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salemsoul · 4 years

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The Gentleman Bastard’s sequence Fanfic. (Spoilers)

Overview: Locke and Jean find Sabetha 5 years after the events in Karthain only to find out she has a child.

It had been five years since Locke and Jean had last seen Sabetha. That fateful night in Karthain played repeatedly on Locke's mind, and despite his pain, he stayed true to his word and did not seek her out. Jean often thought they were being too true, and that just finding her would certainly save him how many more years of headaches until she resurfaced again. His friend Locke was as stubborn as a debt collector but complained like a toddler, and with 10 years total, not including their short time with the bondsmagi, of his bullshit whinging about Sabetha, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

They had heard rumours throughout the years about her. Whisperings about the rose of the marrows resurfacing and destroying lives, some even said she was dead. But that's all they were. Whisperings. When created, myths tend to grow and twist all of their own.

However, Jean followed the rumours as much as he could. If he mentioned any to Locke he would just reply with "Well, I hope she's having the time of her life, and absolutely fucking miserable," often accompanied by said friend guzzling down the nearest bottle of wine until he was in a hazy stupor.

Due to Locke's almost constant drunken, depressed state, Jean was in charge of where they travelled, and the few months they were there Locke would hyper-focus on a new scheme, seemingly cured from his ailments, until it was all over, and Locke the mess would return. During this time, they'd even found themselves in the middle of a war, taking advantage of people's needs for supplies and weapons to charm the coins out of their pockets, only to find themselves in bigger trouble. Thank goodness that was now behind them, and Jean hoped this next city would finally reunite them with Sabetha.

The previous places they had visited had all been due to rumours about Sabetha's whereabouts, not that Jean ever told Locke that, and their arrival at Halgaist, a mountain village, was for the same reasons.

If Locke noticed this wasn’t the best place for a scheme, he didn't say, but they had accumulated a nice amount of wealth recently that they weren't desperate for money.

About a week into their stay, Jean was just about to think that Halgaist was yet another dead end, when they met her.

Earlier that day, Jean had roused Locke enough to convince him that a walk around the markets might spark his mind for a scheme. Locke begrudgingly agreed, dressing himself at a leisurely pace, before following Jean out of the door into the late afternoon chill.

Halgaist was famous for its winter markets, where craftsmen who lived deeper into the mountains, came to the town to sell their wares for the winter period. The whole town centre was filled with stalls selling items from furniture to warmed wine and dried fruit.

Jean and Locke were just at one of these stalls, admiring the intricately carved wooden toys and music boxes when they locked eyes with Sabetha on the other side.

The three froze, not quite believing that who was in front of them was not a spectre before tears started to fall. Sabetha rushed around the table, dodging milling citizens and accidentally hitting a few with the paper bag she held in one hand before launching herself at the two men.

"I never thought I'd see you two again," she said between tears, pulling them into her arms and squeezing again. Locke seemed beyond words so Jean said,

"And us, you." Relief washed through Jean, the hunt was finally over, but a look to his right told him enough about what Locke was feeling. Locke was frozen, staring off into the distance with tears sliding down his face as if he was in a trance. Sabetha didn't seem to notice so ushered them out of the crowds and to the empty side of the large square.

"Would you two like to come to mine, we can talk about our time apart over some spiced wine and cakes." Sabetha looked mostly to Locke as she said this, chewing nervously on her lower lip, and when Locke didn't reply Jean simply said,

"We'd love to," before gesturing for her to lead the way. Sabetha looked at Locke, who was still staring off into the distance, before offering Jean a tight lipped smile and nodded.

Sabetha lead them to a small district just out of the town full of cosy wooden cabins and snow-capped mountain tops. Sabetha talked and talked about the history of the town and about her favourite places to visit while rarely turning around to check if the two men were following her. She led them up to one of these cabins, tucked slightly out of the way behind a few grand pine trees, before welcoming them inside.

Jean and Locke followed her into what served as the kitchen in this quaint two storey cabin, and sat down at the large oak table in the centre of the room while Sabetha fussed, rushing upstairs for a few moments and then added a few logs to the already burning fire in the hearth and grabbing the wine, her paper bag discarded on the table.

