A Pirate's Wife for Me (45 page)

She drank, then asked, "Are my pirates well?"

"All survived except — we have lost Lilbit."

"He's dead?" She remembered that scene in Arianna's square, Lilbit's gunshot, Taran’s fall, her scream of anguish." Good."

"No. But he's hurt, and he has disappeared." He smoothed the frown lines on her forehead. "Don't worry. All is well."

"I want to know all that happened."

"You have been unconscious three long days. You lost a lot of blood. When you next wake, you will hear the whole tale. But you must sleep now."

"Will you be here?"

He took her hand. "I will not leave you."

That sounded like a promise.

CHAPTER SIXTY

The second time Cate woke,
the room was lit only by a branch of candles set on the desk. Taran sat there, his coat and cravat discarded, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbow, writing on a sheet of paper. He looked intent. And tired.

So she hadn't dreamed it.

She moved her wounded arm, and in that moment knew she was definitely alive, because the discomfort made her whimper.

At the sound, he came to his feet and to her side. As he had done before, he slid his arm under her shoulder. He held a cup of water to her lips, and encouraged her to sip. "My darling, are you in pain?"

"Yes." The truth. "And I wish you wouldn't call me that." A lie. She liked it.

"But you are my darling." He smiled with such devastating charm, she wanted to punch him in the nose again.

Before she could try, he went to the door and spoke to someone, then returned. "During your illness, Signor Marino and his staff have been preparing foods just for you — I swear his broths have kept you alive — and now he is sending some soup. Then I can give you something to ease the discomfort."

"A narcotic would put me to sleep. I don't want to sleep. I want to know whether you killed Sir Davies and what happened in the battle and why Lilbit tried to murder you and how you escaped."

Taran seated himself on the mattress by her side. As he had done before, he picked up her hand and stroked her fingers. He acted as if he needed to touch her, lived to touch her.

She was fine with that.

"Maddox Davies. We fought. I prevailed." Taran smiled, as if the memory of the fight gave him pleasure.

"You killed him."

"No."

She tried to sit up.

Mistake.

She laid back on the pillows. "No?"

"I hurt him. I slashed him. I branded him. I made him hideous in every woman's eyes."

With pointed logic, she said, "If he was dead, he wouldn't care."

"True." Taran arranged her pillows behind her and helped her sit up. "But if I had killed him, I wouldn't now have in my possession all of his wealth, as well as a revenge of grand proportions."

"All
of his wealth?"

He laughed at her skepticism. "You and I found
some
, but there was more. During my years with the pirates, Wahkan watched all that happened in Cenorina. He has been an immeasurable help, and he wanted one thing in return — he wanted his own revenge on Davies. He informed me that Davies had prepared a bolthole in case of rebellion or bad fortune. Wahkan also told me Davies could not be allowed that escape. So together we plotted…"

Cate thought back on her memories before all had blurred into unconsciousness. "I remember Wahkan. He's the man in charge of your stables."

"Yes, and in America, he was a warrior and a tracker. I allowed Davies to flee, scarred and bleeding. Rifle in hand, Wahkan followed him to the other side of the island to an isolated cove where long ago conquerors — and pirates — would drop anchor, and come ashore for fresh water and whatever food they could forage."

Cate became caught up in the tale. "That's where Davies had hidden his ill-gotten gains."

"In locked metal boxes." Taran still smiled, but his eyes had grown dark with remembered intent. "When Davies arrived in the cove, he dug up his treasure, built a signal fire, and waited for his transport to arrive."

"Who was his transport?"

"Wahkan had searched out that information, too. Long ago, Davies had made a deal with local fishermen. They agreed that when they saw his fire, they would come to take him to the mainland. Wahkan offered them more to ignore his signal." Again, Taran lifted her fingers to his lips. He pressed a kiss on them. He invited her to smile. "Instead of the fishermen Davies had hired, another small vessel rowed into the cove…"

"A small vessel sent by you?"

Taran smirked. There was no other word for it. He smirked. "It was more of a runabout from a ship."

"Whose
ship?"

"Gerry Williams's pirate ship."

"Gerry Williams?
" She hung on Taran’s every word. "When did Gerry Williams become your ally?"

"He is buying the Scottish Witch, and with my ship and his as the beginning of his fleet, he has started an import business. He'll bring exotic goods from the Far East to the English middle class. He's a good sailor, a good fighter, and a shrewd merchant. He'll make a fortune. For part of the profits, I'm giving him a good price on the ship." Taran touched her cheek. "Your eyes are big with surprise."

"I missed so much!"

"I've been waiting to tell you."

A knock sounded on the door.

He went over, opened it, accepted a tray and shut the door. As he walked back to the bed, he said, "Everyone wants to see you and congratulate you on your heroic actions. But I will have to share you soon enough. I'm not sharing you now." He smiled at her, and his eyes looked … fond.

He was fond of her. How jolly.

He placed the tray on the bedside table, placed the napkin around her neck, poured the soup from the pitcher into the bowl, and fed her the first bites of chicken soup flavored with morsels of fresh vegetables and with tiny snips of egg noodles.

She had never had anything taste so good. She wanted to eat all of it right now.

But after three bites, Taran slowed her down with a question. "Don't you want to know all that happened to Davies?"

"So tell me."

He dropped a chunk of bread into the soup, stirred it around, and fed it to her. "Before Davies could realize the boat that approached was not the one he had hired, Wahkan started shooting at Davies. He missed every time … deliberately. Davies was dodging and dancing, a silliness that Wahkan said gave him a good laugh. The sailors in the runaway were shouting for Davies to come or be abandoned. So Davies stuffed money into his shirt and pants, splashed out to the boat, and … "

"You gave Sir Maddox Davies over to Gerry Williams." They had a steady rhythm going now. He fed her a bite. He talked. She talked. He fed her again.

