Living on Writer's Block

“Redhawk?” Samuel’s voice came from the door. “Red, are you alright?”

She scrambled to her feet clumsily and ran to the door, opened it, and flung herself onto Samuel. “Oh Samuel, she’s back, she’s back,” she cried, shaking. 

Samuel stumbled in surprise and hesitantly put a hand on her back. “Here, take it easy, Red; what’s wrong, who’s back?” He pushed her to arm’s length and held her there.

“Samuel, it’s her, it’s the Matron, she’s come back!”

“I don’t understand, what? Did she leave? You never told me,” he said in confusion.

“Because the other night, I dreamed her dying. But it wasn’t just seeing her light on fire and crash through the window again; she just — disappeared, and I knew I’d defeated her.” She told him the dream in a trembling voice. Samuel’s face reddened slightly, as did hers, when she told about how he’d  been the one in her dream that freed her.

He stood in silence for a moment after she finished. “And then, tonight?”

“She was back, Samuel, only different. She was young, and beautiful, and all in black and red instead of the pink she used to wear. And she was sitting on a throne, high above me; and she had horrible burns across the side of her face and all down her body.”

“I don’t care what she looked like, we can’t make a wanted poster for a dream,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “What did she say?”

“She says she can control my dreams, now. She calls herself the queen of the dream-realm. She can control everything about my dreams; who’s in them, what happens in them, and even —” she paused. “She can make me sleep — forever,” she said in a low voice. His eyes widened slightly. “And I have a horrible feeling she’s only a novice in these powers, Samuel. I think, before long, she’ll be able to do more than just keep me asleep.”

Samuel’s face was pale. He swore softly. “That’s not good,” he said. “Basically, she can kill you from inside your dreams.” Ramona nodded mutely. “And she says that if you defeat her again, she’ll just go on to another type of throne?”

She nodded. “And Samuel, she tried to offer me a deal. She’d show me my future, and how to change it, if she could control — me — whenever she chose.”

“Well I sure as heck hope you refused!”

“I did, I did! You should know by now, Captain, that I  don’t make deals with witches. But if she has that ability now, when she’s weak, won’t she be able to do it without my consent when she’s — stronger?”

“It’s possible,” he said grimly, after a moment’s silence. “But I swear to you, Ramona, I got you out of her clutches once, and it almost killed me; if it kills me once and for all this time, I’ll do it again.” He looked into her eyes intensely, jaw locking in anger. 

“Wha— Captain, no, you can’t! This is just like what happened last time, I can’t let you be killed because of me! I couldn’t live with myself after that, Captain,” she said desperately. 

“Ramona — I need you to stay with me, here. I can’t help you if you refuse to let me.”

“Samuel, please, don’t!  I — I couldn’t bear to see you hurt.” She bit her lip, trying to calm herself and show him that she could fight her own battles.

“No, Redhawk; I won’t let her control you this way. You can’t just come stumbling out sobbing about this and then refuse my help as soon as I offer it. I am your captain, and that means more than just ordering you around and expecting you to obey. It means I’m responsible for you, and I’m going to protect you. Last time, I helped because she’d kill my only friend; now, I’ll help any way I can because she’s killing a member of my crew. Crew is family out here, Red. I won’t let her hurt any of my family on this ship,” he said harshly, eyes flashing with blue fire.

She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears; she gave up trying to persuade him. She ducked under the hand that held her away and put her arms around him, pressing close against the dark blue velvet of his vest. “Please, Samuel, just be careful,” she said softly, her voice still trembling. “If something goes wrong — I don’t know what she could do to you, but I fear it’s more than we’d expect.”

He put a cautious hand on her back, looking down at the top of her head as she nestled against his shoulder. “I’ll do what it takes, Ramona. Whatever it takes,” he repeated firmly.

After a moment her eyes popped open and she pulled away quickly. “I’m sorry, I should be more careful — I know we’re friends, but the crew could get the wrong idea.”

He said nothing, but nodded slowly, worry for her showing plainly in his clear blue eyes. “If you’re alright now — I’ll go.”

“Yes, I— I’m alright, for now. Just… well, thank you, for being ready to help me like that.” She looked away in embarrassment. “You shouldn’t need to,” she added quietly.

He nodded once, silently, and turned away. She stepped back into her room to grab her boots and slide them on. She got up and stood in the center of her room in silence for a minute as she thought. Abruptly she shook herself, coming back to the present, and went down to the kitchen, to make breakfast for the crew. Her actions were stiff and mechanical, as she tried not to think about her dream. What if that was all it was, was a dream? What if her own terrors had just conjured up a strange image for her, merely for one night? Her shaking hands nearly upset a pitcher of water into the men’s breakfast. She fumbled to catch it, but caught her breath in shock as a blue-sleeved arm reached around her from behind and caught it just as the water was lapping at the edge. She huffed a quick sigh, still frightened as before, and turned to face the captain. 

“What now, sir? Surely you have something better to do than saving the oatmeal.”

He gave a slight grunt of amusement. “I was just coming to tell you we’re stopping at an island up ahead. It’s a trading port, and we’ll be able to get more supplies. I wanted to know if you needed anything.”

“Isn’t it Pierre’s job to take care of the crew’s needs?”

“No offense to him — he loves you like a daughter, but I don’t think he quite realizes you might need more than the average sailor. For example, if you’re making new clothes you need things like a needle, thread, probably something to cut fabric with other than that rapier…” He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

She sighed, still on edge. “I’m sorry, yes, of course; I need those.”

“Anything else? Sailors used to being free their whole lives may not have many wants; but a girl recently liberated from slavery might want more…?”

She looked up at him with tired, half-lidded eyes that looked nearly dead with fear. He suddenly noticed how she had to fight to keep her voice calm when she next spoke. “Thank you, Captain, but I don’t need anything. I’ll be alright.”

He hesitated for a moment. “It’s — also where the man who knows about magic lives. The one I told you about near the beginning? You’re… done sailing here, Ramona.”

Her eyes found his, a little more alive. “Really? Then I can find out what happened that day, finally? I can figure out this — dream?”

“I guess so. You’re welcome to stay behind for a bit while we do our trading, and then I’ll take you to him myself, if you like.”

She nodded. “I’ll stay, I need time to recover after — everything.”

“Very well; carry on, but — try not to make a mess.” He offered a half-hearted grin and then turned and left. She let her head fall forward a little, still paralyzed by terror; she turned slowly and leaned back against the table, her hands gripping the edge on either side of her with shaking white knuckles. Suddenly, without warning, she blacked out and crumpled to the floor.