Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1)

by Taijeron, Cristi

  The rain had stopped for the moment but the ground was still wet and the sky was covered in clouds. Father waited for me under the pavilion, and as I approached him he invited, “Sit down, my dear.”

  Relieved to hear the tenderness in his voice, I sat next to him on the bench and smiled as if nothing was wrong.

  He took a deep breath before he announced, “Charlotte, there was a break in at the Patterson’s home the night before last. Maureen was attacked and the parlor was destroyed.” My heart flooded with horror. This had to be the situation Sterling was talking about.

  “Is everyone alright?” I gasped.

  “Yes, my dear, everyone is alright. Maureen has a lump on her head, a bruise on her face and is as frightened as could be, but she will heal fine. The mess in the parlor will take some time to repair, and Maureen is so shook up she has yet to relay the details of what happened. All we know for sure is that this travesty was committed by pirates.”

  I was ever so relieved to hear Maureen was alright but struggled to wrap my mind around what had really happened. As confused as I was, I kept hearing Sterling saying, I didn’t hurt anyone. I believed him, but I agonized over the fearsome possibilities. He said he protected her by his own honor and at a great risk. I would have to find a way to ask Maureen about the details.

  “Ease your worries, my dear Charlotte. Governor Morgan will be going to great measures to help resolve this piracy problem. In the meantime, I want to use this situation to remind you how important it is to find you a strong and protective husband.”

  When I heard the words I remembered the way Sterling had his sword out to protect me as he hid me behind the rock last night. The memory made it easy for me to nod in agreement.

  “I am an old man Charlotte; I cannot protect you forever. I want to know that you will be safe and cared for once I am gone.”

  “That makes sense father,” I acceded.

  “I think you will be pleased with Mister Braddock; he is very well off, Charlotte. He is an attorney and is buying the Eden’s Edge estate up the road. He will be practicing law and making a life here.”

  In my mind, I flinched at the thought of being stuck on the island for the rest of my life, but I politely nodded in appreciation. Father put his arm around me and I leaned my head onto his shoulder, resisting my urge to sigh in despair.

  He kissed me on the forehead. “Alright, my darling. Go up to get Mary and we will head to the market.”

  X

  Mary and I made our way around the market, and though this was usually my favorite thing to do, I was too busy dreaming about Sterling, and worrying about his part in the break in to show much interest in the world around me. I blindly fumbled through the goods as I wondered where he was. Knowing he wasn’t leaving until sunset, I hoped I would run into him somehow. Then I remembered him talking about The Rusty Anchor, and I tempted Mary with the idea of sneaking into the tavern.

  Mary put her hand over her heart in a sarcastic display of a bashful expression. “Oh Miss Charlotte, that would be brazen.”

  Unlike myself, Mary had experienced hard times and dark places. She had worked at a bar in the slums of Ireland so the thought of sneaking into a pirate tavern was not the least bit intimidating to her. After I laughed at her silly facade she acceded, “I said I would do anything to help. Your father will be expecting us in two hours. Let us get going.”

  We purchased some multicolored shawls and planned to disguise ourselves with them as we walked to the tavern. I assumed we looked like traveling merchants as we passed down the alley, for we snuck right into The Rusty Anchor without notice.

  The moment we entered through the heavy wooden door, my eyes opened wide with shock. I was aghast by the entire setting. Smoke and music drifted through the dim and musky room, and the crowd was quite vulgar and ever so sloppy. The men were salty from the sea and cursed as they staggered and swayed, while the women were lacy and busty, floating about the room lacking all sense of virtue. There was a scuff of men surrounding a volatile arm wrestling match in the corner, and the whole room felt like it could go awry at any moment. It was definitely a shocking sight, but I knew if I wanted to be a part of Sterling’s world I had to learn to be comfortable in this sort of chaos.

  I settled my nerves and straightened my posture as I scanned the room to see if he was there. Once I saw him, my heart skipped a beat and I grasped Mary’s arm as I gasped, “That is him.”