Sabetha sat perpendicular to Locke at the table, to Locke's left, while Jean sat to his right. Jean then began spinning the tale of the last few years, talking about their troubles in Emberlain and a few honourable mentions from their latest schemes. Locke would occasionally quip in, and as time passed Locke seemed to relax and become more himself, much to Jean's relief.

Sabetha was looking at Locke as if she had something to say, still nervously chewing on that lip, while nodding along to their tale, barely lifting her eyes to look at Jean. Jean tried not to feel the sting. Sabetha probably missed Locke as much as he missed her, but had yet to tell them the reason for her departure in Karthain in the first place, content to let them take the lead in this conversation.

They were just down to halfway on their second bottle of spiced wine when a small voice arose from behind Jean. "Mama, who are these people?" Jean turned to see a small girl, not more than three or four years too her, clutching a soft toy to her chest. She wore a long white nightgown, grazing her ankles, and had messy red hair. Her steely blue eyes bore into Jean's, leaving him blinking confusedly at Sabetha a question on his face. Locke's expression mirrored his own as his eyes set on the girl, except with an added bit at horror.

Sabetha rushed to the little girl, crouching down in front of her. "Did we wake you up from your nap?" Sabetha said, smoothing the girl's hair. The little girl shook her head. "Do you want to go back up to bed?" The little girl shook her head again. Sabetha let out a sigh, before picking up the girl, carrying her on her hip and setting her on her lap as she sat down back in the chair she had just left. Sabetha reached over and picked up a small slice of cake from the table and presented it to the girl, who greedily accepted it into her tiny hands, leaving her toy to fall on the floor.

Locke picked it up, placing it on the table between them before saying, "So, you have a child." Jean could tell pain laced every calm word. The thought that Sabetha might have moved on, had even started a family, had never crossed their minds. To Jean, it had always been Locke and Sabetha, even when the years drifted on without a sign from her, to think that it could now be Locke, and Sabetha and someone else, hit Jean in a way he couldn't describe. Jean did the maths in his head, if this girl was indeed about three or four years old as he suspected, it means she must have been conceived not long after they split ways in Karthain. Could Sabetha really have found someone and moved on that quickly?

The girl was staring at Jean again as she messily ate the cake. There was something about her eyes that felt off to him. They were wise and assessing beyond her years, and hauntingly familiar.

Sabetha drew her gaze from Locke, wiping a few crumbs from her daughters dress. "Uh yes I do. I was going to tell you two as soon as I saw you again, but it was too hard, I'm sorry. I really was going to tell you tonight though."

Locke took a swig from his wine, "well as long as you are happy, and as long as her father cherishes her, and you."

"About that,-" Sabetha was interrupted by her little girl, cake now demolished, reaching over and pulling Sabetha's glass towards herself with her sticky hands. "Ah ah ah, that's not for you." The girl let out a little whinge and started puffing out her lips. Sabetha let out a long sigh, "Fine, but just a sip." She helped her daughter take a swig, and when she pulled the glass away the little girl let out a little giggle from her wine soaked mouth directed at Locke. Locke seemed stunned at the little girl's sudden attention, but gave her a smile before lifting his own glass up in a salute and downing it to the dregs.

Sabetha then wiped the girls mouth on her dress, staining it a light pink, before tucking the girl into her arms in a cuddle and continued, "As I was saying," Sabetha took a long breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say, "her father has not had a chance to cherish her," a look to Locke, "because her father is you."

The words shot through Locke and Jean, and they couldn't quite believe what they were hearing. Locke seemed to have been transported to wherever the Eldren had gone at the words and they were going to have to scrap his jaw off of the table.

Deep understanding settled in Jean. Of course he knew those eyes. Those where Locke's eyes in the little girl that were now slowly drifting off to sleep in her mother's arms, and the maths made sense, she must have been conceived that night in Karthain, when Sabetha disappeared, making the little girl just past four years old.

