**edit #2: so I revised this chapter a lot. here's the new version.*

Chapter 42

The wooden doors swung ajar, loudly banging against the wall, and Lyla found herself staring into the open-mouthed faces of all of the Hapsburg relatives.

The assembly room was decorated with reddish gold tapestries and bronze stone. The fading pews were lined with people and the slate floors disguised with a maroon rug.

At the front of the room, outfitted in their palace dress, were the missing royals— all of them.

They seemed in good health, from what Lyla could see at first glance. The Hapsburgs had clearly been treating them well. Tristran stood at the end— his hair was longer, his usual scowling face expressionless.

They all looked terrified. The youngest princess on the left— Elaina, from Kaidia, was crying, tears slipping silently down her cheeks. Lyla felt like sobbing too, at the sight of them.

On the other side stood Ben and the rest of his cousins— and Jamie. Her hair up, her cheeks dusted with rose. She didn't look sad- she looked angry, her fists clamped at her sides, her jaw tightly locked.

Both sides were dutifully guarded by one of the Hapsburg relatives. In the middle was some sort of wooden altar, and Lyla flinched.

Silence hung for one distant second before Ari raised Roland's gun. Lyla couldn't imagine what they looked like; two criminals, a palace guard and a royal, backed by Simon and his hugely muscular entourage.

"This is how it's going to work," Aveline voice heightened as she slung her pistol over her shoulder. "Best case scenario, we leave here with the royals; minimize the amount of people that die... Worst?" With a practiced smirk on her face Aveline looked... well, like a pirate. "Ari here starts shooting."

While Ari and Aveline furthered the dramatics, Lyla scanned the royals again. Someone had made them look presentable; fixed their hair, put the women in ballgowns. Jamie caught her eye and mouthed something to her; but Lyla couldn't tell what she was trying to say.

"We're not giving up the royals." One of the older Hapsburgs who stood at the front of the room folded his wrinkling arms. "Do I need to remind you who's more armed in this situation?"

"Regardless," Ari jutted his chin. "I found a gun too. Picked it off a dead man, actually. What was his name? Rolly? Rollo?"

"Roland, I think," Simon supplied helpfully.

There was an uncomfortable murmur among the crowd.

"Right! That was it. Very generous of him. He will be missed, et cetera. The point is," Ari breathed out, rubbing his index finger and his thumb together, "I'll probably be taking as many of you as I can down with me, unless we can reach some sort of an agreement."

"What do you want?" The grandfather-type man growled. "Money?" Most of the guests remained frozen in their seats; too afraid to move, Lyla figured. She couldn't relate. She would have run screaming out the door by now.

"Is that a trick question, or what?" Ari's gaze flicked irritably back to the royals. "You know what we want."

Lyla's mouth tightened into a thin line; Ari never appeared to be anything less than confident, but they were remarkably out-gunned. Even now, there were several Hapsburgs aiming their weapons at them. Behind them, Jamie remained with her cousins, worry written in every line on her face.

Lyla glanced back at Ari; who paused briefly as his gaze landed on Jamie. He blinked once; losing focus. Before one of the guards could take advantage of Ari's distraction, Ben suddenly lunged forward with an angry shout, shoving the older Hapsburg to the ground.

Jamie was right behind him; she elbowed the guard in front of her to the side and pummeled him in the nose with a practiced backhand. Before anyone else could react to the confusion, the rest of her cousins were following suit; charging like an unarmed battalion towards the pews.

For a moment, Lyla was frozen in shock. A few of them tackled the Hapsburg guards headfirst; crashing in a pile mingled with horrified wedding guests. Three of them were trying to wrangle away the guns in the room; Jamie and Ben were full-throttle assaulting their grandparent; grappling with them fist-to-fist. Even Ayka joined the fray; jumping onto the backs of one of the guards and pounding her tiny fists on his shoulders. Lyla stifled a grin at the sight.

Lyla's group was temporarily forgotten as the Hapsburgs tried to wrangle their rogue children.

Simon swung his leg under one of Jamie's aunts and nodded to Ari and Aveline as the woman tripped and collided with the floor.

"It's a distraction. Get the royals." Without another word, he plunged into the mayhem with his men flanking him, joining the Hapsburg cousins in their muddled fistfight.

