Captain Humble
S tevic almost tumbled out of the bed. “Mead? Is it really you?”
She gave him that slow, cocky grin he had once known so well.
“Perhaps an introduction is in order,” Laren said, “since apparently the two of you are already acquainted.”
“Aye, Stevic, darling,” Mead said. “How about an introduction to your companion?”
He almost rose from bed, but remembered he was unclothed and thought better of it. “Of course. Laren, this is Mead Humble. We served together on the Gold Hunter.” Several memories came to mind, many of them good, some distinctly pleasurable, and others less so. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”
“We had some good times, didn’t we?”
It then occurred to him to wonder what the hells she was doing on Messenger, and then it hit him like a bucket of freezing water. “Still raiding ships, eh?”
“That I am,” she replied. “It’s Captain Humble now, of the flagship, Chance.”
“Flagship? I’m impressed.”
“And so you should be. I’ve come up in the world. Now, who’s your lady?”
They were in trouble. The pirates had caught up with them and boarded in the dark of night.
He hadn’t heard a thing. A favorable past history with Mead might help the situation, but ultimately she was here on business and would not be deterred by past associations.
Therefore he decided to be careful in his introduction of Laren.
Not to lie, but not to give too much away, like her status in King Zachary’s court.
“Mead, er, Captain Humble, it’s my honor to present Laren Mapstone.”
The two women assessed one another with steady gazes, each of them formidable in her own right, though Laren was disadvantaged by being wrapped in a blanket since she, too, was unclothed. It didn’t seem to faze her, though.
Night and fire, he thought. Mead with her mane of blue-black hair, and broad and strong body. Laren with her red hair, diminutive in size by comparison, but no less strong. Dissimilar in most ways, yet alike in some.
“I trust you are here on business,” Stevic said.
“You’re just realizing it?” Mead replied.
“He’s a bit slow when waking up,” Laren told her.
“Some things have not changed,” Mead said.
The cabin fell into a crackling silence.
“My crew?” he asked.
“Most have been rousted and assembled on deck. Your crew members on the beach have been rounded up, as well. It’s good to see Sevano, again. A lot more gray in his hair now.”
“He always thought highly of you.”
She smiled. “Almost like a family reunion, isn’t it?
” She took the lamp from where it hung and held it in front of him and he squinted against the glare.
“Time has treated you well, Stevic, aye, indeed. You’ve a little gray, too, in the temples.
Adds character.” She set the lamp aside.
“Now get dressed. Out of respect for our past companionship, I will trust on your honor that you will come up on deck without trouble. If you must be prodded, it won’t be gentle. ”
“I understand,” he replied. And he certainly did, having been on the other side of piracy in his young adulthood.
“I know you do. Don’t dawdle. Everyone is waiting on you.”
After she left, Stevic jumped out of bed and shut the cabin door.
“What now?” Laren asked.
“We do as she says. We dress and go up. No weapons.”
“What’s going to happen?”
He found his shirt on the floor and threw it over his head. Laren searched through the tousled blankets for her own clothes.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “There are a few different possibilities. She could press us into crewing her fleet—”
“Fleet?”
“You heard her, she’s captain of the flagship. Probably she’s got two or three other vessels under her command. So, she might press us and take our ship, or she might strand us on the island, or she might simply kill us, or...”
“Or?”
He sobered. He hadn’t wanted to tell her, but it was best she knew the truth and was prepared. “Or she could sell us to a state that sanctions slavery.”
“Like Varos.”
“Yes, like Varos.”
Fully clothed, Laren placed her hands on her hips. “I will kill her before that happens. If she does any harm to Melry or my ladies, I will kill her with my bare hands if need be. They’ve had enough in their lives. I will not allow any more to be done to them.”
He crossed over and crushed her in his arms. “I know, I know. Let us hope Mead is reasonable and it doesn’t come to that.
” His youthful memories of a carefree Mead and their time together conflicted with what he knew of pirate business.
He’d seen her in action when they were compatriots aboard the Gold Hunter. He knew how dangerous she was.
Laren pulled away from him. “You were in love with her, weren’t you.”
A statement, not a question. He remembered her ability to read people even without the augmentation of her magic brooch.
“Yes. When I thought I’d never see Kariny again.
At least I thought it was love.” He shook his head.
