“Stolen,” she muttered, not at all surprised. Everything owned by pirates seemed to be things they’d pilfered. Her eyes scanned the wooden slats on the wall that held plates made of silver. Several golden goblets as well as strings of pearls filled a basket nailed to the wall. She walked over to a smaller trunk and curiously lifted the lid. “What’s in here?”
To her surprise, she found a blue silk gown with a velvet black bodice that laced up the front. “I suppose yer captain stole this as well since there doesna seem to be any lassies on the ship but Nairnie.” She held it up to get a better look. “This certainly isna Nairnie’s size.”
“I’m not sure about it. I’ve never seen it before,” said Ramble, walking up closer behind her to inspect it. “I suppose it came from a raid, but I don’t even know why the captain keeps it. He should let me rip it up and use the cloth to make some new tunics for the crew.”
“Ye ken how to sew?” she asked, talking to Ramble without looking at him. Her eyes were fastened on the beautiful gown.
“Aye. Cap’n taught me to sew when I first came aboard the ship as part of his crew.”
“Tristan did? He kens how to sew?” She laughed aloud since the idea amused her.
“Aye. He does,” said Ramble, suddenly seeming lost for words. He cleared his throat from behind her.
“I canna imagine a big, brawny, ruthless pirate like Tristan doin’ such a dainty chore.” She continued to inspect the gown, picturing herself wearing it. Her fingertips glided across the smooth silk and settled on the fuzzy velvet. It was the most beautiful gown she’d ever seen. Just the feel of it in her hands made her feel royal.
“He’s . . . very good at it,” stated Ramble, clearing his throat again, this time a bit louder.
Gavina held the gown up higher, turning it to see both sides. “Well, losh me! I thought all yer captain kent how to do was whip, torture, and murder men. That is, besides steal everythin’ he can get his hands on. I figured he’d be guid at tearin’ apart things or people and slittin’ throats, but certainly not sewin’ things together and doin’ the work of a lady! ”
“And, I didn’t figure you to be someone who would judge another so easily before you even knew anything about them,” came a low voice from behind her.
Gripping the gown, she spun on her heel, almost falling when the ship listed again since she only wore one shoe. There stood Tristan, outside the small doorway, holding his coat in one hand and the whip in the other. She could see the deck and the men behind him through the open door. Noll was being released from the whipping pole, and she saw the lashes on his back. The men laughed and talked loudly, as if nothing bad had just happened at all. Then they followed Mardon back to the pile of booty, eager to get their share.
“Tristan!” she gasped. “I didna ken ye were there.”
“Obviously not.” He ducked and entered the room, his tall body bent over slightly since his head was already scraping the low ceiling. “Leave us, Ramble.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” said Ramble, hurrying to the door.
“Wait.” Tristan handed the whip to the boy. “I don’t want to be disturbed,” he told him. “I’m going to rest now.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” said Ramble stepping over the threshold. He turned back and continued talking. “I’ll make sure to tell all the men that they are not to –”
Tristan slammed the door in his face. There was a small, round window in the room that overlooked the sea. Light spilled into the cabin, but it was still partially dark and musty inside.
“I – I suppose I’ll go help Nairnie with the food then,” she said, putting the gown back into the trunk. She turned and headed for the door. As she approached the door, he stepped in front of her and she found herself staring at the small beads of sweat dripping down his bare chest. “Excuse me, Cap’n,” she said, calling him by his title the way Ramble had.
“Nay, you’re staying here.”
“Here? Alone with ye?” she blurted out, wanting to kick herself for voicing her thoughts aloud. She was supposed to be a boy but was sure she was coming across sounding like a scared wench about now.
“Aye. With me,” he said, throwing his coat down atop the messy pile of clothes under the hanging bed by the window. He then unbuckled and removed his weapon belts and laid them on the table. “I thought we could get to know each other better, now that you’re part of my crew.” He reached over to the trunk with the gown in it and slammed it shut. “The first thing you need to learn is that you never touch my things. Since you’re new here, I’ll let you off with just a warning this time. But don’t let it happen again. Savvy?”
