Privateer (The Five Kingdoms #1)

by Robin Roseau

  Together the three of us stood on the quarterdeck, gazing out over the water. Rani hadn't deserved being yelled at, and I wondered if I could get her to relax.

  "Find the cat," I told her.

  She looked in the wrong place at first; we were no longer headed north-northwest. But she found it and properly pointed north.

  "What do you do when it's cloudy?" she asked.

  "We use the compass."

  I brought her over to the wheel. The compass was covered, but I opened the cover. We had a very large compass, and it was exceedingly accurate. Rani stepped forward and caressed the brass case for a minute. "It's beautiful," she said, stepping away. "So, you know north is that way." She pointed. "But how do you know where you are?"

  "How well do you know mathematics?" I asked.

  "I am self-educated," she replied. "I can manage my own finances. How does math help you find out where you are?"

  "It is geometry," I replied. "Are you casually curious or do you really want to know?"

  "I really want to know," she replied.

  I sent Radha to my cabin for my sextant and timepiece. While we were waiting, I took the report from Mara and Seaman Nordon. All was as it should be, and the report was brief. Radha returned with the instruments, and I taught Rani how to use the sextant. "I'll show you how to use the numbers we just collected when we return to the cabin." Rani didn't see that I adjusted the sextant before reading the numbers off. I didn't want her to know our exact route, so I made sure we would appear several hundred miles further south and west than we actually were.

  "Captain," she asked, "if you can see a place, like a lighthouse, how accurately can you measure the heading to it?"

  "Very accurately," I said. I showed her how we mounted the spotting scope over the compass. I watched as she played with it for a while, then she thanked me and helped me put it away.

  Back in my cabin, I returned the sextant to its home and turned to her. "You are not to touch it. It is very sensitive. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Captain."

  I showed her how we determined our latitude.

  "Longitude is somewhat trickier," I explained, but I showed her that, too.

  "And so," I said when I had mapped our false location on the chart. "This is where we are."

  "May I try?" she asked. "If I wanted to see where we were from home, how would we do that?"

  It took several charts arranged side-by-side to cover the entire region from Southgate to our current location. I arranged the appropriate charts and showed her what to do. She puzzled over it all for a while as if she was trying to solve a different problem than I was giving her, then she turned to me and smiled. "Thank you very much, Captain. I understand."

  "You asked about a lighthouse." I put away all the charts except the ones of the coastline near Southgate. "If you are near Southgate and want to know exactly where you are, you could take sighting of two well-known points on land." I pointed out a lighthouse and a particularly prominent cliff face with a distinct edge. I then demonstrated triangulation and showed her where we would be with two different sets of readings. Then I gave her a set of readings and told her to tell us where we would be. It took her several minutes, but she worked it out.

  "If you have a third location, you can be even more accurate," I said. I showed her triangulation with three and even four landmarks sighted."

  "Why would you need more than two?"

  "In case your readings aren't perfect. Your errors tend to erase. If the lines don't all go through the same point, or very close, then you must have done something wrong."

  "Do you ever make mistakes, Captain? This doesn't seem difficult."

  "Everyone makes mistakes. When it matters, we always have at least two officers work out the location separately, and because we know where we were yesterday, and we know our heading, everything must make sense, or we know something is wrong."

  "How far are we from Southgate right now?"

  I pulled the charts back out and measured it off, then told her. She frowned, then nodded. "Okay, I understand."

  "Ready for bed?"

  "I need to use the head first. Will you let me join you when you do your rounds later?"

  "Yes, Rani."

  "Thank you, Captain."

  Several minutes later we were both in bed. I tried to draw her into conversation; her answers were perfunctory. Finally she said, "Captain, I appreciate being able to spend time with my niece. I appreciate that you act like you enjoy her company. But you are not going to buy my friendship that way. I have not forgotten what you do for a living, and I have not forgotten your treatment of me. My parole requires me to perform as your servant and otherwise behave, but it does not require me to pretend to like you."

  "You like me," I replied. "It's not pretending."

  "My body doesn't seem to know what type of person you are. My mouth is out of my control, but my body is not. I know what type of person you are. We are not friends. We are not going to become friends. Good night."

  * * * *

  Rani Karden

  The captain lied to me. She told me we were in one place, but I knew exactly where Southgate was. I may have taken my reading with the compass inaccurately, but I could not have been as inaccurate as it worked out. I decided she didn't want me to know the route we had taken. I didn't particularly care about that.

  I had gotten to know the compass very well. The ship was the captain's, which meant the compass was. I concentrated, and I could tell exactly where it was, not quite directly over my head. I concentrated on the sextant, and I knew where it was in the desk. I concentrated on the captain's boots, which was trickier, as she owned several pair that were very similar, so the sense I got from them was much fuzzier.

  I thought about the money pouch Minori had purchased from the captain over lunch. I could feel it, and thus I knew where Minori was. Or at least where her money was. I thought about everything I had learned, and I smiled.

  I rolled over and slept soundly until the captain woke me.

  "Do you care to join me for rounds, Rani?"

