Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate (25 page)

I gaped at Mr. Smith. “But...he’s the captain!”

“This isn’t the navy of England or the Draco Dominus,” Captain Hawkins said, “but free men governed under a set of Articles all agree upon before setting sail. If Jean Le’Vass wants to press for a vote of no confidence, it’s within his right.”

Still holding the tiller steady, Ezekiel said, “Tomas’ mam, she not like that. You de captain, and she not gonna let you go.”

Captain Hawkins shrugged. “If Jean and the crew take my life, she won’t have much choice.”

Ezekiel shook his head. “Alive, dead, de White Lady never letting you go.”

The captain gave Ezekiel a dark look as an unsettling thought crossed my mind. “Jade, how much is Long-Mu actually aware of?”

“She is aware of everything that happens aboard the ship, and before you ask, she cares not about the matters of nature which are part of everyday life.”

“Does that include Pepper?”

Jade’s voice grew amused. “Your true mother was an extremely carnal woman within the bounds of the sacred vows she swore to the men and women in her life, and she expects no less from her son...once the betrothal is in place, that is.”

My mouth hung open a moment before I shut it with a click, while Mr. Smith chuckled. “Long-Mu sounds like a very different person than Jeremiah described Johanna. Pepper will be pleased.”

“Long-Mu has listened to Pepper’s tales, including the ones she has only told Sally, and feels sympathy for the girl. She approves of the match between Pepper and her son.”

“I’m so happy to hear it,” Captain Hawkins said sarcastically. “Have you any idea what she is planning now that her son is aboard?”

“When she confides in me I shall confide in you,” Jade answered. Captain Hawkins gave the spot her voice came from a dark look, but Jade only said, “Selene is coming.”

A moment later Selene appeared at the top of the stairs leading up to the quarterdeck, a bottle of green glass in one hand and a glass goblet in the other, as she stopped. “Am I interrupting?” Captain Hawkins waved her forward and she glided towards us, stopping in front of the captain to hold out the goblet in front of him. Taking it from her hand, he held it up to the light of the dragon-globe hanging off the stern. The goblet had a wide mouth and a stout stem, its glass clear except for a band of blue around the rim and the base and stem. “There were more of them,” Selene said as the captain lowered the wineglass and she began filling it full of wine a rich, red color, dark as blood, “but in the mad scramble to escape the assassins this was the only one I could rescue.” She poured in a long practiced style, twisting the bottle at the end so it wouldn’t dribble. A note of sadness entered her voice as she handed the green bottle to Mr. Smith, who held out his hand for it. “This goblet was Bartholomew’s favorite.”

Captain Hawkins took a swallow as Mr. Smith took a pull off the bottle, and to my surprise handed it to me as the captain said, “Tell me about him, and the entire incident.” He handed her the goblet. “Storytelling’s thirsty work,” he added, his eyes watching me as I took a cautious sip from the bottle. The wine was more sour than sweet but I caught echoes of the fruit used to craft it, and decided I could get to like it. But Captain Hawkins pointed at Mr. Smith and I regretfully handed the bottle back.

Mr. Smith gave me a look of amusement as Selene took a delicate sip and gave the goblet back to the captain. “Bartholomew always said ‘politics is gambling, but with higher stakes’. I told him, in time all gamblers lose, but he would not listen.” Selene then began speaking of important people I’d never heard of, in Venice, Milan, and in Rome herself, all of them involved in the last papal election.

I quickly got lost in all the intrigue, but it seemed Bartholomew had uncovered incriminating evidence against the man who was now pope, and had used it during the election to try and help another man get elected, a cardinal from Venice. I was perplexed, for Belle-M’ere had told me the pope was chosen according to God’s will, but God seemed to have very little with the process, at least according to the way Selene described it. Captain Hawkins handed her the goblet, and she drank as he grimaced. “So, you’re saying the Draco Dominus secured the election for Pope Gregory, which in turn means he owes them a huge debt. If those bastards are given a freer hand, it will bode ill for us.”

Selene handed the goblet back to him. “Perhaps not, for I believe the Olde World shall keep the order occupied for a time.” She began to speak of the rivalries between England, France and Spain, of the Holy Roman Empire (which from her words seemed neither holy, nor Roman, nor much of an empire, for that matter), and of the rekindled ambitions of the Turks, somewhere to the east. Both the captain and Mr. Smith asked her questions, Mr. Smith’s focused on trade and how much attention the powers of the Olde World would spend on the New, while the captain seemed more interested in their politics. Selene seemed to understand what they wanted answered, going into an area as deeply as they wished.