She was enjoying herself. Enjoying the food, enjoying Taran’s service to her, and most of all, she was enjoying the story. "What will Gerry Williams do with Sir Davies?"

"I
heard
from a good authority —"

"Who?"

"Blowfish." They exchanged smiles. "I heard that Gerry Williams and his men hauled Davies aboard. Davies began to empty his shirt, wave his money about, and give orders. Gerry Williams upended him, shook the paper and coins out of him, reset his shoulder —"

"What happened to his shoulder?"

Taran widened his eyes in deceptive innocence. "At some point during our battle, he dislocated it."

"Such a shame."

"Yes, poor, poor Maddox Davies."

She remembered Sir Davies's elegant grace, and could not imagine him laboring on a ship. "What is he doing on a pirate ship?"

"Sir Maddox Davies is now living the carefree life of a barefoot cabin boy, sailing the seven seas, drinking foul water, eating bread full of weevils, sleeping in a damp hammock and when he malingers, feeling the lash of a cat-o-nine-tails." Taran stroked the lion-shaped scar over his heart. "I hope he enjoys that lowly occupation as much as I did."

Cate contemplated how carefully Taran had planned his retribution, and how long he had waited to visit it upon the traitor. She thought any enemies of Cenorina should take heed. "Is Gerry Williams as cruel a captain as yours was?"

"No, but I don't think Davies will survive much beyond his first attempt at mutiny." Taran offered red wine.

She sipped, then pushed it away. "No more of that."

"So the affair with Davies didn't turn out as I had planned." Taran lightly stroked her arm. "And I will never forgive myself for allowing him to harm you — but beating him was damned satisfying."

"Good. I will take pleasure in knowing you did that."

"What else can I tell you?" He thought. "The battle went well. After a good fight against very angry townsfolk and Cenorina aristocrats, Davies's mercenaries retreated to the fortress, found themselves locked out—"

Now Cate smirked.

"—And found themselves the perfect target for the marksman above."

"That was Miss Bennett?"
Of course, Jeannette would be a marksman.
"She is beautiful. And petite."
Short. The woman was short.

"More to the point, she shoots well and ruthlessly."

Oh, good. He admired her.

"The mercenaries surrendered. The Portuguese fought with the ferocity of men who planned not to pay for the islands, but to steal them. Those who survived are now in a prison ship headed to England." Taran put the bowl on the tray. "And you have finished your soup. Signor Marino will be so proud."

She watched him carry the tray to the door and hand it out. Even with a broken nose, he was handsome. And noble. And he had a well-formed backside…

When he returned, she said, "So you now hold possession of the islands."

"We do."

"I am happy for you."

"For us. My people were angry, and they would have taken the islands back anyway. But my men helped win the battle, and I will keep Cenorina free of foreign domination." Picking up her hands, he kissed the open palm of first one, then the other. "And my wife won their hearts with her quick thinking, courage and kindness. So now I have a second chance to rule Cenorina, and to prove myself."

Her gaze fell beneath his. He seemed so warm, so appreciative, so supportive. What did he mean by it? She should question him. But she was tired, fading fast. "I know you will … what about Lilbit? Why was he trying to kill you?"

"Ah, Lilbit. Mutiny was his first objective. While I was gone, he and a few of his comrades tried to take my ship."

Remembering the men's loyalty to their Cap'n, she asked, "How could he think he would succeed?"

"He did succeed, in a way. He put the ship into disarray and sabotaged the guns, which Blowfish did not at first realize. That's why they came into the harbor late and almost lost the battle to the Portuguese. But why he thought to kill me, I did not understand until I went through Davies's correspondence for the last few weeks. Then I was thoroughly abashed." Taran looked more than abashed. He looked embarrassed.

"What happened?"

"Lilbit had written a letter to Davies, offering to sell him information. Information about you. And me. It came with the other letters, the ones bidding on Cenorina. I saw this letter. I held it in my hands." He showed her his hands as if she could see the evidence written on his palms. "But the blackguard could barely write, and after reading the first lines, I arrogantly tossed it aside. I cared only for the other letters from foreign powers."

"I can see how you might have missed that clue."

"You are being kind."

"No." She squirmed. "I saw the letter too, and did not consider that it could be important. What did Lilbit say about us?"

"He warned Davies that the prince had survived the pirates and had returned to Cenorina, and without identifying me, he offered to kill me — for a price."

Cate could scarcely believe it. "But he seemed like such a nice boy!"

"I thought so, too, for a very long time. But I had begun to have my suspicions about him, and told Blowfish to bait a trap and see if he could catch a traitor. Thus Blowfish was able to thwart the mutiny."

She nodded. "You're very astute."

"If I was astute, I wouldn't have missed the letter, which also offered information about the identity of the princess." Taran circled her finger where the wedding ring should rest. "The princess, who is also the wife I married so many years ago."

That took her breath away. "How did Lilbit know that we were married or when?"

"When we sailed for Cenorina I left a letter for my mother, confessing that you were now and had long been my wife."

Had Taran lost his mind? "Why would you do that?"

"In case of my death, I wanted her to treat you with all the honors you deserve."

"So your mother knows?"

"She is delighted."

"How wonderful!" How horrifying! Queen Sibeol
knew
. Cate shut her eyes. She could only hope the queen didn't have her assassinated to make way for … Jeannette.