Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate (24 page)

“Politics would be my guess,” Selene said. “I understand the Ming dynasty has been going through a difficult period.”

“Mine as well,” Captain Hawkins replied. “She also told him she had to repeat his voyage, but in reverse, so Sir Francis organized an expedition to meet up with her in the New World. Once we were underway she sent word she was not only close to delivering but Olde Roger was on her trail and closing fast. Sir Francis made all haste to find her but Olde Roger found her first. We came upon the small Chinese fleet being overwhelmed by Olde Roger’s larger one and we smashed him in turn, sinking all of his ships and taking no prisoners. The last we saw of Olde Roger, he was fleeing on the back of his last remaining Artifact golem, a black vulture.”

“Was the Chinese Dragon still alive?”

Captain Hawkins grimaced. “She was, but only by a thread. Maccabee carried her back to the Davy, as Sir Francis was locked in combat with Olde Roger’s ship, and she died before he could spare one of his dragon-ghosts to heal her. Sir Francis in turn was overcome with grief, and soon after caught the fever that killed him. We gave his body to the strongest of his dragon-ghosts...” He looked at Mr. Smith. “Storm, wasn’t it?” Mr. Smith nodded. “Storm took Sir Francis away and we never saw him again.”

Selene lightly touched the captain’s arm. “I have never heard that tale before. Did you give the woman’s body to the sea?”

The captain shook his head, and after a moment Mr. Smith spoke. “We never had the chance. We laid her here,” Mr. Smith pointing down at the spot between my bare feet, “where she looked up at us and said our voyage would continue until her enemy was dead. The captain told her we’d all most likely be dead of old age before that happened, and she replied the voyage would continue a thousand years if it had to, and he would remain at the helm. Then her body flowed like water and she melted into the ship.”

Selene and I both stared at Mr. Smith in disbelief, and the captain gave us a sardonic look. “Sounds like a sailor’s tale, but Maccabee speaks the truth. Jade was her dragon-ghost, and she joined us after her mistress became part of my ship.” He pointed up towards the rigging above us. “Once in a while you’ll see strings of lights begin to wind themselves around the lines. The crew calls them ‘ghost lights’, and after they appear, the spirit of the Chinese Dragon will walk the upper deck. Most of the crew goes below when the ghost lights appear, but if you approach her she will speak to you, as men have done from time to time.”

“It’s considered a sign of courage with the old hands,” Mr. Smith said in his deep rumble as his eyes met mine. “Jeremiah spoke to her once, showing her a wood carving he’d made of a sea-bird. She told him to be ready to carve weapons soon, but then smiled at him and vanished.” I nodded, although I would’ve expected no less from my friend as Mr. Smith dug a gold coin out of the pouch at his belt. “Now I have a question for you. When I sorted through the contents of your travel bag, I found this.”

He tossed the coin to me and I caught it in mid-air. I opened my fist to see the familiar gold coin with oriental markings stamped into the metal, which I hadn’t thought to ever see again. “It’s my mother’s...my real mother, not my foster mother, Johanna. She told me my true mother gave her a bag of these in return for Johanna taking care of me, and Belle-M’ere saved the last one as a memento.”

Captain Hawkins plucked it from my hand. “As per the Articles, it goes into the common pot.”

“Whoever gets it will be told where it came from, and they may well give it back.” I nodded, refusing to get my hopes up as Mr. Smith gave me a thoughtful look. “From what I’ve pieced together, you were born a fortnight before the battle, which took place off the Carolina coast in mid-December.”

Captain Hawkins stabbed a finger towards my face. “That doesn’t look very Chinese.”

“Sir,” I said, wondering if I was speaking the truth or not, “when Captain Cholula investigated me, she claimed she’d found an old document stating I’d been brought to St. Augustine wearing a face with Chinese features, but after Johanna put me to her breast my face changed to a mirror image of hers.” Captain Hawkins’s eyes narrowed, and I quickly added, “I know it’s impossible, but that’s what Captain Cholula said she’d found.”

Selene spoke before the captain could respond. “There are stories... legends, really, of the children born to a mated pair of Dragons being able to change their shape to something else without being merged with a dragon-ghost, though not easily. Bartholomew always thought they were just stories...but then, he thought goblins were just stories as well.”

