by David Talon
The others laughed as Pepper shot back, “You better be careful, Curly, for Jade’s his ghost now.”
Curly gaped at us as the others laughed again, one saying, “Best watch yerself or Jade’ll have fire comin out yer arse every time you fart.”
Jeremiah led us up the broad, wooden stairs built into the stern and up onto the aft deck. The ship was beginning to move under sail, with Master Walters bellowing orders at the crew while Captain Hawkins spoke quietly to Mr. Smith and Master Khan. Mr. Smith noticed us and beckoned for us to join them, his deep voice rumbling, “Tomas, your ladies are working well together.”
I looked up towards the sails. The mermaid air-golems were pushing the ship forward, the nets in their hands spread out along the canvas. Glancing back down, my gaze met the eyes of the man at the tiller, a gaunt African with a shoulder once badly broken and left to heal crooked. He nodded to me and I nodded back as Jeremiah said, “Tomas, meet Ezekiel. He knows these waters better than we knew St. Augustine.”
Ezekiel gave us a grin filled with broken teeth as we walked past the carved tiller. Behind us, Master Walters called out, “We’ve got the wind, captain. Where away?”
Captain Hawkins was standing next to the stern deck rail as he turned towards the tiller. “Zeke, we need an island where we can trade some of this cloth for provisions and fresh water. The Shadowmen took every bit the Dutch tub had.”
“Not to mention every person on board, alive or dead,” Jeremiah said as we stopped beside Mr. Smith. “It was like being on a ghost ship.”
“Different kind of provisions,” Pepper said. “They’ll smoke the dead bodies like jerked meat and eat them once the live ones are gone.”
In the silence that followed her words, Ezekiel began pushing the tiller towards the southeast until the ship’s bow was pointing in the direction he wanted. “Got de perfect spot, captain: we go back to Haven again. We’ll be there two hours, now we got de wind.”
“Good,” Captain Hawkins replied as he glanced at me. “Pepper, what have you told our young Dragon of his new situation?”
“That Jade is his as Smoke’s mine, and why she agreed to it.”
“I don’t like it, sir,” I blurted out before I could stop myself from speaking. The cold knot of fear in my belly tightened as his eyes narrowed, but remembering the lessons Alfonzo had taught me, I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I understand why it needs to be this way, but I was taught to always speak the truth.”
To my surprise he gave me a firm nod. “The truth is what I want from you at all times, even if it means you get punished for speaking it. Are we clear?” I gave him a hesitant nod and he went on. “There’s going to be a lot of things you’re not going to like from here on, beginning with the choice you’re about to make.” The knot of fear tightened further as he looked me over for a long moment, as if coming to a decision himself. “Jeremiah told you about the Articles?”
“Yes sir,” I answered. “Pepper’s off-limits to the crew.”
“You’re not going to be a member of the crew.” Captain Hawkins looked past me. “Pepper, are you truly serious about merging with the dragon-ghost Smoke?” Pepper and Smoke answered yes in unison behind me, and Captain Hawkins folded his arms. “Then this is your choice. You, Tomas Rios, will swear an oath to become my apprentice. You will serve me faithfully, no matter what I ask...or I will chain you in the ship’s brig and sell you to Captain Black, who’s always looking for Dragons, willing or not.”
Before I could begin to gather my scattered wits, Pepper pulled me back and stood in front of me. “Sir, this isn’t fair to him; there’s got to be another way.”
Jeremiah, in turn, pulled her away. “Not if you want the crew to even consider accepting this,” he said as he looked at me. “It’ll mean your fortunes will be tied to the captain’s, and you’ll never be accepted by the crew as one of them. You’ll always be an outsider.”
“Dragons always are, yes?” Master Khan said. “Honorable Tomas, if you become the captain’s apprentice I will teach you what I know...although Jade herself may prove to be the better teacher, yes?”
“And I’ll see you’re taught how to fight,” Mr. Smith said. “Outsider or not, everyone aboard appreciates what you can do for us, so what say you?”
The captain continued looking at me with dark eyes as something Gran-Pere had once said came back to me: ‘Even if you’re forced to make a bad bargain, make the best bad bargain you can’. “Captain Hawkins, I’ll agree to be your apprentice on one condition: I won’t give up my honor.”
