Chapter Text
She lost… Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova lost a duel for the first time in so many years, and worst of all, she lost Hélène. How was she going to face her goddaughters who had tried to persuade her that this was a horrible idea or Hélène who had spent the night before weeping in her arms upon the arrival of this dreaded day? She had prayed to God each morning and night, pleaded for the strength that she needed but those prayers had gone unheard. Had God decided to abandon her during her most dire time? This must have been a sin, then. A punishment for letting her pride manipulate her decisions for the worse. Marya could feel Mary glaring at her with utmost disappointment from the bleachers and her goddaughters were trying their very best to calm a very anguished Hélène.
The Kuragina had fallen to her knees and her face was buried in her hands to collect the tears that flowed down her cheeks into a pool of sorrow. Natasha and Sonya knelt beside the mermaid and drew her in their arms, murmuring empty words of assurance that Hélène simply refused to listen to. She had held on to false hope. She knew from the very beginning that the man would cheat his way to victory, and so did Mary. Mary predicted it all before it even happened and all fingers pointed to Marya for this failure. Hélène had a finger raised, metaphorically, at Marya for she could barely gather the strength to berate her lover, to scold her, to blame her for what had happened. But how could she when all Marya was trying to do was protect her.
Andrei still had not released Marya. The woman laid on the floor, vulnerable on her back with the king looming over her with her prized sword. He spun the blade as he stood up, removing her knee from where it pressed down on Marya’s chest, and she gasped painfully for the air she had been deprived of. She could not get up for the searing pain had stretched to her fingertips and the sole of her feet. One twitch sent a flaming sensation down her limb. She could not do anything about it which turned her into the subject of scorn. Worthless, senseless idiot! Andrei raised the sword with both hands, claiming the weapon as if it was his own. He commended the weapon. Truly, it was made fit for the best sword wielders but now that the captain had lost their duel, he deemed that she was not worthy of even owning such a priceless weapon.
“Captain, captain, captain… I did think you were a brilliant opponent. That’s the highest praise I can give you. A shame you won’t be around for another round,” Andrei effused, his tone clearly mismatched. “It’s been pleasant dueling with you.”
Hélène did not like what she heard. She had only known this man for less than a day and whatever the undertone was that he concealed along the lines of his words, she had to act. Abandoning her tears, she clambered to her feet and pushed Natasha and Sonya away to liberate herself from that suffocating hug. She was swift as she swerved past the guards that tried to catch her, slipping through their grasp as a fish would from a poacher’s slippery hands. Her hands found the hilt of a sword from a guard’s unsupervised side and with one quick snatch unsheathed it from its holster. She raced towards Andrei whose blade came swing down towards Marya’s neck without warning. Her senses never proved her wrong. Hélène slid across the floor on her knees and with an uppercut, she parried the blow before it took a life. The swords clashed with a loud shriek and Andrei stumbled back from the impact that urticated his arm. He dropped the sword which Hélène took to kicking away so that it was out of his grip and she got up to point the sword at the man with tearstained cheeks.
“You made a deal. I expect you to stick to it,” Hélène hissed.
“Scolding me again, mermaid? You never learn, do you?” Andrei sighed as he placed his hands on his hips. “Give me the sword.” He reached out for it but Hélène smacked his hand away with the flat end of her weapon.
“Not until you assure Marya’s safety. I’m won’t be listening to you.”
Andrei glared at her then at Marya who looked terribly alarmed. “Fine then. I won’t harm her and neither will the guards.” He looked at the troop that surrounded the ring. “I promise.”
“Thank you…”
Hélène lowered her weapon and Marya’s hand shot out to grasp her leg. Hélène let her guard down, and it was already a big mistake. Andrei swiped the sword out of her hands and tapped the tip against the floor before bringing it up to lie against his shoulder. There was something eerie in the way he circled them slowly, like a shark waiting for its prey to move. To trigger the strike, Hélène made a move to kneel down beside Marya; her next mistake. She took Marya’s face in her hands and she began to cry again. The anger had diffused into grief and she could not stand the thought of leaving Marya like this. Marya, through her pain, held Hélène’s hand against her cheek and murmured a very quiet ‘I’m sorry’ which sent Hélène into another fit of tears. Cowardice led Marya to turn away from Hélène; she could not bear to see her cry.
At the center of courtyard, Andrei clanged the sword twice against the ground for attention, prepared to make his announcement. All heads turned to look at him, except his own sister, who chose to watch over her captain and the mermaid just in case the guards tried to do anything stupid. They were on edge, Mary observed, crouching on the ball of their feet as if they were ready to pounce.
