As she stared at Nikolas, Samael spoke to her. “Of all the people who might come looking for me, I never imagined you.”
“Well, you don’t know me very well then,” she said, her gaze meeting his. “I thought I might be able to stop Nikolas from snapping your stupid neck but you see it as a betrayal. I never meant it that way.”
“Difficult to see it any other way from where I stand.”
She looked into his eyes and her heart ached at his distress. She must make him understand! “I gave up everything to come and find you.”
“What did you give up? Drudgery? You love the sea. This was no chore.”
Katrine hissed. “She gave up a friendship and a marriage, idiot. She was betrothed, the wedding scheduled for this very day. Her man will likely never speak to her again and what will become of the estate I don’t know.”
“Katrine!” Esta said. “This is my fight.”
Samael stared. “Your betrothed? That was mighty sudden. You couldn’t wait to land some poor sod who would bail you out of trouble.”
“How dare you?” Esta snapped, furious that he should dismiss her sacrifice. She pulled her anger back under control, reminded herself that it would not help to fly at him and scratch his eyes out. She would not allow him to bait her into disgracing herself. “I’m not getting any younger. Reid is a widower, a master goldsmith who is lonely and in need of family. I’m young enough to give him that and he could provide security. Do you begrudge me that, knowing how hard I’ve worked to keep the estate afloat?”
“I’m disappointed you thought you could settle for a marriage of convenience, Esta,” Samael said, his voice softer and eyes sadder than ever. “It’s beneath you.”
“Well, I don’t care what you think. It doesn’t matter now anyway. Reid won’t want me after I left him to sail in search of you. What man could forgive that?”
“Some men might admire your passion and daring,” he said, the intensity of his gaze heating her blood.
Esta was so distracted by him that she forgot her question, forgot she might be required to reply. Katrine nudged her. “Ah… I’d be optimistic indeed to think that Reid could see my actions as anything but a rejection of him.”
“And have you rejected him?” Samael asked.
She had asked herself the same question over and over. If she returned and Reid would still have her, would she go through with the marriage? It wouldn’t be fair to him if she was unable to commit herself. Luckily she didn’t have to answer that question.
Nikolas re-joined them, the tension between the two men palpable. Their profiles were very similar, just with slightly different coloring and Nikolas the bigger of the two. Esta wondered how this would all end.
“Have you come to a decision, Admiral?” Samael asked, his arms crossed and feet planted in the sand.
“I can’t overlook your crimes, Delacost, no matter the blood that links us. You must return with me to Wildecoast and answer for your actions. Your crew must also return.”
There was angry muttering from the Lenweri and many raised their weapons.
“Leave the Lenweri and I swear I will come in peace and allow whatever judgments you require,” Samael said.
Nikolas’s eyes flickered to the elves and back to Samael. “I can’t do that, man. After the trouble we are having with this race within Thorius, there’s no way I can pardon your crew. If I try, the King will overturn my order and send me to detain them. I’ll see you all get a fair trial but that’s all I can promise.”
“That’s no promise,” Samael snapped. “I swore I’d protect them only moments ago and now I must go back on my word. You’ll regret this, Cosara.”
“Your threats are meaningless—”
An arrow flew past Esta and the next thing she knew, Samael charged at her and Katrine, lifted them both off the ground and ran with them under his arms, one on each side.
Esta shrieked and pounded at his side. “Put me down. What are you doing?”
“Saving your life, lady,” Samael said, his breath coming hard and fast as they neared the beached boats. “Get in and keep your heads down.” When they were in he pushed the boat out into the shallows then handed them knives.
Esta brandished two of her own. “Keep your weapons, you may need them.” She sent him a look that she hoped said everything she felt for him and he gave their boat a last push and waded back to shore and the chaos that reined.