  "Yes, Captain. Thank you."

  I dressed lightly and was surprised when we stepped out on deck. It was cold, and when I looked up, there were no stars.

  "It will be cool tomorrow, and it might rain," the captain said immediately.

  I wrapped my arms around myself, but when she offered to let me go back to bed, I declined. We arrived at the ladder to the quarterdeck, and she invited me to follow her. I got a real good look at her bare legs and a glimpse of her naked ass on the way up the ladder. She turned around and caught me grinning.

  "Did you enjoy the view?"

  "Yes, Captain," I admitted. "But you are still my kidnapper."

  "The journey could become a lot of fun, Rani."

  "You are going to cost me six months of savings, Captain, as well as lost earnings while we are gone, not to mention my ruined clothing I can ill afford to replace."

  "But you are getting free room and board in the meantime, and I am feeding you very well plus a free sea cruise. Not to mention navigation lessons."

  I turned away from her, looking for the star cat, but I was reminded it was cloudy. The breeze had picked up as well. I shivered. When the captain moved closer behind me, sharing her warmth, I didn't move away.

  "I understand Sergeant Titan gave you permission to sit on the ship's railing this morning."

  "Yes."

  "You have my permission to sit that way any day neither railing is wet from sea spray."

  "Why that restriction?"

  "Because otherwise I would make you ask each day, and I would answer based on the seas. If both railings are dry, then the seas must not be too rough, and I will trust you not to fall overboard."

  I leaned against her. "Thank you."

  "You must tell the children they may not copy you."

  "I will do so."

  "You may not climb the lines."

  "Of course not."

&nbs
p; "All right, shall we collect the report and return to the cabin?" She moved away from me, and I was cold again.

  There was little to collect. Everything was fine, and soon we were back in bed. I was shivering. I waited until the captain was firmly under the covers before I said, "Do not read anything into what I am going to do."

  "All right," she said.

  And I immediately cuddled into her back.

  "Cold?" she asked.

  "Yes."

  "Roll over then." We both rolled over, and she wrapped her arms around me, sharing her warm. Her arms felt nice.

  I slept.

  Later, she whispered to me, "You may come if you like, but it is colder, and the wind is up. I would rather you stayed here. There is nothing to see but cold wind."

  "I would have come," I said. "But I will stay if that is what you want."

  "It is. I will be back soon."

  She collected a cloak from her closet and was gone for what seemed like a long time. I was cold before she got back. She hung up her cloak and I asked, "Are there more blankets?"

  "No. Our guests have them. Do you mind sharing warmth?"

  "Yes, but I mind being this cold even more." I held the covers open to her, and she slipped in. She wrapped herself around me, and we were both cold together, but soon she was warming both of us.

  "Captain, we are not guests. We are prisoners. Guests have the choice to come and go. I do not care for the use of euphemisms."

  "And once you give parole, I would rather treat you as a guest than a prisoner, Rani. Calling you a guest helps to ensure you are treated like one. If I call you a prisoner, it is easier to treat you poorly. At first it would be little things such as fewer privileges or less attention to the food. But over time it would get worse."

  "This is a stupid way to fight a war."

  "Your niece is enjoying her voyage."

  "She didn't enjoy the beginning. And it is a very, very expensive vacation."

  "Yes, but that is her father's price to pay, and I would suggest making the governor of Southgate pay this price is a very fair way to wage war."

  "It is very, very likely I will be paying my own ransom, Captain."

  "That is your own fault. You volunteered."

  "You know why. Did I really have a choice?"

  I felt her breathe into my neck for a while. "No, probably not. Perhaps when you are home, your niece will share the money she is making from me, and this voyage will not cost you so dearly."

  "Is that why you're doing it, paying her to ask me questions?"

  "No. I am paying her because she amuses me greatly, and I like seeing her attention focused on you rather than me."

  I snickered.

  "But I believe I have paid her to ask enough questions. I will continue to encourage her to ask them, and I may pay her in favors, but there will be no more coins involved." She paused. "Is your bond really only ten crowns?"

  "Yes."

  "That is the very smallest bond I am required to accept. If you earned more money, you would be required to post a larger bond."

  "I still earn more than most people."

  "I suppose you do," she agreed. "It will be the lowest ransom we will ever have accepted, discounting those we release immediately."

  "I hope you don't think I feel badly about that. Maybe embarrassed I earn so little, but not badly you will make so little profit for having fed me. I represent a significant cost to you after you have paid Minori."

  "Will you tell me what you do?"

  "No."

  "I could look through your satchel."

  "I can't stop you, but I am asking you to respect my privacy. I have not searched your papers."

  "I won't look. But I think you undercharge for what you do."

  "You don't know what I do."

  "You do something so unique people hire you to do it, sometimes traveling for a long distance. Something unique has value, and I daresay, greater value than you charge."

  "Maybe, someday, when you realize how wrong it is to kidnap people and go on to more legitimate forms of business, and thus we can be friends, I will allow you to be my business manager. You can probably negotiate higher rates for me than I negotiate."

  She chuckled. "Is that what it would take for us to be friends?"

