Privateer (The Five Kingdoms #1)

by Robin Roseau

  "And where are we now?"

  "About here," she said. She picked a place well north of where she had thought we were. "Somewhere along this latitude." She drew a line. "And if we back up to where you were asking about yesterday, we arrive here." She pointed to a spot that was further west than where I thought we had been."

  "Lucky guesses, Captain," I said. But I knew my navigation system worked, more or less. I bet it would be very accurate at shorter distances, like off the coast of Norida.

  "Quite," she agreed. "You may return to your duties, Ensign."

  "Thank you, Captain."

  I got to the door and she stopped me with my name. I turned around.

  "Is there anything I should know, Rani?"

  "Not that I know, Captain," I said after considering.

  "I think you're lying, Rani," she said.

  "If you are trying to push my buttons, you're going to have to work harder than that, Captain," I said. "You are becoming obvious."

  She sighed. "I think you are lying, Rani."

  I walked back to face her. "What do you think I am lying about?"

  "I believe you know where we are."

  "You just told me where we are," I replied. "So I guess I do."

  "You knew where we were yesterday!"

  "Lucky guesses, Captain. I was just as likely to ask about being too far south. But I was cold, so I thought about the north instead."

  "You are lying about something, Ensign."

  "I am lying about how I knew our location?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you have any theories?"

  "No."

  "Maybe I am like those birds who manage to fly home."

  "Maybe you are. You always ask our distance and direction to go home."

  "Wouldn't you wonder, if you were me?"

  "I guess I would. You will serve meals and act as my cabin girl for the next few days, but your other duties are suspended. You are not welcome on the quarterdeck and you will not ask."

  "I see. And you will keep your hands to yourself. I would also prefer you not bait me. If I need to relieve stress, I will talk to my sister-in-law. She knows how to push my buttons, and now that she knows it is a curse, she has been much kinder to me. Am I excused, Captain?"

  "Yes, Ms. Karden."

  I turned back to the door, but she stopped me again with my hand on the latch.

  "Ms. Karden, I just accused you of lying and perhaps other nefarious actions, and you remained calm."

  "Perhaps your treatment works, Captain. I didn't feel a flicker of rage. Thank you."

  "If I discover you are lying to me, Ms. Karden, you will be whipped and your niece will spend the remainder of the voyage in the brig."

  I turned around, my fists clenched, but I controlled my reaction.

  "Was that baiting or a serious threat, Captain?"

  "When we insert the feeding tube, we will tell her it was because you would rather see her in the brig than tell the truth."

  I closed my eyes, but that was a mistake. I saw the image of Minori trussed in the brig, trying to scream into a gag. I snapped my eyes open.

  "Captain," I said calmly. "Please tell me you are attempting to bait me."

  "You lasted twenty-four hours in the brig before you offered your parole," the captain said. "Imagine how little Minori is going to feel after two weeks. And she'll have you to blame. If you survive the whipping, the only person in the world who loves you will have learned to hate you. I'll make sure of that."

  I almost lost it, but I took three deep breaths and responded calmly. "Captain, there are two possibilities. I made some lucky guesses, at which point you are destroying our relationship for nothing, or I actually did know where we were. That is, I have some magic way of knowing where we are."

  "You could have been sneaking use of the sextant."

  "And using it better than you and the navigator? Through the clouds?"

  "Perhaps you are not as naive as you have pretended to be. Perhaps you have navigation tricks we do not have."

  "All right. So let us say I do, that somehow, through methods not yet identified, know where we are. For the sake of the discussion. By what rules of war am I obligated to share my methods with you?"

  "You were endangering the ship!"

  "I was doing no such thing," I said calmly. "I asked hypothetical questions, but let us say they were based on knowing exactly where we were, within a mile or so. I made sure we were safe for the next several days. And you have a new sextant reading and also know where we are. In what way did I endanger the ship?"

  "If you have a means of tracking our location, I want to know it!" she screamed. "We could have run into the shoals by your silence."

