by Liz Tyner
Someone moved to stand at the railing. The other sister.
Damn. Did the women not understand that orders were not invitations to be declined or accepted on a whim?
‘I cannot believe we are doing this, Thessa,’ Bellona said. ‘We are leaving everything. We will have less than our leaking roof now.’
Benjamin frowned. He’d just traded half-interest in a ship for two women who did not follow orders and were wearing blankets and underclothes—all in front of his men.
‘Gid. Take the women away.’ His voice had no inflection. ‘Explain to them the nature of an order.’
Gidley gasped out a ‘Yes, Capt’n.’ He whipped around, grasping both women’s arms and taking them to the cabin.
Walking to the foremast, Ben rested a palm on the smooth wood, and inhaled deeply, letting the perfume of Ascalon fill his nostrils. Ascalon. The entire ship was coated to keep her waterproof. The mixture of oak wood and pine resin always cheered him. But now, it hardly comforted him. He felt he’d traded away his true love. He shut his eyes and rested his forehead against the wood. He hoped she’d forgive him. Being in Ascalon’s bad graces could make for a very difficult voyage.
He heard a ripping noise and a cacophony of curses from the crewman. He didn’t need to look around to know a sail had just torn.
*
Taking stock of the room where a demanding man had deposited them, Thessa realised the space wasn’t built for two people. The lantern didn’t give much light, but she could see well enough.
The bunk built into the wall could only hold one person. With cabinets under and cabinets over, even sitting in it would be near impossible. Rough brown covers rested on the mattress. She expected a bed better than the straw mattress she used, but wasn’t certain this was it.
Taking the woollen wrap the sailor had given her, she folded it and placed it on the bed.
She thought of the swim and the escape. Stephanos hadn’t been the only reason she’d jumped into the water. Something else had pulled at her. The captain was leaving and she’d not wanted him to go. She didn’t know why she felt that way, or why the captain’s face kept appearing in her thoughts. Even his voice. She’d heard the irritation and the sound of command mixed together when he’d spoken after pulling her from the water. When he’d put his hands on the underside of her breasts, something had taken over her body with the same burn of a volcano. All the warmth was pulled from the air and released into her body through his fingertips. She’d had to remove his hands to stop the rippling warmth he created.
She could still feel the imprint of his fingertips. Every place he’d touched still warmed when she remembered the moment. He might have taken his hands away, but her body retained the knowledge. The intensity had been too overpowering to trust. And too volatile to be safe.
‘Are you going to tell the captain about Stephanos’s sloop?’ Bellona asked.
‘I can’t. What if the captain doesn’t take us then? It will not go well if he sends us back to the island. And Stephanos—by the time he readies the sloop, we will be well on our way. And the waters are vast. He’ll not find us.’
Bellona groaned. ‘I hope not. But I do not think I will wager. I would have once wagered I would never be on a ship to London. And now...here I am. I want to see the town, but I fear sailing.’
Thessa listened. Through the wooden walls she could hear strong orders and muffled curses. ‘I don’t think you are the only one who is upset about the travel.’
‘I thought we would have to... That you would wed Stephanos...’ Bellona stood so close their shoulders touched. She lowered herself on to the wood beneath their feet. With knees propped up, she huddled, but let the covering the men gave her fall from her shoulders to the floor, but it rested partway under her. ‘I thought perhaps you would marry him and then cause a fight between him and his men, and hope he was killed.’
‘That is wrong.’
‘Less wrong than what he does.’
‘Skase,’ Thessa ordered, hoping her sister would quiet.
Bellona ignored the word. ‘If I had seen the captain though, I would have known what you were planning. I would have had my satchel prepared and sent ahead to this ship.’
‘I did not want this.’
‘I never claimed you were much on thoughts.’
Thessa nudged Bellona’s foot. ‘Skase. You talk nonsense.’
‘He left that statue to save us.’ She rested her arms across her knees so she could prop her chin. ‘Well, if you do not want him, I would like to have him. He has already done more for us than Father ever did.’ Bellona clasped the leather string at her neck and pulled free the gold medallion she wore. She held it for Thessa to see. ‘But we do have this.’