Locke sputtered, shaking his head, "and you didn't think to tell me, to find some way to contact me." His eyes went dark, and that was the rawest emotion Jean had seen from his friend in a while.

Regret painted Sabetha's face, and she pulled her daughter a little closer to her chest. "I did try. Please believe me I did, but I was also very scared. You see, the night I left, Patience was her name right? Well, she told me that I, that we, were going to have a daughter, and no matter what I did, she was going to find herself into this world, and if I did not leave now, we would lose our daughter because of you, and I was so shocked and scared, and I wanted my own little piece of this world, that I left. I tried to write you a note, but I knew you wouldn't understand, so I just gathered a few things and left. And don't think for one minute that in these last five years I haven’t regretted that decision, because I have regretted every moment. Especially when I gave birth and you couldn't be there to share that with me."

One of Sabetha's tears dropped onto her daughters cheeks and the little girl sat up with a start, her sleepy state gone, and brushed away the tears on her mother's face. Sabetha looked to her daughter and gave her a sweet smile, "thank you, darling, Mama's ok, don't worry." The girl only narrowed her eyes suspiciously, before nuzzling back into Sabetha's chest.

"I need some time to think Sabetha." Locke said, staring at the table. Sabetha stood up, cradling her daughter in her arms.

"I am going to go upstairs and put our daughter to bed, you can stay down here all you like and think away while I'm gone." And she walked out in the direction of the stairs.

"Locke," Jean started but Locke just gave his friend a look that stopped him in his tracks so neither of them spoke for several minutes. "At least we know why she left. And it’s a pretty damn good reason too."

Locke nodded absently, "Fucking patience, I hope she rots in hell wherever she is."

"That I can agree with," Jean said, taking a sip from his wine.

"I have a daughter Jean. A daughter. And I didn't even know. I've been drinking like a lonely widow while Sabetha has been here raising our daughter for me."

"You can't blame yourself Locke, you didn't know." Jean took this time to refill his friend's glass, but Locke didn't touch it.

"I couldn't even be a good garrista Jean. I let the only initiate we had die in front of me. How am I going to be a good father? Bug would be twenty now, twenty. If only I could have looked after him like chains did for us."

"Hey now, none of that is your fault, you did your best, and Bug had a better life with us, no matter how short it was, than he would have had had he stayed Shade's Hill. The Grey King and the Falconer wanted us all dead, we are lucky we escaped that ourselves, and you are lucky to have even fathered that child with the woman you loved. Don't I wish I could have had that opportunity."

"Jean. You know I don't mean to be ungrateful."

"I know, but just think, upstairs you have a beautiful little baby girl. Yes, you may not have been in her life for the first bit, but now you have a chance to be in the rest of it. So prove to yourself that you are worth more than all this drinking and scheming, and be the man I know you can be. That girls got a wonderful mother, and she'll do just fine raised by her, but I'm sure she'd be mighty grateful to have you there too." Jean picked up his glass again and took another drink.

"Jean, I need to go upstairs." Locke said, shakily standing on his feet.

"Then go then," was all Jean said, as Locke disappeared in the direction Sabetha went.

Locke got to the top of the landing and paused at the multiple closed wooden doors. A faint sound of singing could be heard from one just down the corridor and Locke knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open.

Sabetha was sat on the edge of a small cot in a cosily decorated room that was no doubt a child's. A few toys were strewn across the floor and small paintings, painted by a child's hand, hug on the wall. She was gently stroking their daughter's head, while singing an old Camorri tune they often heard the sailors sing when they were growing up. Sabetha stopped at the end of a verse, and Locke continued the song, perching next to her on the cot. Soft snores could soon be heard from the little being on the bed.

Sabetha then stood up slowly, and Locke followed her out of the room, where she closed the door softly behind them. Neither of them made a move to step away from the door, and stood in silence for a few long moments.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for the first few years of her life, but I would like to be in the future ones." Locke said softly, careful not to speak too loudly.

Sabetha didn't reply for another long while and turned away from him as she said, "Well, that depends. Are you going to insist on continuing your ridiculous schemes, because I told you once and I will tell you again Locke, but I can’t live with you as a garrista. And I don't want that life for our daughter either."

