Thayne jerked upright with a sharp twinge in his neck and realised he had been slumped in the corner. He must have fallen asleep somehow. The sound that woke him came again and he saw the trunk move slightly as pressure was carefully put on the door from the other side. Hurriedly he got up and in two bounding steps was in the gap between the bed and the wall. He sat down and braised his legs against the trunk with his back on the wall and pushed against the pressure when it came. The trunk didn’t budge. His knees rattled with the jarring impact as whoever was on the other side of the door suddenly rammed into it but the trunk didn’t move. They tried a few more times and Thayne slumped in relief when he heard footsteps moving away.

Thayne got up and moved to the side of the bed. He reached out a hand and placed a finger on the girl’s forehead. He replaced it with his whole hand with a frown; her temperature seemed to be less and her skin still pale seemed healthier. The ivory skin of her hand laid across her chest was the same pale shade of her face, so the lack of healthy glow wasn’t really telling. He hoped she would wake soon, then maybe they could come up with a way of getting out of this alive together. He seemed to be just getting deeper and deeper into trouble and pulling her down with him. It wasn’t thoughts of escape at the forefront of his mind however, it was loneliness. He really wanted someone to talk to, to try to make sense of everything that had happened but this girl was a stranger, stranger than most judging by Glenda’s reaction to her, he felt a connection to her but that was because he felt responsible for her. What if she was an enemy? A spy for the Supreme Mage or any of the other of many and untrustworthy possibilities.

He sank back to the floor with a sigh and reached for his pack. Rummaging around he pushed the money bag deeper and pulled out a parcel John had given him. Unwrapping it revealed some smoked beef, bread, hard cheese and a couple of apples. His canteen was half full but food and water was going to be an issue well before they reached Kent.

His companion suddenly shifted and murmured in her sleep. A sharp odour reached Thayne’s nostrils and he grimaced. No toilet either.

Thayne really didn't know for sure how much time had passed. There was a small porthole that he looked out of occasionally but there had really been nothing to see apart from a distant riverbank lined with trees. He had been locked up in the cabin for over a day. A second night had come and gone and the sun had passed its zenith and was heading slowly toward the horizon. As the landscape had changed, the trees thinned out and Thayne could see the occasional road or cluster of houses that were becoming more and more common, he had become more and more worried about the girl. The closer they got to the city the more distressed she was becoming, murmuring and whimpering in her sleep. Her fever had seemed to have broken during the first night aboard but now she was covered in a cold sweat.

He looked down at her feeling guilty that he had left her to lie on the increasingly soiled bed, not able to bring himself to even attempt to move her and the thought of changing and washing her made him blush. The best he could do was ensure her bandage stayed clean and trickle water down her throat. The time he attempted to feed her she had nearly choked. He was afraid to try again and they were already running out of food. His canteen had been almost depleted with only a couple of swallows left at most.

He dreaded what would happen when they reached Juene-Haven and what Jack would do. There had been a few more attempts to open the door but they hadn't lasted long. The closer they got to Juene-Haven the more activity he heard in the corridor and on deck but no further attempt was made on the door.

He jumped and turned toward the bed wringing his hands as she heaved and jerked in her sleep again. He turned her head to the side but just like the last time her retching was dry, just like her lips. She had no moisture to spare. Their situation was becoming desperate. If he didn't risk the wrath of the crew soon they were both going to die. Just as the thought passed through his head, there was a knock at the door.

"You still alive?" came Jack's gruff voice.

"W-what do you want?" Thayne replied, telling himself the crack in his voice was from thirst and had nothing to do with his terror.

"We're approachin' the divide. We don't want no trouble. We're about to be boarded."

Thayne's heart leapt to his throat. Could things get any worse? The ship was about to be inspected. Not only would the inspectors be wizards, they would most likely be Inquisitors, trained to spot any sign of deception, it was all but impossible to lie to an Inquisitor. Too many questions would be asked if he stayed holed up in the cabin. Though it wasn't much comfort, he knew Jack and his crew wouldn't try anything with the Inquisitors on their way. After a few long minutes of struggle Thayne unblocked the door and opened it. He started when he saw that Jack still stood there.

"I-I don't want any trouble either. The last thing I want is to be stopped here. I just want to go home." The sincerity of that sentence brought tears to Thanye's eyes. He really did want to leave everything and go home. Sure, it was closer than Kent but that fancy was impossible. It was too dangerous to go home. He had to go on. Somehow.

Jack scowled down at Thayne and took a step towards him, his mouth open and staggered back with an oath when he smacked into the wall of stench wafting from the room.

As a sailor and a cabin boy were striding past he snagged their arms and they both turned inquisitively. The sailor was bald and tattooed. His beard was split in two and couldn't quite cover the scar that ran down the middle of his chin, most likely from a shallow blow from an axe. The cabin boy looked a year or two older than Thayne but he was a head shorter and though he had built up more muscle than Thayne ever thought he could have, that wasn't saying much.

"Captain? I was just-"

"Sir, Grub asked me-"

"Get in there and bring the girl out. Strip the bed. Stash the piss-stained shit below. Do what you can to get rid of the smell in a hurry."

Both nodded though their faces and went pale, the boy went slightly green and seemed like he was about to throw up. Jack grabbed the front of his tunic.

"You do that and you'll find yourself sleeping on that bedding all the way to Kent."

The boy nodded and swallowed. Unfortunately for him this exchange had given the sailor time to get in there and fling the girl over his shoulder, leaving the bedding for the cabin boy to deal with. To his credit, he dashed into the room dragged the stretcher off the bed then ripped up the bedding into his arms and dashed away without hesitation.

Thayne grimaced when he heard the girl make a now familiar retching sound and the sailor's back stiffened. Her cascading hair hid her face and his back but the bitter bile smell told Thayne that it wasn't a dry one.