  He was standing in the back holding a leather tankard buzzing with his mateys. It was mostly his back facing us, but when he would turn to talk to Faron, we could see a clean profile of his handsome face. I admired the wisp of the feather in his hat and enjoyed the view of his broad shoulders.

  “Oh. He is definitely a fine looking man, Miss Charlotte.”

  Before I had a chance to blush with pride, one of the barmaids put her hand on Sterling’s arm and looked to be flirting with him. The intruding woman was wearing a deep red dress that was embellished with black lace, and her dark hair was pinned up with a feather, but I was most alarmed by her tempting red lips, and the way her bosom busted firmly out of the low chest line of the dress. She was quite stunning and the thought of competing with someone like her cause my heart to sink into my gut.

  Mary held my arm to keep me in place as she attempted to soothe me. “Oh deary, calm down, let’s get closer to listen.”

  She dragged me to the table behind the pillar they stood near, and we wedged close together while we eavesdropped. Mary insisted, “Just wait and see what he does…”

  Through the rowdy volume of the music and the crowd, I couldn’t quite make out the words they spoke to each other, but my heart heated with an awful fire of jealousy as I watched her giggle at something he said. Next thing I knew she was pressing her ridiculous cleavage up against his chest, and as she whispered in his ear I watched him wrap his arms around her waist. I had not ever felt so betrayed.

  Though I had never been in any kind of fist fight, and I had never before been so angry that I wanted to hurt someone, watching that floozy claw all over my man overwhelmed me with a wild urge to run over there and grab her by the hair. Of course I opted to resist my violent impulse, but the surge of outrage continued to rush through my blood as I watched him carry on in conversation with her.

  The music slowed, and in the lull of volume, I heard his words. “I got meself a woman, and she don’t want me money.” He let go of her waist and smirked, “I just came here to drink, so if yer wantin’ so bad to be doin’ something for me, ye can go get me an ale.”

  He laughed at himself but she was hardly amused. In fact, she looked upset as she walked away from him, but I felt as if a bucket of cool water was poured over my firing blood, and I exhaled my worries as my nerves numbed with relief.

  Mary rubbed my arm and smiled, “Awe, I think he loves you too, Miss Charlotte.”

  “Shall we go talk to him, Mary?”

  “Well, we did not come here to watch the filthy wenches.”

  Suddenly I felt extremely awkward for attempting to approach him in a bar that I shouldn’t even be in. I led Mary to the table across from where he stood with his friends, and told Mary we would just watch them until he noticed me. She agreed with the notion and as the band picked back up, we relaxed and watched Faron tell his over dramatized tale. I could tell Sterling was feeding his exaggeration as he asked questions from behind his mug, and once Pete picked up on the story he started reenacting the amusing details with Faron. Looking over at Mary to laugh, I realized she was watching Faron with an awestruck gaze. I whispered, “He sure is handsome isn’t he, Mary?”

  Before she could respond, Sterling came plowing over in my direction. He lifted me out of my chair and basically attacked me with his sloppy embrace. He started kissing on my neck as if I were one of his common bar trollops, so I put my hand on his face and shoved him away from me. He laughed from behind my hand and playfully bit at my palm as he pulled me closer to his chest. “At first glance I thought ye w
ere a beautiful woman, second time I thought I must be dreaming because ye looked just like my Charlotte, and now I think…ye must be her, right?”

  I liked how he called me his Charlotte, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fact that he was terribly drunk and reeked of alcohol.

  I poked at his nose that was ever so close to my face as I teased, “Yes, it’s me. Have you been swimming in a vat of ale, my love?”

  He let go and yanked off his coat as he laughed, “Aye, this bloody thing keeps jumping in me booze.” He threw his coat on the table as if he defeated it in a fight and slugged back another gulp of ale, but seemed to spill most of it all over himself. I loved the way he looked in his long sleeved ivory shirt and long brown leather waist coat. His weapons were much more pronounced without his coat to hide them, and I could better see his muscular arms through the thin fabric of his shirt.

  I snapped out of my reverie and introduced Mary. “Sterling this is my friend, Mary Daley. Mary this is Sterling Bentley.”

  Mary stood up to greet Sterling, and he sloppily kissed her hand. “Mi’lady.”