"I'll go with him," Eli muttered, following Simon into the crowd.

They didn't need to be told a second time. Aveline grabbed Lyla's wrist and dragged her with Ari along the side of the room, dodging the screaming guests. The royals were huddled together on the platform, looking uncertain as to whether or not they should join in the fight.

"Stay right there!" Lyla shouted to them as she approached. "We're going to help you!"
She knew all of these people; their youthful, familiar faces crumpled in terror. Tristran's eyes flashed with recognition as he saw her, and for a moment the prince didn't look so lifeless.

Their hands were tied with thick ropes not unlike the ones from the Hapsburg dressing room. Lyla immediately crouched down and began helping Aveline cut them free.

"So you're the famous Prince Tristran we've heard so much about." Ari sniffed as he slashed through Tristran's bonds. "I thought you'd be taller."

Tristran finally found his voice. "Lady Lyla?" It was scratchy and tentative.

"Your Highness." She bowed her head, tears springing to her eyes. "We're going to get you out of here, I promise."

"This is all my doing." Tristran whispered miserably.

"No, it's mine." Someone said behind them, and Lyla turned around; Ben was watching them forlornly with his sister by his side. His cheek shined purple from a fresh bruise. Ben immediately went for Tristran, calloused hands cradling the other boy's wrists, while Ari made a beeline for Jamie.

"Are you alright?" Ari said gruffly, his hand slipping underneath Jamie's hair and latching onto her neck as if to hold her in place while he frantically scanned her for injuries.

"Fine."

"Don't blame yourself." Tristran was saying to Ben, his voice low and raw, and Lyla focused on untying princess Cecily of Giornine, feeling as if she was intruding on a private moment. "It's my fault."

"You can decide whose fault it is later." Ari reluctantly released Jamie and yanked them both to their feet, glancing at Aveline who was busy herding the other frightened royals. "Lyla and Aveline are going to take you outside. Follow them-"

He was cut off abruptly with a loud bang; blood draining out of his face, and suddenly stumbled onto Aveline, who caught him in surprise.

Thick redness pooled like a wine from Ari's stomach, staining his fingers carmine as he shakily pressed them to the wound. Jamie cried out, and Lyla gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Leaving so soon?" The Viscount interrupted thinly from behind Ari, holding a long rifle in his hands.

He was backed by numerous of the elder Hapsburgs, his expression oddly contorted with resolve and derision.

"Would you get ahold your pathetic children already?" He barked at one of them; but his order was unnecessary; Ben's cousins had quickly been outnumbered by the Hapsburgs and their firearms. They stood together in a circle, but they were surrounded; and as the room slowly began to wind down, the angry noise subsiding, Lyla felt dread sink like a hard piece of meat in her stomach.

"Ah." The Viscount's eyes closed. "Peace at last."

"That hurts." Ari's chuckle was wobbly as he swayed on his feet. Aveline shushed him harshly, her face hardening with worry as she laid him on the marble floor. She paid no heed to the Viscount as she tore a strip of cloth from her shirt to bind his torso, but her fingers were trembling, and Lyla's breathing quickened.

Jamie was frozen in horror, unable to look away from Ari's crumpled form on the floor. Lyla instinctively took her hand, too stunned to do anything else.

"You've caused quite the trouble, haven't you?" Remington's teeth were bared, revealing the temper he was struggling to control. "Ruined a perfectly lovely wedding- put up a good show- but, I mean, what did you think was going to happen? Charging in here, vastly outnumbered with one gun to our several? I'm almost disappointed." He was untouched, but the adults around him were panting from the fight, rage tautening bruised fists together. The Viscount turned to them. "What shall we do with our intruders, then, hm?"

"Kill them," one of the Hapsburgs rasped.

The Viscount tutted lightly. "All in due time, friend. I think they deserve a bit more than that. Don't you?"

"No," Lyla managed. She sounded frail and terrified to her own ears. The only word she could push out of her mouth was a plea— "No."

Lyla's circle seemed to shrink further as more of the Hapsburgs and their weapons appeared before them.