  "No, captain. If I have such methods, and I didn't say anything for three more days, then we could have run into the shoals. If you wanted to accuse me of endangering the ship, you should have waited three more days. Do you think I would let you run aground with my niece on board? To save my brother some money?"

  "It's a great deal of money by your standards," the captain said.

  "Yes, it is," I said. "And I am sure he would rather she died in a shipwreck than pay you for her. Yeah, that's likely." I paused. "Captain, I revoke my parole."

  "Shit," she said. "I pushed too hard. Take that back, Rani, or I have to take you seriously."

  "Tell me you were baiting me, and I'll take it back."

  "I was baiting you, Rani. Please take it back."

  I looked carefully into her face. "I don't believe you. I called your bluff, but that was an interrogation. You think I have secrets, and you were trying to convince me to tell you."

  "No, Rani. They were lucky guesses. I know that. Take it back. Tell me you are still on parole."

  "I don't think so." I turned to the commander. "I won't resist."

  "Damn it, Rani!" the captain yelled. "Can't you see, our treatment is working. I couldn't have tried harder to get you to lose your temper, but you didn't."

  "Oh, Captain," I said. "You got me to lose my temper all right. I am about a minute from using my wild navigation magic to call down a fierce storm to destroy the ship. But don't worry, there are Noridan warships just over the horizon. I contacted them using the same magic. They will swoop in and rescue the Noridans, but everyone else will die."

  I raised my hand to the air. "Lord of day!" I yelled. "Lord of the wind! Lord of the sea! Lord of the night! I call you! I call you! I call you!" Then I quickly brought my hand down. "Destroy this ship and the evil captain who leads it!"

  They all stared at me like I was insane.

  I chuckled. "Hmm. It didn't work." I signed dramatically. "May I go back on parole now, Captain?"

  "You bitch," she said, smiling hesitantly.

  "Captain, tell me how much of this conversation was baiting."

  "All of it. I will see you on the quarterdeck in a while. Well, except we were about where you thought we were."

  "I only guessed, and it was a training exercise."

  "I think it's like Minori's questions, Rani," she said quietly.

  I sighed and closed my eyes.

  "You're right," I said, opening them.

  "What?"

  "I have magic."

  "What?" she said. "I think we played this game out."

  "My curse? I know it's permanent because I cast it. I miscast it, and it bounced back on me. I was aiming at my brother. I was seven at the time. You can not break a curse that has bounced back on you, that's how I know it's permanent."

  Her eyes grew wide.

  "Captain, I curse you. I curse you to forever have dreams of petite redheads with flashing green eyes!"

  Radha began laughing. "Oh please, Ms. Karden, you cursed her that way the moment I took your hood off."

  "Clearly my curses are retroactive."

  She stared at me, her eyes still wide. "I deserved that," she said calmly.

  "Damned straight. Already you're seeing petite redheads with flashing green eyes, aren't you?"
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  "Shut up, you."

  "The curse isn't permanent if you don't hug me now," I told her.

  "Then no way am I hugging you," she said.

  "You don't want to think about petite redheads?" I asked, offering a hurt expression.

  She pulled me into her arms, and I laid my head on her shoulder.

  "I need to know that was all baiting, Sorri."

  "It was."

  "It didn't work."

  "No, it did not."

  "Do not involve Minori in future baiting."

  "I think we have proof the new treatment plan is working. But no, I will not include threats against your niece in the future."

  I pushed away. "Am I excused, Captain?"

  "Yes, Ensign."

  I nodded, stepped away from her, and was out the door seconds later and soon staring at the kids playing a game of tag. I watched for a minute while thinking about my conversation with the captain. Some of it was baiting, but some of it was an interrogation. However, she hadn't learned anything, so I thought perhaps that was fine.

  I watched the kids playing. They hadn't tried to draw me into their game yet. Minori ran away from one of the other kids. But she hit a wet patch of decking and began to slide, right into the railing. Without time for a thought, she toppled over and disappeared from view.

