by Pride, Mia
“Och, Katherine.” He kissed her forehead, her nose, both cheeks, and then her lips tenderly, wiping away the blood her father had drawn. “I thought I had lost ye, love.” Pulling away, he examined her. “Did he hurt ye? I see he did,” he scowled as he touched her tender cheek. “I vowed to protect ye and I bloody failed!”
“Nay... Thomas. Ye are a man, not a god, though it seems ye descended from them,” she smiled. “Ye couldnae have seen that attack coming. How did ye find me? That man was your father?” She had so many questions. Thomas was here, thank every god in the heavens, and he was well. That was all that mattered.
“Aye. When Juan and I awoke on the muddy ground, we knew immediately what had transpired. We first went to your manor and stole two horses from the stables…”
“Pirate,” she smirked and hit him playfully.
He snorted and pulled her closer. “Ye dinnae know the half of what I had to do to find ye, love. We reached Clew Bay and found my grandmother, who was having a meeting with The Devils of the Deep. They all jumped at the chance to get ye back. Well… it helped that the Treasure of Danu was at stake.”
“Of course, Grace wouldnae save me without the promise of coin,” she murmured.
He shook his head and gripped her hard. “Ye dinnae understand. She wanted to save the treasure, aye, for we cannot let an ancient Irish treasure end up in English hands, but she came to save ye, lass. She kens I love ye. And she kens ye love me. That is all she cares about… now. It took a wee bit of arguing, but she kens it now.”
Katherine melted into his embrace, feeling weak and tired, yet relieved to be reunited with him. “So ye all sailed out to find us?”
“Aye, we have two ships, one Irish and one Scots. We are loading the treasure onto our ship now and then they are sailing back to Clew Bay. The Scots will get their fair share. It was fortunate they were willing to help.”
“Ye are their family.”
“Aye, well there is more to it than that…”
“Your father?” She took a guess, not quite certain where he fit in, but knew he was somehow involved.
“He is Shaw MacDougall’s great-grandson, ye ken. Though he was born in Ireland and is part of the English nobility, he has apparently been a secret informant for the Devils of the Deep the entire time, watching Bingham’s every move and ready to report his misconduct to the Queen. I suppose she asked that favor of more than just myself.”
“I do not understand… he seemed to know I was your wife, though I have never met him. How did he inform ye that I was on the ship if we had already left before ye arrived at Clew Bay?”
“Ah.” Thomas smirked and lifted her into his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck for support. “My mother, who still speaks with him on occasion, informed him that I married Bingham’s daughter after ye met her. When he saw yer father’s men deliver ye onto the ship, he sent a message to the Devils of the Deep about ye and the treasure. By the time I arrived, they had already hatched a plan to take over the ship. It seems my father and I are very similar in our loyalties to two warring nations. He fights for the Queen, but never at the expense of the Irish. He did not want the treasure in her hands.”
Katherine shook her head, wondering how she had been so fortunate in all of this. Thomas continued, “I had not seen my father in a few years, not since his last journey to Ireland four years ago. I had believed him to be the Queen’s man through and through. Turns out he has ties to Scotland and Ireland and uses them as he sees fit.”
“Well, I am so very glad he does, for it brought ye back to me. I feared ye were dead, Thomas. I am tired of believing ye are dead every few days. We really must remedy this.”
He kissed her slowly for a long moment, then pulled back. “I plan on it, love.”
“How? Where are we going now?”
He smirked and waggled his brows. “To meet the Queen of England.”
* * *
Katherine stood nervously, twiddling her thumbs before the Queen of England, and Thomas had to bite back a smile. She looked so lovely when she was anxious, cheeks flushed and teeth chewing her bottom lip.
Thomas had wondered how he would be received by her majesty after all the tales she must have heard from Bingham and Captain William, and in truth, he had considered going rogue more than once when he saw how the people were being treated. Though he did not agree with his queen’s need to feud over control of Ireland, he knew the stubborn Irish clan leaders were just as much to blame for the fighting, although he could not blame them for wanting to keep their own ancient ways. And his Good Queen Bess would never condone such treatment of the people, which is why she kept many eyes on Bingham and why Thomas had stayed loyal to her in the end, although he desperately hoped to be allowed to return to Ireland with his wife.
