Pirate Lord Page 11

  Eli grimaced, “My people have longer lifespans than yours.”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. The things he had spoken of, they had happened centuries, no, thousands of years ago. And if he had been there…She glanced at him, “What are you?”

  “I am still human Lily.”

  She couldn’t stop the thoughts writhing in her mind. How could he be human? He had lived through so much, two huge wars that had shaken the entire world. He’d been around before the floods, before the very lands changed shape, before the names were lost. He was ancient, a piece of history.

  He sighed, “This is why we don’t tell people. Why we try to fit in. There is no need to be afraid of me.”

  “How old are you?” He didn’t look a day over twenty five. No wrinkles, no grey hairs – although with that mop of silver dreadlocks she supposed they could be concealed. His eyes too were ageless, a soft brown in colour.

  “I don’t know, a few thousand maybe. I don’t keep track anymore. We age differently, it takes longer for us to reach maturity, and then we gradually become elders. In your terms I’d probably be considered middle aged.”

  “So the story about your father getting you a place on that slavers ship – your surname, Habbot? Was that all a lie?”

  “My parents died a couple of centuries ago.” He spoke of centuries as if they were decades. “I come up with stories as I go, different every time. I was on that slavers ship as a means to an end. I like being out on the sea these days, and it was the only ship accepting sailors. I have become adept at acting, at lying. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, it’s just –”

  “All this time. How do you do it – how do you live after seeing so much, after losing so much?”

  “I – No one’s asked me that before.” His eyes glistened with tears.

  Lily stopped, and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Eli, I’m not afraid of you. I’m perhaps a little more wary of you, but you could never scare me. You’ve saved my life on countless occasions. You’ve had my back for six years. I realise that amount of time is insignificant to you, but it’s long enough for me to trust you.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not insignificant. Don’t ever think that you’re insignificant to me. I’ve never felt as much at home as I have on The Shadow, not since the wastes. You’re a worthy leader Lily, I would follow you anywhere.”

  “That means a lot coming from you Eli, thank you.”

  They began walking again. After a time Eli’s eyes darted over his shoulder. He smirked slightly as he tilted his head to Lily. “She’s still following us you know.”

  Lily nodded. “You’ve intrigued her. She’s not used to people sneaking up on her. About time she got a taste of her own medicine I think.”

  ~

  Finally, the ship was finished, they had a way to leave the Island, even if it was under Merek’s orders. Lily could not wait. Tristan had come to tell her that afternoon, as excited as a child. She’d wanted to go see it immediately, but his face had fallen, and he’d told her the bad news – Merek wanted to see them. Now.

  She fingered the handles of her daggers; she’d strapped them on as soon as hearing Merek’s name. He’d turned up at their inn, and was awaiting them in a private room. To be honest she was mildly surprised that he’d actually come to them for a change, and she had her suspicions that he wouldn’t just be checking on the progress of the ship.

  Lily shouldered the door open, and glared at him the moment their eyes met. “What?”

  Merek smiled, but it was forced, it didn’t hold the usual malice and creepiness that she’d become used to. “Is that how you greet your Lord?”

  “I haven’t signed anything yet Merek, you’re not my anything.”

  Tristan appeared at Lily’s side, close enough that his arm grazed hers. “If you were wanting a progress report, the ship was finished earlier today. It should be feasible to sail out tomorrow. In the meantime I have sent out summons to our armada, ask Roselyn if you want to confirm, she watched me do it. We’ll go out and assemble them as requested, we may stop at a few ports to call in some favours. From then we know our orders, we’ll face whatever force comes our way. Satisfied?”

  “Mostly.”

  “What else do you want to know Merek?”

  Merek looked uneasy – Lily delighted in it. “Jim – has he, does he?”

  “I’ve told him about you, and he’s decided he won’t meet you – not yet. He will come with us to fight against this enemy of yours, and when we return, he might agree to see you.”

  “What did you tell him about me?” He looked furious.

  “I told him nothing Merek – he is free to make his own opinion of you. I am not so petty as to push my opinions onto others.”

