Just then a shout attracted their attention. A man emerged from the hatch that led to the captain’s quarters. In his hand he brandished her velvet bundle. Maisie watched in horror as he opened it and spilled the contents across the deck. “I found this hidden beneath the captain’s bed,” the man declared.
Maisie stared down at her precious lodestones as they rolled hither and yon. Her carefully preserved healing herbs and powders spilled free and were fast lifted by the autumn wind and swept away into the sky. There were other items there that were close to her heart, trinkets that Beth had given her. Most of all it was the lodestones that tugged on her heartstrings, for they had been with her for many years, and as she had enriched them, so their powers had enriched her and harnessed her magic to her when she coupled with Roderick.
The man who’d brought the bundle out kicked the stones about the deck. “Tools of her evil trade,” he said.
Roderick stood between her and the unruly crowd of men who hovered, readying for action. “I am captain of this ship. I will deal with this.”
Cursing loudly, he snatched up the rope that had been thrown at her feet.
“It was foolish of me to bring a woman on board,” he said, shouting over his shoulder to the men, “let alone one that is driven to dark ways.” He grabbed her arms, but did not look her in the eye. “I will not let you put my men at risk.”
Enraged, Maisie struggled against him.
Mercilessly, he carried on, binding her wrists together despite her efforts to fight him off, and tying the rope tightly.
“You have not put your men at risk,” she hissed at him angrily. “I have only brought the wind into your sails and healed Adam.”
Roderick hushed her. “Trust me,” he whispered.
Trust me? Confused, she tugged away.
He jerked her arms up and over her head, holding her that way while he stared into her eyes. “So you admit it? You have influenced this voyage?”
Maisie squirmed, dangling like a fish on a hook. It was imperative that she convince him she was not out to harm him, and yet everything she said only seemed to pull her deeper into the tangled mess. Fury bit deep into her bones, fury she had never experienced the likes of. It was because of what had passed between them the night before, when they’d seemed so close they were almost as one. Now he turned on her, and that made her mood black. Her power roiled within her, troublesome and uneasy and close to the surface.
“I paid you and I paid you well,” she stated beneath her breath, holding his gaze. “Don’t you forget that, Roderick Cameron.” She wanted him to feel her outrage.
“You’d be wise to hold your tongue,” he said, low enough for her ears only. His eyes flickered. His men had influence over him, though. Their opinion on the matter was crucial. He could not afford to risk mutiny.
For a moment she thought he was warning her out of good faith, but then he held her at arm’s length, as if he wanted nothing to do with her.
Anger and frustration twisted inside her, and it was she who now felt betrayed. The eternal struggle not to show her power was in danger of being cast aside. Instead, she wanted to make these men afraid of her. But doing so would only prove them right. If she demonstrated her power, it would give them an excuse to do away with her.
Roderick nudged the back of her shoulder, pointing to a hatchway on the opposite side of the deck. She’d seen supplies being carried out of there, and it was where the pot was taken below, for cooking on the grate. A bad feeling turned over in her belly. “No, I will not be locked up like a petty criminal. I have done nothing wrong.”
“I forbid you to say another word.” Determination shone in his eyes.
Was this man who she had seen as loyal and passionate and jovial growing distant? Was he an enemy to her because of what she was? Behind him, the crew urged their captain on.
She had been too foolish in trying to aid them in their work. Now they were turning on her, turning as people so often did. Cyrus had told her this would happen if she left his side. His purposes were much more nefarious, but that part of his litany was true.
When she refused to walk ahead of him, Roderick dragged her by the rope, muttering angrily as he did so.
The men stepped back as she passed, clearing the path and giving her a wide berth. She caught Clyde’s eye, and she could see he was not sure. A heavy frown scored his forehead. She had thought him about to sway, to accept her. Now he stood with the others, unwilling, it seemed, to speak out. It made her think of all the books Cyrus had made her study. The accounts of witch trials and hangings. He’d done it to instill fear in her, to make her cautious and wary. But now it was becoming as real for her as it had been for her mother.
Roderick showed little mercy as he forced her down the ladder behind him, tugging on the rope and ordering two men to follow. Brady was there, his boots on the step above her head like a threat he would willingly deliver if she did not hasten down after the captain. The ladder was long, and rickety from overuse, and with her wrists tied she was ungainly and almost slipped several times. Once she reached the bottom, she realized that what little light there was came from above. Glancing up, she saw that one of the men who followed carried a covered lantern. Once he stepped down, Brady took the lantern from him and passed it to Roderick, who then led the way.
Maisie scarcely noticed her surroundings as she followed Roderick’s broad back down the gloomy corridor. But she could smell the fetid air, the dampness in the wood and something else that made a shiver run down her spine.
The sound of keys rattling made her lift her head. Roderick was unlocking a heavy door made of wood and iron. When it swung open on its hinges, he put his hand at the back of her neck and forced her on.
Maisie stumbled over the threshold.
When Roderick secured the lantern in a wall sconce, she saw the place was a dank storeroom. The sound of water sloshing came from nearby, and the groaning of the ship seemed much louder and more frightening down there. She clung to a wooden brace that ran the length of the space, a massive beam that had supplies tied to it here and there.
“I’ll deal with her,” he shouted over his shoulder to Brady and the others. “Attend to matters above deck.”
“Be sure to secure her t