Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1)
Page 4
Chapter 2
Gavina Drummond followed her father to the tavern, staying hidden in the shadows so she wouldn’t be seen. He’d told her to stay back by the horse and cart, but she feared for his safety and didn’t listen. Ill luck had befallen her family over the past few years, taking each member from her in one way or another. Now her father was all she had left. His bad habits of drinking and gambling had left them with nothing besides the clothes on their back, their old horse, and a wagon that was falling apart.
“Finn,” she heard a man call her father by name as she neared the Crooked Crow Tavern. She dove behind an empty barrel, trying to listen to their conversation.
“Birk, I came as soon as I could,” said her father, sounding extremely nervous.
“Were ye followed?” asked the man.
“Nay, of course no’.”
“Did ye bring what I asked for?”
“I did. Now let’s get on with the game.”
“Game?” Gavina whispered to herself and pursed her mouth in aggravation. After they’d lost their house in a card game, she’d made her father promise that he would never gamble again. Why was she surprised that he’d already reverted back to his old ways?
“Step inside,” said the man, scanning the area quickly. They disappeared into the back door of the Crooked Crow located on the docks of Stonehaven. It was a dangerous place since the area was inhabited with sailors, fisherman, tradesmen, and sometimes even pirates of the North Sea.
Gavina had never been inside this establishment, but heard about the fights that broke out here constantly, and all about the ruffians that inhabited the place. It wasn’t far from the remains of their little town of Steeple Glen that had been raided and burned by the English a few years ago.
Her hand went to her wooden flute hanging from her side as she wondered what to do. Her brother, Liam, had carved this flute for her years ago and she’d learned to play it. Her mother had always loved her music. She missed them both dearly. Her father, on the other hand, just thought her music was naught but a hindrance.
Gavina’s flute comforted her in troubled times and she only wished she could play it now without being discovered. Letting out a sigh, she stood up, meaning to go back and wait for her father by their horse. Before she could, a hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist.
“Looks to me like I found myself a whore for the night,” laughed the man. “Now, hold still while I enter ye from behind,” came his hot whisper in her ear.
Gavina stomped on his toe, biting the man on the hand at the same time causing him to yell out.
“Leave me alone,” she warned him, pulling her dagger from her belt and holding it steady, aimed at his heart.
“Get back here, ye bitch,” spat the man. His lip curled up and she could see his blackened, rotten teeth. She was planning on stabbing him, until two of his friends stepped out of the shadows to join him.
“Blethers!” she gasped, knowing she couldn’t outfight three men. She’d also never be able to outrun them, trying to get back to the horse. There was only one thing she could do and she didn’t hesitate to do it. Turning on her heel, she ran as fast as she could to the tavern. Yanking open the door to the Crooked Crow, she stumbled inside. It was dark in there and her eyes needed to adjust from being out in the bright sun.
“Well, well, what have we got here?” asked a drunken patron, meeting her at the door.
Gavina sidestepped him, eyeing the place filled with ruffians and sailors. They were laughing and talking loudly, all drinking and playing dice. The stench of alcohol and sweat filled the air, assaulting her senses. She looked to the floor only to find it covered with dirty rushes. Picking up one foot, the rushes stuck to her shoe, black from mold and wet from spit or mayhap urine.
Several scantily-dressed whores straddled the laps of the patrons as they kissed the men and let themselves be fondled. One whore and man seemed to be coupling right there in front of everyone atop the chair but no one seemed to notice, or perhaps they just didn’t care. Not able to move forward and not able to turn back, she realized her mistake. She was trapped in this hellhole and wished now that she had stayed outside.
“She’s mine,” said the man from behind her, reaching out to take her arm. Gavina turned and slashed him across his wrist, drawing blood.
“Ye’ll die for that!” spat the man, his wrinkled face turning red with anger.
She turned and pushed her way through the crowd, only stopping when a man opened a door to a back room and she crashed right into him.