"They're pirates," Remington clarified breezily. "Earned themselves quite the reputation. Ari Carondolet and Aveline Dimitri. The most mysterious thieves in the Detache, aboard a ship armed with secrets. A crew of ghosts. Heaps of hidden treasure below deck, mingled with the bones of all of their victims. I'm sure you've heard the rumors."

Aveline unfolded to her feet, streaked with Ari's blood. "They're true."

Lyla couldn't believe her ears. She would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire; imagining the happy children playing on the ship contrasted with Viscount Remington's horrifying picture of the vessel. Why Aveline was encouraging the blatant falsehood was beyond her.

The Viscount's eyes glinted. "Perhaps we ought to find out once and for all."

"I'd be happy to show you," she said- sickly sweet, her eyes fixed on the guns pointed at her chest.

The Viscount laughed. "Do you take me for a fool? No." Tapping a thoughtful finger on his chin, he turned to Lyla. "Her."

Lyla gulped. "Me?" it came out like a squeak.

"You're going to take me to the treasures aboard," he commanded her. "You're going to tell the crew to stand down, or they die. If I don't come off that ship with what I want, your friends die. Understand?"

Ari weakly raised his head from where he lay on the ground. "She doesn't know where anything is-"

"Then you'd better tell her right now, before she loses her neck."

A muscle tightened in Ari's jaw. Blood was rushing to his face, a light sheen of sweat coating his forehead from his wound.

"Lyla." Aveline's unyielding gaze locked urgently onto hers. "On the outside of the ship, by the bottom deck, there's a hidden door with a brown latch. Inez knows where it is. We have treasure that Ari moved there this morning. You're going to unlatch the door and let them take what's inside. "

"The bottom deck?" Confusion furrowed Lyla's eyebrows. "But that's-"

"Priceless cargo, I know," Aveline cut her off abruptly. Her expression was as blank as an empty parchment. "We have no choice. Stay out of the way. Do you understand?"

Lyla's eyelids felt stuck together as comprehension finally dawned on her. The bottom deck...

Lyla didn't allow her inward tempest of emotions to show on her face. She lowered her gaze and backed away obediently.

"Come with me."

"Follow her," The Viscount ordered; and though Lyla led them out of the assembly room with six huge guns trained on her back; she was more aware of Aveline and Ari's eyes that anxiously glued to her every move.

Do you understand?

Yes.

The white, cloudy sun peered down on her as soon as she left the Hapsburg's dilapidated castle. Lyla focused on the ship that rested serenely just beyond shore, cradled by the pebbles on the beach. The sight was comforting to her; knowing that Inez, and Henry, and the rest of the crew were safely inside.

Where she was going. With their enemies in tow.

Lyla prayed Inez would know what to do as she approached— oh no, she'd forgotten about the children-

"You know, I'd hoped it didn't have to be like this, Lady Quincy." The Viscount's drolling voice brought Lyla back to the present, stapled her thoughts in place. She had to trust that Ari and Aveline knew what they were doing.

Trust— such a funny thing. For most, Lyla supposed it took a lot to be built, and very little to be destroyed.

Ari and Aveline were trusting her. Again. It was her choice whether to adhere to that or not.

"Lyla." Inez materialized at the prow of the ship at their approach, her cheeks pale with alarm; her dark hair spilling over the side of the railing. "What's-"

"Inez, listen to me," Lyla firmly interrupted her. "Aveline says there's a secret door on the side of the ship where there's hidden treasure. We're supposed to give it up to the Viscount, or else we'll die." Lyla prayed Inez would understand.

She did. Something knowing flickered in Inez's eyes before the shutters on her face closed.

"Are you sure?"

"She's sure," The Viscount snarled. "Any funny business, princess, and no one on this ship lives through the next five minutes. Now where's the door?"

Inez pushed off the railing. Calmly, casually, she made her way down the ramp.

"It's over here."

"Hands where I can see them," Lyla was ordered.

The Viscount and his guards trailed Lyla and Inez to the right side of the ship. There, just as Aveline had said; a latch, hidden in the cracks of the wood. Lyla wouldn't have seen it before.

Inez stopped at the side, folding her hands on top of each other. "This is it. Our most expensive shipment lies behind these doors."