  I was humored by his drunken attempt of eloquence, and as Mary also chuckled at him she greeted, “Nice to meet you, sir. I have heard a lot about you.” She looked back over towards Faron and asked, “Is that Faron Flynn over there?”

  Sterling reached behind him, nearly stumbling over as he did so, and grabbed Faron by the collar. He yanked him over and slurred, “This beauty thinks she knows yer bilgey lubbin face.”

  Faron pulled his arms out and hunched down as if he was going to tackle Sterling for grabbing him, but his wild reaction instantly tamed the moment he laid eyes on Mary. Faron hollered his disbelief. “Holy Mary. It’s Mary Daley.”

  Faron redirected his tackle maneuver in her direction. Grabbing her by the waist, he lifted her off of the ground to spin her around, and Mary giggled, “I thought I would never see you again, Faron.”

  Once he set her down, Mary turned to me with sheer excitement gleaming on her face. “Oh Charlotte, we grew up together in Ireland. We came over on the same ship and had…” Mary winked at Faron as she continued to say, “…other such adventures.”

  I was surprised by Mary’s promiscuous wink and thought I caught a glimpse of feeling behind Faron’s dark eyes. I was intrigued by the situation between them but just went on to say, “Well you never know what you will find when you sneak out of the market and into the tavern.”

  Faron straightened his drunken posture to carry on with Mary, and since my friend was well occupied, I turned to Sterling and smiled. His green eyes grew wild with surprise, and as if we hadn’t spoken yet he gasped, “What ye be doing in a filthy pirate tavern, love?”

  I laughed as I shot him a quirky smile and made my own attempt to flirt. “I thought I might find myself a handsome buccaneer in here.”

  He slapped the side of his shaven cheek. “How’s this for handsome?”

  I giggled at his joke and assured him that he was very good looking indeed.

  His shirt was untied beneath his waist coat so I could see his bare chest, and I noticed a mark of ink peeking out from under the wet spot on his shirt. Poking his skin with my finger, I asked, “What is this?”

  Sterling pulled his shirt back with his left hand and revealed the art of a beautiful tattoo. It was a unique compass rose that covered the muscle over his heart. The line of the east and west arrows doubled as the horizon line of the ocean, and the sun was setting into the artistic rendition of the sea. I was just as intrigued by the swirling arrows and scripted letters as I was enticed by the golden hue of his sun tanned chest.

  I couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s lovely.”

  Sterling smiled that dashing sideways smile that I adored, and he nodded his head as he put his hand over his heart. “I drew it meself. Guides me way to freedom.”

  “I will forever be impressed by you, Sterling Bentley.”

  He dusted his shoulder to showcase his arrogance and then offered me an ale. I looked over to see that Faron had handed Mary a mug so I smiled and accepted his offer. He handed me the one he had and whistled for the bar wench to bring him another. I dreaded the thought of coming face to face with the woman who just had her hands all over him, yet I liked the way he stood with his arm over my shoulder as he paid her. She looked at me as if she hated me, but I smirked with confidence from under his arm. As she walked away I told Sterling, “I don’t like her.”

  His look was inquisitive, but before another word was said between us, Planky passed out and hit the deck face first. I found the humor in the spectacle this time and laughed with Sterling. Pete hollered, “Man overboard,” and a man I didn’t know rushed to save the drink Planky had spilled. I laughed again as I heard Faron explaining Planky’s routine to Mary, and everyone carried on around the drunk man’s sleeping body as if he wasn’t laying there face down on the floor.

  I was completely enthralled by the lack of expectation, and the open ended extremes of the rowdy behavior surrounding me, but I was especially amused by Sterling’s outrageous humor. His drunken slur was ridiculously entertaining, and at one point he had me laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. After a while of enjoying the light buzz, crude humor and wild festivities, I realized the hour and looked to Sterling with a pout. “I have to be going soon.”

  Sterling bit at his lip and looked me up and down before he suggested, “Let me take ye out back before ye go.”