Kingdom sailors fought the Lenweri and Samael cursed and ran back toward the melee. The Lenweri had downed bows and taken up swords and Nikolas was fending off three elves as Samael joined him. Esta was sure one of the elves was Nande. She held her breath, wondering who her pirate would help but didn’t have long to wait as Samael smashed the butt of his sword against Nande’s temple. The Lenweri leader dropped to the sand unmoving and Samael engaged one of the other two elves. He and Nikolas fought side by side, dispatching the elves and then turning as one to clash with the rear of a pack of Lenweri intent on reaching the water.
Esta wished she could understand what Samael was saying. He shouted at the elves, his former crew, in their language, but all it seemed to do was increase the ferocity of their attack.
“Can’t you do something?” she asked Katrine. “I’m sure he’ll be hurt.”
“I would if I could be sure of hitting the elves and not our men,” Katrine said. “They fight like demons these Lenweri. Surely they have some loyalty to Samael?”
“It appears not. There must have been a captain’s pledge given and now he has been unable to keep it, they’ve taken matters into their own hands.” Her hands were curled into fists as she watched the fight sweep back and forth along the beach. Elves and men were dropping and not getting up, some moaned and others were still. The casualties looked even. “Who’ll be left to sail the ships away from this place?” At least she had no fear that she and Katrine would be safe but would they be able to leave this deserted island?
“Don’t fear, sister,” Katrine said. “I’m quite able to defend us no matter who is the victor from this.”
“You forget we must have enough crew to sail. At the moment it looks unlikely.” Esta chewed on her lower lip as she lost sight of Samael. The brothers had been separated and now battled on opposite sides of the beach. “Go to him,” she said to herself. As if he heard her words, Nikolas extracted himself and battled his way over to Samael until they fought back to back.
A group of a dozen elves broke away and bolted toward the boats. Some peeled off and headed for Esta and Katrine. Esta pulled her knives while Katrine muttered an incantation. She let fly a fireball that smashed into the leading elves and then turned and sent another to the shore.
“Don’t fire the boats!” Esta screamed. There was terrible carnage as the fireballs hit elven bodies and they ran screaming into the sea. One boat was set afire but the remainder had escaped damage so far. And then six Lenweri appeared beside their boat, standing in thigh-deep water, their cat-like irises coldly strange. They piled into the boat and while Katrine fought them like a demon, Esta held two at bay in the prow of the boat, brandishing her knives at their faces. The remaining two elves grabbed the oars and began rowing toward the ships.
The movement of the boat took Esta’s attention for a split second but that was enough for her two assailants to wrench the knives from her hands. She was pushed hard into the bottom of the vessel. She screamed as one of the elves hit Katrine‘s temple with the butt of his knife.
“That will tame the witch,” the Lenweri said. It was an elf Esta could remember sharing an ale with on board Silver Lady. She watched desperately for signs of life from her sister, her gut churning.
“Don’t hurt her,” she said, a sob escaping her. “Please.”
“She wouldn’t hesitate to hurt us,” the Lenweri said. “Blindfold and gag her.”
Esta tried to see what was happening on the beach but she was surrounded by wet Lenweri bodies. This had gone so very wrong.
Where is Samae
l?
And suddenly he was there, his head above the side of the boat, water cascading off his hair and shoulders. He shook the water from his eyes even as he punched the elf who held her in the side of the head. The Lenweri tumbled into the three elves guarding Katrine and Esta pulled a knife from her boot and stabbed the elf standing on her other side. As Samael heaved himself aboard, she stood and kicked the Lenweri in front of her in the head. He reeled back and tumbled over the side. Samael set about dispatching the other three until they were alone on the boat. He slumped in the bottom, gasping for breath his eyes closed.
“Samael,” she said, falling to her knees beside him. “What is amiss?” And then she took in the many cuts over his body and the blood leeching in ever growing pools beneath him.
“I’ll live,” he said, eyes still closed. “Check your sister.”
