Privateer (The Five Kingdoms #1)

by Robin Roseau

  After an hour, I stepped over to her. She had her arms wrapped around herself.

  "You are cold," I said.

  "Yes. It is colder up here than on the main deck."

  "We are more exposed to the breeze," I admitted. "Do you wish to return to the cabin?"

  "I wish to remain near you as long as you will allow, Captain."

  "I may not order you to assist, but I may ask. Will you go to the galley and retrieve warm food and drinks?"

  "Yes, Captain, if you promise I may return."

  "You may return until I feel I must send you to the cabin, and I will only do that when it becomes too dangerous for you here. If this becomes a stern chase, I will send you to your sister-in-law instead. My cabin becomes the most dangerous cabin on the ship during a stern chase."

  "Thank you, Captain." She looked up at me. "Will you hold me again before I go for food?"

  I wrapped my arms around her, and she turned with her back to me, leaning against me and clasping my arms in her hands, holding them more tightly against her.

  "Why are you doing this, Rani?" I asked in her ear. "Are you leading me on?"

  "I have told you what I am offering, Captain," she said. "I am not calling you Sorri. You are still a kidnapper."

  "Then why are you doing this?"

  "It may be very feeble, but it is a bribe."

  "A bribe?"

  "To renounce kidnapping."

  I laughed in her ear. "It is not a feeble bribe."

  "And I am teaching you to give me what I want."

  I laughed again. "That you are."

  "And I am cold."

  "When you go for food, go to the galley and ask the cooks to prepare something. If it is not immediately ready, retrieve warm clothing for all of us. Will you be able to find it?"

  "Am I allowed in the cabins of the other officers? I would need to search, and I believe doing so would violate my parole."

  "Can you find the proper cabins?"

  "If not, I will ask the cooks. Will they know?"

  "Yes."

  "Then the officers will describe how to find the proper clothes, and if you make a small mistake searching, you are forgiven."

  "I do not have more clothing to wear."

  "It will be too big, but you will select clothing for me and something more of mine for yourself. You will be toasty warm in two cloaks."

  I started to release her, but she clasped my arms more tightly and looked over her shoulder at me. "Sorri, should I be scared?"

  I stared into her eyes. It was the first time she had used my name.

  "Whose ships are those, Sorri?"

  "They are Noridan ships, and we are severely outgunned. However, we are faster."

  "They are gaining on us, Captain."

  "I lose the 'Sorri' so quickly?"

  "Should I be scared?"

  "Nervous. I could be wrong. But no, I am not scared."

  "Would you be if we were in trouble?"

  "Yes."

  She turned away from me but leaned more fully against me, then she looked back. "Sorri, explain how you feel we are faster if they are getting closer."

  "They have full sails out, Rani. We do not. They are traveling in a direction optimal for their rigging. We are not. I wanted a closer look at them, and we need to travel in this direction for another half hour."

  "Why?"

  "With the clouds, I can not be absolutely sure of our position. Do you understand why?"

  "You need to use the sextant, but you can't find the sun or the stars, and you haven't for three days."

  "Yes. And somewhere to the southeast of us, there is a small string of islands and a larger string of shoals. We will turn and run with the wind soon. We will add all our sails soon, or as many as we can handle in this wind, and we will leave our pursuit far behind."

  She paused, looking away, then appeared to come to some conclusion. "Will this extra half hour bring us to danger?"

  "No, Rani." I looked back at the other ships. "An hour would."

  "And you are sure we are safe to turn in half that time? You do not require a more accurate reading of our location?"

  "No, I am not worried."

  She looked back at the ships. "Do they have many cannons?"

  "Yes, Rani."

  "More than we do?"

  "Many more. Each."

  "Are cannons heavy?"

  "Very, very heavy."

  "Is that why you carry fewer than they do?"

  "Yes."

  She tightened my arms around her even more and laid her head backwards against the front of my shoulder.

