Broken Aro (The Broken Ones) (10 page)

The day went by slowly. Kei introduced her to Avery. He
was, Kei told her, a good friend of his. They had served together in the fifth
since he had joined with them. She liked him and they got along well, even
though they said little to each other. It came as no surprise. None of the
passengers were chatty. Chains tended to have that effect on people. He didn't
seem to mind how she hovered by Kei, or the Fey hovered around her. In fact,
she caught Avery grinning at them both a few times as if immensely pleased.
Perhaps it was because Kei had obviously found a new friend. She wasn't exactly
sure, but didn't really care. As long he remained close she felt safe. He
helped to keep the panic and loneliness away.

Kendric checked on her a few times before always
returning to stand with Cain and Bo. The three of them together didn't really
surprise her. They had to be at least a good ten years older than the rest of
them. Prince remained off in the corner by himself. She noticed she had been
right; he was very tall. He stood a few good inches at least over all the
others.

She spent the day staring at the walls, the cell bars,
the men, and the slowly rising water. It helped her to not think of where they
were, where they were going, and what would happen in the days ahead. The wind
and rain continued, occasionally picking up before dying down again.

The only excitement occurred when the slavers would
come down. Each time Kei moved to stand in front of her, blocking her from
view. Twice the slavers left, dragging bodies to toss overboard. The conditions
in the hold had started taking lives already. Once they took one of the women
up. She never came back down.

She went once to check on Prince. He glared at her.

She glared back at him. "What?"

His eyes narrowed and he stared at her for a long
moment before answering. "Why are you with that Fey?"

The way he said the word Fey spoke volumes. He didn't
seem to like them much. Anger rose up within her at the unfairness of his
attitude toward Kei. As far as she knew, Kei hadn't ever done anything to him,
and he had been so nice to her. "In case you hadn't noticed, I've limited
company."

His jaw tightened at her flippant remark. "I
meant you now seem attached to his side."

"I like him," she answered defiantly,
raising her chin.

His lips tightened into a thin angry line and he
looked away, shaking his head. "You're asking for trouble," he said. "The
Fey can't be trusted."

"And I can trust you?"

He looked back at her, his gaze still hard. "Of
course."

She snorted. "Of course," she mimicked him. "Because
nobles are known for their honesty, truthfulness, and for helping others."

Judging from the look on his face, her mocking tone
didn't seem to impress him.

"How's your arm?" She changed the subject
quickly before she got seriously angry.

"Fine."

"Good." She turned stiffly and went back Kei
and Avery.

Kei immediately took another step closer to her as she
stopped beside them. "Why do you have to talk to him?" Kei kept his
voice to a low snarled whisper. "He's obviously doing fine."

She shrugged, still furious about the whole thing. "He's
alone. Alone isn't a nice thing to be. You're right though, his arm doesn't
seem to be bothering him."

Kei growled slightly and she tried to smother a sudden
grin at the sound as she glanced over at him. He saw it however, and a small
smile crossed his own lips in response as he reached over and ruffled her hair.

The ship rolled suddenly and they braced themselves
against the hull.

The following days played out much the same. She
attempted to speak to Prince a few more times, but he became just as surly on
each occasion. She did feel bad for him though, even if he was a prince. Every
time he glared and snapped at her she tried to remember he was hurt and alone
and pretty much ignored by everyone but her.

The slavers attempted to pump the water from the hold.
They lowered a long leather hose and Aro heard the sound of billows above. It
worked at first and the water level dropped. The slavers should have cleaned
the hold first. Straw and filth quickly clogged the hose and once again the
water began seeping in quicker than they could pump.

Sleep became almost impossible. Even though they now
fed them hard rounds of bread every day, it didn't seem to help. Her stomach
seemed continually cramped from hunger. The water continued to rise from a mix
of rain and sea water. By their ninth day at sea it had reached almost to her
knees. Her wet feet drove her crazy and her toes felt swollen in her boots. The
other men grumbled about it, too. There was nothing they could do. At least
they could stand and keep the rest of their bodies dry. The rain never stopped.
It increased every hour, so did the wind and the rolling and pitching of ship
as it rode bigger and bigger waves.

As the sun set and the hold once again sank into
darkness, she braced herself against the wet hull. The filthy water swelled and
splashed around her with each roll of the ship. Lack of sleep wore upon her.
She was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. If she went down she
could easily drown. Judging from the growing number of bodies the slavers kept
hauling out and dumping overboard it had happened to some already. Sickness had
also begun to manifest within the horrible conditions of the hold.

Wrinkling her nose, she smacked the water around her
in frustration. They were trapped. There was nothing they could do. She wished
she had her knives. The cell was empty of anything to use to try to escape.

"Rot it!" She fought sudden tears at the
hopelessness of it all. Her body didn't want to obey and she turned away from
the others. She wanted to be home. She wanted her brothers. At the very least,
she wanted to know what had happened to them. Their absence was nothing new,
spring to fall they'd always been away. But she'd had letters and she'd known
where they were. The loneliness after the youngest had gone off had been hard.
She'd hated it and had fought it constantly. Deep inside she always knew they'd
be coming home though. Two years ago, her father hadn't. The hopeless feeling
she felt now reminded her of that. So did the pain in her chest. Losing her
father had been devastating. Now, losing all seven of her brothers at once was
something she didn't even want to think about.

