hollyethecurious:

“Start with the youngest,” the captain, and their newest master ordered.

Killian’s stomach dropped and filled with a cold dread that spread up through his chest cavity. Tears began to burn in his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall. He knew what his tears did to Liam, and he wouldn’t put his brother through anymore anguish than he’d already have to endure. The rough hands of the first mate dragged Killian forward, and Liam’s shouts of protest echoed in his ears.

“No, please! Don’t do this! We won’t run. We’ve never run. You don’t have to-” The backhand of one of the crew silenced Liam and knocked him to the hard boards of the deck. Killian stared at his brother with a resolve no eleven year old should ever have to display, and shook his head when it looked as though Liam might argue again.

He could endure this. He’d have to. It was gong to happen to him whether he wanted it to or not. Just as all the other atrocities had. Those that Liam had tried to protect him from, and several he knew nothing of and never would. No amount of pleading had ever served to alleviate the burden, and most times it only added to it. Killian would endure their new captain’s order, if for no other reason than to spare Liam an even harsher consequence.

When the red hot poker, emblazoned with their new master’s seal, met the bare skin of Killian’s shoulder, he realized the awful truth. There would never be a worse consequence for Liam than hearing his little brother’s screams echo across the open waters of the sea as a ruthless man branded him as property.

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