  "No!" I screamed. "Minori! No!"

  Recovery

  Captain Sorri Westmere

  I heard Rani scream, and then scream again. The sound thrust me into action, and I slammed the cabin door open, sprinting to the deck. Arriving, I heard another scream, from my left.

  I turned, and Rani was at the railing, leaning over and screaming "Minori" over and over.

  "Radha!" I screamed. "Man overboard!"

  I began counting in my head as I sprinted for the ladder to the quarterdeck. I began with five. By seven, I was at the top of the ladder. At ten, I had my boots off and was running hell-bent for the aft port corner. At twelve, I was in the air.

  I had guessed it was five seconds from when Minori would have gone over the railing to when I started counting. It was twelve seconds to when I went over the railing, and I would have gone over forty feet further aft than she had. In twelve seconds, the ship would have traveled about one hundred and eighty feet, minus forty feet. I turned away from the ship and began swimming, counting my strokes. When I had gone forty yards, I began searching for her.

  At the top of each crest, I looked for her. At the bottom of the crests, I put my face underwater and looked for her.

  Visibility under the water wasn't bad, although the salt water stung my eyes.

  I swam another fifteen yards and dived under, turning a slow circle.

  I didn't see her.

  I did it again in another five yards, and then another five.

  There! Struggling poorly. I saw her pushed under by another wave, and her body tumbled.

  I swam for her, wrapping my arms around her, then pulled her to the surface.

  She came to the surface sputtering. I spun her around so I was behind her, and I pushed her on her back facing away from the oncoming waves. She was coughing badly, but she was breathing!

  "I've got you," I told her. "I won't let anything happen to you!"

  I trusted my first mate. It can take a very long time to stop a warship, but the Fleetwind was a very maneuverable warship. I glanced, and Radha already had the ship turned around, but it was a quarter mile away. They would need to be practically upon us to see us.

  But I also knew Radha would have been screaming for anything floatable to be thrown overboard, leaving a trace in the water pointing straight towards us.

  A wave pushed us under, and I brought us back to the surface, never losing Minori. She sputtered again.

  "Breathe through your nose once you can," I said. "You'll get less water when we get thrown under."

  "Are we going to die? I don't want to die!"

  "No, Minori, stay calm. They're coming back for us."

  "Cold. I'm cold!"

  "I know," I told her. "Wave coming, hold your breath!" And we were tossed under, but when we came up, Minori was breathing normally.

  "They'll never see us," she said.

  "Yes, they will. Be brave, Minori. I won't let anything happen to you. Wave!"

  And then we were under, longer than I would have liked, but I got us back to the surface. Minori clutched at my arm wrapped around her chest.

  "Don't let me go! Please don't let me go!"

  "I won't, honey," I told her.

  "Are there sharks?" she asked. "Captain, are there sharks?"

  "No, honey," I assured her. There were, but it would take them a long time to find us, and the cold would kill us before the sharks would. But we wouldn't need to wait that long.

  I could hear her teeth chattering, and I wasn't far behind her.

  "Wave!" and we held our breaths, and that time I almost lost her, but I clutched tightly, and she clasped my arm, and we made it to the surface together.

  "If I lose you, I will find you again," I told her. "I promise. I found you the first time, and now I know right where you are. You'll be warm and dry in a little while."

  "Please don't let me die so far from home, Captain!"

  "I won't, honey," I told her. "I promise."

  "I can't swim."

  "I know. We're going to teach you."

  "Not out here!"

  "Wave!"

  When we came up, I said, "No. Where we're going. It's a beautiful beach, honey. Soft, soft sand, and warmer than the water here. We'll be there in another four days."

  "I don't-"

  "Wave!"

  And when we came up, I heard voices yelling for us.

  "Here!" I yelled. "Here!" Then I spoke to Minori. "Honey, I need you to wave your hands in the air in big motions. I have to swim for both of us, so wave your hands. Wave!" And we were under. But when we came up, she was waving her hands in the air, sputtering a little.