Thessa turned away from her sister. Bellona said so much just by mentioning their father’s name and touching the necklace.
Thessa had found one of the gold coins in the rubble, and been so happy. She’d taken it to her father, and he’d insisted she give it to him. He’d traded it to one of the French sailors for brandy.
When Thessa found the second one, she gave it to Bellona and told her never to let their father know. To save it unless she had no food and then trade it. Bellona had made a necklace of it and kept it hidden under her clothing.
Thessa could still remember seeing her father drink the brandy and the look of sadness in her mother’s eyes. But the older woman had said nothing.
Bellona leaned back into the wall and straightened her legs after tucking the necklace away. She shrugged. ‘The captain. You really did not tell me about him. I would not mind if he notices me.’
‘You are not to touch him.’
‘I said nothing about touching him.’ She nodded. ‘But if he wishes to hold me, I will let him. I expect he will want something in exchange for our passage and I’m not giving him the coin.’
Thessa’s hands fisted. ‘You...you should be beaten. Mother would be angry with you. Besides, the captain asked before if I would sail with him and he mentioned no price.’
Bellona frowned and drummed her fingers just below her neck. ‘Very well. You kept me away from the men on the island. I could not talk to one without you or Melina appearing at my side and treating me as a child. I have never even been kissed. Be aware you cannot do that any longer. I am twenty-two and will do as I wish.’
‘We had to keep you alive and safe. We did not want you taken by one of the men.’
‘I still almost had to wed Mikis. I will find my own way, and learn to protect myself, rather than chance that again.’
‘We escaped. Stop thinking of it.’
‘If a woman is to be in a prison,’ Bellona muttered, ‘it is better she choose the gaoler and choose the one who is most pleasing. And I do not see anything but walls around us and water that we cannot swim through. And a captain who looks very strong.’
Thessa jabbed a finger in the air. ‘I will throw you overboard if you touch him.’
Bellona smiled. ‘That’s what I thought...’ She met her sister’s eyes. ‘I will promise not to bed him—if you will do the same.’
‘That is insensible to talk of.’
‘Promise.’
‘You are evil.’
‘And our sister is going to have a child if what the captain says is true. And I have figured out what causes babies.’ She leaned forward and kicked her toes out, nudging her sister. ‘Promise you will stay from his bed?’
‘I had no thoughts of his bed.’ She paused, and reached to pull the cover from under her sister, causing her to scramble to keep upright. ‘Until you mentioned it.’
Chapter Ten
They’d been at sea two days and their seasickness had all but vanished, when the door to Thessa’s cabin jerked open. She raised her head from the pillow. Bellona sat on the decked floor, resting on a pallet she’d made from the bedcovers. One of the crewmen stepped in, his light brown hair a tangled mess. One hand stayed on the latch and the other held a knife.
His gaze lo
cked on Bellona. His lips twisted. The dark streaks under his eyes shone against the sallowness of his skin and Thessa knew he did not truly see Bellona, but some vision that only he would ever be able to view.
Thessa moved from the bunk, standing.
‘You... You’ll cause our deaths.’ He took one step into the cabin and reached for Bellona, pulling her to her feet.
Thessa jumped forward and wrenched herself between them.
He still had the knife, but his free hand reached for Thessa, clasping her neck. The pain from his grip caused a fury in her and she kicked while she pulled at his hand.
Bellona leaped on to on his back. He released Thessa, grasping behind to pull Bellona from him. When he pushed at Bellona, Thessa shoved, putting not just her arms into the motion, but her whole weight. The anger inside her controlled her more than her mind ever had.
His reaction of tossing Bellona aside when Thessa rammed forward caused him to stumble and fall backwards through the opening, his hand hitting the wood and the knife falling to the deck. Thessa landed on top of him.
She lifted herself only enough to stretch her arm to grasp the knife. She put the blade at the vein in his neck. Leaning forward, she held the knife tight. ‘You will not hurt my sister.’
