X Marks The Spot
The Plundered Chronicles: Book 6
Alex Westmore
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or the author has used them fictitiously. The publisher has no control over, and is not responsible for, any third party websites or their contents.
X Marks The Spot © 2018 by Alex Westmore
Contact the author through her website: www.alexwestmore.net
Cover Design: Mallory Rock
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Map of Renaissance Europe
X Marks The Spot
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Series From This Author
Map of Renaissance Europe
The screaming was so loud, Quinn Callaghan wanted to cover her ears and pretend this wasn’t happening.
But it was.
It was and it sounded horrific. While this wasn’t the first prison she’d been in, it definitely qualified as one of the worst. The stench of blood lingered in the air like sewage, previously tortured people moaned and begged to be killed, and the screams were so piercing, they penetrated her skin.
The only consolation was that she wasn’t alone in this dank, disgusting cell filled with rat piss and feces.
“I can’t believe Dragut has so lost his way,” The Moroccan pirate, Sayyida al Hurra said softly as she gazed out of the small dungeon window. “Beheading women and children? What could he possibly be thinking? This is a horror even too far reaching for him.”
Quinn joined her friend at the narrow aperture where they stood, side-by-side, two women captains of their own pirate ships – one Moroccan, the other, Irish, both captured and imprisoned for trying to stop the very thing that was happening.
“From what I can see, he has already killed hundreds.” Quinn slid her arm around Sayyida’s taut waist and pulled her closer. “We have to stop him, Sayyida. We have to find a way out of here. He might not kill you, but he sure as bloody hell will kill me if we don’t. I am nothing but an Irish pirate to him.” Quinn turned to her cellmate and fellow pirate captain, a woman she once bedded…and bedded hard.
Sayyida al Hurra.
Queen of Této̱uan, pirate captain, friend, ally, and former lover of Quinn Gallagher, who now sailed under her real first name, Quinn, and her faux last name, Callaghan.
“He has lost control ever since Suleiman gave him the position of supreme commander. Being appointed Beylerbeyi probably did not help,” Sayyida said sadly, laying her head on Quinn’s shoulder. “The man’s been given a free pass to pillage and plunder, and is doing so with…with…”
“Impunity is the word you’re looking for. But why women and children? What is the point? No other ruler will look upon such acts with admiration or even fealty.”
“I fear he has lost his mind…or at least given in to absolute power. It appears to be the way of men.”
Quinn nodded as she stared out the window. “The world has become so ugly. So violent.”
“Even more so since the Christians insist on provoking everyone – including each other.”
“It that why he’s cutting their heads off? Is he sending a message to them or has he become so evil he doesn’t see the error of his ways?”
“Perhaps both. With Dragut it is difficult to tell.” Sayyida turned from the window and leaned against the wall, sighing. “It is one thing to attack those who threaten you. It is something all together different to hunt women and children. We must still stop him, Callaghan.”
The screams and cries in the city grew louder. Wailing sounds seemed to bounce off the walls before banging into each other again. “It’s been over a week, Sayyida. Why hasn’t he just killed us and been done with it? What does he want with us?”
“Since we are still alive, ransom must be his motive. Not for me, of course, but certainly you. As Queen of Této̱uan, I hold far more power than he could ever imagine. He just does not quite to know what to do with me.”
Quinn slowly turned and cocked her head. “Yet he keeps you locked up as well. Day in and day out I keep thinking he will come for you, release you, at least.” Quinn turned from the small portal as well.
“He will not do so until he has completed his destruction of Vieste. Like a mad animal who has tasted blood, Dragut cannot seem to get his fill. He is keeping me with you to keep you from trying to escape.”
“You are not, are you?”
Sayyida shook her head. “Of course not. I will not leave you here, sweet one, even if Dragut forces me to.”
“Do you think Mihremah made it out on your ship?”
“Yes. My crew will make certain she is returned safely to the Sultan in Constantinople and hopefully she will report about the dire situation with Dragut.”
“Your crew would really leave you?”
“They have their orders, Callaghan. Unlike your men, mine follow orders, even if it means leaving their captain behind.”
Her crew would never have left Quinn, so on that score, Sayyida was correct. Blind followers were more in line with the Muslim religion, not clan hood, which was probably why the clans were dying.
Dying.
Ireland was dying. Choked to death by a queen who had never seen her beauty and probably never would. Their beloved clan customs were being bought and sold by the English monarch, Elizabeth, who had managed to plant a large number of her subjects in Ireland in an effort to create a base of followers.
As the clans started giving over to the English nobles and ways, the old traditions were rapidly dying out. Clan members, loyal to a fault, did not have the same blind obedience as Sayyida’s crew, so, no, Quinn’s men would be too stubborn to leave her…that much she knew.
Sayyida walked over to Quinn and took hold of her hands.
“You know I’d never let anything happen to you. If I thought Dragut Reis meant you harm, I would find a way out of this dungeon even if I had to claw my way out.”