“What’s all the ruckus about?” he spat.
She looked up to see the man named Birk that her father had gone inside with earlier.
“The wench cut me,” whined the man from behind her, holding his bloody arm.
“Gavina?” Her father poked his head out from behind Birk.
“Ye ken her?” asked Birk.
“Aye, she’s my daughter,” he answered. “Birk, please dinna hurt her.”
“Hmmm, she’s a bonnie lass.” The man named Birk reached out and grabbed her chin, looking her over as if he were inspecting a workhorse before he bought it. She wanted to slap his hand away and yell obscenities at him, but decided against it. If she did that, it would put her father in an awkward position because of her.
“Please, leave her be,” begged her father. “Let’s just get back to the game.”
“Of course,” said Birk, smiling, still looking her over. “However, I do believe that the stakes have just gotten a little higher.”
“What do ye mean?” asked Finn.
“I want her,” he said, yanking Gavina into the room and slamming the door behind them.
“Ye want my daughter? Nay. Ye canna have her,” spat Finn. “I already wagered my horse and cart. Besides, that wouldna be a fair trade.”
“Ye wagered our horse and cart on a card game?” she gasped. “Papa, how could ye? It is all we have left! Ye promised ye wouldna gamble anymore.”
“This will be the last time, Gavina, I promise,” he tried to console her. “I’m goin’ to win and then I’ll be able to fix my past mistakes. Just look at the pile of coins on the table.” He nodded down to the card game in progress, his eyes lighting up with greed.
“Hrmph,” she sniffed, not impressed at all. “That pile of coins might be worth a horse and cart, but certainly no’ a person! Papa, dinna wager me away, too.”
“Of course, no’, Daughter. Dinna worry.” He reached out and patted her on the arm. “I would never do such a thing.”
“No’ even for this?” Birk pulled out a rolled-up parchment from under his tunic and held it up for both of them to see.
“What’s that?” asked Finn curiously, never able to resist temptation.
“It’s a map that shows where the king’s treasure is buried.”
“The king’s treasure?” Finn’s eyes widened. “I thought that was stolen by pirates years ago.”
“I guess the pirates decided to bury it for safe keepin’,” said Birk.
“How did ye get the map?” asked Gavina, being suspicious of the man.
“I stole it just this mornin’ from an old woman who was travelin’ with an ex-pirate named Brody. They never even kent I took it,” he laughed. “It was so easy. I swear it was like takin’ sweetmeats from a child.”
“Who is Brody?” asked Gavina.
“Daughter, he was Rowen the Restless’ first mate,” her father answered for Birk. “Ye ken . . . he was one of the Legendary Bastards of the Crown.”
“Oh, aye, I’ve heard of him. He and his brathairs once raided their own faither and were kent as the Demon Thief.”
“That’s right,” said Birk. “So ye ken if Brody had this map aboard his ship, it’s real. He was probably goin’ after the treasure himself. The bounty buried where this map leads is more than a fair exchange for yer daughter.” Birk raked his eyes down Gavina’s body, making her feel ravished.
“I wonder how much treasure there is,”
said Finn excitedly.
“I’m sure it’s a treasure of gold coins and expensive jewelry,” Birk answered. “A treasure fit for a king since it once belonged to the English King Edward III himself.”
“I suppose ye’re right,” said Finn. “That treasure could change my life forever.”
“Faither! Ye canna really be considerin’ this outrageous offer,” snapped Gavina.
Her father leaned over and whispered in her ear. “With this treasure, we’ll finally have what we need to buy back yer brathair’s freedom as well as free all the orphans from Ravenscar.”
