9 The Golden Problem
The Golden Problem
"Sing, siren, for thyself, and I will dote;
Spread o'er the silver waves thy golden hairs,
And as a bed I'll take them and there lie,
And in that glorious supposition think
He gains by death that hath such means to die;
Let Love, being light, be drowned if she sink!"
― William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors
THE LURE OF THE GOLD and the promise of fortune should have been enough for Mara to ensnare Alex Duprez and Roxanne O'Toole in her scheme. For any other pirate it would have been more than sufficient.
“Running this brothel is beneath you,” Mara told them, sweet as honey. “You deserve to be out on the seven seas, seizing your fortune.”
“The captains want us here,” Duprez said with a frown, clearly not happy about it either. Mara took note to turn this to her advantage. “They’re the ones with the power, so...”
“Of course. But money is power. If I had come by a secret about a certain treasure...” Mara stepped closer, stroking a hand up his arm. “If I could hand you the keys to get it...”
“I’m listening,” Duprez leaned in.
“What if I told you I knew about an obscene amount of gold that Elizabeth Barnes wanted to steal?” Mara whispered, her eyes passing from Duprez to O’Toole. “And all we had to do was get to it first?”
“You’re out of your fucking mind!” Roxanne, who'd been glowering silently through the conversation, finally spoke. Her flame-red hair moved in a wave of aggression as she rose. “You really think you can pull one over on that bitch and get away with it? She gets wind of that and we're right fucked!”
The thought of Elizabeth doing anything more to Mara than what she'd already done - betrayed her love and left her to rot in a human whorehouse - made cold anger knot in her stomach. "I am not afraid of Elizabeth Barnes."
"You fucking should be."
“Darling,” Duprez attempted to placate his lynx-eyed companion. “I think we should hear Mara out to the end.”
“You actually considering this? You’re fucking daft!” Roxanne exploded. “What, are you fucking her now? She using her cunt and her tits on you, like she does on everyone else, so you'll come running? I don’t fucking need this!”
“Xanne, please, I only...” Mara reached a careful hand to touch her arm in an attempt to intervene.
The red-haired jezebel would have none of it, ripping Mara's fingers from her sleeve. “Get your fucking hands off me!” She stormed from the room, the door shutting behind her with such force that Mara worried for the building’s integrity.
“Well, that went well,” Alex sighed.
Mara sank back down, momentarily defeated.
Why was it so upsetting that Roxanne, of all people, had said such things?
Her dismissal of Mara's plan was disappointing, as well as Mara's obvious failure to manipulate the woman the way she thought she'd be able to.
But for the first time, the insinuation that she was using her body to manipulate Duprez - coming from Roxanne - it hurt.
“Don’t worry about her,” Duprez pointed behind him at the abused door. “I’ll have a nice, long talk with her later. Perhaps more than a talk. It’ll work out. Now,” he said, taking a seat in turn, “tell me about this... gold.”
Gold. Always the fucking gold! Oh, if only it would sink to the bottom of the ocean, then it wouldn’t be an issue anymore, for anyone. Hawk rode up to the familiar house - the closest place he had to a real home in Port Royal - with a heavy heart and a mind full of conflicting thoughts.
If someone had asked him only a few weeks ago, he would’ve said that treasure galleon was his only salvation.
The one sure way to achieve the vengeance that he had sworn against the society that had rejected them.
Vengeance for Lucas. It was the answer to all his quandaries, and fate had dangled it too conveniently before his nose. But in what a package!
Let no one say that God did not have a certain perverse sense of humor.
But now... Now? The thought of all that treasure nauseated him. Would Finn leave him once they had the gold? And God damn it, when the hell did Silver become “Finn” to him?
Oh yes, probably around the time that Hawk had nuzzled into his beautiful, tan neck, and breathed words of adoration that would make any pirate worth his salt blush and walk his own plank.
Even now, the thought of being close to Silver again made his stomach twist itself into knots and his heart flutter with longing.
The thought of kissing those sweet lips, holding him close, seeing those impossibly blue eyes gazing up at him with such desire!
God, Hawk was a damn fool.
He hadn’t felt this way for far too long. Not since... Lucas.
Oh God.
They had been so young then, and so full of hubris, the two of them.