Mr. Smith handed me the bottle again, but before a could take a sip Captain Hawkins held out the now empty goblet and I poured the same way I’d seen Selene, twisting the bottle at the end so it wouldn’t dribble...or dribble much, as it did anyway. Captain Hawkins didn’t seem to notice as he took a swallow of wine, and I snuck a sip off the bottle as he turned his attention to Mr. Smith, who remarked, “Of all the treasures we pulled off that Dutch tub, I believe you’re more valuable than all the others put together.”

Selene smiled and inclined her head to him as the captain glanced at the tall, tattooed African and back again. “Agreed. Is there any chance Bartholomew survived? I imagine he’d move heaven and earth to have you back again.”

Selene shook her head as she looked down at the deck. “Bartholomew gave his life so I could escape. We had warning, and he had arranged passage for the entire household on one of his ships. But Draco Dominus assassins caught us on the docks and blew up the ship before we could board. Bartholomew found a skiff for my aunt and I, ordering his strongest Dragon, a Northman named Jarl, to guard us.” Selene’s eyes met the captain’s. “As Jarl’s dragon-spirits gave us the wind so we could escape, I watched as the assassins disemboweled Bartholomew and burned his insides with quickfire. No one will ransom me...well, alive, anyway.”

Captain Hawkins folded his arms over his chest. “Where is this Jarl now?”

“The assassins picked up our trail just before we boarded the Queen Anne’s Regret, but again we had warning, and Jarl remained behind to ambush those pursuing us. Of his fate I know naught.”

A thought struck me, but I wasn’t sure Captain Hawkins would welcome me adding to the conversation. “Permission to speak, sir?”

A wry smile touched the captain’s lips as he unfolded his arms. “Now that’s something I don’t hear very often. Say on, Tomas.”

“What about the Draco Magistris? Alfonzo once told me the two orders are like rival brothers vying for their father’s attention, and are always looking to outdo the other. They might pay gold for the knowledge.”

Selene gave me an exasperated look. “Tomas, it’s the father who the knowledge is about. They cannot very well use the knowledge they paid for against him.”

“But they might pay to know,” Captain Hawkins said, taking the goblet from Selene as he seemed to mull the matter over. “Knowledge is power, and even if they cannot use the knowledge right away, they might still pay to learn it.”

“Tiberius has factors in Tortuga,” Mr. Smith said. “It would risk nothing to inquire.”

Captain Hawkins glanced at him. “Nothing to Mistress Selene, you mean.” He turned back to her. “I will leave the decision in your hands. It may well gain you more than gold, for Tiberius might well grant you sanctuary to keep the knowledge safe. But that will be your choice to make.”

“Regardless,” Mr. Smith said as he extended his hand for the bottle, which I handed back, “Tomas deserves a reward for using his wits.” Mr. Smith took a long swallow then handed the bottle back. “Finish it,” he said, which surprised me since there was at least half a goblet left inside, “I’ve drunk enough.” He took a deep breath of the salt air blowing in our faces. “We should be reaching land soon, unless I miss my guess.”

“In a quarter-hour,” Jade answered.

“Then I’d best roust the crew, at least those still sober enough to haul a line. Jade, will you scout out a good landing place for us, somewhere close to the village?”

“Gladly,” she replied, “but who will call out the depths as the ship gets close?”

“I’m going to teach Star how to do it,” he said in his deep rumble. “She seems the brightest of the six.”

“Bide a moment,” Captain Hawkins said. “Maccabee, pull your six, one by one, and have them drink from Tomas. Jade, when they’re finished you drink as deep from him as you safely can. I want to take a few days on the island to make Artifact weapons.”

“We don’t have the tools or the skills to make muskets,” Mr. Smith said.

“Jeremiah has the skill,” I said. Captain Hawkins gave me a questioning look and I nodded. “His former master had the two of us make Artifacts, including weapons, and Jeremiah learned how to make guns from the royal governor’s armorer, which Smoke transmuted into Artifacts.”

“Did they work?”

I nodded. “We once made an Artifact musket for the governor himself, a very ornate piece with a lot of detailed carving, and Alfonzo fired it a dozen times before he gave it to his lord. It became the governor’s favorite weapon to hunt with.”

“For now I’m more interested in swords and pikes,” the captain said, “but we should invest in some tools when we reach Tortuga...if Jeremiah still remembers how to make guns.”

