Mina startled awake. It was dark and she couldn't see anything. As she woke up more, she realized she was blindfolded and tied around both her wrists and ankles. She could at least tell she was on a ship from the gentle rocking in the sea's waves. She listened intently to what was going on around her, but all she could hear was a single pair of boots moving around the wood floor of the room.
"Ah! I see you're awake." Came Barrett's voice. "Now, I didn't gag you, and I'm going to ask that you don't make me do so." She swore at him in an ancient language. "What a mouth on you."
"You have no idea what you've done. You should let me go." Mina insisted.
"I know exactly what I've done, Princess Mina." He cut in. "Your brother has been looking for you."
"If you take me away from Chrysanthos without my wielder, I'll die. What will that get you?" She snapped.
"No worries about that. My men have gone to collect your wielder from Egon's house. I heard he's just about useless."
"Not nearly. And he's not alone." She sneered. "And he'll know where I am. They'll be here for me soon."
"I doubt it. A drunk ship's captain isn't going to be a problem."
"And Egon." She said threateningly.
"Egon is probably still busy with the Prince. He's not even noticed you're gone. What? Did you think you were important to him? He's never cared about anyone he's been with." His voice was dripping with fake pity. She swore at him again and struggled against her bonds.
"At least take off my blindfold. I already know we're on a ship." She demanded. To her surprise, he acquiesced. "Is that why you're doing this? He broke your heart?"
"He never even noticed me. Not like that. But no, I'm not doing this out of some old jealousy. I'm doing this for the money. Ten thousand gold. A person could be very comfortable for life on that kind of money." He looked positively grotesque as he said it. Not a trace of the kindness she had seen in his eyes earlier. It was like he was some kind of shape-shifter. An attractive kind man when it suits him and, when he lets the mask fall, a deplorable, unfeeling demon.
"You're a very sad man." She told him. "Small and sad. You're so afraid of being nothing that you're doing the stupidest thing you could possibly do. You-" He slapped her hard, which made her already aching head ring.
"I said, don't make me gag you." He threatened, pulling her up by the collar of her dress.
Somewhere on the ship, a door slammed. From the same direction came some raised voices, then another slam. Mina smiled and Barrett started to look nervous. He got closer to the door to try to listen to the ruckus. Another slam that sounded more like a thud than a door. Barrett came around her, dragging her up onto her tethered feet and drawing his sword to hold against her. Someone tried the doorknob, but the room was locked. Within a moment, it was kicked open. There stood Evander and Egon.
"Don't cross that threshold or I'll kill her." He insisted. She wasn't sure he had thought his plan through.
"You're cornered. You're not getting out of this either way, Barrett." Egon explained.
"But one way you live and one way you die," Evander said with a ferocity she hadn't seen in him.
"You've never had the stomach for killing, Barrett, but I do." Egon finished their offer. Barrett stood there for a long time thinking over his options. She hated that she was just stuck there as a maiden in distress.
"What happens to me?" Barrett asked.
"Prison. The King's guard is waiting for you on the docks. You'll be lucky if Queen Mina takes pity on you and asks for extradition, from what I've heard of the prisons here. But it's not dead, and you have a chance to live your life after your sentence." Egon edged forward.
Before he could do or say anything else, Barrett pulled the blade across her stomach and tossed her aside onto the bed. The pain burned through her. She heard Egon yell, and the sound of his blade hitting Barrett's. It wasn't long before Barrett was on the ground, staring up at her with empty eyes. Evander rushed to her side and rolled her onto her back.
"The beading on the dress stopped a lot of the damage, but she's still in bad shape. We need a doctor." Evander took off his shirt and packed it into the wound to stem the bleeding while she moaned loudly from the pain of it. "Shhh. It's okay. You're going to be okay."
"If you say so," she said sarcastically.
"I'll send a guard for the palace doctor." Egon headed quickly out of the room.
"It's as good as it could be." Evander continued to encourage her. "You're bleeding a lot, but we'll get that under control. At worst, you're going to have a really gnarly scar."
"Comforting," She sighed, trying desperately not to pass out from the pain.
"You stay with me, okay?" He said gently. "You've got this."
"I'm trying," she said, tears sneaking out of her eyes.
"You're doing great." He kissed her cheek.
"Of course she is," Egon said, reappearing at the door. "It shouldn't be long before the doctor gets here. They're on horseback."
He was right. It wasn't long until an elderly man with an apothecary bag was pushing his way through the narrow door past Egon. He gave her some kind of pain-relieving tincture before having Van lift the pressure off her wound. The rest of what happened was a bit of a blur for Mina. She wasn't even sure that she had stayed conscious for the whole ordeal. She remembered a lot of pain, the sway of being carried carefully through the streets, and finally being placed comfortably into bed, where she passed out.