The clamouring of footsteps around her let her know they’d become a spectacle.
‘You’re a sea devil,’ he gasped.
She didn’t raise her voice, but applied pressure to his neck. The memory of her uncle’s death had taught her that even slight strength could prove fatal. ‘You could see for certain if I just moved forward.’
‘You’re mermaid witches,’ he said. ‘No mere women could steal my sleep. You’ve bewitched me and the seas.’
Thessa put her tongue at her teeth and hissed, mocking his words. ‘If I were a witch, I would not have stolen your sleep. Why would I care about that?’ she said. ‘I would have stopped your heart.’
His eyes widened when she said heart. ‘Your power might not be strong enough,’ he responded. ‘You need to drink our blood to be strong.’
‘A man’s blood?’ she gasped, letting him feel the blade. ‘That could not taste well, even mixed with wine. Only a fool would think any kind of woman, spirit or witch, would want blood. Wine is a much better choice.’
‘Get off the man.’ The voice sliced through the sailors standing around her and the crew shuffled back, eyes still affixed to the pair.
Benjamin stood, staring down.
‘Off,’ he commanded again.
‘He touched me.’ Thessa leaned back, removing her blade from his throat. ‘And attacked me with this knife.’ She held it up. ‘And he is two times my size.’
‘Now.’ Ben’s voice wasn’t loud, but it had the authority of a gunshot.
She returned the tip of the blade to the downed man’s neck. ‘Before or after I check him for gills.’
‘Now.’ The captain’s voice whipped into her ears, jarring her.
She lowered the blade and used both hands to shove herself up.
The seaman scooted backwards, using his palms as leverage. ‘T’wasn’t my fault, Captain. They bewitched me. I was bringing them outside and gonna toss them overboard in the daylight so they’d turn back into fish and swim away.’
‘Truly?’ Benjamin spoke, the inflection in his words holding the softness a lover might use whispering in the night.
‘Yes, Captain.’ He looked up. ‘They’re in my dreams. Swimming and swimming and swimming and turning me into a fish. And I had to get them off the ship to save us all. They’ll take over every man’s mind, and then, then we’ll all jump into the water, believing we are fishes, and drown. No storm will have to get us, Captain. They’ll drown us all with their mesmerism.’
‘Do you feel like a fish now?’
‘No.’ He gulped.
‘They’re not doing a very fine job of mesmerising you, then.’
‘M-more’n you think.’
‘Gid. Samuels. Put him in irons. Tell Cook to keep an eye on him.’ His vision took in each seaman individually. ‘And every man on this ship is to inspect him at the end of the watch to make sure he has not sprouted any fish parts. When he has scales, which do not wash away, or gills, I wish to be informed, immediately. Otherwise, there will be no more talk of mesmerising or mermaids. Understood?’
One of the others stepped forward, voice terse. ‘We smell the rain. When you had her sister on board, you about went in the deep. You were laid up until you hit port. We don’t want you to die either.’
Benjamin planted his feet wide. ‘Last winter, Collins fell from the mast and went in the ocean. We never found his body. I heard nothing about mermaids then.’ He stopped speaking, letting his words linger, and his gaze sharpened. ‘Accidents befall us. Storms. We had waves last spring that had water pouring into the hawseholes. Water choked us while we stood on deck. Not a seaman here hasn’t been in a score of storms, or many more. And if women could turn into fish and sink ships, every one of us has left a woman behind at some time who would have turned into a mermaid and sent him to the deep. If she killed other seamen as well, I daresay she’d not shed a tear. We’d have been sunk many times over if women could sink this vessel.’
He waved a hand out, encompassing the ship. ‘She is the Ascalon. And like the sword she is named for, she can move swift, and straight, and subdue greater beasts than a mere man can. Not a one of us could tackle a storm without her. No more talk of fish women— unless you’re willing to see how well you can turn into a fish man to swim to England after I toss you overboard.’
He reached out his hand, took Thessa’s and pulled her forward. His hands held her shoulders and he turned her so the men could all see her face. ‘Her hair is askew and she has a scrape to her cheek. You’ve seen the mermaid painting in my cabin. Does this look like a mermaid to you?’