“If you truly are her son,” Mr. Smith said, “then it may be more possible than you imagine. I was the cabin steward for Francis Drake when we sailed around the world, and I clearly remember when we found ourselves tethered between two Imperial warships of the Ming. Sir Francis and the leader of the delegation sent to meet us, who is now our infamous ghostly Dragon, became quite close, and after the celebration held to honor us upon our departure,” he glanced at the captain, “which was when Khan stowed away with us, she and Sir Francis shared his cabin. I was a curious lad, and when Sir Francis forgot to lock his door, I snuck inside to watch. His cabin was quite large, with a parlor opening into the bedroom, and I hid behind his large travel chest as he and the Chinese woman began to carnally enjoy themselves.”

“He would’ve had you flogged, had he known,” Captain Hawkins remarked.

“It was my good fortune he did not. But at one point she began to dance for him, and as she did her body changed from mortal to something strange, all pale and thin like a creature from the realm of Fairie. Sir Francis wasn’t the least bit upset, eagerly taking her back to his bed, and being frightened I snuck back out until they were finished, and Sir Francis called for me. When I went back inside, the woman had returned to her normal appearance once more.”

Captain Hawkins gave him a strange look. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”

“Would you have believed me? After we left I told myself I’d imagined it, but now, in light of what Tomas just said, I felt the tale finally needed to be told.”

“Mr. Smith,” I said, trying to keep the quaver out of my voice, “who was she?”

My heart sank like the Dutch Flyte had when he shook his head. “I don’t know and neither does the captain nor anyone else aboard. Sir Francis never said anything about her, and Jade’s never said.”

“Her name was Long-Mu,” Jade’s voice said quietly from a spot beside my ear. “She was one of the last True Dragons...and Tomas shares half her nature.”

Captain Hawkins folded his arms as he stared at me. “Who was the father?”

“I do not know. I only tell you this much to warn you about letting any more of the crew know than you have to. As events stand now, all Olde Roger will hear from Captain Thorne is how he missed an opportunity to capture a strong Dragon.”

“But if he hears Tomas is the son of his enemy, as I assume Long-Mu was, he will try to kill him.”

“Or twist Tomas to his side. I knew him a very long time ago, when he went by a different name, but his nature has not changed. He would take delight in having the son of his worst enemy serve him, to whatever end he means to accomplish.”

“I’ll never serve him,” I said to Jade, “no matter what.”

“Not as long as you’re under Dragon-oath to me, you won’t,” Captain Hawkins replied. “Jade, since Tomas shares half of Long-Mu’s nature and since it seems he changed his form once, can he learn to do it again?” Before she could answer he looked at me. “I assume you cannot?”

“I’ve tried, sir. Back when I was a young boy, I got the notion in my head that I could make myself into a real dragon, and Smoke and I did everything we could think of to make it work.” I shrugged. “But nothing did.”

“You would need the training of one of the last true Dragons, and the only one I know of is Olde Bone Woman, the Maya Dragon of the Yucatan in New Spain.”

“Out of the question,” Captain Hawkins said before anyone could speak. “We aren’t going anywhere near her or the Draco Magistris. Can you teach him?”

“Can a hawk teach the wolf to hunt? Tomas and I exist in two separate states of being, and neither I nor any other of my sisters would have any notion where to begin. If it is of any consolation, young Tomas will be far more beneficial to you as a fighter and nothing more. All Dragons have a piece of the True Dragons within them, which is why they can change their form when they permanently merge with one of my sisters. But Tomas has far more of the True dragon within him than anyone not a True Dragon themselves. Think of it like copper and steel: copper is easily twisted into another form, but steel has to be molded... and steel is far stronger than copper,”

Captain Hawkins eyes locked onto mine. “You will say nothing of this to anyone, not to Redbeard, not to Jeremiah, and definitely not to your newly betrothed, Pepper. Are we clear?”

I told him aye as Selene gave me a startled look. “Betrothed? That was a hasty courtship.”

I gave her an embarrassed shrug as Captain Hawkins said, “I told him to make Pepper happy and he has. As for you,” his hand reaching out to cup her chin in an iron grip, “I will have your silence in this matter as well, or I will give you to the crew for sport until you are dead. Am I clear?”

