Harbinger

by Shae Ford

  “So she was the one those guards were after,” Jonathan muttered to Kael. “I wonder what she could’ve done to get His Majesty’s undergarments in a knot? Think I’ll ask. Excuse me, gents — but what exactly is a Dragging-girl?”

  Noah looked like he’d just uttered the foulest of all curses. “You’ve never heard of the Dragongirl?” He looked at Thelred. “Tide take us — they have no idea who they’ve been traveling with.”

  He sneered. “No lad, they don’t. And that’s because her name isn’t known among thumbsuckers and softhands.”

  “Well instead of talking out your nose, how about you tell us?” Kael said. He was tired of Thelred — the cabin was so packed full of his airs that there was hardly room left to breathe.

  “It’s a name the King gave me when I served in Midlan,” Kyleigh said before Thelred could retort. “My knight name. It was meant to be a secret, a way he could give us commands without our enemies finding out who we truly were. But then I left the army, did a few naughty things and,” she shrugged, “my name got around.”

  Noah snorted. “Naughty is hardly the word for it. Last I checked, Lord Gilderick has had to rebuild his castle twice.”

  She smiled, as if she was looking back on a fond memory. “Ah, yes. One maniacal idiot, two very tragic fires.”

  “And then there was the stampede of elk at the Countess’s birthday last year,” Noah added.

  Aerilyn clapped a hand over her mouth. “I remember that! We were there, presenting our gifts, when a great horde of beasts came tromping through. They slung their antlers about and ruined all of the lovely decorations —”

  “And ole D’Mere hiked her skirts up and went screaming for the guards to do something!” Jonathan said with a grin. “I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face.”

  “You know, it took me weeks to round those little blighters up. And I never got so much as a card for it,” Kyleigh mused.

  “That’s probably because you nearly killed us all,” Aerilyn said sharply.

  A low, growling noise drew their attention back to the bookshelves. Sometime during their tales, Lysander had passed out. He was now snoring into the rug — his face resting gently in a puddle of his own drool.

  “I should get the captain taken care of,” Thelred said. “I’m sure he’ll want to give you all a proper greeting. Why don’t you show our guests to their quarters, Noah?”

  *******

  Their quarters turned out to be quite a bit smaller than Captain Lysander’s. The hallways beneath Anchorgloam were clean, but so tight that Kael actually had to turn sideways in some places just to squeeze through. He kept his head bent to avoid smacking it on one of the many low-hanging beams and watched the floor for stray coils of rope. Jonathan was hunched over ahead of him, and with every bend of his long legs, his knees nearly touched his chest.

  Kyleigh and Aerilyn had a room to themselves at the front of the hallway, while Jonathan and Kael were packed into a tiny space with a dozen other men. Kael wondered how many times he could expect to fall out of the hammock thing the pirates called a bed.

  “The days aboard Anchorgloam are no stroll in the woods,” Noah assured them. “So by the time the watch bell sounds, you won’t care where you’re sleeping — just so long as you get to put your feet up. Now,” he clapped his hands together and grinned, “do any of you scabs know how to play Brigand’s Luck? No? Well I’ll just have to teach it to you, then.”

  He led them back up on deck and found an empty barrel to use as a table. While the girls leaned against the railing and chatted, Noah taught the boys how to play Brigand’s Luck.

  It was a card game, but the pirate deck turned out to be completely different from the one Kael was used to. There were knaves instead of knights, brigands instead of lords, and in place of the dragon was a mischievous-looking imp.

  Jonathan fanned his hand out and grinned. “Now this is the deck of a proper villain! I’ve got to get me one of these.”

  “Four coppers, and it’s yours,” Noah said with a smirk, and Jonathan immediately fished the coin out of his trousers.

  The card the pirates used for the King was a man in a tricorn hat. It was tipped low over his eyes, revealing only his smirk, and in his hand he gripped a deadly cutlass.

  “That’s Sam Gravy,” Noah explained. “He was the original scalawag — the first man to build a boat for plundering. We pirates consider him the father of our kind.”