“So, you are the elder daughter of Sir Richard Bingham? I have not seen you since you left for Ireland as a child,” the queen’s voice reverberated confidently throughout her receiving chamber.
Katherine licked her lips nervously and gave another quick, fumbling curtsy that made Thomas smile. He took a few steps closer to her and grabbed her hand in a show of support. She squeezed back; he knew she needed his strength. “Aye, Your Majesty.”
“And you have married my knight? How fortunate for you.” With narrowed eyes, the queen took them both in with a frown and Thomas started to wonder if bringing Katherine here had been a bad idea. They were not bound together through the church, which was the only true marriage England would recognize. If his queen demanded that he release Katherine from their binding vow and chose to marry him elsewhere, she would have the authority to do so, and he, no power to deny her without serious consequences… consequences he would face if necessary, for he would not give up the woman he loved, not even for a queen.
Fortunately, the queen’s smile slowly spread into a grin and she clapped her hands together loudly once. “How very enthralling!” she chimed. “Do you know, Thomas, after I sent you away to Ireland, I thought much about your… philandering…” she looked sideways at him and he had to school his features. He would certainly need to explain that comment to his wife later. “I had planned to marry you off when you arrived back in England. It had seemed the best way to reward you for your efforts. A fine marriage and a plot of land. Then reports started flooding in that you had taken one look at your grandmother and hopped ship, deserting Captain William to the mercy of several pirate ships, including the Devils of the Deep, those Scottish heathens,” she scowled.
“I received a missive from Sir Richard declaring you a pirate! Stealing cargo meant for England, plundering as you went… including plundering his own daughter in an attempt at revenge. I had feared all hope was lost with you, that I had lost my loyal knight.”
“Never, my Queen,” Thomas bowed his head respectfully, not daring to yet blurt out his side of the story. He knew better than to speak more than he had.
She raised an orange brow at him and gave him a less than convinced look. “Now you tell me that you were in the middle of a parley when Captain William took off with Drake’s ship and crew, abandoning you, and that when you sought to gain your ship back, Richard also called a parley, then blew up your ship and all its slaves… slaves you had meant to free. And a ship full of cargo you had meant to send to me out of our agreement. This is so?”
“Aye, Your Majesty,” he replied, wishing to be done with the interrogation. Katherine squirmed beside him, probably remembering the moment she thought Thomas had died in the crossfire. He looked at her and smiled down reassuringly before looking at Queen Elizabeth once more. Today she wore bright crimson brocade from head to toe, cut so low, her breasts threatened to spill out. As an unmarried woman, this was the custom and Elizabeth seemed to revel in it.
“And this led to you stealing away young Miss Bingham?”
“Aye. I was angry at him for all he had done, my Queen. I admit my actions were less than honorable, but when I had her at my mercy and saw the marks on her body, I
knew he would likely beat or kill her after what I had done. I stole her for revenge. I married her for protection. But, I kept her for love.”
He meant every word and he hoped his wife felt his love flowing from his body to hers. If they got through this unscathed, he would make sure she felt his devotion every day.
“Well, I never thought to hear you speak this way about a woman, Sir Thomas. What does Lady Esmonde have to say about all this?”
Katherine cleared her throat and snapped her gaze to the queen. “Thomas saved my life, Your Majesty. Please understand that I am not without fault in all of this.”