“Savvy?” she asked tritely. “I’m sorry, but I dinna talk pirate.”
“Well, then you’d better learn.”
“If I dinna start talkin’ and actin’ like a pirate, what will ye do?” She blinked twice. “Will ye tie me to the mast next and whip me the way ye did to poor Noll? Or will ye do that heel kaul thing to me?”
“It’s keelhaul,” he corrected her, “and I’m more than sure you don’t even know what it is since you can’t even say it right. Don’t worry about poor Noll. The man was going to start a mutiny against me with talk like that.” He kicked off his boots and started to undress. “I am captain of the Falcon, and need to maintain control of my crew. I’ll do whatever it takes to do it.”
“W-what are ye doin’?” she asked in surprise when he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor next. His broad chest was now naked. The man looked strong and fit by the amount of muscles she saw in his arms. There was no question about it. Dark hair trailed down the front of his chest and disappeared under the waistband of his breeches, making him look very masculine. When he started to reach for the top of his breeches, she quickly turned around.
“I like to take time to think and rest in the middle of the day,” he explained. “So, I’m going to take a nap.”
“Takin’ a nap?” She spun back around to see him removing his breeches and almost cried out. Once again, she turned around. “I didna think pirates did that.”
“Only on days when I’m not out raiding, pillaging, plundering, and torturing people,” he remarked sarcastically, obviously having overheard what she had said to Ramble. “However, I’ve already done all that for the day so now it’s time to rest.”
She heard the creak of the ropes and realized he was getting into the bed. Slowly, she turned around, thankful the canvas sides came high enough that she couldn’t see if he was totally naked or not.
“Well, what am I supposed to do in here while ye’re so busy thinkin’ and restin’ from all that hard work of whippin’, pillagin’ and plunderin’?”
“How about you tell me where Birk hid the copy of the map.” He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.
“I told ye . . . I dinna ken anythin’ about a map.”
“Well, I don’t believe you. Birk was willing to risk his life to protect you, so you obviously were of great value to him. You must know something.”
“I’m only a simple servant lad. I dinna ken.”
“Ha! If you’re a boy, I’m the king of England,” he answered with a chuckle.
“What do ye mean?” she asked softly, hoping he didn’t know her secret.
“What do you think I mean . . . Gavina?” He opened his mesmerizing eyes and stared a hole right through her. He knew! It was too late. She was alone with him in his cabin and now she’d be at his mercy.
“Ye ken,” she said softly, feeling doomed. There was no reason to go on with the charade since he’d already discovered her secret. She considered running for the door, but what good would that do? As a prisoner on his ship, there was nowhere to escape to and no place to hide. “Did Nairnie tell ye?” she asked, feeling as if the woman were a traitor.
“Nay, and she didn’t need to. I knew you were a wench before we even left the tavern. What I don’t know is why the hell you’re pretending to be a boy.”
“Birk did this to me,” she expla
ined, nervously reaching back to smooth down the tufts of her short, dark hair.
“Birk did what?” Tristan looked over at her, rolling onto his side. “Did he . . . have you?”
“Nay! Birk was a swindler and a thief. No’ a pirate!”
“I’ve got news for you. Swindlers and thieves often act worse than pirates.”
“Hmmph,” she said, not wanting to infuriate him, but not believing this one bit.
“Well, then were you his lover?”
“Nay! Of course no’.” She gripped the top of her tunic closely to her neck. “I would never give myself to a man like Birk. He told me if the pirates found out I was a lass, I would be abducted and taken back to the ship and used as –” her eyes shot over to the naked girl in the picture and she couldn’t finish her sentence. “Used as . . . ” She tried again, but the thought was so horrific that she just couldn’t say the words aloud.
“The ship’s whore?” he finished her sentence for her.
Closing her eyes, she bit her lip and nodded slightly. The sound of the creaking bed ropes filled the air. Then she felt his hand on her cheek, and her eyes shot open.
