plan on killing me, no matter how many pretty words you throw out there to the contrary. You should get it over with and kill me now, since we both know words aren’t what you are really looking for.”
My heart raced as I felt my body tremble. Was he right? There was no way he could know; he never took an interest in my affairs even after the “incident”. He could always be so arrogant and defiant. It made me bristle when they compared the two of us, as though we were twins. My twin forgot about me long ago, there was no reason to believe this scoundrel would be more than a criminal in my eyes. My hands grabbed him by the shoulders. “Don’t assume you know anything about me anymore. You left me alone a long time ago; you left us after the ‘incident’. You couldn’t look at me without that disgusting sneer that made me feel as though my time on this world should have ended in that shallow grave they promised me.”
His smile turned to saddened shock as he sighed and lowered his head. His words were a harsh whisper, forcing me to lean closer to him. “You are right; you were treated differently after my rogue crewmen attempted to rape you. Your mother refused to have me anywhere near you afterward. She told me to take to the seas and never return. That was a tough time for me, Princess.”
My anger burned, but there was more to my feelings. My heart was breaking as tears started to form in my eyes. My voice was steady, but my ears could pick up on the quavering as my bottom lip twitched in remorse. “You were warned to stop calling me Princess. You are addressing a soon-to-be captain in the Hyril Navy, not some child you ignored for her formative years. You should have been there when my mother died. You should have stayed when my affairs were spread across Nimeria. You could have stopped everything by being there for me when it was needed.”
“You are right; you have a terrible father.”
The next moment was as though my spirit had left my body and watched in horror as my hands drew the cutlass from its sheath. My voice was a faint whisper as the point slipped into the Sea Lion’s stomach at an angle, puncturing his lung with the blow. My screams were muted by the wet gurgle that formed in my father’s throat as he offered me one more blood-stained smile, the same smile that broke my heart now. I placed my head against his stout chest and started to weep. “You should have stayed with me.”
His last act was to kiss the top of my head and whisper his bloody words in my ear. “We never doubted you would become a strong woman, Emilia. Don’t be angry at Brynn, your sister loves you as much as I do.”
Each patter of blood forced me to recall the times my tiny hand would be in his as we skipped through our private meadows, when we used to sing my favorite lullaby together, or when he would return with a dress from the Far West, beaming with pride as he spun me around in his arms. My mouth and heart wanted to whisper “Daddy” in his ear, but my mind forced my lips to say something cold as he struggled for breath. “You were a fool; you had everything you could ever have if you turned your daughter over to me. Have no fear, we will find her and eliminate the last threat to the Orchid.”
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