His eyes narrowed. “Meaning what?”
I took a deep breath. “Meaning I won’t hurt the innocent. I’ll fight your enemies,” I said quickly, “and I won’t balk at whatever you ask me. But I won’t rape or torture, nor kill the defenseless out of hand. I was taught about holding onto my honor by a man named Alfonzo. He wasn’t the best man in the world, but neither am I, and I won’t lose my honor, not...totally.”
“What if I tell you to crawl into the bilge and clean it out,” the captain growled. “Will you balk then?”
“When the flux passed through St. Augustine, I was cleaning shitte off men’s legs and arses; cleaning the bilge would probably be pleasant in comparison.”
The others laughed and even the captain’s dark look vanished as the ghost of a smile played at his lips. “I imagine it would.” But the smile faded as he went on. “Should I require someone tortured, I have but to speak the word and much of the crew would ask to do the deed. But should I require such a deed to be done, you will not defy me. You’ll keep still or I’ll have you flogged... are we clear?”
I realized I could push the captain but so far, answering, “Clear, sir.”
Captain Hawkins pointed down at the deck in front of him. “Drop to one knee and fold your hands together like a priest at prayer.” I did as he asked with my fingers and palms together as I held them up, and he placed his hands to either side of them. “Pepper, is Jade close to hand?”
“I am here,” Jade’s voice answered from a spot to the side of us. “If you wish to make this a Dragon’s Oath, it will be binding on both sides.”
“Let it be so,” he replied, and a moment later I gasped as Jade’s claws painlessly pierced my right side. Captain Hawkins gave me a hard smile. “I will assume Jade’s now attached herself to us both.”
“I have,” she answered. “Will you both swear to honor the bond between you, to teach and be taught, to serve and be served, to have honor kept and honor restored, and to defend until no defense is possible until death breaks the bond or I release you both?”
I took a deep breath. “I swear it.”
“Interesting oath,” Captain Hawkins said, raising his eyebrows. “I also swear.”
“As do I,” Jade said, “my oath separate from yours. Tomas Rios, by the true name I keep hidden from the ears of mortals I bind myself to thee for the rest of thy life or until I remember thee no more. I do so swear.”
Everyone looked around at each other with startled looks, the captain letting go of my hands as he spoke to the spot where Jade’s voice came from. “Since when did dragon-ghosts swear oaths like mortal men?”
“I have my reasons,” she replied in her cultured voice, “none of which I plan to discuss, so pray do not trouble your thoughts...”
From beyond the Dutch Flyte now far behind us I saw a flash of red light. A moment later a great boom sound rolled past us, and everyone turned toward the stern as a fiery light in the sky streaked towards us. I heard cries of alarm behind me as Master Walters shouted, “Captain, they’ve broken the truce. They’re shooting at us!”
“Stay calm,” Captain Hawkins yelled. “That shell’s not meant for us.”
“And if it is,” Jeremiah asked, “what then?”
Mr. Smith answered. “Then we haven’t a chance in the world.”
The fiery streak in the sky exploded into nine
smaller balls of flame arcing down, their destination clear as another boom rolled over us. A moment later they reached the Dutch Flyte and exploded. We covered our eyes as a final roar rolled over us, everyone looking back out to sea a moment later as the light faded.
Much of the Dutch Flyte was gone. What remained burned with hot flames as the Queen Anne’s Regret began to sink into the sea, Pepper and I instinctively clinging to each other as Jeremiah cried out, “Why did they do that?”
Of all of us, Captain Hawkins seemed the least concerned. “Captain Thorne wished to get rid of the evidence,” he said as the bow of the ship lifted into the air with the figurehead of the queen holding her hands in supplication to the sky.
“They’ve never done that before,” Mr. Smith quietly rumbled.
“The Shadowmen have changed tactics,” Captain Hawkins replied, “though I also suspect Captain Thorne just sent me a message. In any event,” raising his voice as he turned to Master Walters, “we live on to fight another day. Steady as she goes.”
