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The unkindly pirate Gideon Nav was at the last of her straws- and bullets. She loaded her last bullet into her flintlock, sheathed her pistol and her cutlass, and looked out to the City Of Riches, Agrina. The city was the biggest area of trade in the entire country, full of dirty aristocrats who didn't know their actual worth. One bullet and a cutlass wouldn’t do much, but it was enough in Gideon’s eyes. She had one target. And it wasn’t the illustrious and bold Ianthe Tridentarius, no. It wasn’t the leader of the city, Emperor Johnathon Gaius. It wasn’t the captain of the city police force, Pyrra Dve, no. The princess Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the heir to the goddess of death, would be hers. And so would the Marine Death.
Her seconds in command, Camilla and Palamedes, shook their heads at they docked the ship.
Camilla gave Gideon a death stare. “Gideon, is she really worth all of this trouble?”
She’s always been opposed to this. “I’d lay down my life for her, Camilla. Of course she is.”
“I just want you to be sure. You’re making yourself an enemy of the emperor.”
Gideon’s stomach twisted in a pain she hasn’t felt in years. She was sure she was over it. “I was already his enemy the day I left home. Now let’s go.”
Gideon left the ship with Camilla and Palamedes in tow, welcoming the hustle and bustle of Agrina. She looked to the tall castle at the edge of the city, Castle Thorne. Named after the thieves that met their end at the hands of thorn traps, Gideon stared in contempt. Those thieves were fools. There’s no chance of me dying before I get to see Harrow. The rest of the city was practically covered in jewels, gold and other fanciful things that harbored the city’s wealth and adorned the citizens who could afford it. The citizens that couldn’t? Well, you might as well leave the city and hope you don’t die. The fools that couldn’t survive were either cut down or used up. Cogs in the machine, the lot of them. But not Gideon, Camilla, or Palamedes. And certainly not Harrowhark. Gideon recited a quick prayer Harrowhark taught her before she left home: I pray my death is quick and my bones picked clean. I pray my bones be used as pyre lest I draw Death’s envy and ire. Prayer successfully recited; Gideon went along through the city. The closer she stepped to the castle the more excitement- and dread pooled in her stomach. If this plan goes bottom up, we’re all dead. I can’t die before seeing Harrow.
Camilla bumped Gideon’s shoulder. “What’s the plan?”
“Hope.”
Gideon easily grapples to a high area of the castle and only spotted one guard in the small room currently playing solitaire. Gideon threw a rock inside the room and hit a small dustpan off its resting place. The guard got up to investigate and Gideon slipped inside.
Gideon held the guard in a chokehold, covering his mouth. “At least you won't be able to say anything.” She whispered into his ear before knocking him out and shooting him.
She started running up the stairs, thanking Thanatos she memorized guard patrol routines. That was my only shot. If I don't see her now I will never be able to. Memories flashed in Gideon’s mind of Harrow and her years before. Gideon stealing ale and Harrowhark chastising her for it. Gideon stealing her breakfast until lunch time then stealing her lunch until dinner time and eating Harrow’s dinner in front of her. So many bad things.
But she also remembered the good things than she wasn't sure if Harrow even liked to remember or even remembered at all. The curious glances, the sparks when their hands touched, the way Harrowhark asked about Gideon’s red hair.
Gideon ran up and up the tower until she got to the top and busted the door open. Harrowhark, clad in her face makeup and black dress with tiered frills, stared with a wide open mouth.
☠️
“Gideon!” Harrowhark shouted as Gideon fell down with a gnarly gash in her arm. Harrowhark, with strength not yet bequeathed to her tiny frame, pulled Gideon to a safe space as the hulking man laughed. Gideon had challenged the man because he said something about me. “You stupid, reckless fool.”
Gideon let out a rolling groan as Harrowhark healed the torn flesh and individual tendons. “Why?....you could have let it get infectious…”
Harrowhark, not even 14 years, didn't understand why. But at that moment all she could think was ‘I can't Gideon die!’ So the only thing she could do was say something she barely understood. “Because I need you.”
Harrowhark swallowed hard. Her crush, her…person was back. After 7 long years. In another life she could of said something like “what took you so long?” with a smile on her face. But in this life? All she could say, with as much shock as her constricted chest felt, was “why?”
Gideon crossed the room and cupped Harrowhark’s small chin, gazing into her brown eyes with soft and loving eyes of golden grain. “Because I need you.”
“I had thought you'd forgotten.”
A smirk graces Gideon’s soft-looking lips. “Funny how I thought the same, my crepuscular queen.”
“Looks like neither of us will be getting the Marine Death.” Harrow surmised.
Gideon wrapped her arm around Harrowhark's waist and pulled her close. “Now why would I want to die when I have my life in my arms?”
A bullet nicked Gideon’s hair as the shot rang out. A guardsman bellowed at Gideon. “Hand over the princess!”
A whistle rang out just in time. Gideon took out a small white orb. “No, no I don't think I will.” She threw the orb down at the guard’s feet and the stairwell was covered in white gas. The five guards coughed up a lung and collapsed.
Gideon grabbed a rope with a hook on the end and threw it out the window, securing the other end after the grapple worked its magic all the way down to a lampost a number of feet below. Gideon held Harrowhark tight against her and slung down the grapple line, dashing off with her the moment they hit ground. The whole town had not seen Harrow in years, so they thought nothing of the running couple who smiled.
Gideon and Harrowhark boarded Gideon's ship and sailed into the sunset.
In Gideon’s own chambers, Gideon held Harrowhark tightly against her, an arm around her waist as she kissed her scalp. “It’s grand to have you back, Harrowhark.”
“As it is for me, Griddle.”