"If that is what it takes, though I don't know what I will do with myself I will admit."

Sabetha turned around slightly, "enjoy life, instead of living scheme to scheme and destroying people's lives. I admit it is fun, but there are other jobs that also require our particular skill set." She took a few steps towards him. "I've taken up acting. There's a small theatre troop here and I work with them. It's not a lot of money, but for once I don't have to worry about being caught. Join us, have a break and raise our daughter with me."

"What if I'm not any good and I mess her up somehow?" Locke said, taking Sabetha's hands in his own.

"You have to trust yourself. She can't be as messed up as we are. I've coped this long on my own, trust me, it's not easy, but it's a lot of fun." Sabetha reached up a hand and cupped Locke's cheek, he gave her palm a small kiss and covered her hand with his own.

"I'll do my best, you can be garrista for this," Locke smiled.

Sabetha gave a small chuckle, "Trust me, the only garrista here is snoring away in her bed."

"Is she really that much trouble?"

"Oh, just wait and see."

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tobeathief · 4 years

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Prophecies and Spiky Cats Chapter 3: Also available to read on Ao3, fanfiction.net and wattpad

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Two weeks had passed since Sabetha had decided to leave Karthain, to leave Locke and Jean, at the strong encouragement of Patience. The ship's crew had taken to calling her the demon tamer, due to the fact she would scarcely be seen on deck without Locke, the little cat she had adopted, around her neck.

He refused to go near anyone else and would hiss and scratch at them if they so much as looked at him the wrong way, a fact Sabetha felt very amused by. The cat kept any would-be handsy sailors well out of her path, and for that, she was very very thankful.

They were just south-east of the Sea of Brass when a storm picked up around the ship, whipping the deck into chaos. These past weeks had been a leisurely cruise, idyllic weather every day, that with the quickness that this storm came in, it could only be God's given.

The ship was quickly turned into chaos and Sabetha didn't know what to do. For the first time in her life, she was in a situation she didn't have any skills in. She didn't know how to hoist the mainsails or man the wheel.

Her hair was whipping in her face, drenched by the cold rain and seawater, as she noticed the lifeboats clattering cautiously in the wind. Thunder rumbled all around her and mixed with the shouts and screams of the crew.

Locke was wrapped frightened around her neck, hiding in her hair. His claws digging into the sensitive skin there, Sabetha tried not to grimace. One of the sailors rushed past her, knocking her to her knees on the wet deck as a bolt of lightning split the sky and hit one of the ropes of the lifeboats, breaking it effortlessly. The lifeboat began to sway with the force, and dangling by one rope, started swinging dangerously close to the crew's oblivious heads.

Sabetha scrambled to her feet, Locke still firmly fixed on her neck and raced for the snapped rope. She leaned over the railing grasping for it as the ship swayed and creaked beneath her feet. After a few perilous tries, Sabetha succeeded, pulling the rope down just in time for the lifeboat to swing up and narrowly miss decapitating Solus Volantyne. He clutched his chest in shock as in his worried state trying to keep the crew in order, he hadn't seen it swinging for him.

"I owe you my life Verena," he remarked as Sabetha struggled with the rope.

"Don't thank me yet."

Volantyne then continued to shout orders at his terrified crew, and Sabetha was left to wrestle the rope herself. The rope creaked and strained, burning her hands as it tried to pull out of her grasp. Sabetha bit her lip with the strain, and Locke yowled in fear.

Another big wave crashed onto the ship, drenching Sabetha and Locke to the bone. The cat let out another yowl. In the shock, the rope began to pull again, finally slipping out of Sabetha's grasp. "NO!" she shouted, reaching over the railing again. Another wave crashed on the deck and washed Sabetha over with it.

She hit the water with a painful splash. The ice-cold water biting her as she struggled to stay afloat. Locke was miraculously still attached to her, stiff and shivering, tension down his long body. Sabetha tried to shout up, but the commotion was too load, the storm too violent. Nobody could hear her. So she continued to kick uselessly at the water. A few metres away something else fell into the water, causing another splash to coat the pair. The lifeboat Sabetha had been wrestling with.