  His jaw tightened.

  Lily stared him out, and turned the moment Merek nodded. That served as a dismissal in her opinion, and she was not willing to stay in a room with that man for a fraction of a second longer than she had to.

  Lily followed Tristan back to their own rooms, deep in thought. She barely registered the walk, and before she knew it they were back, the soft snores from the twins the only sound.

  “That bastard makes my skin crawl. You were right about Jim at least, that’s set him off-kilter.” Tristan’s grin faded with a sigh, “I still don’t know how he expects us to actually face whatever force he’s got riled up.”

  “Merek is trusting us to do this, he has faith in us, so I have faith in us.”

  “Trust? What’s this got to do with trust?”

  Lily shrugged, pulling off her boots.

  “You trust a man you call evil?”

  “He’s not evil, he’s powerful.”

  “There’s not much difference. And you’ve certainly changed your tune about him.”

  “I’m not saying I like him, or anything about this situation that we are in. But he’s a clever man, he’s thought about this for a long time. We were the solution he came up with, and then he just had to figure out the right leverage.”

  “You respect him, don’t you?”

  “I’m starting to realise that he respects me.”

  There was no doubt in her mind that Merek had planned this out all along. He’d known how she’d react, that he’d have a reason to punish her. She hadn’t quite figured out how blowing up The Shadow fit in with his plans, surely that just slowed them down – but he’d clearly known what he was doing. He’d had the other ships more or less ready to go, even given Tristan the choice of which ship to pick. There was a reason behind everything he did, and Lily was going to figure out what those reasons were once and for all.

  Chapter 10

  A new ship

  It was beautiful. Slightly bigger than The Shadow, and yet sleeker. It looked like a wildcat ready to pounce, lightning about to strike. Lily could barely wait to put it through its paces. From the looks of things Tristan was the same, he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  “We just have to pick a name.”

  “How did you decide to name The Shadow?”

  “I wanted a word that made me think of deadly darkness, sneaking through the night, lethal, fast, silent.”

  “You could call it Roselyn.” Eli murmured.

  Lily glanced up and saw Roselyn give him a deathly glare – though she also spotted the faint grin that flickered, just for a second.

  Jon and Kris came flying past, near knocking Irena over as they pushed by. Irena wobbled for a moment, then gave them a look that could kill. Lily muffled her laugher and grabbed the back of Jon’s jacket when he ran past again. He squirmed like a fish on a line, but Lily didn’t let go. Kris stopped, as if tethered to Jon himself. “Hey you two – calm down. You nearly knocked over little Irena – what are you doing anyway?”

  Kris pouted and grabbed at Jon’s hands, trying to pull him away to continue their game. “Sorry Ma, we’ll be more careful. We’re only playing hunter.” Lily released Jon and they ran off again cheering.

&n
bsp; “That’s perfect.”

  Tristan glanced over his shoulder “What is?”

  “Hunter. Call the ship Hunter.”

  ~

  Roselyn froze at the doorway, though she’d heard their raised voices from a way off. She’d hoped they’d be done by the time she reached their room. They were supposed to just pop back to collect their belongings and gather the crew. There wasn’t time for marital disputes.

  “I don’t understand!” Tristan yelled.

  “Yeah well neither do I! I don’t know why I get so angry, I can’t explain it, and don’t expect me to always be able to.”

  That seemed like a good point for them to finish. Roselyn cleared her throat, leaning a hand against the arch of the frame. “If you want to do your herding you’ll have to get a move on. Lord Merek expected you to be gone the moment the ship was completed.”

  Lily threw a pointed look at Tristan, who grumbled and stormed out, hauling the packs at the door onto his shoulders. The captain sighed and rubbed at her scarred wrist. Roselyn said nothing, keeping close to Lily as she finally followed her husband out the door, her kestrel soaring over and settling on her shoulder.

  The children were already on the ship under the watchful eye of that Southerner that the lady captain seemed to favour. Roselyn hadn’t bothered to learn names. Lily clicked her knuckle, and adjusted her grip on the roll of belongings she was carrying. Roselyn had always found herself honing in on little details like this, even before her training.