“Marya Dmitrievna Akrhosimova. Your end of the deal has been sealed and your foolish actions are worthy are worthy of death but… I am a fair King. On this day onward, you are banished from Polumnyy in this life or another. No one is to ever speak a word to you and you will not show your face here ever again.” He smiled as he turned to Hélène. “That way I can assure you, Elena, I will not lay a finger on her unless she ever dares to step foot in this kingdom against my orders. Is that understood?”
“But y-you said-!”
“Is that understood!?” Andrei bellowed.
“Y-yes…” Hélène tremored.
Andrei rolled his eyes, tossed the sword aside for his guard to pick up and made his way back to the castle doors. “Take the mermaid. And please, discard the captain and her minks.”
The guards were complied with little delay. Two of them went to pluck Hélène away from Marya, grabbing the poor woman by the underarms and forcing her up on her feet when she would not listen to their command. Marya’s hand remained where it last was, upon the ghost of the hand that had been on her cheek. It had gone cold, the warmth stolen away from her and she failed to suppress the shudder that travelled through her frame. She still could not face Hélène as her lover cried out to her, told her stubborn captain that no matter what she would always love her. But Marya did not reply. Foolishly, her persistence was solely committed on training her eyes on the gate that was her escape from this misery. Hélène’s cries faded away as she disappeared pass the wooden doors but Andrei remained to indulge in Marya’s suffering. But there was someone else that caught his attention which made him stay.
The pain returned as another two guards came to retrieve Marya, picking her with surprising caution that she had not expected, though the position was uncomfortable. They picked her up like a rag doll but her limbs and she laid limp in as they walked her out of the castle gates. Her goddaughters jogged to their godmother, Natasha with Marya’s holstered sword, but Sonya did not proceed any further when she realized that Mary was not beside her. When Natasha stopped for her cousin, so did the guards and they settled Marya on the floor as they waited for the girls.
“Mary? We have to go,” Sonya spoke up but Mary did not budge.
“I have to stay, Sonya,” Mary confessed as she fumbled with her sleeves. “I have to make sure Andrei is in control of himself. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Hélène or the kingdom.”
“But it’s not safe. We- We broke you out of there for a reason,” Sonya debated. “You can’t just go back.”
“It’s a selfish decision but it’s also a selfish one to leave Hélène by herself,” Mary reasoned.
“Mary.”
“Please, Sonyushka?” Mary pleaded as she held her hands out to Sonya which Sonya took.
Sonya pondered. “Stay safe…”
“I will. He’s my brother,” Mary reminded Sonya who pulled her into a hug.
“Staying, sister? After betraying your own family?” Andrei called out as pushed himself off the wall to descend the flight of stairs. “Why would I take you back in?”
With a huff, Mary retracted from Sonya to face her brother. “Because you need me and my knowledge. You need that Church Mouse you always made fun of for reading her books. Don’t forget that you came to me for help everyday before I left!”
“That was years ago. I’ve grown out of my immaturity, sister. I don’t need you,” Andrei growled as he stormed up to Mary who kept her head up.
“You need me to take care of Hélène. You haven’t got a clue about mermaids and you might just end up killing her. What would happen then?” Mary challenged.
Andrei scowled in immediate defeat, grimacing at the offense. “Try anything funny and I will not hesitate to banish you. You have a minute to say your goodbyes. I will not accept a second more.” He trudged off grumpily back to the doors.
The man succumbed too easily to defeat, all going accordingly to her plans. It proved that she still knew her brother which guaranteed her safety. After being in Marya’s crew for so long, Mary had grown out of the church mouse of a child that she used to be and evolved into something as witty and sharp as a hawk. She carried this with great pride and gratefulness for the captain who raised her up when her father had been unable to. She could do this on her own. She was finally able to step up and face the fears of her past by returning to the place she once called home. It was a great leap that she never would have dared to take had this occurred a few years back, but here she was. She was ready.
Hers and Sonya’s farewell was spent on a long hug and a kiss on the lips. Sonya did not want to think that this might be their last giving of affection. She did not think of this as a goodbye, more of a ‘see you later’. She could read Mary like an open book and she knew that she had more plans than just providing care for Hélène but she did not respond any differently to the tearful parting. Hope was something they had to depend on heavily now even as their faith in it depleted. It was all they had and they would have to make do of their available sources. Whatever it was they had.
The chime of the last second on Andrei’s watch was accompanied by the slam of the grand doors and Mary was gone. Picking up her skirts, Sonya jogged back to the castle gate to rejoin Natasha and her now unconscious godmother. The guards lifted her back up in their arms and they set off to return to the Akhrosimova estate to pack their things before their departure from Polumnyy.