“Stay away from me!” she warned him, jumping back and reaching for her dagger at her waist. However, she’d forgotten that Birk took her dagger and that she no longer had a weapon. Instead, her hand brought forth her flute.
“What do you plan on doing with that? Stabbing me with your flute?” he asked with a chuckle, grabbing his breeches and pulling them on. He was naked after all, and she’d just glimpsed his family jewels surrounded by a nest of curly, dark hair.
“Och!” she cried aloud, holding her hand over her mouth. She dropped the flute and it swung from the cord attached to her waist. “Please, dinna hurt me!”
“Take it easy, love. And stop shouting, because the rest of the crew will hear you.”
Love? Did he just call her, love? Aye, he did, and it made her heart flutter. No one had ever called her “love” before. “So, what if they do hear me?” she asked. “I really dinna care.”
“Nay?” His eyes darted over to the painting of the naked lady and then back to her. Suddenly, it was more than she could bear.
Sinking to her knees, she started crying. Losing her father and being abducted by pirates all in one day was proving to be the worst time of her life. However, even as bad as that was, if she were going to end up as the ship’s whore, she would rather die.
“Stop the crying,” he said in a low voice, dragging her to her feet. “I knew having a wench on board was only going to be a problem when I let Nairnie join us. Having two wenches on board now is only going to bring me horrible luck. I’ve already lost the treasure map. I don’t want the damned ship to sink next. Tomorrow, we’ll head for shore and I’m going to leave both you and Nairnie there on land. A pirate ship is no place for any wench, young or old.”
“Do ye mean it?” she asked with a sniff, his words starting to calm her.
“Aye.”
“Oh, thank ye!” Feeling so happy, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
As if his luck couldn’t get any worse, Tristan’s blood froze in his veins when the door opened just as Gavina was hugging and kissing him.
“Well, well. It looks like our brother really did take a liking to boys after all,” Mardon said to Aaron, who was standing next to him. Ramble, unfortunately, was with them, too. With the way Ramble liked to talk, Tristan was never going to be able to keep this a secret.
“Gavin? What the hell are you doing to our brother?” Aaron shot across the room and pulled Gavina away from Tristan, throwing her to the ground.
“Dammit, Aaron, stop it!” shouted Tristan. “She’s been through enough today and doesn’t need you throwing her around.” Tristan reached down, taking Gavina’s hand and helping her to her feet.
“She?” asked Mardon and Aaron together.
“Her?” said Ramble.
“Bloody hell,” mumbled Tristan, releasing Gavina and dragging his hand through his hair. He hadn’t meant to say that. He wasn’t going to tell them about Gavina. Or at least not yet, and certainly not like this. His brothers had taken him by surprise, and he’d made a mistake. “All right, so she’s a wench,” he admitted. “So now you see I am not interested in boys.”
“Gavin is a – a lass?” asked Ramble, peeking out from between Mardon and Aaron.
“It’s Gavina,” she told them, wiping away a tear.
“Why?” asked Mardon. “How?”
“What?” said Aaron, making a face and shaking his head in disbelief.
“Just get in here and keep your voices down.” Tristan hurried over and looked out to the deck before quickly closing the door. When he turned back, his brothers and Ramble were all standing there with their mouths hanging open, just staring at Gavina.
“What’s . . . going on?” Mardon finally asked. “What the hell are you up to, Tristan?”
“Sit down,” commanded Tristan.
Aaron started to sit on the barrel, but Tristan stopped him. “Nay! Let Gavina sit there. You take the bench.”
“The barrel is my chair,” complained Aaron.
“Just do it!” snapped Tristan.
Aaron begrudgingly went to the bench, but Ramble and Mardon were already sitting there and it was only big enough for two.
“Move, Ramble,” commanded Aaron.
Ramble got up and walked over to sit on a trunk, his eyes fastened to Gavina all the while.
“I had no idea at first that Gavin – Gavina, was a girl,” Tristan explained, pacing the floor.
“Why are ye dressed like a lad?” asked Ramble.