Selene gently pried his hand off her face and held it in both of hers. “Captain Hawkins, I am a courtesan of Venice. Now, I have a question to ask Jade, if I may?” He nodded, and she continued. “Plato, in his discourse on Atlantis, mentioned they had great Artifacts that had been ancient even in their day, terrible machines of war that had brought down their civilization.” She closed her eyes as if trying to recollect the words. “He wrote: ‘Each one had a sorcerer of Atlantis inside it, the man becoming the machine as if it was his own form, and the earth trembled as they fought’.” Selene opened her eyes. “Scholars have always thought Plato was wrong or being fanciful, but in light of what you said about this Long-Mu becoming part of the ship...”

“I’m not a True Dragon or even a part of one,” I blurted out, the knot of fear twisting itself inside of me as the implications of what Jade had said about me began to sink in. “I’m just an apothecary’s apprentice.”

Captain Hawkins let go of Selene, grabbed me by the front of my ruffled shirt and spun me around, pushing me backwards until the small of my back met the deck rail. “”You’re not an apothecary anymore. What are you?”

My wits ran like rats for a moment...then the rats began running together. “I’m your apprentice, sir.”

He kept his grip on my shirt. “That’s right. You may know apothecary, you may know how to physic the men, you may know how to do a thousand things I’ll find useful, but you’re my apprentice. I don’t give a half-penny what your true nature is, as long as it serves my needs. Are we clear?”

For some reason his words loosened the knot of fear inside me, and I made myself stand straighter. “Aye, sir.”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips as he let me go. “So, we keep your parentage a secret between the five of us.” I glanced at Ezekiel, who nodded back as the captain continued. “Eventually the truth will come out, but by that time a want a better crew than the one I’ve got now, armed with Artifact weapons.”

Mr. Smith’s voice rumbled, “We need men willing to take on a ship full of Shadowmen.”

As Captain Hawkins rubbed a hand through his hair he looked weary enough to sleep for a year. Then his face became stern again. “Agreed, although I believe the Draco Dominus more likely to be our foes. But we say nothing of this either until we reach Tortuga and the crew is released.”

Selene came up beside the captain. “What are your plans for me when we get there?”

Captain Hawkins looked her up and down for a long moment before regretfully shaking his head. “I’d keep you aboard if I could, and not just for your obvious charms. But your presence would become too great a distraction to the crew. So, when we reach Tortuga, I’ll release you to make your way in the New World as best you can.”

Selene gave him a wary look. “Just like that?”

Captain Hawkins gripped her chin again. “Make no mistake: you will pay for your passage both with your favors and with your wits, from this moment until we reach Tortuga. Are we clear?”

Once again Selene gently removed his hand from her face, but this time she carefully kissed his palm. “I will enjoy paying your price. What do you desire of me first?”

“Your wits,” he said at once, pulling his hand away. “Tell me of events in the Olde World, beginning with the reason you’re on board the Davy and not drinking wine in the marbled halls of Venice with courtiers and fools.” He glanced at me. “Speaking of wine, get one of the bottles we took from your cabin and placed in mine, along with the one wineglass. Take your time; I’ve things to ask Tomas which need be done without your presence.”

I saw a flash of irritation cross Selene’s face, quickly masked as she gave him a deep curtsy. “As you wish, sir.”

Selene glided away and we watched her go, Mr. Smith joining us as she walked down the steps. Then Captain Hawkins turned to me. “Jeremiah told me you speak French.” I gave the captain a wary nod and he said, “Tell me what Jean Le’Vass said to the Buccan, down in the hold.”

“Master Le’Vass told the Buccan to bide their time. He said the Olde World would pay a good price for me.”

Captain Hawkins nodded, not looking the least bit surprised as he looked at Mr. Smith. “That’s about what I expected, although it seems he neglected to add the part where he turns the Buccan in to the French court to be arrested for being rebels and Huguenot heretics.”

Mr. Smith chuckled. “I’m sure it was just an oversight.”

“No doubt,” the captain said dryly. “So, when does he make his move?”

“He needs the Buccan with him, but right now he can’t be sure of their loyalty. But if Le’Vass waits too long he loses his chance when we reach Tortuga, and the crew’s dissolved.” Mr. Smith noticed my confused look. “A member of the crew can call for a vote of confidence in the captain at any time. If the vote fails, the crewmember is left behind on the next island the ship passes by, but if the vote passes, then the captain’s the one banished... though it’s usually an execution, or a fight to the death.”