The house felt so big but Sonya felt so small within its walls. Without Mary and Hélène, it was like the old times when it was just Marya, Natasha and herself. Sonya wondered how Marya managed to stay in a house so empty when Natasha and her returned to the mainland. The girl could not even imagine the house without Marya and Natasha presently for she always had them by her side, mostly Natasha. Dear Natasha, her cousin and her closest friend. Before Mary stepped into her life, Natasha had always been there for her whenever she was alone for she was aware of her fear of being alone. The light chatter between Natasha and her godmother behind the doors reminded her that she still had company but at the same time showed her how Mary was important to her. The vacant study made her feel just as lonely as she had always felt when she had no one for her and the books that surrounded her brought no joy. Like Mary, Sonya loved books especially the ones that Mary would read to her at night when she could not sleep. Without their master reader, they became blocks of pages to her.
She slid a notebook out of a shelf where it sat with its identical siblings and flipped through the wrinkled pages. Mary had a way of writing that would always make the pages crinkle up, probably from pressing down on her pen too hard to the point Sonya could feel the writing on opposite side of the written page and pages after. She ran her fingers along the creases, feeling each bend of the page and the bumps of the intense writing. Years of knowledge spewed onto these pages, all put in the words of a single Bolkonsky princess who chose to explore the world instead of staying in luxury behind great castle walls. This why Sonya fell for her. Mary came out into the world of books, willing to face the terrors of the world that no lesson as a royal has ever taught her. She came out with etiquette, manners and decorum, none of which were useful in the pirate world Marya introduced her to but she blossomed into something so much more. Mary had the decision when they broke into the castle to save her; to stay a princess or leave the title behind for something that could have been less but she took the leap.
Sonya’s melancholic soliloquy came to an end with an epiphany striking her. They had broken in before! How could she have forgotten that vital detail? Saving Hélène and Mary was possible but their chances of success might be much lower than the previous heist. There were two people who needed saving instead of one, two itineraries to find so that the crew would know the location of the two women during certain days and they needed one perfect day and time to get them both. It could not be one without the other as the one left behind would be at risk to Andrei’s wrath. Breaking Mary out had gone smoothly with thorough that came from within the castle and externally. Sonya could recall the notes and maps Mary drew out herself to sneak into her letters that were delivered to her personally by an ally who worked within. On top of that, Sonya remembered keeping the letters.
Sonya scoured through every bookshelf and it found them in an instant thanks to Mary’s knack for cleanliness and organization. The letters had been stashed in notebooks with additional notes and they bore individual labels designed by Sonya herself; she felt very accomplished because of them. She slipped every relevant title off the shelf and slotted them into the remaining space of her bag that contained her clothes. She got an extra rucksack to stuff more of those notebooks for titles related to what they might face just in case as well as the journal Mary kept during her wait for rescue. A knock on the door rang in the silence but Sonya was too busy to notice.
“Sonya, we leave in 30 minutes!” Natasha reported then dashed away with pattering footsteps to find her godmother.
Finished with her stocking, Sonya slung the backs over her shoulders and exited the room by slipping through a small crack in the door. She closed the door behind her and locked it up for safekeeping. Certain with the items she had brought, she made her way to the parlor where she found Natasha and Marya in silence with their bags in hand. Like she had told herself before, Sonya knew that this was not a goodbye forever. They would return to Polumnyy safe and sound, and back to the Akhrosimova estate that awaited their victorious presence once they saved Mary and Hélène. It may take weeks, or in the worst-case scenario: months. Good things came to those who waited patiently and taking time to figure their way through this one may allow them to create something fool-proof. Well, Sonya prayed that they would be so lucky.
Natasha and Sonya bade their home goodbye temporarily but Marya left without sparing the house another look. She walked with her head low and her back slouched. Her eyes fell in a gloom and her once bright grey hues counted the cobblestones that traced their path to the docks to put her mind elsewhere that was not the present. Her posture hung in shame; her efforts drained. She was a completely different person in the eyes of her goddaughters, and they were almost sure that there was no consoling their mourning godmother.
It was humorous how this mission was similar to Marya’s previous voyage out at sea, when put in simple words: ‘Stepping onto forbidden ground to save the one that she loved’. Only this time, this voyage might be tougher. Tales told that humans were worst than the creatures Marya faced out there in the depths of the ocean. After her encounter with Andrei, the tales concluded an established fact and Marya had never feared more for Hélène and Mary who were in the hands of the worst of mankind.
‘Fellow members of the Moscow,
I hope this letter reaches you on time (and in good health) for we have an urgent matter. I come bearing awful news that Marya has been banished from Polumnyy forever while Hélène and I have been taken into the King’s court. I urge you to find our captain at the docks at 6 in the evening which her time of the departure. It is up to you to make the call, of course. Spread this to the others if you can in case their letters have not arrived.
That is all
Signed,
Mary B.’