Lose A Princess, Lose Your Head (Merchant Blades Book 2)

by Alex Avrio

  “Is there more to that sentence, or is that it?”

  “You at Hildenburg, me at the Kruger Estate, we all have things we want to bury in a deep pit and forget about.” She bit her lower lip. “Thomas and me, we’re here if you need us. That’s all.” Charlie got up and went to sit with Thomas and Emilia. Jaeger’s gaze followed her, then he closed his eyes.

  Little air reached down to the mid deck where the prisoners were held. Over the next few days the weather took a turn for the worse. The ship bucked over the waves. Once a day the captives were taken on deck for fresh air, getting drenched in the rain and wind. When the sea quietened, Thomas and Charlie managed to entice some of the crew to play cards. Charlie used the simple jewelry that hadn't been taken from her as her stake. When Charlie and Thomas won handsomely, Regina was surprised the pirates actually paid their gambling debts. The odd honesty among thieves. When not playing cards, Thomas was teaching Emilia the basics of how to pick pockets. Emilia was an enthusiastic student. One or two of the pirates had thought it entertaining to give some of their own pointers and advice to Emilia on pickpocketing and card-playing.

  During one of the airing sessions, rain was pelting down and the ship was leaping up in the waves like a horse over fences. Schaefer was running a fever, her arm swollen to an ugly red tube. Morgenstern and the princesses stayed below deck to look after her, and Jaeger and Amanates also chose to stay dry below. The Merchant Blades huddled together on deck, rain running down Jackson’s long nose.

  “Captain, did you know about Jaeger?” Jackson finally said.

  “I was aware, yes,” Regina muttered.

  “How could he, Captain?” Eleven said. “I wish he’d been anywhere but Hildenburg.”

  “The war's over. It’s been finished for more than five years now,” Regina said. It felt good to hear it aloud.

  “Did you know, Sarge?” Summers asked.

  “I didn’t like him to begin with,” Briggs said. “But he fought with us against the Abidari. In the forest, the court, the catacombs. In the pyramid he stayed beside me and the Captain. Jumped in a bloody whirlpool to save her. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Did you see those lashes?” Eleven said “How many did he get? Those must sting like a swine when it’s cold.”

  Jaeger hadn’t uttered a word of complaint when they were crossing the Ugarri pass. It hadn’t crossed Regina's mind that he might have been uncomfortable.

  “When I was in the Nyx campaign,” Summers said, “we came across the remnants of a previous skirmish. Must have happened the day before. We thought they were all dead after the freezing night, but some of the Eressians were hanging on. Close to death’s door, but alive. We cursed. Tending the wounded would slow us down. Then our Captain said to fix bayonets. We ran them through to a man. Some pleaded for their lives. One just looked at me. I’ll remember that look to the end of my days. Wasn’t much older than my boy. I ran him through. We went through their pockets and tore the linings of their jackets to find their valuables. Spoils of war. I tell myself we were putting them out of their misery, doing them a favor. I wonder if the Mother will buy that when it’s my time for judgement. We’ve all done shit, some more than others. Like the Captain says, it’s best to just say the war’s over, and look forwards.”

  There was a mumble of agreement and a nodding of heads, each soldier remembering the things they’d best like forgotten.

  50 TEARS ON A RAINY DAY

  REGINA had taken to checking on Morgenstern twice a day, and Emilia had started to come along for these visits.

  “Will you leave me alone?” Morgenstern grumbled.

  “One word for you,” Regina said. “Gangrene.”

  Morgenstern took off his coat, waistcoat and shirt and Regina looked under the gauze. It needed changing days before; supplies from the pirates had been sporadic at best. Fortunately Morgenstern's wounds were closing up nicely, and his mood becoming milder. He even allowed Emilia to stroke his hair and tell him how brave he was. Emilia's greatest affections were reserved for Jaeger, who received them with the resignation of an older brother. In turn, he told her stories about the adventures of the Merchant Blades. Rosamynd would invariably come and listen and there had been a few times when both ladies fell asleep on his shoulders.

  After seeing to Morgenstern, Regina moved on to Schaefer, who was sitting up. Schaefer was in conversation with Rosamynd, who cared for her as much as she could. Regina needed only a look to see that Schaefer’s arm wasn’t doing well. It was swollen to a grotesque size and the open wounds wept pus.