Sabetha tried not to think too much as she felt something rub up against her leg and paddled for the empty boat. Reaching the side, she grasped ungracefully for the rim. The hardwood pinched her palms as she struggled to pull her weight up into the boat. After a few useless pulls, she finally did it, and woman and cat splattered into the hull.

Locke was shaking and was no doubt as scared and wet as she was. He was wide-eyed and his fur was sticking in all directions. Both hacked up seawater immediately, the feeling of it burning Sabetha's throat, and then collapsed in a heap.

When she had caught her breath, Sabetha again tried to shout and signal the crew on the ship. She cautiously stood up on shaky feet and waved her arms about, pleading for anyone to notice her, but no one did. And they were drifting further and further away. Locke yowled an even uglier sound and hide beneath one of the benches as they watched another bolt of lightning hit the Volantyne's Resolve, setting fire to one of the mainsails.

"Shit. Shit!" Sabetha cursed, shouting again with all the air in her lungs. She continued shouting until her voice was coarse, and the Volantyne's Resolve was too far out into the horizon. She collapsed back into the hull and coughed again. This time blood spattered onto her and wiping her mouth decided it was in her best interest to ignore that.

Locke looked at her nervously from his hiding place and she just sighed, before everything went dark.

Sabetha woke up to burning hot sunshine, and with Locke nervously licking and nipping at her face. She brushed him off and he let out an excited and relieved meow in response. Her neck and shoulders killed from where Locke had been digging his claws in for so long, and her whole body ached. She could barely move.

The calm ocean was a mockery to what it had been the night before, and no ship could be seen as far as Sabetha could see off into the horizon. They were well and truly lost at sea.

It served her right. She should have stayed with Locke and Jean, discarded Patience's words. At least then she might have been able to die with her family. She had run to protect a future she will no doubt not get. She would have been a useless mother anyway. She's too stubborn and aggressive to ever hope to be the calm and caring mother she hoped to be.

Patience had tricked her. And she fell headfirst for it. Locke yowled and started to bite at her hand. He was no doubt still frightened and hungry. She was too. But this was how they were to die. Miles from home, from the man she loved. In an empty boat with a grumpy cat. If she was to die first, the cat would no doubt eat her. By the time anyone came across her corpse, it will be half-rotted and mauled. Completely unrecognisable.

Locke will no doubt think she had abandoned him forever, found a wealthy man and lived a wild life. He'll no doubt die alone and cold and bitter. Cursing her name in his last dying breath.

Jean would hate her. That she knew. Hate her for the pain she will have caused his particular friend who he is devoted too so tenderly. A devotion that caused ice to form in her heart.

That second night was one of the worst. One she spent the whole time awake. Locke had propped himself up on the edge of the boat and tried to drink the seawater, but she battered him down telling him how dangerous it was.

In the early glow of the morning, Sabetha spent a few hours trying to grab a curious fish to eat. Eventually, she succeeded, but it was barely longer than her finger. She fed it to Locke. He needed it more than her.

As the third night crawled in, cold wrapped itself around the boat. Locke snuggled into her for any remaining warmth, and they laid curled up shivering.

By the fourth morning, and the blistering heat, Sabetha drank the seawater.

The fifth morning, Sabetha woke to shouting and banging. Locke was freaking out, yowling with all his little lungs could muster. Sabetha sat up groggily to be face to face with a pirate and she yelped.

"I'd be damned Captain. The redhead is alive!" Sabetha tried to shuffle back only to notice she was stuck in her little lifeboat surrounded by pirates. Sabetha threw up once again, seawater coating her shivering form. The last thing she saw was a striking woman, with black skin and braided hair, rings pierced the arch of her ear and her eyes burrowed into Sabetha's soul, and then everything went blank.

Sabetha awoke in a cabin. Not as lavish as her one of the Volantyne's resolve, but smart and cosy enough. She could feel a little hand stroking her head and for a minute she thought it might be the little cat. To her surprise when she opened her eyes, two pairs of striking young eyes stared down at her, Sabetha sat up with a start.