  "Do not be frightened, Rani," I whispered into her ear. "I will keep your niece safe."

  "You promise."

  "I promise."

  "I think I would like it if you kept yourself safe, too, Sorri."

  "I will strive to do so, Rani. I still wish to collect my next two kisses. Go now. Everyone is cold."

  "Yes, Captain. Hot food and drink and warm cloaks."

  I told the officers what we intended, and they each described how to find the clothing they preferred. Rani demanded one more hug from me, which I gave gladly, and then she was gone.

  Radha stepped up to me. "What is going on, Captain?"

  "We have three Noridan men o'war chasing us, Commander."

  "Yes, I know," she replied. "I'm no more worried about them than you are. I am far more worried about the explosive redhead."

  "She begged permission to stay with me."

  "And paying with her affection? I did not think she was the type to do so."

  "She is scared," I explained.

  "And you are strong and commanding." Radha considered me carefully. "She is not tamed, Captain."

  "No, she is not," I agreed. "But she feels very, very good."

  "Aye," Radha agreed. "I imagine she does."

  We stood silently, side-by-side. Rani reappeared, her arms wrapped around a bundle of clothing. She crossed the deck, and a moment later her head appeared at the top of the ladder. She paused, her eyes searching mine, but she didn't come any further until I nodded to her. She passed out cloaks to the officers, Radha taking hers last. She didn't have one for me or her yet.

  "You do not need to wait, Rani," I said. "You have permission to be here."

  "I wanted you to know I wasn't taking it for granted. My arms were full." She stepped closer to me, then turned around and backed up into me. It was a clear demand for comfort. When I looked around at her face, she was biting her lip, her brow was furrowed, and she was staring at the Noridan ships.

  "They are closer, Sorri. I wasn't gone long."

  Radha heard her and lifted an eyebrow.

  I wrapped my arms around Rani and held her tightly. "Trust me."

  She looked over at Radha. "Are you scared?"

  "No," Radha answered easily. "You need your niece here asking questions."

  "No!" Rani and I said together. Rani looked over her shoulder and me, and I said, "Your niece is in the safest cabin in the ship, Rani. She is absolutely safe. I promise."

  "What would she ask if she were here?"

  "She would ask what would happen if we found ourselves in an untenable situation."

  "Would you answer?"

  "Of course. I would strike our colors."

  "Surrender?"

  "Of course. I wouldn't risk lives if we can't win. I am brave, but not foolhardy."

  "So I should be cheering for those ships to sail faster?" But she didn't move away when she asked it.

  "Perhaps," I said. "I wouldn't give up with no fight unless we became disabled and couldn't fight. There is risk. But there is far more risk to those of us who would be on deck or in the rigging."

  "If those ships get too close, people will die?"

  "Yes. But not your niece."

  She turned away, watching the ship, then I saw her eye each of the officers, turning to me last. "You will not allow that to happen, Sorri. I do not want to witness any deaths today. Not even y
ours."

  And then she pulled away and ran for the ladder.

  "Well," Radha said after a moment. "I believe she actually cares about you. That's an improvement from the day she considered a knife in your ribs."

  "She never considered a knife to my ribs, Radha."

  "She certainly did, that first morning when you were growling at her so much."

  "Well, I think the affection she has offered is going to dry up, now that she knows she shouldn't be scared."

  "You could have told her, Sorri. You didn't have to wait for her to ask."

  "I didn't realize she was so frightened. I thought she could see how calm everyone else was. She doesn't believe I would let her stay up here if it were dangerous, does she?"

  "She must have used a large bribe."

  "I asked for a kiss. She is offering three."

  Radha laughed. "We should turn soon."

  "Let us see if she returns. We have a few minutes."

  That was no sooner said than Rani reappeared at the top of the ladder. She was wearing a second of my cloaks and carried one for me. She crossed to me and held it out, offering to wrap it over my shoulders. I let her, and she closed the clasp for me, treating me like a mother might a child. She stepped closer and looked up into my face.