He’d been a lost, broken boy forced to serve, shipped off to foreign ports and learning to fight for survival.
Without Sevano or Mead, he would not have made it.
“Come, we can’t keep her waiting.” He then whispered, “I want to keep your background quiet. Might be useful.”
She nodded, and together they left the cabin.
Up on deck in the predawn light, he found his own crew, those who weren’t on the beach, surrounded by members of Mead’s with hands on the hilts of their swords, but looking fairly casual.
He knew that one word from Mead and they’d set upon his people without a second thought.
His crew knew it, too, for they stood peaceably.
Melry had a very rebellious look in her eye and he prayed she would not provoke the pirates.
Sevano looked none too pleased by the situation. Aelff stood with his head hung low.
“Sorry, Cap,” the young sailor said. “All my fault. I fell asleep on watch.”
Stevic placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He swept his gaze across the water where the silhouette of a familiar ship lay anchored. “Stargazer?”
“She’ll make a fine addition to my fleet, as will this ship,” Mead said.
“These are well-made vessels you are commanding, but you always went for the best. That said, they’re not your typical merchant type.
I’ve never seen ships with quite these sleek lines, and they are very new.
It would appear His Majesty, King Zachary, has some new designs for his naval ships. ”
“These are not the king’s ships,” Stevic said.
“The armaments in the hold say differently.”
While most evidence that Messenger, Stargazer, and Sojourner originated from the royal shipyard had been stripped out to deceive the Varosians, there hadn’t been much they could do with the armaments except conceal them with sailcloth. He hadn’t been about to go on a long voyage without them.
“There is a dearth of trade goods on either ship,” Mead added. “Quite disappointing.”
“Our trading has been very successful,” he replied.
“I have heard all about how you became a wealthy merchant.” She approached him under the watchful eyes of her crew.
There had to be at least fifty of them. She dropped a purse onto the deck with a thunk and a jingle.
“This is a surprisingly poor return for trading away all of your goods. It’s almost as if you traded it all for something, or someon e. ” Her gaze fell on Laren.
“Cap’n Humble,” cried a man climbing onto the deck from below, “we found some more textiles and wine in the hold, and this stowed in one of the cabins.”
Gold glimmered in the burgeoning rays of dawn as he unrolled a bundle that he’d been carrying in his arms. Stevic groaned.
It was the angweld cloth, the rarest of textiles known in all the lands.
It was a happy accident Sevano had rescued it when they escaped the palace of King Farrad Vir, and Stevic had hoped to use it to restore the damage he’d inflicted on his clan’s merchanting business by losing most of its inventory in Varos without recompense.
“Well, well, well,” Mead murmured. She stroked the gold cloth. “This will compensate nicely for your lackluster hold. The new constellation has proved lucky for us.” She looked at her crewman. “Did you find anything of value in the captain’s cabin?”
The man dropped a bundle of cloth on deck. Gold embroidery gleamed on Laren’s uniform longcoat.
Damnation. There was no way of keeping her status a secret now. They’d be watching Laren extra close, maybe even ransom her. They’d know she had some fighting skills, so there’d be no surprising them.
“You look very distressed, Stevic darling,” Mead said.
“To be honest, none of this is much of a surprise to me. We were quite aware of your special cargo.” She nodded at Laren.
“King Farrad Vir is understandably upset at having his truth-teller stolen from him,” Mead continued, “as well as some of his other household slaves. But your woman, Stevic, she is the one he is most anxious to have returned, and I am going to be the one who does the returning.”
“That would be a mistake,” he said.
“Not according to King Farrad Vir. I understand he was in quite a lather about losing her, among other things.”
“You will not be taking her to Varos,” he said, anger creeping into his voice.
“Afraid of losing your lover? Is that it? But you won’t be. At least, not at first. You are going to Varos, too. The king has put quite a healthy bounty on your head. After this, and with the angweld cloth, well, I might very well retire.”
Of course, he thought. Of course the king had put a bounty on his head.
“I will not go back to Varos,” Laren said.
“I know,” he said. “I won’t let you be enslaved again.”
“How very sweet,” Mead said, “but you’ll be hard pressed to prevent it.”
The look in Laren’s eyes said otherwise, but Stevic did not know of a way to counter Mead without it resulting in all their deaths.