  “I sincerely hope that they don’t have to cut it off,” Schaefer said.

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Rosamynd assured her. Regina exchanged a glance with Schaefer. They'd been on the battlefield, had seen wounds fester and darken, and death follow in hours.

  “At least it was in service to our motherland,” Emilia said. If this was meant to comfort Schaefer it didn’t work.

  “I took the butt of a rifle to my face in service,” Schaefer said. “This tooth broke in half. And this one fell right out. I picked it up from the mud and put it right back in. The Mother’s miracle, it took.”

  “Well,” Regina said with a shrug, “if your arm falls right off you know what to do.” Both women’s laughs were hollow.

  “To add insult to injury, Mercy Blue kept my ring,” Schaefer said.

  “You can commission another one,” Emilia said. “The Black Fox, that misbegotten son of a goat, took my emerald ring. Belonged to my mother. There’s no replacing that.”

  Regina turned and walked over to the hatch, banging loudly on it with the heel of her hand. When a pirate eventually heard the knocking and peered in, Regina requested to see Mercy Blue. Rosamynd accompanied her as two burly pirates escorted them to the upper deck and told them to wait. They settled down on the wet boards. Black clouds filled the sky. Lightning forked on the horizon, thunder crashed overhead ever more frequently.

  “I can’t believe I had to do my business in a bucket, in front of everyone,” Rosamynd complained.

  “If it’s any consolation, no one’s looking,” Regina replied. The sea was dark as the sky.

  “It isn’t. The worst of it is I’m getting good at it. Even when the ship’s swaying so,” Rosamynd said, her bottom lip trembling. She wiped her eyes. “I should be having fittings for my wedding dress now, not pooing in a bucket.” She burst into tears, then hastily wiped them away leaving streaks on her cheeks. Regina didn’t know what to say. Rosamynd, a young woman in need of her comfort, had lived the most protected and sheltered life. Reality was a harsh let-down after the adventures they loved reading.

  “Is it my fault?” Rosamynd said between sobs.

  “How could this ever be your fault?” Regina asked.

  “I wanted to meet my future husband, which was stupid because I’d have to marry him anyway.”

  “Nothing wrong with wanting to meet your future husband.”

  Regina sensed there was more.

  “I never liked the Schaefer sisters. I pretended I did, but I didn’t, not really. They were beautiful and articulate and accomplished and the center of attention everywhere they went. Adel swept Orsy off his feet without even trying. And Arza, she’s strong and commanding and confident. She can do anything she wants and no one will tell her otherwise. I’m a princess and I can’t choose what I’ll have for breakfast. When she got her scar I was glad, because she might be a bit more like me, yet still she was beautiful. All I ever wanted was someone to notice me, and not just for being a princess. No one knows anything about me, no one sees who I am, or even wants to. Everything I am disappears behind the ‘Princess’. I resented Arza so much - now she might die from that awful wound and it’s because of me.”

  Rosamynd finally took a breath. Regina struggled to find some sympathetic words. So many people had it much worse. Regina knew about disappearing behind a uniform and title, until the uniform was all that was left and you didn’t know where the res
t of you had gone, and yet she wasn’t giving Rosamynd a hug. Hugs weren’t what you did in the military, and the habit had died in her young. Aged fourteen. Finally she relented, and wrapped Rosamynd in her arms. Rosamynd cried into Regina’s shoulder for several minutes.

  “Sweetheart,” Regina said as Rosamynd was wiping her eyes with a stained lace handkerchief that once must have been very pretty, “if the Mother listened to the crows, all donkeys would keel over and die.” This got a smile out of Rosamynd. “Wishful thinking would make us all kings and queens of the Lonely Isles.” Rosamynd was listening to her intently. Had no one ever spoken to the child, Regina wondered. At least Regina had her sister to talk to, to explore and play and plot with, and to help fend off all her stupid brothers. “I was going to get married once. I wasn’t in love or anything but I did find the fellow agreeable. Captain Kendon Luckhurst. The Mother and Child only know why he wanted to marry me, but I was young and just out of the Royal Academy. My parents, especially my father, greatly desired the match, so I agreed. He was a friend of my favorite brother, Daniel, so I believed he couldn’t be too bad. From the time we spent together courting, I saw a decent man.”

