Chapter Two Before #3
Dimly, Cat wondered what it would be like to be taken captive by Esperese sailors.
Esperin was at war with the Meridian Empire, her gunships renowned for their brutal force—but Cat was a lady.
Certainly, she could be ransomed back to her own family for a small amount of money, even if it meant leaving Lord Rose behind in chains. Or hanged.
She clutched her prayer beads and dared to hope.
“That is no ship of Esperin,” the spotter above them shouted, his spyglass raised. “I see the black flag.”
Meedy swore, and a current of fear shuddered down the deck.
“Pirates,” he barked.
“Pirates,” Cat echoed, her voice near a whisper.
All fantasies of imprisonment shattered. Instead, Cat saw herself drowned at the bottom of the sea, but not before being subject to a ship of brigands first. Her hands went numb, her body shaking.
Lord Rose sputtered in disbelief. “Surely they would not attack a ship of the Meridian Empire and face the navy’s wrath?”
“The navy is largely preoccupied with defending the waters of the Continent, my lord,” Meedy answered, scoffing. “The pirates of the Lyrian fear little, least of all your empire.”
“Oh,” Lord Rose said in a strangled voice, his yellow face going white. Then he bolted, shoving Cat aside to take shelter below.
She caught herself before colliding with the ship rail, unsurprised by her husband’s cowardice. Mr. Bridger was good enough to take her elbow, his ruddy face crinkled with concern.
“You should do the same, ma’am,” he said. “Barricade yourself below.”
While Sara wasted no time in disappearing, Cat hesitated at the rail. She glared past Mr. Bridger to Captain Meedy a few feet away. His crew darted across the deck and swarmed up the rigging, following orders Meedy did not have to give.
But instead of running out oars, they busied themselves with the sails and wheel.
Cat’s heart plummeted as she understood: they were turning into the wind, effectively bringing the ship to a standstill.
The Credence did not intend to flee.
“Captain?” she all but shouted. “Can we not make for shore?”
Meedy gave her a pitying look, as if she were a stupid cow in a pen. Cat wondered if it was not so far from the truth.
“That there’s Goldcoast,” he said, pointing at the smaller island.
Cat felt a flush of indignance. “I am aware, sir. Certainly, a colony of the Crown would give us shelter—”
“The Crown abandoned the colony six months ago, Lady Rose,” Meedy snapped, his patience fraying like rope.
“She’s too close to Prospera and not worth defending.
If we even make it to shore, we’ll find nothing but jungle or smuggler camps, and the pirates will hunt us into the mountains.
If brigands onshore don’t do it first.” His finger moved, tracing the green peaks of the larger island.
“If we sail to Prospera, I might as well sink this ship myself, lest I lose her to the Esperese.”
Her anger melted, red cheeks going white. “Oh, I see.”
The pirate ship grew closer on a prevailing wind, chasing them as a hound would a rabbit.
Cat half expected a bugle to trill out over the waves, calling out the hunt.
Then its cursed flag unfurled into view.
It snapped in the air, a night-black field marked with a white skull, its mouth a grinning abyss with a red arrow in its teeth.
Cat stared at it, a chill tripping down her spine.
“Can we not run?” she offered, though she knew little of ships and their capabilities.
“We could try,” Meedy answered, shrugging. Behind him, a few of his crew smirked openly.
An odd feeling swept over Cat, somehow overwhelming her fear—curiosity. Without thought, she took measured steps across the deck. Towards the captain, not the stairs below to safety.
“You do not seem perturbed by the possibility of pirates attacking your ship,” Cat said sharply, almost nose to nose with him.
Meedy smiled crookedly beneath his beard. “It would hardly be the first time, my lady.”
Cat narrowed her eyes in disbelief. Even she could see the pirate ship was far bigger than their own vessel, with at least two gun decks.
“You’re going to shoot them off?” she asked, incredulous.
Before he could answer, the sailors returned from below carrying not pistols or shot, but cargo. Barrels, crates, bound chests, and leather bags. Familiar ones, some stamped with the crest of a blooming rose.
Meedy followed her gaze. “I’m going to buy them off, Lady Rose,” he said, before barking another order. “Strike our flags!”
High above them, atop the main mast, the flag of the Meridian lowered. The larger ensign, flying from the stern of the ship, disappeared too. Cat wanted to scream, watching the Lion of the Empire fold away.
It was a clear signal of surrender.
Taking her elbow, Meedy tried to direct Cat off the deck. “If you’ll kindly step below—”
She flinched off the captain’s guiding hand, surprising them both. But Cat was too infuriated to care for laws of etiquette, or her station, little as it mattered.
“Buy them off with our property?” she snapped, her voice a whipcrack. What little we have left, scraped together from attics and corners. Barely enough for a life, even here. “Lord Rose would not consent to this!”
“Is there something else you’d like to trade?” Meedy fired back at her.
Cat did not miss the way his stare lingered, roving over her bare collarbone. It was not meant to frighten her, but to make her understand. Grimly, she raised her chin, her silence enough.
Meedy gave a shallow nod and waved his hand, dismissing her as so many others had.
“Welcome to the Lyrian Sea, Lady Rose.”