  She’d noticed the slight red in Lily’s hair, no doubt the reason for her daughter’s vibrant locks. She had a few freckles, and her skin was tanned from years in the sun. Those scars on the captain’s wrists interested her, clearly marks from manacles. Merek had told her Lily had been a slave, but she wasn’t marked like him, she’d just been on the ship. Held down in chains. Roselyn had never experienced that, but she had known something similar.

  “Trying to take my place?”

  She flinched as his voice interrupted her thoughts, and spun to face him. Lily didn’t even falter, and continued making her way to the ship, the bird bobbing on her shoulder. Roselyn glared at him and hurried to follow after Lily. Eli dared to fall into line beside her.

  He had strange hair, silver hair, and kept it knotted into dreadlocks which he tied in a variety of fashions to keep it from his eyes. Brown eyes, nice eyes. Roselyn gritted her teeth. “A bit stalkerish isn’t it, a man following a woman around like you do?”

  “She knows I’m there. Besides, I haven’t been following her for a while now. She gave me a new job.”

  “Oh yeah? What?”

  He grinned at her, “Following you.”

  Roselyn supposed she should have felt uneasy at that, at realising that he’d been watching her all this time and she’d not even noticed. But she wasn’t afraid of him. She was even a little excited. It was like he’d just challenged her. And that smile, there was nothing malicious in the smile he gave her. It was purely an invitation to play. However unlike her it was, she found she was up for a little playtime.

  ~

  Lily threw her pitiful roll of belongings onto the bed. They had lost everything on The Shadow, the lot had to be bought again in town. The purse strings held by Merek of course. Yet another thing they now owed him for. No doubt he’d add it into the contract. She’d found a shop which sold a few bits, shirts and trousers and similar – nothing like as good quality as the clothes she got from Mrs Beets at Crescent Bay, but it would do for now. Tristan mourned the loss of his clothes collection almost as much as he did the loss of the ship – but then he’d always been a peacock, his clothes were his armour. It didn’t matter, they were all alive, and that was the most important thing.

  The ship, Hunter, smelled odd – it was too new. Rather than the salty damp smell that had inundated the boards of The Shadow, this vessel stank of sawdust and paint. Still, Lily assured herself it wouldn’t take long for it to feel like home. Fumbling in her pocket, she pulled out the chess piece. Lily had taken to carrying it around with her everywhere she went, like a lucky charm. But perhaps now it was time to stop dwelling on the past. On all that she might have lost. They were all alive. She carefully placed the castle on the shelf, ran her finger around the turret, then turned her back on it. Lily unwrapped the bundle on the bed and began unpacking.

  A knock at the door interrupted her.

  “Yes?”

  It swung open, no creaking as there had been on The Shadow. Lily found herself missing that familiar squeak of the hinges.

  “Wolf told me you were looking for me.” Roselyn slipped into the room.

  “Captain Wolf – he won’t hear of you calling him just Wolf. Tristan if you must, but I don’t know if you’ve got that pally with him yet.”

  “Whatever – you wanted to see me?”

  “Have you got your pack?”

  Roselyn held it up.

  “Good – you can have the bottom drawer, I’ve already claimed the top one.”

  “What?”

  “You’re bunking with me for the time being.”

  Roselyn still looked confused.

  Lily snorted a little, “You didn’t really think I was going to make you sleep with the brutes down there did you?”

  “Well, I could just sleep in the meet room.”

  “You can, but I don’t think you’d get much sleep – the kids sleep in there and Jon snores like a trooper.”

  The assassin still didn’t put down her pack, or take another step into the room.

  Lily propped her hands on her hips. “Look, I’m not ecstatic about it either, but if it’s this or you getting leered over by the crew, then I’ll put up with it. You can do the same, or go and claim a hammock. It’s up to you.” She turned back and unrolled another shirt, before sticking it in the drawer.

  After a time Roselyn’s pack dropped onto the bed next to her own.