  "There!" I heard a voice. "Port side abeam!"

  The ship began turning again. I saw Radha had already reduced sails to minimum, and ship was moving slowly. She began turning a wide circle around us, and then a longboat hung over the edge and lowered into the water much more quickly than I thought was appropriate. I would be talking to someone about that.

  "They see us, Minori. Wave!"

  When we came up, she continued to wave her hands. "Hang onto me now, honey, they see us. Hang onto my arm. You'll be safe and warm soon, I promise." She clasped my arm tightly, her fingers digging in. I could feel her teeth chattering.

  "Wave!" And again I almost lost her as we tumbled, but we came up. I didn't see the longboat right away. The ship was circling us, and I knew Radha would point her into the wind and hold position as best she could. Then I saw the longboat, both of us at the peak of a wave at the same time. They were going to miss us by ten yards, but that was fine.

  We went under three more times before the longboat drew close, finally seeing us.

  "Stand off!" I yelled. "I'll come to you!" They drew close and then I talked to Minori. "This is tricky, honey. The water is very rough. I will bring you close, and the seamen will pull you aboard. Try to avoid hitting your head, but you will probably get some scrapes and bruises. Don't try to help, just let them pull you aboard the boat."

  "Hurry, Captain."

  "Wave!" and we went under, and I surfaced us carefully, not wanting to bang into the boat. I watched the water, taking three strong strokes, clasping the gunnel of the longboat, and thrusting Minori into the waiting hands of three seamen.

  I went under again, and I kicked away from the longboat, then came to the surface in time to see Minori disappear over the edge. I waited until the seamen were facing out to me again, looking for me. I watched the water, went under a wave once, then two strong strokes, and there were strong, able hands dragging me into the boat. Someone wrapped me in a blanket, and then another one, and I lay in the bottom of the boat, exhausted and cold.

&n
bsp; "Get us aboard fast," I yelled. "Is she shivering?"

  "Yes, Captain!" a voice said, and I recognized Seaman Nordon, Mara's nephew. I sat up, receiving assistance. In the stern of the boat, Rani sat, her arms wrapped tightly around Minori, holding several blankets firmly around her. She was rocking her niece and kept kissing her on the head, then she turned and looked to me. She held out a hand, and I crawled to her. She clasped my hand and pulled me closer, then her lips were on mine, and she took a good, salty kiss fresh from the sea.

  "Thank you!" she yelled. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

  I sat up and searched for Minori's face. Her lips were blue, but she was still shivering.

  "More blankets!" I yelled.

  "That's all, Captain," someone said. "We're hurrying."

  I knew Radha would have gotten Krissa, and Krissa would already be preparing to warm us both up. I hoped she didn't try cutting our wet clothes off us; we couldn't really afford to lose clothing.

  Rani looked down at me sitting in the bottom of the boat, and something she saw disturbed her. She pulled Minori down off the seat, and soon the three of us were sitting on the bottom of the boat. Rani pulled me into the hug she was sharing with Minori. She ran her hand up and down my back vigorously, and I realized she was doing the same with Minori, trying to generate friction, any heat she could provide us.

  Minori wasn't talking.

  "Don't let her sleep!" I yelled. "Keep her moving, Rani."

  She nodded and shook Minori. "Stay with me, honey!" she said to the girl. "Minori, talk to me."

  "So cold," the girl said. "Cold, Aunt Rani."

  "Stay awake. Stay with me."

  "Captain..." She said. Her eyes were wild, unseeing.

  "We need more heat!" I yelled, and one of the seamen joined us, pressing his body against me. "Not me, the girl!"

  He shifted, and then his large form was pressed against the girl. Someone laid a cloak over me.

  And then we were beside the ship. A seaman moved past us, managing the lines, and moments later we were lifted into the air, bouncing around a little with the movement of the ship. Minori whimpered, and Rani was tight-lipped. The derrick rotated, and we were on the deck. Krissa was there, and she screamed, "Give me the girl!"