Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Cali gaped at the pirate. “If you aren’t Bonnie, who are you?”
“Oh, my name is Bonnie, but I’m not the one-eyed pirate who first made her name on the high seas.
My grandmother was the original Bonnie One-Eye, and she truly only has one eye.
” Bonnie reached for a claw and cracked it in her hands.
“She lost her eye in a battle off the coast of Lananore. She never said much about it except that the other captain looked worse. By then, she was already notorious, but losing the eye made her legendary and gave her the name. You know how sailors are. They love a good injury. I’m just grateful it wasn’t a peg leg. ”
Even though the pantheri was still in shock over the revelation, she couldn’t help grinning. “That would be harder to fake.”
Not-One-Eye-Bonnie made a face. “Tell me about it.”
Cali leaned her elbows on the table between them. “So how did you end up taking on the name?”
“She wanted the legacy to survive her.” Bonnie said, plucking creamy meat from inside the spiny claw.
“She’d spent half a lifetime building the reputation.
It seemed wasteful to let it die just because she was tired.
” She tapped the eye patch where it lay on the table beside her goblet.
“My mother was already crewing with her and was already the best sailor on the ship. My grandmother handed her the Cruel Mistress, the title, and this.”
“And your mother wore the patch over a good eye?”
“Gladly.” Bonnie’s mouth curved before she popped the claw meat into her mouth. “To hear my grandmother tell it, my mother always had a flair for the dramatic.”
Cali nodded as she imagined the black eye patch being passed down like an inheritance. “And then your mother retired and handed it to you.”
“A few years ago.” Bonnie swallowed as she looked out at the cove. The last of the pink had seeped from the sky, and the water below had darkened. “She’s living in a cottage on another of the unmarked islands with my dad.”
“Was he also a pirate?”
Bonnie chuckled at this. “He was a bookseller. Apparently, she was his best customer.”
Cali leaned back. “That explains your books.”
The pirate tipped her head in acknowledgment. “Piracy is no excuse for illiteracy.”
“Is that a family motto?”
Bonnie laughed again. “It should be. My grandmother and mother insisted their crews be well read.”
“And were their crews all-female?”
She tossed an empty shell onto the platter. “Naturally.”
“So, when your mother retired, you put on the patch?”
“I put on the patch.” Bonnie picked up another claw. “I was already crewing here. I already knew Tris. It was a simple transition. Besides, I look a lot like my mother.”
Cali turned this over in her mind, and something snagged. “Erindil.”
Bonnie’s hand paused over the platter of claws and shells, and she cocked her head. “Who?”
“The elf you met in Wayside. That was the first time you’d met him, but not the first time he’d met Bonnie One-Eye. That’s why he was startled when you said your name. He was surprised because you weren’t who he expected.”
Bonnie twitched one shoulder, as if conceding a point. “He knew my grandmother. Apparently, they go way back. When he saw me, he knew immediately that I wasn’t her. He kept it to himself, but he pulled me aside before we left Wayside to ask after my grandmother.”
That explained the elf’s enigmatic comments and the conversation between the two.
Bonnie took a swig of her wine. “The trouble with elves is that they live long enough to accumulate everyone’s secrets, and their memories are unshakable. He’ll outlive me and still know exactly which Bonnie I was.”
Cali plucked a claw from the pile, grateful they’d cooled slightly. “How does no one else question your age? Do they think Bonnie One-Eye is immortal?”
“Few pirates are known for their counting skills, and my eternal youth is all part of the legend. I’m sure some folks think I’ve got elf blood, but my crew knows the truth.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.” She said it without hesitation.
“Some of their mothers or grandmothers sailed with my grandmother. Gert’s aunt was on the original crew.
Pinkie’s mother served under my mother for fifteen years.
They like to keep it in the family, same as us.
” Her smile was warm. “They’re loyal because it’s not just a ship and a crew. It’s a family legacy for all of us.”
Cali understood this. Her crew had become her family. “And if other pirates knew. . .?”
Bonnie’s smile dimmed. “They would challenge me. Any captain who thought the real Bonnie One-Eye was a retired grandmother would no longer fear us.”
“So, the secret the sirens hold—”
“Is the whole of it.” Bonnie circled a finger around the rim of her goblet. “They know all three of us. They’ve watched the name pass down like a torch. They’ve never told, but they’ve never let me forget they could.”
Cali was quiet for a moment as she shucked shells off the spicy shellfish and thought. “What happens when you’re ready to retire? Is there a daughter somewhere, being trained to wear an eye patch?”
Bonnie’s expression faltered. “No.”
“No daughter or no retirement plan?”
“Neither.” She took a swig of her drink. “I’ve been trying to decide what to do about it. My grandmother will be devastated. She considers Bonnie One-Eye’s legend a kind of immortality.” She sighed. “But I don’t want to do this forever. I’m not sure I ever did.”
Cali eyed the woman who seemed made for the role of captain. “But you’re so good at it.”
“You can be good at something and not want to do it forever.”
Cali understood that. Her skill as an archer was unmatched, but she had never wanted to spend her whole life shooting arrows. As much as she loved running with her crew, she’d discovered that it wasn’t the quests or the shooting that she missed.
“What do you want to do forever?”
Bonnie looked over the rim of her goblet at the harbor. “That’s a big question. I wouldn’t mind trading the adventure for a quieter life. Something like you have in that village.”
Cali’s eyes widened. “Wayside?”
“Don’t look so surprised. The idea of waking up in the same place and not eating the same few meals on repeat is something I’ve always wanted.”
Cali sat back. “I’ve spent the better part of a year trying to talk myself out of staying in a sleepy village.”
“Don’t you miss it?”
Cali thought about Rog perched on the back of his brandy wagon, Vaskel watchfully tending bar, and Lira busy in the kitchen with Crumpet and Bramble.
She thought about Pip’s lemon sweet rolls and the warmth of the Tusk and Tail on a cold evening when the fire was high.
“I suppose I do. It’s actually a fairly extraordinary place, when I let myself see it.
” She reached for her goblet. “It’s just not this. ”
“No,” Bonnie agreed, her gaze lingering on her ship in the bay. “Not this.” She sounded almost mournful. “Though I would be very pleased if I never spoke to another siren or mermaid in my life.”
Cali raised her goblet. “I’ll drink to that.”
She let the pink wine slide down her throat and tickle her belly, looking at the pirate captain over the rim of her glass. That was when a keening sound echoed from the harbor, and Bonnie’s gaze went sharp and hard.
The captain was on her feet and retrieving her eye patch before Cali fully registered what was happening, although she only had to follow Bonnie’s gaze to The Cruel Mistress to understand why the pirate’s entire body had stiffened.
The lantern on The Cruel Mistress still burned, but something rippled the water beside the ship.
Even from a distance, Cali could make out the warning sounds from Tris as something scaled the hull.
Warm light from a porthole illuminated the creature’s face for a moment as it crept past, and Cali’s fur stood on end when she saw it was crimson.
“That’s a hellkin,” Bonnie said, her voice raw. She was already moving toward the stairs and strapping on her eye patch.
Cali was right behind her.