“Kat—”
“Nay, Thomas. Let it all be told,” Katherine insisted, then looked back at the queen. “I admit I am an England-born woman, but growing up in Ireland, I saw the suffering of the people. I thought my father did as well. I spied on Clew Bay often, following the pirates as they hid cargo. I thought they meant to sell it for profit. I had no idea they were helping the people. I secretly reported the cargo locations to my father, believing he cared about his people, that he would help them. I later found out he was keeping the cargo for himself. Thomas hated me for it. He meant to collect it, give you what was your due, and use the rest to help the people, but my actions ruined everything. I was stealing from you and the Irish and did not know it. This, coupled with my father’s actions, lead to Thomas’s need for revenge. But he is a good, honorable knight. He saved me from my father, from a life of loneliness. He never once betrayed you. All he ever did was try to honor his loyalty to you while helping the Irish people.”
Silence fell over the room as the queen stared at them with deep interest. Katherine’s defense of his brutish actions melted his heart. He did not deserve such loyalty from her after the way he treated her.
“What I am most fascinated by is your marriage to your enemy’s daughter, despite your loathing of the man. I had intended you to wed with his younger daughter, Miss Emily, to bring the feuding families of O’Malley and Bingham together. Yet, I see you fancy the elder daughter. It is just as well. I am sorry his wife and daughter have refused to meet Katherine. From what I see, it is their loss, not hers. And only one loss of many. I have stripped Richard Bingham of his titles, his lands, all the years’ worth of gold he had hoarded, though I doubt he will live long enough to care. Oh yes, we found a chest full of it in his home in Yorkshire.”
“My Queen,” Thomas dared to interrupt. “We found a similar chest in the governor’s home in Ireland. I had intended to return your share, but Bingham stole Katherine from me before I could retrieve it.”
She waved him away. “No matter. Considering all I have heard, you shall use that gold to help the people of Connaught… but only Connaught. I cannot have that gold sent to aid the rebels to the north, you must understand that, Thomas. But Connaught is loyal and worthy. I never meant for anyone to suffer. I shall send you back with bolts of linen, wool, barrels of ale, sacks of grain, and anything else they shall require. I want them to know that their queen means to protect them. Sir Richard is a rat and shall suffer for his misdeeds.”
Thomas’s heart lifted. He had done well to stay loyal to Good Queen Bess and believe in her goodness. She was not a perfect monarch, but he always knew she meant well. “Ye are sending me and Katherine back to Ireland?” he asked, surprised, trying not to sound overly eager.
“Oh, did I forget to mention? I am appointing you the new Governor of Connaught. You shall live in the Governor’s manor and oversee all happenings in Connaught. I expect you to care properly for the Irish, yet I expect a firm hand where my enemies are concerned. Do you understand, Sir Thomas?”
He nodded his head and bowed, feeling elation course through him. “Aye, Your Majesty.”
“Further, I know your birthright was taken from you when your mother abandoned your father. He will not claim his marriage was valid, though he claims you as his heir. That still does not grant you his land, I am afraid. I am granting you the land that was Katherine’s father’s, and bestowing the title of First Baron Esmonde upon you. I trust these gifts satisfy for your loyalty?”
Bess sent him a crooked smile, clearly pleased with her benevolence, and he was nearly too speechless to respond. Katherine elbowed him when the queen raised her brows again. “Aye. Aye, my Queen. I am more than grateful. I vow to honor my position and your trust in me.”
“I know you do. Now be gone. I have things to attend to.” She shooed them away and they sent her a quick bow and curtsy before heading out of her chamber.
“One more thing, Sir Thomas Esmonde, first Baron Esmonde.” He turned and looked at his queen one last time.
“Aye, Your Majesty?”
“Your letter of marque and privateering commission stand. I hear you are quite the… pirate,” she winked. “If you should choose to use your resources and love of the sea against my enemies, I would consider it part of your duty to me,” she lowered her gaze and drove her point home.
This time, he could not help the smile that spread across his face. Permission to plunder his enemies? He needed no more encouragement.
“As you say, Your Majesty.” He guided Katherine out of the queen’s privy chamber before any more fortune, ill or otherwise, could come his way.
Epilogue
Five months later
“Put yer feet up, love. I will make ye some tea.”