But in the defense of his former young self, he had been blinded by his light.
Lucas Warrick, his sun and his moon. He'd grown up close enough with the man for them to consider each other neighbors, although Samuel Wilkins had been a farmer's son.
Only later had he become a merchant sailor, and Lucas stood to inherit a dukedom.
Everything should have divided them: their stations, their upbringing, their families. And yet, that only seemed to draw Lucas towards Samuel, like a beautiful moth to a wild flame.
In time, it had become obvious that Lucas had wanted more than Samuel’s heart.
He'd wanted all of him. His angel, his demon.
His salvation and his damnation. And, Lord help him, he'd wanted Lucas back.
Craved him like a drowning man craves air.
If only Samuel hadn't allowed himself to become so blinded by his golden glow - like everyone around them - perhaps he may have seen that hubris would be the fall of them.
Seen that it was only a matter of time before someone took slight to the golden Lord.
Even now, he still didn't know who'd been behind it.
Who'd decided that they couldn't have a future Duke who had half the men in the county wrapped around his little finger.
Had it been a matter of propriety, or jealousy?
Lucas' cousin, wanting his title? A jealous would-be lover?
A Puritan? It didn't matter. The end result had been the same.
When they'd been finally betrayed, when men came for them, to drag Samuel to the gallows, to drag Lucas off God knows where, Samuel had fought them off like a rabid dog. He'd been ready to die so that Lucas could live. But it had been Lucas they'd wanted, not some farmer's sodomite son.
So, it was Lucas who'd stayed behind to cover his escape. It was Lucas’ blood that paved his way to Portsmouth, and from there to the Caribbean.
Lucas' blood had signed the papers that made him into Samuel Hawk, the ruthless pirate and killer of men..
Was he betraying Lucas' memory with this - whatever it was - with Silver? Logic told him Lucas would never begrudge him this comfort. But logic and the heart rarely spoke the same language.
He could hide his feelings from Elizabeth, of course.
His only confidante. No matter the tentative trust they’d formed, surely she, who eschewed love and emotion at every turn, would think him a fool.
But she was his partner, and he couldn’t turn his back on that.
She knew about his past with Lucas; he would have to tell her about his present with Silver.
Silverfin perched on the windowsill of Hawk's cabin, the storm windows thrown open towards the brightness of the waves and the bustling port of Port Royal beyond.
He leaned back against the frame, stretching his poor half-leg out along the wooden sill, his good leg dangling over the edge towards the sea.
Hawk had insisted on going into town again that morning, as much as Silverfin had pouted.
But he had, after Silverfin's grumbling about being sticky and sweaty, sent Hank back from town with a large wooden basin and a bucket with some rope.
It had been worth the effort of hauling water up from the sea, and though he was under strict instructions not to soak his wounds it had been heavenly to finally wash away the accumulated grime of being human.
Splashing around had almost been enough to take his mind off Hawk's absence.
Now, Silverfin toyed with the ends of his still damp hair, which was returning to its strange human curliness as it dried. It had regrown a few inches, he was satisfied to see. How long would it be before it returned to its former glory? A cycle of the moon or two? Maybe even sooner?
"Once it grows back, you will be free to return to the sea, regardless of how things shake out with your pirate."
Mami Wata's words came back to mind, unbidden, but Silverfin pushed them away.
Surely, he'd never need to return to the sea.
Not now that he had Hawk. Even after they got the gold, Hawk would still want him, wouldn't he?
Surely he'd love Silverfin more, then, for being the one to give him such riches?
Still, it was easy to imagine slipping from the windowsill and into the waves that had once been his home, letting the cool water caress his skin and make him whole again.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he must have missed the boat returning to the Orca.
He started when the doors to the cabin burst open and Hawk strode in, cheeks burning like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have.
But Hawk just smiled, crossing the cabin to cup Silverfin's face, stealing a lingering kiss from his mouth.
"You have the look of someone who's up to no good. "
"Me?" Silverfin looked up at him in astonishment. The captain seemed in a good mood, humming in agreement as he caught hold of Silverfin's hips, pulling him off the windowsill and onto his lap on the bench.
"Yes, you. You know, I'm of half a mind to punish you for what you did the last time you sat on my windowsill."