"Good." The Viscount raised his chin. "Open it."

Inez hesitated.

Lyla felt a stub of cold gunmetal at her back and stumbled forward at the Viscount's prodding. "What are you doing? Go help her!"

Lyla obediently sidled up next to Inez, on the other side of the door. She locked eyes with the other girl. Inez's expression was serious, serene. As usual.

"Are you ready?" Inez's lips barely moved when she spoke.

Lyla's pulse shot up. "Not even a little bit."

On Inez's other side, she grabbed hold of the bronze handle. Inez took the other one. Grunting slightly, Lyla pulled— the door was heavier than she expected. It lowered like a moat; gradually and creaking its way down.

Lyla heard something shifting behind the wood, and felt an uneasy sense of déja vu as she and Inez lowered the door a crack more—

And the deadliest monster in the Detache exploded out of the ship in a flurry of blue and silver.

The enormous sea snake ripped the door clean off its hinges in her mad rush to escape. For a moment, she stretched herself up to her full length; the twining, thick cord of her body twisting upwards, backlit against the white sky as tiny water droplets sprayed like crystals around her. She let out a clamorous shriek that shook the ground and made Lyla clap her hands over her ears.

Then she came crashing down.

It was pandemonium. The Viscount's guards, taken by surprise, began shooting randomly— bullets bounced harmlessly off of Silver's scales. Someone snatched Lyla by the sleeve- Inez- and yanked her backwards into the hole from which Silver had come from. Lyla could only watch in morbidly curious horror as the creature drilled itself through the crowd of guards.

Their bullets only enraged her further; azure ocean foam mingled with red as she sank her teeth through the torso of one unlucky obstacle in her path.

The Viscount's guards were finally beginning to realize that their weapons weren't working. They broke into a run; retreating towards the castle. Silver hounded them the entire way; plastering her slimy body to the ground she slithered after them faster than Lyla had ever thought was possible. Screaming Hapsburgs spilled out of the doors as Silver wriggled easily up the unconquerable stone building.

Waves roared and crashed onto the shore of the cursed island as Silver mounted her new conquered fortress. She reared her head back; writhing around one of the damaged turrets. It was like some sort of graceful, horrible dance of black and blue and white, the colors blending ferociously together in a cacophony of devastation.

Black rocks crumbled off of the tower like dust, enormous boulders breaking free and rolling safely into the ocean. Lyla hoped Aveline and Ari— and everyone else— would be able to get out alright as the building collapsed under Silver's weight.

She and Inez observed the scene in wordless awe, perched on the jagged remains of the side of the ship that Silver had effortlessly torn to shreds.

"How come she didn't attack us?" Lyla ventured when she trusted herself to speak.

"She's scented us." Inez glanced at her sideways. "Plus, we weren't the ones jumping in her way to shoot at her poor hide."

"Is she going to kill everyone?"

"No." Inez watched the creature mournfully; her black eyes reflecting the destruction in their irises. "She just wants to be left alone. When she feels threatened, she attacks. Aveline and Ari will get everyone out safely, don't worry."

Lyla let her hands fall to her lap. "They wanted this to happen."

"They wouldn't have done it if it wasn't the only option they had." Inez pursed her lips. "Ari wanted to release her on the other side of the Detache. Colder waters, plentiful fish. Silver would have loved it there." She sighed. "At least now she'll be free."

They fell silent, watching the disaster unfold in front of them as Silver raged, a colossal leviathan wreaking the apocalypse of the ancient Hapsburg family. There was something almost poetic about it, like something Lyla would read about in one of the thick novels they had in the palace library.

Screams echoed in the air as Silver stormed on, sending shivers down her back. But eventually the terror was replaced with silence, and this was when the sea monster finally seemed to grow tired. She retracted, slowly uncoiling her long, slimy body from her wreckage of stone. She slithered along the beach towards the ocean atop sand that was streaked with blood, her fangs dripping outside of her mouth. Her tail submerged, scale by scale, into the water. Lyla could only stare, something familiar twinging in her gut as she reflected on the beautiful yet dangerous and worried about her friends.