“You’ll need to make him the ship’s armorer if he does,” Mr. Smith said, “which means an extra share or more of the plunder.”

“We’ll discuss that when we put together a crew for the next voyage.” Captain Hawkins’s eyes met mine. “For now, I want Tomas so drained he will think of naught but his bed when Jade’s done.”

“I still say that’s not fair,” Pepper’s voice called out. I looked past the captain to see the redheaded girl bound up the stairs, her bare feet thumping on the grey-wood deck as she raced towards us. Captain Hawkins turned around as she reached us. “Sir, I claim mistreatment, as it states in the Articles...”

“I’m not mistreating you in the least...only Tomas, who as my apprentice I may mistreat to my heart’s content.” He gave her a sardonic smile as he folded his arms over his chest. “Once you’re betrothed you may have carnal knowledge of him to your heart’s content...but not until.” He turned to Mr. Smith. “If you will begin?” Mr. Smith called out to Star, and a moment later I felt delicate fangs pierce my arm as a mermaid in the main sail went still. “Samuel,” Captain Hawkins called out over Pepper’s shoulder, “how do you read the crew?”

Samuel walked up beside Pepper, with Jeremiah joining me, wrinkling his nose as I offered him a sip from the bottle, before holding up his own wooden cup filled with what smelled like rum. We both took a drink off our respective vessels as Samuel adjusted his spectacles. “You mean over the whole question of Pepper’s betrothal? The Africans will follow Mr. Smith and the Frenchmen Master Le’Vass, except for the Buccan...although I believe they’re leaning his direction, for all that he’s a Papist.”

Captain Hawkins grimaced. “What about the Mulattoo and his men?”

“He’s with you, sir,” Pepper said. “Before I came topside with Jeremiah and Samuel, he took me aside to tell me what he’d always wanted to do to me, and I told him if he ever tried it I’d set his cock on fire.”

“What did he say?”

“Laughed and wished me well. He said I was the Davy’s luck regardless of who’s having carnal knowledge of me.”

Captain Hawkins seemed to relax a little as Mr. Smith asked, “What does he think of Tomas?”

For the first time since I’d met her, Pepper seemed hesitant. “I’m not sure. I think the Mulattoo’s still trying to decide whether he likes Tomas or not.”

Jeremiah bent over to speak quietly in my ear. “The Mulattoo’s a pirate captain we came across being overwhelmed by the Draco Dominus. We defeated the bastards and saved all we could of the Mulattoo’s crew, who became part of ours. His men follow him fanatically.”

I nodded as the captain continued speaking. “What about the rest?”

Star finished and another dragon-ghost took a spot on my opposite arm as Samuel answered. “As long as Sally’s happy and Pepper’s not leaving, they really don’t care. Pepper’s too skinny for most of them, anyway.” Pepper glared at him as she put her hands on her hips, but Samuel only chuckled. “That’s a lucky thing for you as well as the captain. The way I read things, no one has enough support to challenge your leadership, good sir.” He turned toward the bow of the ship. “Now, I need to find Khan...oh, Pepper, you need to come as well.”

“In a bit,” Pepper answered him.

Samuel frowned at her then looked at me and shrugged. “Well, come below when you can,” he said as he turned and walked towards the stairs leading down.

The dragon-ghosts continued to feed, one by one, until all six were sated. Then Jade said, “Now is my time. “Tomas, may I take what I need from you?”

“Go ahead,” I told her, adding only half in jest, “Just leave some for me.” I gasped as her fangs pierced my shoulders like swords, sliding deep down inside me to the hip, and I gasped again as she began to draw. My body grew cold as she continued, panic replaced by lethargy as she continued draining me of strength until the world around me grew dark. Suddenly the ship seemed to spin like she was caught in a vast whirlpool, and I collapsed upon the deck.

Jeremiah was beside me in a moment. “Tomas,” he said as he shook me, “what’s wrong?” I shook my head, unable to answer him, and he yelled at the empty air, “Bloody bones, what’re you doing to him? He’s cold as death!”

Pepper was already on my other side as Captain Hawkins snarled, “I told you to drain him safely.”

“Keep Tomas warm,” Jade answered in a calm voice, “and ask the Admiral to make him some hot soup. Captain Hawkins, the ability to give one of us strength is like a muscle that will build itself up if worked hard. Within a pair of days he will have returned to normal and will be ready to resume his duties as your apprentice.” A wry note entered her voice. “I will see him chaste before his betrothal, one way or another.”