  Aerilyn snorted. “The rest of the Kingdom considers your kind to be nothing more than a gang of sea thieves.” She looked over the railing, down to where a group of pirates were lugging a treasure-laden crate up from the ruins of the merchant ship, and glared. “Does Captain Lysander spend all of his gold on drink, or does he save some to roll in?”

  Noah frowned. “He doesn’t spend any of his gold on drink. Why pay for ale when you can steal it from a drunkard? That’s what he always says.”

  Aerilyn pursed her lips. “I’m sure he does.”

  “Yeah, you’re not exactly what I thought a pirate would look like.” And there was a considerable amount of disappointment in Jonathan’s voice. “All the stories are about giant blokes with yellow eyes and black, rotten teeth —”

  “And scars in the shape of their mothers?” Noah laughed. “Rubbish. The Duke’s managers make those stories up. They can’t cope with the fact that handsome, well-mannered gents like ourselves rob them blind. And the Duke would kill them all if he knew the truth.”

  “Well if anyone ever came across that captain of yours, there’d be no reason to doubt the stories,” Aerilyn quipped. “I daresay he’s the most ill-mannered man I’ve ever come across — and I’ve spent half of my life in taverns.”

  “The captain is a good man,” Noah said, his eyes suddenly hard. “He does right by his men and right by the people of the High Seas. You ought not to talk about things you don’t understand.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, then by all means — enlighten me: the man reeks of liquor, swears profusely, expels his … humors, in the presence of a lady and looks as if he’s tumbled straight out from between the pages of a dirty drinking song.” She crossed her arms. “So what am I missing, exactly? Where’s the good in Captain Lysander?”

  Noah opened his mouth to respond, but instead leapt to his feet and touched his hand to his head in a smart salute.

  Kael turned and saw Thelred making his way towards them, followed by a man he didn’t recognize. He strode like a man with a purpose, whoever he was — swinging his arms in tight arcs and keeping his sharp chin level with the ground. A pair of stormy eyes looked out from beneath his crop of wavy hair, and a bit of scruff dusted the lines around his mouth, which was set in a frown.

  As he climbed the stairs, Aerilyn whispered something to Kyleigh, and they both giggled. Kael stood a little straighter and made a conscious effort to stick his chest out. He didn’t know who this man was, but he’d already decided that he didn’t like him much. Besides, his nose was a little off-center.

  The man stopped just in front of them and touched a hand to his chest. “Welcome aboard Anchorgloam,” he said with a smile. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to have visitors. I’m Captain Lysander.”

  Aerilyn gasped loudly and Kael couldn’t have agreed more. The man standing before them now had no beard and no drool. Every button on his shirt was done smartly up, and not a wrinkle creased his trousers. He couldn’t have been more different from the first captain.

  Lysander’s face turned slightly pink. “Yes, I’ve been told that I was a good deal less than civil,” he said, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve. “I was — ah — a bit down on my luck, I’m afraid, and that tends to drive a man to drink. Now,” he clasped his hands behind his back and resumed his smile, “you’ve all met my cousin, Red. But I’m afraid I don’t know any of you … well, save for one.”

  His stormy eyes found Kyleigh and his smile widened into a grin, revealing two impressive rows of very straight, white
teeth. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a rather friendly embrace.

  And much to Kael’s annoyance, she didn’t try to pull away.

  “My dear, it’s been far too long,” Lysander said when he finally released her. “It’s been leagues and years — and I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I don’t think I ought to forgive you, either.”

  She returned his smile and took both of his hands in hers. “I told you I was looking for something, you silly pirate.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, the very important something. How could I forget?” He lowered his voice, wisps of hair fell over his eyes. “And I hope this means you’ve found what you were searching for?”

  She nodded. “It just took longer than I expected.”

  “Excellent.” He kissed both her hands and then waved to the rest of them. “I’m very eager to meet your friends, Dragongirl. You always keep the most interesting company.”