‘She is right handsome,’ someone muttered.
‘That is not the...’ He paused. ‘She has toes. Ten. Count ’em.’
‘Aahhhhh,’ Gidley’s exhalation reflected the look on the other men’s faces. ‘They’s clean.’
‘Now does any man here think she’s a mermaid?’ he called out.
‘She’s a goddess,’ Gidley spouted. ‘I just remembered the story of the goddess Thessalonia. She were the most powerful goddess of them all. And she could hold out her hand and catch thunderbolts and lightnin’ spears and toss them back into the sky like they was dewdrops. We need her on our ship. She can protect us.’
‘Anyone else mentions mermaids and they’ll be praying for one to be rescued from my anger.’ Benjamin called out, making sure the men dispersed, ‘Furl the royals.’
Ben met Gid’s eyes, gave a silent command and saw the blink of a response. Gidley’s voice rose and he turned away, half-shouting as he spoke, and pushing the errant seamen along.
‘One thing I kept to myself all these years because I didn’t believe no man here would think it true is the time I seen this...this fish what swam in in front of the ship and chattered like a baby learnin’ its words. Let me tell yer...’ He raised his voice to carry to the heavens and he moved away, the men following him like baby ducks gathered around their mother.
A wisp of air brushed Benjamin’s cheek and he looked overhead. The clouds were dark. He hoped the weather took his mind from the sight of Thessa’s delicate toes.
‘Inside. Both of you,’ Benjamin mumbled to the women.
Thessa looked at him, her brown eyes showing thoughts he wasn’t sure how to decipher. But after that look—he knew if she were an artist, she would have been able to sketch his face to perfection. Though he couldn’t ascertain whether she might draw a knife sticking in him.
‘He’s a fool,’ she snapped, staring after her attacker. ‘No mermaid would want to mesmerise someone as useless and ugly as he.’
Nodding, Benjamin glanced at the folded cuffs of Thessa’s trousers, with the pink orbs sticking out. He wondered if the men still thought of her toes. He did. They were so deli
cate, and round, and he could have happily spent the rest of the night sitting at her feet, on a big bed, or a small bunk, her foot in his hand and rubbing it gently along the side of his jaw.
He shut his eyes. Never again would a woman be on his ship. Women were nothing but problems—especially the ones with...female parts. And toes.
Blast.
He’d never seen toes so perfect in his life. He gave Thessa a head start to the door by moving her shoulders in that direction and he didn’t speak. He rushed them into their cabin and reached to pull the door shut and behind them, himself safely on the outside.
He’d not been able to help himself. He’d watched her feet. His body tingled while he thought of the sight and warmth crept into him, starting at the midsection and flowing into the rest of him.
Two feet. Two feet that would fit in his hands. Toes he could kiss for hours. Blast her for having perfect feet.
He controlled himself, but he could not help raising his fist to the door.
*
Thessa answered the crashing knock. The captain stepped inside, shutting the door behind them, his expression dark. His anger made him seem bigger—almost overpoweringly large. His words were a growl. ‘You will not cause disruption on my ship.’
‘You must control your own men.’
He pulled her to face him. ‘Do you wish to see more men in irons because of you? How can we stay alive at sea if everyone is locked away?’
‘You could not.’
‘I have done that and more.’ His eyes admitted the truth of his words. ‘We are at sea. My crew is human. Lives depend on my orders—every life on this ship hangs on my words. There is no gaol here to send a man should he disobey.’
‘I am imprisoned.’
‘No.’ He bit out the word again. ‘No. But you must let me handle the men. I don’t want their throats slit. You only have to scream and the sound will carry. Someone will immediately aid you. I will see to that. But they will be a bit slower if they’re afraid you’ll stab them.’
‘We did not mean...’
‘This is life or death. We are far from land. A storm could come up. You will get the blame if that happens. I will be the only man on board not willing to toss you into the waves. And every man here will believe I am risking the lives of the entire crew on your behalf.’