  I adored the face he made. The way his eyebrow lifted over the heat that radiated out of his stunning green eyes, while his crooked teeth clamped down on the enticing plush of his full bottom lip; I was sure I would follow him anywhere when he allured me with that look.

  “I would love to go with you, but I can’t just leave Mary.”

  Sterling nodded, and then looked around the room. His gaze halted on Faron Flynn, who was standing right behind us, yet Sterling yelled his name as if he was at the other end of the tavern.

  Faron squinted and shook his head as he yelled back. “Blimey Bentley. What ye hollering fer, ye drunken ogre?”

  Faron bumped Sterling with his shoulder and Sterling laughed as he continued in a dramatic whisper, “Bring that beauty out back.”

  As we walked out, Mary and I pulled our hoods back on for disguise.

  The back door led to a small, smelly alley where the ground was covered with hay, a goat was standing there eating a piece of it, and a man was sleeping in a puddle with a bottle of rum in his hand. Sterling carried on with no regard to the scenery, pinned me up against the wall, and kissed me.

  It was so sudden I had no time to panic or excite. He parted my lips with his ale flavored tongue and poured his passion all over me like the ocean rolling ashore. His lips were warm like the Caribbean Sea and his rhythm was smooth like the wind of a cross breeze, but his hands were wild and hot. His intentions seemed eager and his breath intensified as he grabbed at my sides and slid his hands up the bones of my corset. Just as I began to fret over the drive of his momentum, he let go and pressed his hands against the wall behind me instead.

  As he pulled away from our kiss, he playfully bit at my lip, and he looked in my eyes and huffed through his heaving breath. “I be leaving soon, Charlotte.”

  “I know. I am just glad I get to see you before you go.”

  “Aye. I didn’t like leaving ye in tears last night, but I do like seeing ye sneak around in a disguise like a bloody pirate today.”

  I laughed. “I did not think of it that way.”

  “Because ye be a natural.”

  I grabbed onto his strong arms that he had me surrounded with and smiled. “Good. Then you can take me with you next time.”

  His lips rose with a slapdash smile and he shook his head as if he doubted my desire.

  Continuing to rub along the shape of his arms as we talked, I found myself quite fascinated by the way his biceps curved around his bones. He noticed me enjoying the feel so he flexed to taunt me. I felt my cheeks blush and turned away from
his gaze as I let go. He stepped closer to me and I could feel the guns on his belt and the hilt of his sword between us. He grabbed my face and made me look at him. “Don’t hide from me, Charlotte. I like it when ye blush.”

  As he stood before me I realized it was the first time I had seen him in daylight, and he was even more handsome than the moonlight or dim lighting in the tavern could ever account for. Under the cloudy sky his green eyes glimmered like a shallow bay, his smile was like the cresting waves, and his goatee was like a flame, streaked with hints of gold and red. I gasped through my lightheaded daze. “I think you are going to make me faint.”

  He laughed at my dramatic sigh and wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll catch you.”

  Then he nearly drowned me with another drunken torrent of passionate kisses.

  When he pulled his face away from mine he looked into my eyes and slurred, “Yer eyes be pretty like the sunset, Charlotte.” He kissed on my neck and breathed near my ear. “I don’t want any man loving on ye but me. Ye be me woman now.”

  The statement was more of a demand than a question, but I consented with a sigh. “I would love nothing more than to be your woman, and I will never love another man.”

  Then I grabbed his ponytail and pulled his face off of my neck so he had to look at me. “And you?”

  “Me? What ye want to know ‘bout me?”

  “Will you be with other women while you are away?”

  He looked completely stunned and gave me the most peculiar look as he practically questioned, “No?”

  I had little faith in his shaky response, so I lifted my eyebrow at him. “Is this why Faron said his grandmother could beat you at a game of cards? I see right through you.”

  He laughed at my insistence and tried to kiss me again, but I remembered how awful I felt when I saw that wench in the red all over him, so I saw no humor in his attempted evasion. I turned my cheek and locked my lips together to show him I was serious. He laid his face in his hand and laughed as if I was joking, then he shook his head with humorous defeat. “I never had a woman of me own, Charlotte. I don’t be knowing how the code goes.”