That was a good point and one that had crossed Lucifer’s mind. He glanced up at the sky, seeing flashes of blue through the white mist. Soon enough, the fog would clear and it would be a beautiful day with soft sea breezes and the gulls crying overhead. But for Lucifer, there was much more to the day than simply the sky or the sea. He grunted.
“Then they will be sorely disappointed if they test me,” he said. “While Con is in France with Lady le Brecque enjoying his wedding trip, I am in command of his Legion and anyone who challenges that command will be met with a firm and deadly hand. They would be foolish to try.”
He said it in a tone that left no room for doubt, and Remy grinned as he listened to the boast. But it wasn’t so much of a boast as it was the truth. As Constantine’s First Mate, Lucifer had always been one to follow his leader without question, commanding when it was necessary, and conveying the impression that one did not contest his ways and live to tell the tale. But with the event of Constantine putting him in command of Poseidon’s Legion, and his empire, while he was away, Lucifer’s stoic and ominous manner had taken on dimension. Now, he had the full feel of a captain behind him, which made the man that much more terrifying.
Remy had no intention of crossing him.
“Aye, my lord,” he said. “Now that we are heading back to Perran Castle with the Spanish at our backs, what will your first order of business be?”
Lucifer glanced at him. “It will be the same as it was when we left Eynon Bay,” he said. “We are heading home with a hold full of fine goods that we took from the merchant vessel foolish enough to drop anchor where they should not have. Once there, we will offload it, pay the men what they are due for the haul, and then I must deal with a few issues that have been left to my care in the wake of Con’s departure.”
“Like what?”
“Several, but the first ones that comes to mind are those two heiresses that we have imprisoned at Perran. I told Con that I would deal with them.”
Remy knew who he was speaking of. Last month, they’d intercepted a heavily-laden merchant vessel crossing from Ireland to the port of Plymouth. It has been a very rich vessel and they’d taken a huge haul from it, including the two daughters of the merchant who owned the ship. The women had been taken back to Perran and imprisoned, at Constantine’s orders, until it was decided what to do with them.
Ransoming them back to their father was one thing, or they could very well be auctioned off to pirates willing to pay their price. Constantine had been busy with his marriage, so the duty of deciding their fate had fallen to Lucifer, and Lucifer had been putting it off for weeks. They didn’t normally take female prisoners for any length of time, so Lucifer didn’t want to put it off too much longer. He needed to make a decision and get on with it. He had more important things to worry about than two disruptive females.
“I’d nearly forgotten about them,” Remy said. “As I recall, they were both rather pretty. What do you intend to do with them?”
Lucifer watched a gull fly overhead, disappearing into the fog. “Something,” he muttered, turning away from the railing. “Anything. With Con away, I have enough to worry over without having to deal with a pair of she-cats. Mayhap, I shall auction them off and keep the money for myself.”
“Oh?” Remy was interested. He had an eye for pretty women, and they for him. “How much will you ask for the pair?”
Lucifer pushed himself off the rail and began to head towards the bow. “I have not yet decided,” he said as he walked away. “But for you, the price is doubled, whatever it is.”
Remy smirked. “As I recall, the elder one was quite the spitfire,” he called after Lucifer. “You may have to pay me to take her off your hands if no one else wants her.”
Lucifer simply waved him off, knowing that would never be the case. The elder daughter – he’d forgotten her name – was, indeed, a spitfire. But she was also quite fine, as he recalled. She would bring a fine price should he decide to sell her, and perhaps an even finer price should he ransom her back to her father. Either way, she was his responsibility and he was going to make it worth his while.
As Lucifer departed for the bow, and Remy and Felix went about their business, Curtiz remained at the stern. He had been listening to the conversation quite carefully. He knew of the female captives because he’d been at Perran Castle when the ship bearing the women had come ashore. And he had been the one to settle the women in their new prison home.
Curtiz had been their jailor for the most part, at least in those first few early days. And as their jailor, he’d observed much. Mostly, he’d observed that no one seemed to be paying much attention to the women in the wake of Constantine’s marriage. Being that the women were being ignored, and that they were a valuable commodity, Curtiz did what pirates do – made the most of an opportunity, even if it was under the nose of his leader.
And that was why the Spanish were here.
Only, he wasn’t going to tell Lucifer any of that. He would pretend he had no idea why the Spanish had come. But the truth was that the Spanish had come to Perran Castle on his invitation to take on the daughters of a wealthy merchant so they could negotiate with the women’s father. Even if the Spanish pirates didn’t return the women to their desperate father, the women were both quite beautiful and would make fine concubines for the Spanish pirates.