  She gave their names while Lysander shook their hands. When it was Kael’s turn, he squeezed a little harder than was probably necessary. But Lysander grinned on and didn’t seem to notice.

  Then he came to Aerilyn, and his smile faltered for half a second. “It’s a true pleasure to meet a lady of the High Seas. I’ve long believed that our women are the fairest in the realm.” He brought her hand to his lips, and Aerilyn’s face turned the color of a ripe tomato.

  All at once, a tremendous amount of heat and light flooded the deck. Kael looked up and saw the clouds were melting away — and in their place rose a burning sun. All across the deck, the pirates shielded their eyes and expressed their displeasure in swears.

  Fortunately, the light didn’t last long. By the time Lysander let go of Aerilyn’s hand, the clouds were back.

  “Ah, right.” He cleared his throat and turned abruptly towards the stairs. “Follow me, all of you. We’ve much to discuss and very little time.”

  *******

  Back in Lysander’s cabin, maps and books lay strewn all over the top of his desk and on the rug around it. Bits of wadded-up parchment made a trail from the door to the windows. “A dirty desk is a sign of progress,” he declared as he got them lined up.

  Kael wasn’t sure he agreed with that. He thought there might have been a better way to make progress — one that didn’t involve throwing books on the floor.

  When Lysander had them all arranged, he clasped his hands behind his back and paced in front of them. For a few moments, that’s all he did. Then he stopped and fixed them with a glare. “You’re all criminals!” he barked, so loudly that it made Kael jump.

  “I am not a criminal!” Aerilyn spat.

  “Oh, but you are,” Lysander said, his eyes glinting. “You’ve thrown your lot in with pirates — the sworn enemies of the Duke himself. Aye, from the very moment you set foot aboard Anchorgloam you turned your back on Puke Reginald, on His Maggotry, on tyranny —”

  “On laws and other boring things!” Jonathan piped in.

  “Aye, and especially on taxes.” Lysander leaned back against his desk, smirking. “You gave up your petty lives for something more exciting. You’ve heard the siren’s call, and you’ve followed it here — to the High Seas. It’s the birthplace of the cutthroat, the threshold of adventure. And from here there can be no return. For that, my fellow seadogs, I commend you.”

  Aerilyn jabbed a finger at the center of his toothy grin. “I’m not a cutthroat, and I’m not a seadog! I’m an honest, decent merchant from a long line of honest, decent merchants. Last I checked, we didn’t ask to be shipwrecked by pirates — we were kidnapped! And I refuse to stand here and listen to this — these — accusations any longer.”

  “I didn’t know there was such a thing as an honest merchant,” Thelred said from where he lurked in a corner of the room. “Maybe we ought send this one back to her father. That’s where the dress-wearing sort of women belong, isn’t it?”

  The room hushed for half a second, the ominous silence before the storm. And then Aerilyn burst into tears. She fell into Kyleigh, who caught her and at the same moment said: “She’s just lost her father, you idiot!” to Thelred.

  Lysander’s smile vanished. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I d — don’t want your ap — apologies anymore than — than your accusations!” she wailed angrily into the front of Kyleigh’s jerkin.

  “No, you misunderstand me. I wasn’t apologizing: I was sympathizing.” Lysander took a cautious step forward. “I’ve lost my father, too. His name was Matteo, and he was killed fighting in the Whispering War when I was only a child. Sickness took my mother before I even had a chance to know her, so my father and I were very close. The man raised me — taught me everything he knew about living and fighting … and I still miss him.” He placed a hand on Aerilyn’s shoulder. “So I think I might understand, at least a little, how you feel.”

  He couldn’t have known how similar his story was to Aerilyn’s, so he wasn’t lying. But Kael still didn’t trust him.

  His confession silenced Aerilyn for a moment. She wiped her tears away and blinked. “Your father fought in the Whispering War?”

  “He did, yes.”

  “So he wasn’t a pirate?”

  “Ah, he was, actually,” Lysander admitted. “But in those days, King Banagher needed all the ships he could get. He couldn’t exactly afford to be picky. What was your father’s name, by the way? Perhaps my father robbed — ah, knew him.”