  "Do you have a good reason for not telling me you would surrender?"

  "I did not realize how frightened you were. I am sorry."

  "All right. Do you still care to hold me?"

  "Very much," I replied.

  "Then you may hold me for a moment, but I must fetch the food and water." She turned around and backed into me, pulling my arms in place around her.

  "You will want to wait several minutes," I told her. I turned to Radha. "Do it."

  Radha immediately began issuing orders, and the Fleetwind turned south-southwest. We piled on more sails, and the ship leapt forward. Rani stumbled, but I steadied her.

  She looked over her shoulder. "Did we hit something?"

  "No. Look at the sails."

  She looked up and then said, "So many!"

  "We'll be stretching the rigging today," Radha said. "Look at us fly!" She gave a whoop.

  "How much faster are we now, Sorri?"

  "Than we were before?"

  "Yes."

  "Five knots."

  "Is that a lot?"

  "In a sea chase, yes. Five knots is a lot."

  "Are we safe now?"

  "If nothing breaks, and if we don't run aground, and if we don't run into more ships in front of us, then yes, we are safe. The ones behind us won't catch us without some exceptionally poor luck against us."

  She swiveled in my arms, pressed against me, and said, "This does not count against your two I owe you." She pulled on the back of my head, lowering my lips to hers, and her lips captured mine greedily.

  She sucked and nibbled, and her tongue flicked against my lips, but she did not accept the offer of my parted mouth, and when my tongue danced against her lips, she did not offer me entrance. But still, it was a very, very nice kiss, and one I wasn't expecting.

  When she pulled away, she was panting. So was I. She stared into my eyes. "Thank you."

  "You are welcome."

  "I may return with food?"

  "Yes. The chase will go on for a while, but we are safe. Before you collect the food, can you stop back in our cabin, close the windows and the curtains, please. Make sure they are very securely closed."

  "No light at all tonight?"

  "Yes."

  "Yes, Captain."

  She began to pull away, but I stopped her.

  "Ms. Karden-" I started to say.

  "Are you about to tell me what will happen to me if I perform this duty poorly? Do not worry, Captain, I will perform this duty very, very carefully, but I will want you to check it yourself later."

  "Hurry back, Rani," I told her.

  "I will. Sorri."

  She pulled from my arms. Radha was pointedly looking away, but Rani stepped up in front of her. Then, right in front of me, she pulled Radha's mouth down to hers, delivering a quick but very friendly kiss. Radha stood there, stunned, and then we both watched as she treated Mara and Krissa similarly. Then Rani left a stunned bridge crew behind and headed towards the galley.

  "Well," Radha said after a moment. "You was wrong about the affection."

  "Commander," I said. "You never answered Minori's question."

  "I have answered a great deal of Minori's questions," Radha replied with a laugh. "And I have not answered a great many as well. Which question did you mean?"

  "Well, perhaps several," I replied. "Have you been sleeping well lately?"

  Radha glanced at me. "Not for a few days, no."

  "When did this start?"

  "About when Minori began her annoyingly perceptive questions."

  "Then I would like you to answer another of her questions, but only to me right now. What would you say if I suggested perhaps we shouldn't be kidnapping women and children?"

  "I would ask what we would do instead."

  "Anyone on the seas is fair game."

  "We're good at the kidnappings, Captain."

  "We'd be good at finding other targets, I think. Radha, I want an honest answer."

  "I would sleep better. The danger would be different. Not more, not less. Different. Are you going to turn us around and return them?"

  "No."

  "Are you doing this for the little minx?"

  "I may not be doing anything. How many would we lose?"

  "Collect the ransom for this batch, but go after merchant ships in the future?"

  "And the occasional warship. And perhaps the occasional governor."

  "But not the governor's children."

  "No."

  "A few would leave. Most would follow you anywhere you lead, Captain." Radha paused. "If you're doing this for her, it won't be enough."