“Steady as she goes,” Master Walters replied, “Aye, captain. Alright you lazy dogs,” he bellowed as he turned around, “the show’s over. Everyone back to work.”
Turning back towards the stern I looked out over the ocean. Pepper held my hand as I released her, both of us watching as the hands of the queen carried the wreck of my old life with her as the Dutch Flyte sank beneath the waves.
Pepper released my hand as Captain Hawkins turned towards us. “Jeremiah, take my apprentice below and get him fed, but then send him back topside. He needs to attend me here on the quarterdeck. Pepper, speak gently to the Venetian and have her join me.”
“As you wish, sir,” Pepper said as she looked at me. “Bide here until I return. I won’t be long.”
As she turned to leave I blurted out, “Do you always get your way?”
“Pretty much,” she said with a grin. I couldn’t help smiling back at her, and Pepper fairly skipped to the stairs, her bare feet almost silent as she went down them.
Jeremiah poked me in the ribs. “Will you gather your wits? What’s gotten into you?”
“I can’t help it,” I said, trying to think of a way to describe how her face lit up when she smiled, and how I couldn’t get that face out of my thoughts. “She’s just...bloody bones, I don’t know.”
“Leave be,” Mr. Smith said in his deep rumble, clearly amused. “It’ll make things easier if Tomas gets on with her.” He turned his attention on me and I turned to face him. Mr. Smith had tattoos all over his arms and bare chest in a swirl of designs, although some stood out, like the manacles tattooed on his wrists, with a length of chain extending down his arm to the elbow, where it ended in a broken link, or the African woman’s face tattooed directly over his heart. But no matter where else I looked, my gaze always returned to the mythical scaled dragon with its tail wrapped around his waist and the head staring directly at whoever stood in front of him. “Tomas,” he went on, “your service with the captain begins with you treating Pepper as your beloved, regardless of whether you feel that way for her or not.”
“But she’s daft! I mean, I like her well enough and she’s comely, especially when she smiles...”
“Comely?” Jeremiah looked at me like I’d gone daft myself. “She’s got a tiny nose and freckles, not to mention barely enough bosoms to hold in your hand.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but a dark look from the captain quickly shut it. “I care not whether you find her comely or how daft she becomes. You will do whatever it takes to make her happy, or I swear I will make your life as miserable as I can. Am I clear?”
“Harry,” Mr. Smith said, “let me explain a few things to the lad.” The captain made a ‘go-ahead’ gesture with his hand, and Mr. Smith went on. “Has Jeremiah explained to you about the Articles?”
“He has, and why Sally’s so important to the crew. I also know Pepper’s important to Sally, though I have to admit I don’t understand why.”
Master Khan had been so quiet I’d forgotten he was there until he spoke. “Pepper lived her early life on Three-day Island, which is often visited by the Bo, yes? Pepper knows much of their customs and rituals, and the night she was brought aboard the Blackjack Davy, Sally took Pepper as her blood sister. Now they are as close as human and Bo can be.”
“Sally’s as much the captain’s ally as I am,” Mr. Smith said in his deep rumble, “but much of the crew is not. However, they’re willing to follow him...provided they feel they’re being treated with fairness, and not being short-changed.”
“And Sally’s part of that,” I said, beginning to realize things were more complex than I’d thought. “What happens if the crew starts thinking they’ve been short-changed?”
“Elect a new captain,” Captain Hawkins said, “and kill off the old one... if they can. It’s been tried before and I prefer not to have it tried again.” He stabbed a finger at my face. “So, you will keep Pepper happy, so she can keep Sally happy.”
“‘Cause if momma ain’t happy,” Ezekiel said without taking his gaze from the horizon, “ain’t none of us happy.”
“Captain,” Jeremiah said with the stubborn look on his face I remembered well, “this is still going to be like taking a stick and knocking down a hornet’s nest on top of the crew when they...”
I whirled as Selene’s voice called out my name behind me. She hurried over to where I stood and threw her arms around me, the scent of sweetness and musk in my nose as I felt the softness of her body. But she let me go at once to anxiously look me over. “I despaired that I had sent you to your death on a foolish whim, but the Dragon Pepper tells me you are well.”
