Chapter nine
That evening one of the crewmembers arrived to take me to dinner with Lord Fitch in the captain’s quarters. The lord stood just inside the door. The light was dim, but I saw he looked queasy. The great and mighty Lord Fitch was seasick!
“Merry, I would like you to meet my son,” he said, stepping aside to reveal Caspian seated at the table. Caspian did a double take, recognising me. “Caspian, this is Merry. Now, if you will excuse me I have to—” he broke off started to gag, and ran out. At any other time I might have laughed, but I was too busy staring in horror at Caspian. He looked unsure whether to laugh about Lord Fitch’s sickness, or to be ashamed. My escort chained my hand to the arm of the chair.
“Okay, what?” I said, stunned. “Lord Fitch…has a son?”
Caspian lowered his head, the humor gone from his face. “I just found it out meself.”
I looked at the food set in front of me, and my stomach growled, but I did not touch it. Instead, I stared at Caspian as he picked at his food.
“And you’re Lord Fitch’s son?” I said.
He looked up. “Yeah,” he answered quietly.
“What happened to you weren’t going to tell on me? And what about that family you told me about on the farm? What even--”
“It didn’t tell on you,” he said darkly. “And I didn’t even know about...I’m still not completely convinced he’s my father, but--”
Lord Fitch reentered the dining room, still a little green, but he managed eat some.
“Speak to each other!” he said. “After all, Caspian, she is going to be your new mother. She is bit younger than you, but that does not matter, now does it, Merry?” he gloated.
I felt as ill as Lord Fitch looked. Hungry as I was, I was not sure if I would be able to keep the food down. I was glad when dinner was over, and I could retreat to my cabin.
I was lying down, unable to sleep, when I heard a key turn in the lock. Fearing Lord Fitch, I immediately shot out of bed and seized the candlestick, motions I had practiced in my head. I started to relax when I saw by the light of the lantern he held, it was only Caspian, but then I realised that Caspian was in my room.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, readjusting my grip on my makeshift weapon.
“Can I come in? I just wanted to explain.”
“What is there to explain?” I asked.
“A lot, actually. Look, Fitch might be back soon and see me. Please don’t beat me with that.”
I hesitated, pretty sure I was making a bad decision. “Okay, come in,” I assented, closing the door behind him, but not loosening my hold on the candlestick. “Where did you get the key?”
“Drake was easy to bribe,” he said, looking nervously at the candlestick I still held. “Look, I promise I’m not gonna to attack you. Can you put that down?”
“Caspian I spent six years on a ship full of men. We’re in my room, alone, and you’re the son of the worst man I know. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that men see women as their prey. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Fair point,” he said.
“Now, are you going to do your explaining or not? You haven’t got long to convince me not to bust your head open.”
“Okay, okay. May I sit?”
I nodded, and he seated himself on the edge of my mattress. “The first thing you should know is that what I told you about me family on the farm is true, everything I told you about them is true. I didn’t say that I was adopted. Me mother never told me where I came from, though.
“So, after Fitch took you away, a few of us went into town for drinks. This woman approached me and told me that you were in trouble, that you were the one who ran out on him all those years ago. A lot was said, and I’ll spare you the details. But basically she said that...and these are her words, that he needed to be ‘put down.’ She gave a whole bunch of reasons, stuff I’ve heard before, and said that worse would happen if he drank the water from the fountain. If he had drunk it, then they had to figure out somethin’ else. But she needed to know. She says she has servants in his house who give her information, but that there are some places they can’t go. She said that I was his son, and that he would know it when he saw me. I wasn’t really sure about that, because it seems pretty off, right? Well, she told me that I could get close to him and find out what she needed to know and feed them information. She said to sneak into his house so I could see him personally.”
“You were the intruder the servants kept talking about,” I realised. “And why the hell did you think it was a good idea to get yourself caught by Fitch?”
“I can’t say I don’t regret doin’ it,” he said. “But I knew I wouldn’t be able to forget about it if I didn’t do it.”
“Caspian, I spent nearly seven years of my life trying to get away from that man. To willingly--intentionally get yourself caught, that’s pure foolishness.”
He looked embarrassed. “Yeah, well, I got me audience with Fitch. That lady was right, he recognised me somehow.”
“Do you even know who she was?” I asked.
“Well--no.”
“So you’re telling me that you got yourself caught by Lord Fitch because some strange lady you’ve never met told you to? And here I was thinking you had some sort of intelligence.”
“Wow,” he said ruefully. “You’re more insulting than most of the men I know.”
“Yeah, well, had to learn to compensate.”
“Was that a--” he stopped himself. “Never mind. Well, I guess from there all you need to know is that I managed to send word about where we’re going. Of course, as you said, I really don’t know this lady, so it’s likely nothing will happen, and I just sentenced myself to whatever it is my apparent father has planned, which sounds like immortality.”
“You too?” I asked darkly.
“You mean he’s givin’ you the water, too?”
I laughed scornfully. “I’m to be his trophy, the one he makes an example of to those who try to go against him. He’ll torture my brother and father in front of me until they die, and then he’ll move onto me, the one who can’t pass no matter how he carries on. I’m to be the toy he locks up for ages until he wants to be reminded how good it feels to be the winner, to come out on top. Of course he’ll give me the water. Caspian, all you’ve done is sentenced yourself to a life that’s only a little better than mine. Perhaps he’ll be kind to you, but I think you have a conscience. You won’t like what you see.”
…
Now that we were out in the open water I was allowed to move about the ship freely. After all, there was not really anywhere else to go except the bottom of the sea. However, lately that option was becoming more and more attractive. If I drowned myself, I would not have to live forever under Lord Fitch’s thumb. I looked up to see Caspian, whom I had been avoiding. Even though it seemed we were in the same situation, his relation to Fitch still made me nervous. My gut told me he could be trusted, but how could I know for sure he would not turn on me? Caspian leaned on the railing beside me.
“Fitch is sick in his chamber,” I said to him; I wanted to see his reaction. “If there was any time to kill him, this would be the best.”
He looked at me sharply; I had taken him by surprise. “Are you going to?” he asked.
I looked out over the water, not answering.
“Fitch is terrible, I agree, but does he really deserve that?”
“You haven’t seen what I’ve seen. You didn’t hear what--” I had to stop myself. “That demon needs to be put down.”
“What made you leave Fitch?” Caspian said. “Seven years ago when it all started, what happened?”
I crossed my arms. “I’d met him before. Father gave me to him to pay a debt, but you probably knew that. Something se
emed off about him, but I just guessed that was how the upper class was, and that I’d learn to deal.” I crossed my arms and turned around to sit on the rail. “It was the day I got to his house. I was exploring, and I went out back of his house. The stones were thick with dried blood, torture equipment I’d never even imagined was out there. Human corpses were rotting in cages while the birds ate at them. Whether or not that’s normal for the rich, I was scared, so I ran.”
“How did you end up on the ship?”
“His men were chasing me, and somehow I ended up here. I had dressed as a boy and cut my hair, so the crew thought I was just a regular stowaway. They made me stay on board to pay off my debt to Captain, or whatever.”
“Wow,” Caspian said. “Me sisters would never--”
Drake approached and interrupted coldly. “Your father wants you,” he told Caspian.
“Okay. I’ll go in a second.” He waited until Drake had gone, and then turned back to me.
“I agree with you about Fitch needin’ to die. And I know I’m in the best position for doin’ the deed, I just don’t know that I can drop the blade.”
Surprised by his words, I watched him leave.