"Ok, give her space now you two." The children backed off immediately and sat legs crossed about a metre away patiently. "I hope you don't mind, they were worried about you and I've been trying to teach them about medicine." Sabetha shook her head. The owner of the voice was the woman she has seen before she had passed out, but Sabetha had been sure she was the Captain, why would she be nursing her? "Now drink this." Before Sabetha could argue, a cold sour liquid was forced down her throat. It was probably one of the worse things she had ever drunk, and she gagged. "Ah ah ah," the woman warned, "don't go throwing that up in my lovely cabin, I won't be able to get the smell out for weeks, and it's good for you, you need the nutrients.

"How long have I been out?" Sabetha said, the sound coming out a raspy whisper.

"A few days. You have woken up a few times like this, I've shoved this tonic down your throat, and you've fallen back asleep. Something I suggest you do again."

"What about the cat I was with, he's mostly black and he's got a little dot of white on his neck."

"The cat is safe too. Already running the mice on board wild."

Sabetha smiled in relief and let herself slip back into sleep.

It had been a week since she had initially woken up on the ship when Sabetha had enough strength to take a walk up onto the deck. As she pushed open the door, she was momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sky and swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"Oh, steady their redhead, don't want you falling overboard when we've just fixed ya up." It was the pirate she saw when she first awoke. She stood about an inch shorter than Sabetha and had light brown skin with cropped dark hair. Her eyes were the beautiful green of seawater, and her face was slightly flushed with the sun.

"Thank you," Sabetha said, rather breathlessly gripping onto the arm she held out for her.

"The names Asha, I'm the second mate on the Poison Orchid, nice to meet you," Sabetha smiled. It was welcoming to have a friendly face and Sabetha was put at ease.

"I'm Sabetha." Before she could stop herself, her true name slipped out of her throat, she cursed herself for being so clumsy and hoped it wouldn't come back to haunt her.

"Sabetha…" Asha let the name roll on her tongue a few times, "unusual."

"Uh, thanks," Sabetha replied, still squinting in the brightness of the sun.

"Want to take a turn around the deck with me and then go and eat something?"

"I've already had my tonic today."

"I don't mean that corpse shit, I mean some proper food. We haven't long stopped off at shore, so we've got stocks of it, and it's more than just ships crackers!"

Sabetha smiled again, "That sounds great." Asha linked her arms through hers and took her for a walk around the ship. Asha muttered on about all the different parts and where not to go, as well as the latest crew gossip. Sabetha smiled a real smile for the first time in a while. It had been a very long time since she had had a friend like this.

Memories of her times with Nazca at the last mistake, sat on the roof drinking brandy filled her mind. They would both talk over each other in an excited rumble Sabetha was surprised they ever understood each other. Nazca would talk about her brothers, and her dream to be Capa one day and laugh about all of the men who would hit on her to try and win her father's favour. Nazca had only told Sabetha as far as she knew that she was only interested in women. She kept it a secret from her father and brothers and though they loved her very much, she knew it would go down like a sinking ship. If she was to be Capa, she needed to have children to pass on the legacy. Something Nazca had no interest in doing.

Nazca often told her about her dalliances with women. They were frequent, and rarely with the same person. Sabetha often thought that Nazca might have a sex life to rival that of the Sanza's. She'd even slept with both of the Berangia sisters. To think they caused her father's death filled Sabetha's stomach with disgust. To think they were flirting with Nazca while plotting her father's death. They deserved the death they got at the wrong end of Jean's hatchets.

"Are you ok? You've gone all glassy-eyed?" Asha said, breaking a roll of bread in half and offering one half to Sabetha. She took it and didn't hesitate in taking a bite. Her first real bite of food in weeks. The bread was slightly bland, but Sabetha ate it as if it was the last thing she would ever eat, and then helped herself to another full roll.

Asha didn't comment, just offered her olives and little fish, which Sabetha graciously accepted. "I'm good, just really hungry apparently," Sabetha smiled between mouthfuls. Asha nodded and then walked her back to her cabin.

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