Esta had seen the even rise and fall of Katrine’s chest before Samael’s advent but she crawled over to her sister and probed the nasty bruise on her temple. There didn’t seem any broken skull bones but neither was there any sign that her sister would soon awake. “Katrine, can you hear me? If you can, squeeze my hand.” There was the faintest tightening of the cold fingers that lay in hers. Esta let out a long breath. “She will be well, I think.”
She turned back to Samael who appeared to be fading fast. “Samael, can you hear me?” She shook his shoulders but he had sagged against the side of the boat, his eyes closed and his breath fast and shallow. Esta turned to the beach where the few remaining elves had been herded into a huddle, guarded by Nikolas Cosara and seven of his men. She sat, grabbed the oars and started rowing, slow regular strokes when everything within screamed at her to go faster. But faster would only upset her rhythm and slow her down.
As she neared the beach, Nikolas waded out to her and dragged the little boat up on the sand.
“How is he?” Nikolas asked, a telling statement when Katrine lay unmoving as well.
“I think he’s dying. He has lost so much blood.”
Nikolas stepped into the boat and hauled his brother over his shoulders then carried him up the beach, laying him on a stack of sail cloth. He removed his shirt and started tearing it into bandages and wrapping Samael’s hurts to stem the blood flow.
“You’re right,” Nikolas said. “He’s close to death.”
“Then save him, Admiral,” Esta snapped, helping Katrine out of the boat and up the beach to join them. “You can’t let him die.”
Nikolas’s eyes fluttered closed and he let out a long sigh, crouched next to his brother, his hands keeping pressure on the more serious wounds. He appeared to gather his composure, then stood and walked to the huts nearby, returning with blankets.
Esta collected wood for a fire and soon had a good blaze going and water heating in a pot. He needed fluid and warmth and then perhaps he would live. In a daze, she raided the huts and found enough food to make a broth which she fed to Samael and Katrine. Esta had some herself for she had never been so cold or scared in the warm light of day.
The sailors tied up the able bodied Lenweri and set about making themselves a meal and treating their wounded. Then they buried the dead—it was a huge task. Nikolas watched with bleak eyes even though he was the victor.
“Cheer up, Admiral,” she said. “You’ll have your day in court.”
He turned and glared at her. “I can’t stand the loss of life. I had planned on taking my men back to their wives and children and instead…” His voice broke on the words and Esta realized he was distraught. “And my brother lies here, fighting for life.” He looked away. “Why is it that everyone I care for I lose?”
“Samael is still alive. All is not lost,” Esta said.
Nikolas cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. “It’s time we looked at those wounds. I take it you’re familiar with a needle and thread?
Esta stared at the admiral, wondering at the depths he had revealed to her. Was there hope for a relationship between him and Samael?
She stood and brought a pot of water she had boiled and allowed to cool. There were special herbs in the water that would stop wounds going foul and aid healing. She was no wise woman but she had seen her share of illness and injury both on the land and at sea and Katrine had taught her basic herb lore.
While Nikolas stripped Samael of his shirt and breeches, she removed the bandages one by one. Mindful of the admiral’s eye upon her, she cleaned the wounds with quick efficient sweeps of her cloth when her fingers itched to stroke the firm muscles of Samael’s chest. She stitched the deepest wounds and they found clean shirts in one of the huts and tore them up for fresh bandages.
Samael’s breathing had deepened and slowed which she knew was a good sign. He wasn’t feverish and rested quietly. His hands and feet were cold though and that scared her. “You can’t leave me, pirate,” she said under her breath. “I’ve given up everything for you.”
Chapter 19
Sam wandered in a place of darkness but there was light ahead. He wanted to walk toward it but something kept him anchored where he was. There was a voice, a familiar voice, filled with fear. Gentle hands were on his skin but there was pain as well. His head pounded and he knew if he could reach that light, the pain would end. Paradise might await there. He could stand some paradise right about now.