Quinn gazed down at their hands. Once friends, then lovers, then allies, then enemies, now they’d come full circle. “I trust that, Sayyida. I truly do. You could have had me killed that day on board your ship or enna time after, and your didn’t.”
Sayyida smiled softly. “I’d have cut off my own arm before putting the blade to you, Callaghan. This world needs women like us.”
“This world is slowly turning upside down, Sayyida. I have seen men turn on their own kin, women treated like common whores, and monarchs killing monarchs. I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
“You can trust me, Callaghan. I’ve never done you wrong and I never will. Whatever Dragut has planned, he will have to go through me first.”
Sayyida leaned over and kissed Quinn softly.
Quinn pulled away from the kiss and leaned away. “I’m sorry, Sayyida, but you know this heart is taken.”
Sayyida grinned. “Not by the woman you are currently bedding.”
This made Quinn cock her head. “Why do you say that?”
“Well… you are here. She is there. It is a simple deduction, my love.”
“I am here because you asked me to come.”
Sayyida raised an eyebrow. “Oh come now, sweetness, how important can she be to you if you scuttle off to pirate whenever a gorgeous pirate crooks her finger at you?”
Quinn had to laugh. Sayyida’s confidence was one of the things Quinn found most seductive about her. “I didn’t come because you crooked your finger…I came because I’ve been land bound for nearly three months and I am going crazy.”
“I would have thought the trip to the New World would have made you want to relax a while longer.”
Pacing across the dungeon, Quinn kicked at a rat scurrying to get out of her way. “I know. I know.”
“Do you? Callaghan, if you are like the rest of us, which I suspect you are, when the sea calls, you answer. We do her bidding whenever and wherever she calls. It would not have mattered if it was me or Grace or any other pirate calling on you. We look for any reason to return to her – any reason to stand on the bow of our ship with the wind at our faces and the smell of the salt air in our noses.” She closed the gap between them. “She is our mistress and we cannot ignore her when she beckons.”
Sayyida reached out and tucked Quinn’s hair behind her ear. “We all do it. Callaghan. We were called to the sea and it is our home. Do not be so harsh on yourself for not admitting that.”
Quinn thought back to the last three months she’d spend with Kaylish and Gallagher at Castle Blackrock. Although it had been filled with joy and laughter, she had truly missed being on the Edge with her crew. She missed the fussing and the fighting. She missed the freedom of feeling the wind at her back and the sun on her face. She missed the rapscallions she called her family. And after the first few weeks on land, every day that went by, Quinn longed to be on the dock of her ship.
Her ship.
So many wonderful memories about her crew and the three ships they’d shared together.
Sayyida was right.
She’d left the comfort and relative safety of the castle for yet another adventure with another woman. When would she stop this lovelorn madness and accept the fact that she was more in love with being a pirate than she was the women in her life?
3 months ago
“I think that’s enough sword fighting for the day,” Kaylish admonished from the front of the green.
Quinn glanced up from her kneeling position, leaving her vulnerable to a blow from Gallagher, who touched Quinn on the shoulder.
“I gotcha! I win!”
Quinn returned her attention to the young girl performing a victory dance. “You think so, do you?” Launching herself at Gallagher, Quinn tackled the giggling girl and started tickling her. “You better hope there are no tickle pirates out there.”
“Quinn, my love, you’re getting her all dirty.”
Quinn stopped tickling Gallagher and they both glanced up at Kaylish.
A beautiful woman with long brown hair hanging well beyond her shoulders and a face any sculptor would fall in love with, Kaylish took men’s breath away. This did not, however, keep Quinn and Gallagher from continuing on.
“Dirty? She’s not dirty.” Quinn grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed it all over Gallagher’s face. “This is dirty!”
Gallagher squealed and grabbed two handfuls of dirt.
“Don’t you dare,” Quinn playfully snarled.
“Oh, I dare.”
Pinning Gallagher to the ground, Quinn growled at her before letting Gallagher flip her on her back.
Together Quinn and Gallagher laid on the grass laughing until a bucket of water splashed on them both.
“What the—”
Now, Kaylish was laughing. “Oh, that was so very worth it.”
“We cannot beat her,” Quinn said to Gallagher.
Gallagher glanced up at Kaylish. “No, but we can try.”
The two swordsmen rolled over and grinned at Kaylish, who started backing away. “You wouldn’t. You know I am visiting Lady Burnett this afternoon. If I have to change my dress, heads will roll.”
Slowly and with intent, Quinn and Gallagher rose. “Heads will roll,” Gallagher mocked.
“I believe we can surround the evil dragon,” Quinn said, “and show her who’s boss. Are you with me?”
Gallagher picked up her sword. “Aye. I am with you, Captain.”
Wheeling around, Kaylish screamed, picked up her skirt, and started running back toward the castle with Quinn and Gallagher in hot pursuit.
“Slay the dragon!” Gallagher cried.
The second squeal from Kaylish prompted a response from Fritz, Quinn’s first mate and head guard, who bolted around the corner. “What happened? What’s going on?” He asked as he ran into the courtyard.