“I’m fine,” I answered, glancing at Pepper, who was still standing near the stairs as she gave Selene a narrow-eyed gaze. “Pepper took excellent care of me while I slept.”
Pepper gave me a smile which I returned, Selene giving the redheaded girl a cool glance as she said, “I am pleased to hear of it. But my aunt,” Selene’s face growing troubled, “what happened? Is she...”
“Your aunt wouldn’t let me save her.” I took a deep breath as I remembered the old woman’s last words. “She said she wanted to die as she’d lived, on her own terms, but bid me to carry on her quest to find news of her daughter.”
Selene laughed as she burst into tears. “That is so like the old harridan. Pray did she at least give you the locket with the picture of my cousin within it?”
“The locket is part of the common-held plunder,” Captain Hawkins said, pulling out a small painting as well as an elegantly embroidered piece of cloth from a pocket of his captain’s coat. Jeremiah pulled me out of the way as the captain stepped in front of Selene and put both in her hands. “The portrait is of little value to anyone save you, so keep it and the handkerchief as well.” Selene nodded as she put the cloth to her face, the captain’s expression softening. “Dry your eyes: the dead are seldom worth the tears shed for them.”
Selene wiped her eyes and delicately blew her nose. “Pray forgive me, sir; I fear the day’s events have quite unnerved me.”
“Freely given,” he answered. “For your safety you will need to remain in my cabin while most of the crew is on deck, until we reach Tortuga. I will tell you when it is safe for you to be about deck. Am I clear?”
Selene met his gaze with a direct one of her own. “I am yours to command, captain.”
He gave her a hungry smile. “Were the rest of the crew half as willing. We shall dine together, along with Mr. Smith, and then sample some of the excellent Italian wine we liberated from the ship’s stores while you tell us of yourself and your late lover, Councilor Bartholomew. I’ve heard some interesting stories told about him.”
Selene inclined her head. “I am always happy to tell stories about him, and whatever else you desire to know.”
Pepper spoke up before anyone else could. “Captain, I can get Fire-rose to bring you food from the galley, so
you won’t have to bring her below. Smoke will help too.” I felt a stab of hurt at Smoke’s abandoning me, which must’ve showed on my face for Pepper’s face softened. “You haven’t lost her...you’ll see.”
“Not until we know for sure you’ve been discovered,” Captain Hawkins said to her in a sharp voice. “I’ll not have you alarming Dava needlessly, are we clear?”
“Aye, sir,” Pepper answered in a cheerful voice. Captain Hawkins grimaced as he shook his head while Pepper beckoned to me. “C’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour of the crew’s hold.”
Jeremiah fell in beside me and we walked towards the stairs leading down to the main deck. “That girl’s going to be all our deaths,” he muttered.
“Just her own,” Fire-rose’s voice said from beside us, making Jeremiah and I both jump, “and far sooner than she should. “Excuse me,” her voice moving away from us, “but I must attend the captain.”
Jeremiah and I traded a look before joining Pepper, who only looked at me and smiled.
The crew’s hold stunk. To be fair, the crew’s hold of every ship I’d ever been on smelled of too many men living together for months, and to my surprise, this one had less of an offensive odor than I’d expected as we walked down the steep steps leading below deck. I mentioned it to Jeremiah, who replied, “We hung cinnamon-balls in the crew’s privy.”
As I’d heard it, a Dragon in the Turkish empire had come up with the idea of making Artifacts which gave off a pleasant scent over time, and the idea had been picked up by Italian Dragon craftsmen, who’d improved the Artifacts so they’d last for years. They commanded a high price. “But they’re expensive...which means you stole them off a merchant.”
“Liberated, please,” Pepper replied as we reached the lower deck. The ceiling was higher than I’d expected, so only the tallest of the men had to stoop, held up by a small forest of square pillars with iron hooks set on each side. Hammocks were hung between the posts as were canvas bags, with travel chests set beside them along with carved wooden chairs, both clearly looted from the towns they’d raided over the years. From the ceiling were hung dragon-globes in their rope baskets, swaying with the motion of the ship as her bow cut through the waves like an Artifact knife.