As he strained to break the bonds that tied him, that voice distracted him, speaking of real things like wounds and bandages, telling him he couldn’t leave. He had a feeling he owed her nothing, had given over and over again only to find she had betrayed him. But then their friendship had been ever tenuous, more a rivalry than a true relationship. What they shared was primal but what her hands promised was gentle and loving, and Samael was sure he didn’t understand those conditions.
His spirit drew away from the light and slid down a dark tunnel. The decision had been made for him, perhaps by his traitorous body that would never give up. He was going back, to the voice, to the pain and to a woman who didn’t know she needed him.
The pain mounted, in his head and all over his body. He gasped and sat up, the movement blackening his vision. As the blindness faded, she came into view—anxious, beautiful and tentative. He tried to smile but knew it was more a grimace.
“Lady,” he croaked, and lay back down. He turned his head and found his brother. “Admiral.”
Nikolas nodded, as grim as ever. Did the man never smile? “You had better call me Nikolas, at least in private. What we have endured, well, it makes a difference.”
“Even though you’re here because of me?”
“You could have chosen to fight with your men, instead you decided to save the women and fight with us. It tells me you’re not beyond redemption.”
Samael nodded and the movement sent a spear of pure pain through his skull. “It could be too soon to judge that.” He looked at Esta but didn’t know what to say.
“I want to thank you,” she said. “By now we could have been on the ocean captive of elves and the Goddess only knows what would have happened.”
“I know what you did, Lady Aranati. You tended me, brought me back from the brink. I don’t know if you did me a favor. At least dead I’d be spared the noose and might even have had a song or two composed about my death.”
She gasped. “You ungrateful …bastard! You’re wrong anyway. Somehow you would have lived. A man like you is not so easy to kill.” Her voice failed on the last words.
Nikolas cleared his throat. “I should go and check on the injured.” He walked away, leaving an awkward silence.
“How do you expect me to react to your actions?” Samael said, the rage in his voice diminished by pain. “You helped Nikolas find me. I was perfectly happy roaming the seas, never to set eyes on you or my brother again.”
“I don’t think you were happy. Your raids were becoming violent. Nikolas had to take action and I came along to make sure you were safe. I thought maybe I could save you from yourself.”
Samael frowned. “Instead you nearly got t
aken hostage.”
“Don’t you see?” Esta said. “I couldn’t bear not knowing what was happening to you. I feared for you, Samael. I have deep feelings that a betrothed woman should not have. I have them all the same.” She took a deep breath and her heart steadied. “I think I love you.”
Samael barked out a harsh laugh. “You think! Always so cautious, lady.” He levered himself up so he sat facing her. “When are you going to let your heart free? Well I do love you. Despite your betrayal, despite our different stations, despite your infuriating control issues, despite the fact that you always pull away first—I love you.”
Esta’s mouth dropped open and she blinked away tears that wanted to steal the moment. She wouldn’t cry, she would be strong and clear and forthright. She blew out the breath she’d been holding.
“I…ah…you stir me as no man ever has. I wake up thinking of you and go to bed in the same condition. I imagine what you might be doing, saying, what trouble you might be in, wonder if you’re still alive. I can’t stand being apart from you any longer. I’ve fought and denied and this is where it has led me. Is that love, Samael?”
He smiled and her heart melted. A surge of…love…lifted her up and drove her toward him, the man who had saved her life, the man she had chosen over her betrothed. Esta leaned further forward and laid her lips on his, tasted the salty essence of him, pushed her hands up into his hair. His mouth moved beneath hers and then his arms were around her and the passion that ignited between them could have melted the sand beneath.
Esta lost all sense of time and place, let her body free for once, just once, to see what would happen. It wasn’t a conscious thought, but a response to him, to the fact that he was alive and for this moment he was hers. He groaned as his arms enfolded her and she pulled back, thinking she’d hurt him. What she saw in his eyes was anything but hurt. It was pure desire and burning bright. She dived back in, pressing close, noting him stir beneath her. Esta wanted more, wanted everything that was possible between a man and woman. Everything that couldn’t happen here.
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