Quinn and Gallagher came to an abrupt halt.
“It would appear the dragon called in reinforcements,” Quinn said, taking her fighting stance at Fitz.
Gallagher followed suit.
Fitz slowly drew his sword. “I’ll not let ya harm a hair on that dragon’s head,” Fitz said, taking his stance as well.
“You got this, Bog?” Quinn asked Gallagher. “He’s too scary for me.”
“Aye, Captain.” Gallagher swing her sword and it clanged loudly against Fitz’s. He backed away, parrying and defending, until Gallagher struck a fifth time and he released his sword.
“Spare me, I beg of you.”
Kaylish stood behind him. “I’ll whip all three of you if you don’t get Gallagher cleaned up in time for Lady Burnett’s visit.”
All three sheepishly sheathed their swords.
“Kaylish is right, Bog. You need to get cleaned up to go get Jacob and Arracht.”
“Can’t I just wash my face? The rest of me is pretty clean.”
Quinn deferred to Kaylish, who shook her head. “I’m never going to make a proper young woman out of you, am I?”
“Nope.”
Kaylish shook her head. “Fine. Then off you go.”
Gallagher look up at Quinn. “Boxing later?”
“We’ll see.”
When Gallagher was gone, Kaylish thanked Fitz for ‘saving’ her once again.
“I’ve told ya a thousand times, m’lady – ya can’t squeal like that. It gets my heart racin’.”
“Yeah,” Quinn said, winking at Fitz. “It’s all your fault.”
When Fitz returned to his rounds, Quinn dusted herself off and took Kaylish’s hand. “You look gorgeous, my love.”
“Thank you, sweet one, but must I always be the villain?” Kaylish asked.
“Would you rather be a damsel in distress?”
“Already played that role, my love, so no thank you. Dragon is just fine.”
Walking hand in hand through the courtyard, they waited until they were far enough away from the castle and prying eyes and ears of their young charge before continuing their conversation.
“It’s been months since we’ve turned from the New World, Kaylish. Months since the men and I have taken the Edge out to do little more than plunder and sail the seas. They’re getting restless. They want – no – they need an adventure.”
“I’ve never stopped you from going out, Quinn. If you need to go, then do what you must.” Kaylish laid her palm on Quinn’s cheek. “But I ask only that you see Bronwen first. Find out if she sees any dangers unforeseen for you. For us.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Then by all means, have your adventure. Take to the seas. Do what you wish if it makes your heart sing. Just come back to me.”
Quinn held Kaylish’s hand to her face and turned to kiss her palm. “I’m afraid booty and plundering’s not enough for the crew these days. They have something… personal in mind.”
Kaylish leaned in and kissed Quinn’s neck. There was no hair in the way because she had taken to keeping it shorter because it had become long and unruly. “That’s entirely your fault, my love. Between dealing with Mary of Scotland, rest her soul, and voyaging to the New World, I believe you have given these misfits a sense of purpose that gold and silver no longer replaces.”
Quinn wrapped her arms around Kaylish. The sun spread its rays across her shoulders, warming her entire backside. “Those misfits are our family…our friends. Perhaps they truly do need a sen
se of purpose. I think they enjoyed being heroic.”
Kaylish smiled. “Heroic, eh?”
“Well, I think they got a taste of being good, yes.”
“Good pirates is an oxymoron, Quinn, but if they need time with you on the deck of the Edge, then I will support that. Just please go see Bronwen first.”
“If that will make you feel better, I’ll go right away. She’s a healer, not a seer. She will not guarantee her visions or portence.”
“I need no guarantee, my love. I need her to make sure you do not do anything rash.” Kaylish kissed Quinn softly. “I love you so much. I’d never keep you from doing what you love.”
“I appreciate that, sweet girl, but let’s wait to see what the crew thinks.”
Kaylish took Quinn’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Are you looking forward to seeing Jacob as much as I am?”
“I do not believe anyone is as excited as Bog. She has missed him so much these two months. Do you… do you think he will be much different?”
“I should certainly hope so. The boy was a shoeless beast barely more civilized than Arracht.”
Quinn sat at a bench Lord Moynihan had made for her and Fiona. The fond memories flooded back to her – not an uncommon occurrence now that she lived in Castle Blackrock.
“He wasn’t so horrid,” Kaylish said, sitting next to Quinn. She had put some weight back on after being shot with poison arrows.
“You are too kind. He was a filthy cur with no manners, not one social grace to speak of.”
“He’d give up his life for you just like the rest of your crew. Surely that counts for something.”
“Of course it does, but I will be happier knowing he has a better understanding of how the world works. Pick pocketing a pirate is an unwise thing to do.”
Kaylish nodded. “It was the only thing he knew how to do, my love. Jilly might be missing fingers, but he certainly had Jacob in death grip once he realized the boy has stolen his purse.”
“Well, it will be good to have him back. He’s good company for Gallagher. How are her lessons coming?”
X Marks The Spot (The Plundered Chronicles Book 6) Page 1