“Aye,” she answered, feeling hopeful yet anxious. Her father’s idea was risky, but if he could pull this off, they’d end up as heroes. His debt to the black-hearted Beast of Ravenscar was more than they’d ever be able to earn in a lifetime. When the English lord showed up in their little Scottish town on the border, he’d demanded the money her father owed him. It was money her father was supposed to be collecting from the area, giving it to Ravenscar to keep the small villages safe from attack. However, her father had already gambled away all the funds. In rage, Ravenscar raided their town, killed her mother and brother, and took several children captive. Her little brother, Rab, was among them. Ravenscar had killed men, women, and children, too, as if their lives didn’t matter. Then he had the nerve to demand a ransom if the children were ever to be returned.
Gavina’s family didn’t belong to a clan, having left on their own to live with those who were in the village. Therefore, they didn’t have the protection from the Scots they needed. After the attack and deaths of her mother and brother, Gavina and her father left, traveling up to the Highlands. Since her father was responsible for all the death and destruction, they couldn’t even ask the rest of the Scots for help.
Their only hope now was to take that money to Ravenscar before the children ended up dead as well. Raising that kind of money took a long time, and it had already been years. All of this was a horrific happening and, sadly, money was the only thing that could fix it. Mayhap, Gavina decided, this was what they’d been waiting for to pay for her father’s mistakes. He seemed sure of himself, but Gavina wouldn’t play this risky game unless she knew for certain her father would win the bet.
“How do I ken it’s really a treasure map?” asked Finn, expressing Gavina’s sentiments exactly. “Let me see it.” He held out his hand to Birk.
“Now, if I do that, ye’d have no need for the map,” said Birk with a chuckle. “If ye memorized it, where would that leave me? However, to be fair, I’ll give yer daughter a sneak peek.” He unrolled the map and flashed it at her. It looked to be a map of Scotland leading all the way down the east coast to England. He rolled it up again so fast that she couldn’t be sure of anything. She wasn’t even able to get good look at the area marked by the X, depicting the spot to find the buried treasure.
“Is it a treasure map, Gavina?” her father asked excitedly.
“I – I guess so,” she said. “It was really too fast to tell much, but it looked like one.”
“That’s all ye’re gettin’,” snarled Birk. “Now, Drummond, are ye in or no’?”
“Why would ye want to even gamble it away if it is worth so much?” she asked the man suspiciously. None of this made any sense to her.
“Yer beauty has me mesmerized,” said Birk, waggling his eyebrows, making her want to retch. “I think ye’re worth the risk. Besides,” he added with a chuckle, “I’ve heard from more than one source that ol’ Finn here has a habit of losin’. I’m goin’ on the fact that he’ll lose this bet, too. Now, once again Finn, are ye in or no’?”
Gavina suddenly started to become very nervous. If her father lost the bet, she’d belong to Birk. Anger filled her. She wasn’t a possession to be bartered away like a horse and cart. Nay, this idea was preposterous. “He’s no’ takin’ yer bluidy bet,” Gavina answered for him, wanting to save her brother but not wanting to put her life in her father’s hands. He did have a bad habit of making the wrong choices, just like Birk said. He wasn’t good at winning card games, and their loss of almost everything they owned proved it. Still, her father sounded confident, or mayhap it was the alcohol talking. She wasn’t sure why he thought this time would be different. “My faither would never wager his own daughter in a doitit card game,” she sniffed. “After all, I’m his flesh and blood. Nay, Birk, there is no deal.”
“Aye. I’ll do it!” her father blurted out, making her head jerk up so fast that a pain shot through her neck. He smiled and smoothed down his wrinkled tunic, sitting back down at the gaming table.
“What did ye say?” she asked, not believing her ears. Was her father really going to do it? “Papa, think about what ye are sayin’. I’m the only child ye have left in this life right now. Please, dinna do it. This is no’ a guid idea.” Gavina understood her father’s desperation to get that treasure to trade for her little brother and the other children of their village. Part of her felt like it really could work. That is, if anyone but her father was the one playing the game. Bad luck seemed to follow him wherever he went. Gavina hated being in this position. Because of her father’s bad decision, once again, her future was about to be determined by a blasted game of chance. The worst part was that she wasn’t feeling all that lucky today either.