She glanced over at Kei. He had become something to
hold on to. Taking a deep breath she pushed the pain and hysteria away. It
would do no good here, now. Her family had taught her that. She needed to stay
in control in case an opportunity to escape presented itself.

The storm intensified. She hadn't thought it possible
until the ship rolled nearly onto its side as the waves grew even larger. The
winds could be heard through the hull and had grown into an unnatural howl.

"Quite the storm they've rode into," Bo
remarked with a grimace.

When darkness fully blanketed the hold Kei took her
hand. She squeezed it tightly, wishing the chains didn't prevent her from
wrapping her arms around him. She just wanted to hold on to something and not
let go.

The rolling got worse. Eventually they all moved to
the cell bars so they had something to grasp and keep them steady.

By the faint light she could see people in the other
cells doing the same. She listened to the cursing and watched the gripping arms
and hands for a while before it registered there seemed to be a lot more people
in each of the other cells. She asked why aloud.

"We're worth more," Prince answered quietly.
Even he had come to the bars so he wouldn't be thrown about the cell.

She turned to look past Kendric at him and he smiled
faintly, with little amusement. Was he still mad at her or not?

Before she could ask any more questions he continued, "The
cells at the front with the women are likely not as crowded either. But the
others are packed in twenty to thirty to a cell."

Her mind went over this information. The fact that the
only thing those in her cell had in common was that they were soldiers, left
her confused. "So they want us to fight for them or something?"

Prince shook his head, his face grim. "No.
Their…entertainment is the arenas. The crowds watch as slaves fight to the
death."

His words turned her stomach and she clenched her
hands tighter on the bars in an attempt to fight down the rising panic and fear
within her. Dying in an area was what she had to look forward to? No. She didn't
really, because when they arrived at port they would certainly find out she
wasn't a boy and then...

A deafening crack suddenly echoed above them, followed
by a groaning long creak and a boom that made the whole ship shudder.

"Tell me that wasn't the mast," Kendric
grated.

"It was," Prince answered. Kendric glared
over at him, as if it were his fault.

Aro shifted to hold a bar with two hands, Kei and
Kendric both close to either side of her. The mast. That certainly wasn't good.
Did ships come with extra? Could they fix it at sea? She had no idea.

Gah! Somehow things had gotten even worse. How was
that even possible?
She found it hard
to think. Exhaustion pulled at her, but so did hunger. The cold and wet of the
water only made things worse. It didn't help she had started to not feel well,
she wasn't sure if it was from the rolling ship or being hungry.

She had no idea how long they held on as the ship
rolled madly. She blacked out a few times, or maybe just fell asleep. Either
way, it frightened her. After the first time she started awake to find Kei and
Kendric holding her up, each with a grip on her upper arm.

Eventually the storm and sea began to calm. Her mind
spun so much she almost didn't notice. No, not her mind. Her vision. "I
don't feel so well," she whispered, before turning and collapsing into Kei's
arms.

Chapter 7

Into the Sea

Consciousness returned slowly. Something was wrong,
but she couldn't put her finger on what. Her thoughts moved sluggishly, yet
were strangely calm considering the situation. She rested her cheek against the
warmth that held her, content for the moment in the quiet world of being not
quite awake.

Reality, in the form of screaming, finally began to
penetrate the calm, quiet place she'd been in. It seemed odd the screams
resounded so frantically through the hold. She had become used to the crying
and cursing, even the screaming of the women when the slavers came down, but
this was different.

She blinked her eyes, trying to focus her spinning
head. Everything remained foggy. Had she been sick?

It took her some time before she realized someone held
her, that her cheek rested against a warm chest, her hands tucked into her lap.
She could feel an arm under her knees and another around her waist.

For a moment everything remained perfect. Safety and
calm continued to surround her, holding her close and protecting her. She
almost smiled before the sudden sense of something not right shot through her.
It wasn't Kei who held her.

She stiffened as her eyes popped open and her head
shot up to see the face, of all people, Prince.

"What?" The simple word was all she could
manage in her state of utter confusion.
Why him?

"We've struck something."

She blinked rapidly, her vision clearing a little. She
still didn't feel well though. She was light headed and nauseous. Her eyes
burned and her head hurt. Still, she didn't want to be held by the man who'd
been glaring and yelling at her the past few days. Panic and worry overwhelmed
her. Where was Kei? Had something happened to him? She had to find out...

"Put me down," she demanded more sharply
than she intended.

He glared down at her. "Fine."

He nearly dropped her and she flailed in the water as
she splashed into it. It had risen to become now higher than her waist. The
cold of it shocked her into full consciousness. Prince grabbed her shirt and
righted her as she struggled. She turned on him in the faint light, uncertain
if it was morning or night. "Where's Kei?"

She could see his jaw clench as he looked away. "Busy."

She blinked at him stupidly.

"Aro, are you hurt?"

She turned to see the others standing around staring
at her, their faces worried.

Kei suddenly popped up out of the water in front of
Kendric, nearly scaring her half to death. "What happened?" She
fought to think around the pain in her head.

"We've hit something, the ship's breaking up,"
Kendric replied. He lifted his hands showing the foot long chain that had
attached them now broken. "Kei is breaking all our chains, so we'll be
able to swim free."

She looked at Kei, soaking wet and gasping for breath.
"Kei?"

He flashed her a tired grin. "Just you two left."

"Then what?" She tried to keep her voice
calm as he splashed his way toward her.