  “So what happened?” Rosamynd asked.

  “Why do you think something happened?”

  “Your surname is Fitzwaters.”

  “The war started a month before the wedding, and we were called for duty. Both of us. Kendon was killed in the battle of Kyr three weeks before the wedding. I have the wedding dress somewhere. My sister may wear it one day. Quite expensive.”

  “I’m sorry,” Rosamynd whispered.

  “Schaefer’s injuries have nothing to do with you. She’s a soldier. This is what we do. This is the life she chose and it's her duty to defend you, and those who can’t defend themselves. Between the two of us, what’s home for her? If she makes it back, she’s in a lot of trouble. Frankly, so are we.”

  Rosamynd frowned. “I won’t let anything happen to anyone. I’ll speak to Father. To Lothaer if I have to. Emilia will speak to him as well. He listens to her.” Regina was jolted back to reality. Rosamynd was referring to the Emperor of Eressia. These children barely into womanhood, Rosamynd and Emilia, were princesses of Eressia.

  “If anyone can calm him down, it’s Emilia. He has such a soft spot for her. Ever since all the others died she’s got him wrapped around her little finger,” Rosamynd continued.

  “All the others?” Regina asked.

  “Well, we don’t talk about it,” Rosamynd said, wiping her nose, “but after everything I believe we’re friends now.” She beamed at Regina. Regina couldn't tell her that as much as she wanted to be her friend, the moment they returned to the Winter Palace the gulf between them would be as wide as ever.

  “When Emilia was young there was an epidemic of diphtheria. Their mother died, along with six of Emilia's brothers and sisters. The only ones to survive were the oldest and the youngest. Lothaer and Emilia.” Regina remained silent. She had vaguely heard about this but all this time hadn't connected the story to the people in front of her.

  Rosamynd rubbed her shoe on the deck. The wind was picking up again and a few drops fell.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come with you– at the Korthi Palace,” Rosamynd mumbled. “I just– Francesco was nice and he liked me.”

  “Listen, Rosamynd, I need to tell you some things and you have to remember that this is important. First, I know you think you’re not pretty and no one pays attention to you, but you’re wrong. Sometimes apparent beauty can hide horror, until the nastiness breaks through on the face. Kindness, love, compassion, faithfulness, loyalty, bravery: it's these things that come from the inside that make you. They stay with you to the end of your days and make you beautiful to everyone, long after wrinkles come and beauty fades.

  “You have an important privilege as a princess, and like me, you have a responsibility. I’m a captain. I command. My soldiers think I'm better off than them. I have to make decisions with everybody’s welfare on my shoulders. Sometimes my troops die and I have to take that responsibility, even if I didn’t give the order that got them killed. I have to take ownership of my rank and my life. You can shape your life and that of others. You are the only one who can make that happen, but you have to try: no one will do this for you. It might take practice, effort and time. Then, I promise you, it will happen.

  “Francesco Di Angelo? A very handsome and extremely charming man, but he isn’t a nice person. Not even close. Nor is his sister, Bianca. If he was nice to you, it was for a reason. I know it sounds hurtful but listen, my intention isn’t to hurt you or put you down. Do you understand?” Rosamynd, looking down at the deck, nodded.

  “You and Emilia are important people, princesses of Eressia. If he was nice to you, it was because he had a plan for you. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because he liked or was in love with you, Rosamynd, but because you had value to him. I have met him before and he tried to kill me and Jaeger in distinctly un-nice ways.” Regina had to admire the grace with which Rosamynd heard this, though her heart must be breaking.

  “I thought he was paying the most attention to Emilia,” Rosamynd said finally. “I think he was trying to get her to marry him.” That would fit with what Regina knew of Francesco. When she’d met him it was almost impossible to resist his magnetic charm. She wondered how Emilia had managed.

  “Did Emilia consider saying yes?” she asked.

  “By the Mother, no,” Rosamynd laughed. “Emilia has her heart set somewhere else, where I fear it will not end well. I hope she comes to her senses before we return home.” Regina’s heart tightened. She sincerely hoped Emilia hadn’t set her sights on Jaeger, though the signs were there. It could be Morgenstern, Regina reasoned.