Katherine snorted and rolled her eyes at the Pirate Queen. “I am with child, Grace. Not dying.” Ever since Katherine found out she was carrying Thomas’s child after arriving back to Ireland five months before, Grace O’Malley, the infamous Banshee of the Sea, would not stop doting on her. In truth, it unnerved her endlessly. The woman had verily hated her, but now she seemed to be quite taken with her grandson’s wife.
“I said, put yer bloody feet up!” Grace growled at her and stalked away. She truly did not like being disregarded. She supposed that was an expected quality in a Pirate Queen. Katherine rolled her eyes once more while Grace was turned away but did as she was commanded. She was not even close to uncomfortable with her pregnancy. She and Thomas rode all over Connaught, feeding the people and checking on their well-being. The gold from her father’s chest, combined with her small treasure beneath her floorboards, had served the people and allowed Thomas to trade for goods the people truly needed. Nay, it would take more than a child in her belly to slow her sense of adventure. Unfortunately, her husband would not allow her to board any ship, especially when an enemy vessel was spotted from the lookout at Rockfleet Castle.
With a sigh, she sat and looked around the room which was filled with Thomas’s family and a fire raging in the hearth. It was autumn now, and the chill had begun to seep into the stone walls of Grace’s castle. Still, Thomas and Katherine spent much time in Clew Bay, enjoying the bustle of the pirate town and keeping up with gossip from all around the world. It helped them to understand the political climate, even when secluded on their wee island.
The Treasure of Danu was proving most beneficial to the rebels up north. Once Katherine had learned that the mysterious engravings on the lid of the chest would glow when both she and Thomas were together, she understood the magic behind it. They had both been destined to find that treasure, and without the two of them together, it was locked for all time. The moment they had returned to Ireland and heard the cursed chest would not open despite all attempts, she and Thomas had sought it out. The symbols for water, fire, and earth began to blink in an eerie faded blue pattern that nobody else around them had been able to see.
When Katherine had touched the symbols in the pattern, the lid clicked and opened with ease, exposing a pile of old Roman gold coins, several ancient pieces of gold jewelry — torcs, armbands and earrings, a golden circlet inlaid with rubies — and most impressively, the three ancient relics of the gods. Reports from the north indicated that the Cauldron of Dagda had been true to its word, feeding every man, woman, and child who lined up to eat of its contents, never running out. It was a wondrous object an
d had restored faith in many of the Irish people, to be fed from a vessel thousands of years old, crafted by the very gods the rest of Europe seemed to want them to forsake. It made the will to fight, to keep their old ways and beliefs, all the more powerful. With the Sword of Light and the Spear of Lugh in their possession, their rebel army had made advances in their war, driving back many of the English, simply out of fear of the glowing sword and their intense apprehension for anything magical. News of multiple battles being won by the Irish up north had filled them with a sense of pride, that their dreams and hard work were helping the cause, even from a distance.
Katherine chuckled and rubbed her belly when she remembered her husband’s words about the treasure aiding the north. She had reminded him that the Queen insisted none of the gold be used to help the rebels. He chuckled and shrugged. “Aye, I did make that promise. Grace O’Malley did not. My pirate grandmother stole the treasure and delivered it up north under my nose. I have no knowledge of it.” He had smiled and shrugged once more, making her melt with his roguish ways. He truly was the man she always hoped to marry: dastardly pirate, honorable knight, fiercely loyal and protective of his family, and willing to push all his limits to aid his people. He was her Robin Hood and she loved him all the more for it.
“What are ye thinking about, Kat?” She heard Thomas’s deep voice behind her as his hand came down on her shoulder.
Looking up at him, she sent him a mischievous smile. “I am thinking about ye.”
“That is good. Because it was obvious ye thought of something pleasing to ye and I would not want to have to gut another man,” he scowled.
“No man for me, but ye, my love.”
“Will I ever find a love such as yours, I wonder?” Thomas’s sister Katherine mused.
“Nay. If ye do, I will kill him,” Thomas growled.
“Now ye sound just like Grandmother,” his sister scoffed. “But I cannot remain unwed forever.”