  She took a deep breath. “Garron,” she said quietly.

  He raised his eyebrows. “That wouldn’t be Garron the Shrewd, would it?” When she nodded, he let out a bark of laughter. “Well then your papa was the one man on the High Seas that old Matteo never robbed.”

  She pulled away from Kyleigh, clearly intrigued. “Really? Why not?”

  Lysander snorted. “Oh he made his excuses, but I knew it was because he was afraid of him. I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, but during the Whispering War, Garron captained the good ship Avarice — a vessel famed for her strength. He took everything but prisoners and would have made a blasted good pirate, if only we could have persuaded him.” He grinned, shaking his head. “But Garron was a merchant, through and through. And he fought so well that the King gave him Avarice as a gift when the war was over.”

  She frowned. “But he never mentioned a ship. What did he do with it?”

  “He gave it to an old friend,” Lysander said simply. “But since you’re the daughter of Garron the Shrewd, I’ll make you a deal.” He crossed his arms and leaned forward. “You don’t have to be a seadog until you want to be one, all right? Until you change your mind, you’ll just be an honest, decent merchant. But when you do change your mind — and you will — you have to give me a kiss before I’ll turn you into a pirate.”

  Aerilyn glared through her blush as she shook his hand. “Fine, but that’s never happening,” she snapped, which only made him grin all the wider.

  “Now, I’m afraid I can’t offer the rest of you scabs the same out. Which means that you’ve got two choices: join my crew, or leave. You can leap right over the railings, and I promise no one is going to stop you.” When a long moment passed and no one moved, Lysander grinned. “Well then, your worth has just increased threefold. That’s right, lads — you’re pirates now! Wanted across the six regions and with a mountain of gold on your heads.”

  Jonathan punched his fist in the air and whooped. Kael wasn’t sure how he felt about being a pirate, but he supposed there was no turning back. They were trapped on this floating pile of wood until Lysander was good and ready to take them ashore. So if swinging a cutlass and drinking too much ale would get him back to land, he’d do it.

  They stood around while Lysander passed out their uniforms: a white shirt with tan breeches and a pair of knee-high boots. There was a red, upside down V painted on the front of every shirt.

  “It’s the symbol of our clan,” Lysander explained. He mimicked the shape with his arms. “Our crossed swords are strengthened b
y the blood of our enemies and raised always in triumph.”

  “That’s all well and good,” Aerilyn cut in. “But I don’t think I should have to wear one, seeing as how you’ve promised not to make me a pirate.”

  “Tie a man to an anchor, and he might wiggle free. Tie a man in a dress to an anchor, and you won’t see him again till he rolls in with the tide,” Lysander said. “I’d be sentencing you to death if I let you walk around in a dress. Everyone aboard my ship is required to wear this uniform. It’s a rule.”

  She held the clothes away from her. “But I’m going to look awful in these! They’ve got absolutely no shape.”

  “Kyleigh has to wear them, too,” Thelred muttered. “And she isn’t complaining.”

  “Well Kyleigh would still look magnificent in a rucksack! Haven’t you got anything more … feminine? Something like,” she pulled at the hem of Kyleigh’s mail skirt, “this — something flattering, but dangerous.”

  Lysander snorted. “Flattering but dangerous, eh? And let me give you a man’s perspective: if I allowed women to walk around deck dressed like that,” he nodded to Kyleigh, who rolled her eyes, “I don’t think we’d ever get any work done.”

  “But what about lady pirate clothes?” she pressed. “Surely you have something that isn’t so manly.”

  Lysander seemed to finally reach his wit’s end. He threw up his hands and said: “Well it may come as a surprise to you, but in all my time as Captain I’ve never had the pleasure of having a woman aboard Anchorgloam. So I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I was ill-prepared.”

  Kael wasn’t sure he believed that, but it made Aerilyn smile. “Never?”

  “Never,” Lysander assured her with a scowl. “Now, will you wear the uniform?”

  She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I suppose.”