But it was all for a price… and Curtiz was demanding a high price, one that the Spanish were willing to pay. After the loss of the Leucosia, they saw it as a great opportunity to take something from Constantine le Brecque, something of value, and Curtiz was more than willing to be the intermediary for the transfer.
The truth was that he didn’t have any real loyalty to Constantine or Poseidon’s Legion. He’d been bouncing around since his service to de Nerra and his only purpose in life was to make money, so the opportunity with the two female captives had been too good to pass up. They would be gone before Lucifer or Constantine realized they had been taken and, God willing, so would Curtiz. He planned to take the money from the Spanish and run.
But meanwhile, he would play the loyal pirate, at least for as long as it suited him. He was a good warrior, an even better sailor, and those skills had been impressed upon Constantine and his crew. He pretended to think as they did and, so far, the ruse had worked.
But he was in this only for himself, as he would soon prove.
Unfortunately, Lucifer was ignorant of the thoughts of a man he was slowly learning to trust. At the moment, he was more concerned with the Melinoe making port before the Spanish figured out they had escaped. The fog had begun to lift and the ship was making excellent time, drawing closer to Perran Castle along the western coast of Cornwall. In fact, the fogbank remained to the south as they passed out of it, leaving the Spanish buried in the mist and still out to sea.
With fair skies ahead and the wind at their back, the Melinoe glided gently into Perranporth Cove beneath the enormous citadel of Perran Castle, and the anchor was thrown into the soft, white sand bottom. Then, and only then, did Lucifer breathe a sigh of relief, for his ship had come home safely and the booty they’d collected from an ill-placed merchant vessel near the coast of Ireland was quickly offloaded and taken up to the great vaults of the castle.
Lucifer was the last man to leave the ship, heading up to the castle as carpenters began to comb over the Melinoe to repair what damage there was from the Spanish cannonballs. It was barely mid-morning, but Lucifer was already thinking about a good meal and a soft bed. He’d been at sea with his men for nearly eight days, so he was anxious to see what had gone on in his absence and administer Constantine’s empire as best he could. But he was seriously thinking that all of that could wait until he’d been fed and rested.
Except for the women captives. His conversation with Remy had brought them to light again, something he’d put aside for so long that thinking of them again brought instant distaste. Damnation, he’d already put them off long enough, and something was nagging at him to se
e to the women before he took care of his own needs. Given that there was some guilt with the way the women had been caged up for so long, he didn’t want to put it off any longer. He needed to get it over with, and the women had to know they hadn’t been forgotten and that their fates would soon be determined.
In hindsight, his choice to visit the captives that day would be a decision that changed his life.
* * *
Read the rest of SEA WOLFE by Kathryn Le Veque
Excerpt from THE SEAFARING ROGUE
by Sky Purrngton
Enjoy this except from Sky Purington’s Pirates of Britannia world novel…
PROLOGUE
Province of Mearns, Scotland
Stonehaven Bay, 1448
He cracked open an eye only to squeeze it shut against the blinding sun. His mouth was bone dry, his tongue swollen and his parched lips caked with salt.
Where was he?
What happened?
He tried to wiggle his fingers and toes but felt nothing.
Was he dead?
Was this hell?
His mind was blank. Empty.
Who was he?
Awareness came and went, and with it sounds. Waves crashed in the distance. Seagulls cried overhead. Brine and seaweed scented the cool wind. He tried to move toward life, toward all he felt around him, but it was impossible.
He was too far gone.
Or so he thought until a wracking cough gripped him and a sharp pain lanced his mid-section.
“Shh,” came a gentle feminine voice from far away. “Dinnae move quite yet.”
When a soft hand touched his forehead, he realized that she was, in fact, right beside him. He attempted to open his eyes again, but it was too painful.
“Where am I?” he tried to say, but instead more coughs overcame him and something warm trickled out of the corner of his mouth. Mayhap blood? From what though? He recalled no battle. No skirmish of any sort.
“I’m going to move ye someplace safe and tend to your wounds.” She still sounded far away. “But first, a wee drink if ye can.”
A drink? Was she mad? While certainly thirsty, he could barely breathe let alone swallow. Nevertheless, moments later he felt her tender touch as she tipped his head forward ever-so-slightly and something bitter slid down his throat.
He flinched and tried to speak again, but it was no use.
Everything drifted further and further away.
He tried to stay with her, wanted to hold on, but he started to slip into a deep dark abyss. He had no choice but to give in and allow Fate to have him. To follow a path that might very well end in death.
Or—as he hoped before he faded altogether—a path that might just lead back to her.
Read the rest of THE SEAFARING ROGUE by Sky Purintong
Stolen by Starlight: A Pirates of Britannia World Novel Page 12