  "Perhaps not, but I have not been sleeping well, either."

  We didn't talk further. Rani reappeared with two of the cook's assistants in tow. She caught my eye while still on the main deck and eyed the assistants. I nodded, and soon all three were on the quarterdeck, passing out hot sandwiches and tea. The assistants returned to the galley, and Rani crossed the quarterdeck, her own sandwich in one hand, a cup of tea in the other.

  She glanced at the ships. "They are still too close."

  I didn't even look at them. "They are falling behind. Sea chases are a slow thing. This will go on for hours now."

  "I may stay?"

  "Yes."

  "Then I wish to stay. I will fetch more tea when the pot empties or grows cold. May I ask questions?"

  "Yes, Minori."

  She laughed at being called by her niece's name. "Will you teach me the names of the new sails you have?"

  "Yes, once we have finished our sandwiches. Will you allow me to hold you?"

  "Yes. But do not jump to conclusions as to what it means. I am still scared, that is all."

  "You need not be scared," I assured her.

  "You risk being allowed to hold me by telling me that."

  "I do not want to hold you because you are frightened, Rani. I want to hold you because you enjoy when I hold you."

  Radha edged away, but Rani called her back. "Commander, do I seem like a frightened little girl?"

  Radha smiled. "What is the real reason you called me back? Are you afraid you need a chaperone?"

  "I wanted you to know you were welcome to stay."

  "Perhaps the Captain does not agree."

  "Then she will give you some minor detail to attend to."

  I laughed. "Quite." I pulled Rani to me, and she gave me her back, still finishing her sandwich.

  "The sails, Captain."

  "I liked Sorri better."

  "It is the captain that is teaching the crew member," she replied.

  So I taught her the names of the new sails. Radha quizzed her, and she remembered each of them. Radha's quiz continued, and we discovered th
e edges of her knowledge. She knew more than I had taught her, which surprised me. Radha taught her a few more things, and then she said, "I won't remember more. Captain, when may I climb the rigging?"

  The question surprised me. Radha glanced at me and I nodded, allowing her to answer. "When you have satisfied me that you know the name of everything above the main deck. Every sail, every sheet, every bit of rigging. Every mast and every boom."

  "Will the two of you teach me?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Ms. Karden, I should add," Radha said. "Your first time in the rigging will be on a calm day. I do not control the weather."

  "Have you given me an impossible requirement?" she asked.

  "Every seaman on the ship can do it," Radha said. "And you are smarter than most of them."

  "Ms. Karden," I added. "Even once you are allowed in the rigging, the rules will be the same as for the aft quarterdeck. Do you understand? And in this case, only Commander Halfheart or I may invite you into the rigging. Your first trip will be with both of us watching over you."

  "Yes, Captain," she said. "I understand."

  Rani remained in my arms for the next hour, leaving only to serve more tea. The pots poured dry, and she fetched more. When she returned, she said, "Captain, the cook asks for dinner directions. What would you like me to tell her?"

  Radha and I both glanced back at the pursuing ships. They hadn't given up yet, but they were well strung out. I eyed them critically.

  "No," Radha said quietly.

  I sighed. "You're right. But what a tasty prize."

  Rani stepped up to me, her eyes flashing. "You promised!"

  "You're right, I did," I agreed. "It was only an automatic reaction, not an actual plan to break my promise. We will flee from them, not lure one of them into a trap."

  Then I spoke more quietly only to her. "You must not take that tone with me on the quarterdeck, Rani. Please. I enjoy having you here."

  She bowed. "My apologies, Captain. Mine was also an automatic reaction."

  Radha laughed.

  "Shut up, Commander," I said.

  "Shall I tell the cook to feed the men at general quarters?"

  "Order up a snack," I replied. "And a late dinner."

  * * * *

  Rani Karden

  I had been so scared, but neither the captain nor her officers made fun of me. No one acted as if I were a foolish girl. Perhaps they had been nervous but simply hadn't shown it.