“Daughter, we’ll be rich when I win, so dinna fash yerself about it. This is the answer to all our problems. I’ll be able to redeem myself for all my mistakes.” Her father smiled as Birk shuffled and dealt the cards.
“No’ all of them,” she ground out, since nothing they could do would bring back her mother or older brother. “Ye say this is the answer to all our problems, but mayhap it’s only the beginnin’ of them instead,” she mumbled. “Papa, what if ye lose?” She tried to reason with him, not even able to imagine herself being bedded by the awful Birk. Men like him were not to be trusted. Just by looking at him, Gavina could tell he was naught but a thieving wharf rat, stealing from the seafarers in one form or another. She was sure card games were one of his better business deals.
“I willna lose, Gavina. I assure ye.” Her father tried to convince her as he waved his hand through the air. It was almost as if he really believed he could win this time.
“One hand is all we get,” said Birk, picking up his cards to take a look. When he did, Gavina saw him slip a card into his pile and remove another.
“Wait!” she cried, quickly looking over at her father to tell him. To her horror, her father was cheating, too! This is why he was so confident that he would not lose the bet.
“What’s the matter, Daughter?” asked Finn, slipping a card atop his pile and palming another under the table.
“Aye, is somethin’ wrong?” asked Birk.
With both men staring at her, she felt tongue-tied and wasn’t sure what to do. Should she expose Birk? Would Birk know her father was cheating, too? This could end up being a very bad situation.
“I – I . . .” Her eyes flashed over to Birk and then back to her father. What was she supposed to do at a time like this? Whatever she said here could make or break the deal. Or could it? She was so confused and flustered that she became tongue-tied, not knowing what to say.
“Turn over yer cards, Birk,” said her father anxiously.
“Ye first,” snarled Birk.
“Nay. We’ll do it at the same time,” suggested her father.
Birk thought about it for a second and then just shrugged. “Have it yer way,” he agreed, both of them turning over their cards at once.
Gavina’s jaw dropped when she saw duplicates of the ace of spades – one in each of their spreads. Both of the players’ cards also added up to the exact amount as the other.
“Och, nay,” she said under her breath, knowing there was about to be trouble.
“Ye cheated!” spat Birk, pulling a dagger out of his belt.
“Nay! Ye cheated. I saw ye,” screamed Gavina, running to her father’s side. “Faither, let’s get out of here, now.”
“Over my dead body, ye will!” growled Birk. Before her father even had a chance to defend himself, Birk stood up and plunged his blade into her father’s heart.
“Naaaaay!” screamed Gavina, crying, bending over her father, cradling his head in her arms. His eyes bugged out and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
“I-I’m so s-sorry, Gavina,” Finn said with his dying breath. “Get the map . . . find the treasure. Use it to set free . . .” The life drained from his body as Gavina held him and he drew his final breath. Then fury filled her and she slowly got up, watching as Birk collected his winnings, scooping the coins into a pouch.
“Ye will die for this!” she said with revenge in her heart. Her fingers gripped the hilt of her dagger and she lunged for him, wanting to make him pay for what had just happened.
Birk looked up quickly, his hand shooting out and clasping around her wrist. He pressed hard until she could no longer hold on to the blade. It released from her fingers, clattering to the floor.
“That’s no’ a very nice thing to do, lass,” he hissed. “Especially since ye belong to me now.”
“Nay! I dinna belong to anyone, especially ye. Ye are a cheat and a murderer and I’ll never be yers.”
“Birk!” A red-haired man rushed into the room, out of breath. He stopped abruptly when he saw Finn lying dead on the floor.
“What is it, ye fool? Canna ye see I’m busy?” snapped Birk.
“Pirates have arrived. They’ve just docked and are askin’ a lot of questions about the map. They will be headed this way soon. Ye’d better hide that map because ye ken they’ll take it.”