  "Yes. Do you believe the first mate really bet you couldn't bed me?"

  "Yes. Radha is greatly enjoying my fascination with you."

  "That isn't even a good line, Captain."

  "It wasn't a line at all, Rani."

  "Radha is going to win, you know."

  "I'm not giving up."

  "How do you intend to apologize for my first twenty-eight hours aboard your ship?"

  "I don't."

  "Then you are a fool for not giving up."

  Soon after that, we slept.

  * * * *

  Captain Sorri Westmere

  The next several days were cold and wet. I gave Rani an old cloak of mine, warm, but way too long for her. She asked for sewing materials then struggled to alter the cloak to fit her. Later I saw her with her head to her sister-in-law's, and Glora was assisting with the alterations. We found warm clothes for everyone else who needed them, but I forbid games on the main deck due to the dangers brought on by the weather.

  Rani allowed me to share warmth with her at night, but she otherwise warmed up no further to me.

  Minori returned to asking her more challenging questions, and none of my officers was immune. Unlike her aunt, she seemed to know just how far she could go, and would switch to amusing questions before I banished her from my table. She remained a regular guest, and my officers admitted her company was bittersweet.

  Rani and Minori both learned the duties of a cabin girl and together executed them flawlessly. Rani reminded me I promised her more challenging duties if she showed competence at the more trivial tasks, so I assigned her to the galley. Minori begged to be allowed to join her and promised the cooks wouldn't ask for her to be evicted.

  Rani didn't earn the gag, but it was a close thing several times, and twice she was well on the way to earning the gag, but Minori was able to defuse the situation.

  On the third day of cool wind and rain, but otherwise good visibility, the lookouts saw the sails of three ships over the horizon. We turned to avoid them, and they turned to give chase, drawing close enough their sails were visible from the main deck. I ordered the passengers to their quarters, but Rani begged to be allowed to remain with me.

  "No," I told her. "Go to the cabin or join your brother's family in their cabin."

  "Please, Captain," she said. "I won't get in the way, and if it gets dangerous, I won't argue if you send me away. In the meantime, I can fetch food and drinks for the bridge crew."

  "No. You will follow your orders without arguing! You have your orders!"

  She looked down, but she didn't turn towards the passageway.

  "It would mean a lot to me, Captain. I want to watch you. Won't you let me watch you? What would it take to convince you?"

  "A kiss, warm and freely given, and your promise you will proceed immediately to the cabin when ordered." I said it impetuously, and as soon as I said it, I didn't remotely think she'd accept. Her response surprised me.

  "You promise you will let me watch? You won't take your kiss and then order me to the cabin?"

  I looked down into her face, detecting warring emotions flicking across her features. "And you promise when I send you below, you will go?"

  "I will do one better," she said, looking up into my eyes. She stepped forward, and I found my arms full of warm woman with ravishing green eyes and very distracting red hair. "I will give you one good kiss now, and if you do not cheat me, two even better kisses later."

  And then her arms were around my neck. She pressed herself against me, and I suddenly couldn't think. She pulled my lips down to hers, meeting my lips with her own. She let the kiss last, and it was full of passion and a promise of what would come if only I could tame her,
but when I flicked my tongue against her lips, she did not part for me. Nor did she hurry the kiss.

  But finally, far too quickly in my mind, she pulled her lips from mine.

  I could feel her heart beating in her chest, racing nearly as fast as mine. She was small and delicate, and I ached for her to accept me as her protector and lover.

  Her eyes opened, and she gazed at me with a dreamy, half-lidded expression. "A good kiss," she said. "And two better kisses later, but no more. Have I delivered so far, Captain?"

  "You have. You are granted access anywhere I go from now until I send you to the cabin."

  "I promise to stay out of the way, and I will ask questions only when you offer. I will even allow you to hold me, if you wish, but you will not abuse my offer."

  "Then I would hold you now, once more, before we ascend to the quarterdeck."

  Immediately she melted back against me, laying her head against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, and I knew I was lost. I wanted her. I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anyone before.

  I wondered who was taming whom.

  From within my arms, she spoke. "If you hold me up there, it will be from behind so that we can both watch."

  "Yes, Rani," I said. "And you will follow any orders I give you."

  "Yes, Captain, but only because you are the captain, and I understand what those sails imply."

  "They may imply rescue for you."

  "They imply danger, and I do not believe you would surrender easily. I do not want my niece rescued at the risk of cannon shot. You will keep us safe, Captain."

  "Yes, Rani, I shall."

  And then I released her and sent her up the quarterdeck in front of me. I gave her a safe place to stand where she could watch without causing interference, then discussed the situation quietly with my officers.

  I wasn't worried. We were a very fast ship. I had sent the rest of the fleet away two nights ago, allowing them to return to the hunt, so I did not worry about coordinating with them.

  Rani's eyes watched everywhere. She stayed where I told her to stay. She watched the sails, and she watched the officers. And she watched the three ships draw closer. But most of the time, when my eyes turned to find her, she was watching me, and every time my eyes landed on her, she smiled at me.