  ~

  Lily clambered down from the crow’s nest, Saff circling above her. Her bare feet pattered across the deck. She stopped at the steps and took a seat on the lowest stair, leaning back against the banisters. Lily looked out over the ship, the busy crew tying ropes, adjusting the masts; it was a hive of activity. To this day she had great admiration for them, without them a vessel like this would be uncontrollable. With them, they were unstoppable.

  They were out on the open sea once more, nothing between them and the horizon but water. The Island of the Pirate Lord was a dark speck behind them. Lily felt freed again, she felt like she’d been wrapped in chains and they’d broken from her, leaving her able to move once more, able to breathe properly. She preferred the open sea to land now, save for deserted beaches of course, the dunes still called to her as they always had. But populated areas, towns and cities especially, just made her feel claustrophobic. Too many people, too many walls, too much between her and the endless blue that she had grown to love.

  The hull hit a breaker, and the ship ducked and dived, before hitting the flat of the water once more. Lily heard someone retching and cocked her head to the direction of the noise. It was Roselyn, her head out over the side of the deck. Lily’s lip quirked with amusement; clearly the assassin wasn’t as comfortable on the waves as she was on land.

  A movement caught her attention and Lily watched silently as Eli strode over from the other side of the deck, a bucket in hand. Roselyn turned as he approached, just about catching it as he tossed the bucket into her arms. They spoke for a moment, before Eli shrugged and turned away again, back to whatever he had been doing, his expression impassive. Roselyn looked after him, then her face became green again and she threw up into the bucket Eli had given her.

  Lily smiled to herself – seasickness was a terrible thing to have. It was something that had never plagued her particularly badly, although her first few days on the slavers ship had left her feeling a little odd. By the time she had boarded The Shadow she was used to the rolling of the waves. Everyone knew though, that if you looked down at the waves it
only served to make you feel worse.

  Lily pushed herself up from her perch, pity winning over her amusement, and padded over to Roselyn. “Go on inside, and try to eat something – it will settle your stomach.”

  “Why are you all being so kind to me?”

  “Is there a reason we shouldn’t be?”

  “I know you don’t like Lord Merek, you’ve made that perfectly clear.”

  “You’re not Lord Merek.”

  “But I work for him.”

  “Eli used to work as a slaver, Daley would be killed on sight were he to set foot on Northern soil, Taz was raised in a brothel – we all have pasts. Now get inside before you vomit all over the deck, and take the bucket with you.”

  Roselyn stalked past her – or tried to stalk, her movements weren’t as sleek as they were on land.

  ~

  The assassin slipped the shirt from her back, untying the bindings across her chest. She still felt dizzy, but it was better in here than looking down on the rolling waves. She could still feel the swaying of the ship. Her brain had been wrung out like a lemon, her stomach constantly flipping. Roselyn took a deep breath and slammed her palm flat on the table. Steady.

  She found a new shirt, her old one had been sprayed with vomit. It felt tight across her breasts. She wasn’t used to having them unbound, not without the support of a corset. But Roselyn couldn’t stomach the thought of rebinding them right now, at least like this she could get a decent amount of air into her lungs. In polite circles she’d probably be referred to as curvy, but Roselyn had always thought of herself as dumpy. Too short, hips and boobs too big, too out of proportion. She’d been taught to carry herself well though. Most people failed to notice her height, she carried herself tall and somehow got away with it. But they were probably too scared of her to step out of line. With Merek she’d taken to wearing the dresses. She liked to remind him that she was a woman, he seemed to forget that she wasn’t a child anymore. That little girl that she’d been hadn’t lasted long outside her home country. In fact, she’d been in her grave the moment Merek caught her eye. Roselyn threw the bindings and the soiled shirt into the corner of the room a little more aggressively than she meant to. He’d sent her away again, with strange people on a goddammed boat of all things. She’d never been a fan of the water, she’d been raised too far away from an ocean to be familiar with rolling waves. The Island had been a revelation for her. He’d asked her to call it home.