“Birk did this to me,” Gavina told them. “He did it to protect me from men like ye. From pirates.”
No one said a word. The men just kept staring at her, looking stunned. Finally, Mardon spoke up. “How the hell didn’t I notice?”
“Aye,” agreed Aaron. “Mardon can sniff out a wench over an entire sea and three towns away. He likes women even more than whisky!”
“I see.” Gavina glanced over at the naked woman painting and then back at them.
“Taking that painting might have been my idea,” admitted Mardon. “But Tristan is the one who wanted to hang it up between the mermaids.”
“Only to keep my crew from having more lustful thoughts day and night than they already have,” said Tristan. “Now, enough about the painting or the mermaids. I need to figure out what to do about this situation.”
“I thought ye were goin’ to drop me off at shore tomorrow along with Nairnie,” said Gavina. She looked up at Tristan with wide, blue eyes filled with hope.
“Let you go?” Mardon’s eyes flashed over to Tristan. “Please don’t tell me you really promised her that.”
“He wouldn’t have done such a daft thing,” said Aaron. “After all, she’s the only one who possibly knows where Birk hid the copy of the map.”
“Well, I might have said that,” admitted Tristan. “Only because I didn’t want any more bad luck having two wenches aboard my damned ship.”
“What?” Gavina stood up. “So, what are ye sayin’? Are ye goin’ to go back on yer word? Where is yer sense of honor?”
“Honor?” Ramble laughed at that. “Pirates always lie and have no honor. That’s just the way they are. After all, if a pirate –”
“Shut up before I cut out your damned tongue, Ramble,” warned Tristan.
“Aye, Cap’n.” Ramble repositioned himself on top of the trunk, pressing his lips together tightly.
“Well, which is it, Brother?” asked Mardon, slowly standing up. “Are you letting her go or not?”
“She said she doesn’t know about any copy of a map,” explained Tristan.
“You don’t honestly believe that! Are you too much of a simpleton to see that wenches always lie just to get what they want?” asked Aaron, standing up as well.
Tristan paced faster. His brothers did have a point. Gavina could be lying about t
he map. He’d only told her he’d take her back to shore because he wanted her to stop crying. Damn it, why did she have to cry? He supposed he’d also told her that to protect her since he didn’t want his men rogering her at the rail. Ever since he discovered she was a girl, all he wanted to do was to protect her.
“Gavina, I need to know the truth,” said Tristan. “Do you or don’t you know anything about the map?”
“I ken that my faither was willin’ to gamble away everythin’’ in a card game against Birk to get some kind of treasure map,” she answered.
“Your father? The dead man on the floor?” asked Tristan.
“Aye.” She nodded slightly.
“I thought so.”
“Did ye see it? Did ye get a look at the map?” asked Ramble.
“Aye, Birk showed it to me, but only for a second,” she told him.
“Then you can remember what the map looked like,” said Aaron excitedly. “Tell us about it.”
“Nay, I canna because it was all too fast. I barely saw it at all and dinna remember a thing.”
“Well, why did Birk burn it?” asked Mardon.
“He and my faither were both cheatin’ at the game. They got into an argument and Birk killed my faither. Then Birk heard ye pirates were on shore and burned the map.” She sniffled and wiped away another tear.
God, was she going to cry again? Tristan certainly hoped not. If so, it was going to be his undoing. His little sister used to cry in storms when she was young, and Tristan was the one who had always comforted her. This only made him want to comfort Gavina now in the same manner.
“Why was Birk willing to risk his life to protect you?” asked Tristan.
“Aye, and even take the time to dress you up like a boy?” added Aaron.
“I – I’m no’ sure. I think it was because he wanted to claim me, and he didna want ye pirates to have me.”
“So, you never saw him make a copy of the map?” asked Tristan.
“Nay. I can honestly say I didna see Birk make a copy of the map.”
“All right then,” said Tristan. “Ramble, take Gavina to the galley to stay with Nairnie for now, and be sure to keep her away from the men. Tell Nairnie that Gavina is a girl.”
Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1) Page 10