Eventually, Lyla heard someone calling her name, and her head flew up to scan the scene with frantic, hopeful eyes. When she squinted she could see Aveline, Jamie, and Eli's figures treading slowly across the sand. Between them slumped Ari, his arms slung around Aveline and Jamie's necks to hold himself up.

Lyla shot up like a spark. "There they are!"

"Are you two alright?" Aveline demanded as soon as she reached them.

"Fine," Inez reported. "Better than the Hapsburgs right now."

"Good. We have the royals, but most of them got knocked out in the collapse. Ben is with them now." Aveline shifted Ari's arm around her shoulders. "Where's the crew?"

"Awaiting your instructions. How's Ari?"

"Fine," Ari croaked. "We need help loading the royals onto the ship. Let's go."

Lyla immediately headed for the beach to retrieve the royals, and Eli hurried to help her. He was sporting a thin cut on his cheek, but otherwise looked fine.

"What a mess," he mumbled to her as they marched wearily on the shore.

"Tell me about it."

"So it was the Viscount who killed Sybell?"

"Yeah. Turns out he's a murderer as well as a kidnapper."

Eli didn't respond at first, his face still disturbed with lines of anger from earlier. Lyla was just beginning to wonder if she should start the dreaded yet inevitable conversation with him, but he did it for her.

"He's not the only one."

"Ari and Aveline aren't the same," Lyla argued automatically.
"Would you look at this place, Lyla?" He gestured around him, at the scarlet-streaked sand, the groaning bodies on the beach. Blood scented the air like rust. "They kill. That makes them no different."

The topic was clearly a soft spot for him, and Lyla wasn't sure how to decipher her own feelings on the matter, so she let it drop as she spotted Ben a few yards ahead, frantically waving at them. "I don't particularly want to debate morals with you right now, Eli. Ari is badly injured, and we've got to board fourteen unconscious royals before anyone else finds us."

Lyla was exhausted by the time she'd dragged Tristran to the ship. Everyone else was down the shore with Ben picking up the other royals, and now that Lyla was alone she allowed herself to catch her knees and lean over, letting her breath slow down.

Eli's words kept echoing in her mind. They kill. That makes them no different.

Were Ari and Aveline bad people? Lyla questioned.

Bad people wouldn't have let her on their ship. Bad people wouldn't be helping her find her cousin. Bad people wouldn't be so good with children or rescue baby seals from cages or teach her how to shoot, or a million other things.

But to be fair, Lyla thought, good people didn't necessarily thieve and steal. They didn't threaten their enemies or take another person's life without a second thought.

Lyla glanced at Ari and Aveline's tiny figures on the beach. Did they?

She sighed. Everything was so confusing. It wasn't the time to think on this. And besides— Lyla felt self-righteous evaluating the morality of her two friends anyway, as if they hadn't done so much for her. She didn't know what their lives had been like, but judging from their scars and haunted demeanors beneath their respective masks, they hadn't been as privileged as hers.

Judging them felt uncomfortable. Unfair. These were her friends. She couldn't make such calls as to determine how ethical their lives were.

Satisfied with her reviewed outlook on the subject, Lyla returned her attention back to Tristran's limp body on the ground and was about to hoist him back up when she felt something painful yank at her wrist.

She fell back with a yelp as the pressure increased, and came face-to-face with the still-very-much-alive Viscount Remington.

His clothes were torn, his cheeks scraped with a mixture of blood and dirt, and for a second Lyla distantly thought that he didn't look like a royal at all; with all of his pomp and grandeur stripped away.

Remington twisted her wrist further back behind her shoulder, and Lyla cried out as a white, razor-like pain shot up her arm.

"I'm going," he panted, his eyes flicking about; directionless and feral, "to rip you apart limb from limb. You vile, disgusting, whore-"

A familiar wooden stick suspended the Viscount's next words with an enormous thwack as it swung into his temple, hard enough for the loud crack to resound along the beach.

His head whipped to the side, a bit of spittle flying out of his mouth as it did so. As he collapsed, behind him stood Inez; clutching Simon's bloodied club, Ari, and Aveline, who sneered over the Viscount's dizzied body.

"Don't call her that."

"Bitch," the Viscount snarled at Aveline from the ground, the effect somewhat weakened by the blood that currently poured out of his nose.