  “Forgive me,” Rosamynd said, wiping away fresh tears. “You must think I’m stupid for crying all the time.”

  “Not at all,” Regina said. “Tears just don’t come easily to me, and never have. Each person is different.”

  “You never cry?”

  “Not never. I don’t cry often. Last time I cried was when I learned that my father had died. I just choose a rainy day to cry.”

  Rosamynd looked at her in wonder.

  “Well,” Regina told her, “at least there’s a bright side to all this.” Rosamynd waited. “If your new husband farts in bed, you won’t think it’s too terrible now, will you?”

  51 BEFORE THE STORM

  THE sky was iron gray and the wind blew fiercely, the sailors running frantically around the deck and clambering up the rigging to adjust the sails. Regina’s coat flapped in the wind as she waited for Mercy Blue to finish giving orders to her first and second mates. Taking in breaths of the fresh salty air, she wondered how they could have become accustomed to the foul stale air below deck.

  Mercy Blue finally strode over. “I hear you have something to ask of me?”

  They rose unsteadily to their feet on the swaying deck. “Do you have a ship’s doctor?” Regina asked.

  “If we didn’t, there wouldn’t be many of us left in our line of work,” Mercy replied.

  “More of your hostages will die if they’re not treated properly. Please?” Regina entreated.

  “You just asked something from me, Captain. If you answer some of my questions, I will grant it,” Mercy Blue said.

  “Do I have a choice?” Regina asked.

  “There is always choice, my dear Captain. Like letting your friend die.”

  Regina’s nostril’s flared. She kept her mouth shut. Military training had taught her not to rise to the bait of higher-ranking officers.

  “Very well, Captain,” Regina said. “Ask away.” A large wave caught the ship and it lurched sideways before regaining its equilibrium. Mercy Blue appeared not to notice.

  “You are a strange assortment of bedfellows, you lot,” Mercy Blue said.

  “That’s an observation, not a question.”

  “A question then. Do you have any complaints? Have you not been treated well on my shi
p?”

  Regina sensed something hidden behind the question. This notorious pirate queen would not care about the opinion of her captives.

  “You've killed one of us, and I wouldn’t call lashing an officer benign treatment. Schaefer’s arm is festering badly.”

  Something more than just anger flashed in Mercy Blue’s eyes. There was something else, maybe something that could be turned to their advantage? Silence was her ally. Regina crossed her arms and stared at Mercy Blue.

  “I gave ten lashes to your Kapitan. Hardly anything he couldn’t bear. He needed reining in. Stop him creating too much trouble. Yes?”

  Regina remained silent.

  “As I said before, we have treated you well,” Mercy Blue said. “I am hoping your Kapitan has put this little incident behind him.”

  Regina frowned. She still couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something important she was missing. Harsh discipline was expected on a ship, much more on a pirate ship if Mercy Blue wanted to keep her crew in line. Why was she concerned about what she’d done to Jaeger? She’d killed Johannes and hadn’t batted an eyelash.

  “He’s hardly happy about it. The Merchant Blades submitted to your authority. We expect our people to be treated with respect.”

  Mercy Blue’s expression changed almost imperceptibly. “We do respect your people, Captain, and their Master, but I saw the mark only after his shirt was off. It was too late to go back then.”

  Mark? She could only be referring to the mark both Jaeger and she had on their wrists, a brand mark placed there by Nephthys. It was a surprise that someone had noticed it during the flogging. How did Mercy Blue know what it meant? Regina pursed her lips. By disposition and training she was not a woman to vent her spleen when she could hold her tongue. As a child she’d learned through infinite bitter arguments with her brothers that once said, things can never be taken back. It had taught her to be careful with words. She had to find out more about what the pirates and Mercy Blue knew of Nephthys. Sailors were more superstitious than soldiers, if that were possible. If they thought it helpful, they’d hang the Blades from the top mast, slashed open, guts unfurling in the wind to ward against evil spirits. Nephthys wasn't an obscure Messari, but was known to at least someone in this crew. Regina was sailing in unknown seas.