Ari's tone sharpened in half a second, despite his own bloodied and sickly state. "You're addressing a lady. Act like it."

"There's more of us," Remington plowed on. His veins popped, straining against the pallidness of his skin as he wildly leaned forward. "I hired the best to kidnap those stupid brats. I have powerful friends. We have allegiances everywhere-"

Ari gave a loud sigh, adjourning the Viscount's next words. "Everyone's tired of hearing you speak, Remington. I can well imagine who you're allied with."

Lyla couldn't, but she decided it wasn't the best time to ask questions.

"Too bad we'll have to take you down first," Aveline added blithely. "Perhaps all of your 'powerful friends' can join you in prison."

Remi scoffed and made no reply, instead turning his attention to Lyla.

"You," he snarled at her, and she jumped slightly. Was he spinning? "You're a royal! What's a fine lady like yourself doing, consorting with this rabble?!" He spat onto the sand, his saliva tinged red.

"That's none of your business," Lyla said quietly.

"You're a traitor. What do you know about them, really? What have they told you? They're not who you think they are, girl, they're liars and murderers-" His hysterical rantings ceased as Ari roughly pulled a piece of torn cloth over his mouth, but the man continued to struggle, and finally Ari kicked him to his knees.

Screaming through his gag, the man glared up at Lyla, accusation lining every protruding vessel of his bloodshot eyes. Towards her.

Lyla didn't give herself time to be frightened. She stepped forward and slowly lowered her face to his.

"I know enough," she announced, more calmly than she felt. "But what do I know about you? You're a coward and a killer. I bested you. And you're going to rot in prison for what you did."

The Viscount's mouth shut automatically. Even Aveline and Ari stared at Lyla with surprise marking their features, and satisfaction melted into her, an unfamiliar feeling of power and confidence seeping into her veins.

She beamed at them feebly, but standing up to the Viscount had exhausted her. The throbbing in her arm abruptly returned with a vengeance, more painful than ever. Black dots crawled along the sides of her vision, and the last thing Lyla saw was the brilliant white of the sky before she faded into unconsciousness.

-

When Lyla awakened, it was because something was shaking her shoulders.

"Lyla," someone hissed. She grunted and tried to lift her arm to bat the intruder away, but her limb wouldn't move.

"Lyla!" She foggily opened her eyes. Henry's freckled face appeared above her, his mouth parted in an O.

"What is it?"

"You have to hurry, Aveline and Ari are about to be arrested!"

"What?!"

Lyla jolted up, a disoriented feeling taking over. She was in her bed on the ship. Light streamed in through the cracks above deck. There were loud voices outside.

She grabbed one of her shawls that was hanging on her bedpost and shrugged it on as she hobbled out of bed. It took her a moment to realize that her arm was in a sling.

Henry filled her in as they went outside.
Simon had taken Ayka and the rest of Ben and Jamie's cousins on his ship, who they'd planned to safely drop off at their village before they headed back to Apreuna.

Ari, Aveline, and Simon wanted to kill the Viscount, who was already in bad shape from his injuries, but Eli had somehow convinced them to take him along and turn him in. He and Jamie had gone with Simon to Jamie's village.
But as soon as Ari and Aveline had landed back in the mainland, they'd been accosted by Apreunian guards who had been waiting for them on the shore.

"They think we took the royals. They're going to put us all in prison!" Henry cried. Lyla grimly patted him on the shoulder.

"I can take care of this," she insisted, determination making her walk faster despite the exhaustion she felt. "I know these people. The Viscount fed them lies about us, about me. But he's done now." She lengthened her strides, marching resolutely down the ramp of the ship. "It's time to set the record straight."

Henry offered her the appropriate amount encouragement, but he was clearly frightened, and even Lyla couldn't help but falter as she took in the sight before her, underneath the hot Diviel sun.

The entire royal guard of Apreuna was parked on the beach, surly and humorless in their uniforms. Ari and Aveline stood before them with swords pointed at their chests. And at the front, flanked by her royal advisors, was Queen Rowena herself.

**I'm back from NYC! I'm really happy with the way this chapter turned out now that it's all revised. Sorry it's so long, oops. See you on Tuesday for some of the aftermath!**