Cutthroat Crusades (The Plundered Chronicles Book 4)

by Alex Westmore

  “She’s been doing this far, far longer than I.”

  Tavish acknowledged that with a single nod. “But she doesna have us, lad. Yer crew is well seasoned. Well, except fer the glaigh. Even then, I’d put them up against Grace’s new crew in a heartbeat.”

  Quinn kept her eyes toward the aft part of the ship. Grace and the Malendroke were gaining on them.

  Fitz catapulted up the steps, nearly breathless. “We’re givin’ it all we have, Callaghan, but the Mal’s masts are nearly twice our size and she’s got men on the oars. I just don’t know if we have what it takes.”

  Quinn turned to Fitz. “Would the men take issue with firing but not hitting the Mal?”

  Fitz scowled. “Missin’ on purpose?”

  “Aye. I just want Grace to know we’re not sitting ducks, nor are we afraid.”

  Tilting his head, Fitz said, “Callaghan, ya don’t even know whether she is an enemy or an ally.”

  “And you want me to wait and find out?”

  Fitz and Tavish exchanged looks. Tavish shrugged. “If she’s just sailin’ by and ya shoot at her, ya’ve made an enemy where there wasn’t one. I agree with Fitz. I say we have to wait to see what Grace does.”

  Innis quickly joined them.

  “What say you, Innis, about this situation?”

  He looked perplexed. “What’s there to say, Captain? We don’t fire on another Irish ship, especially ones with our old mates. Why? What are ya considerin’?”

  Quinn’s eyes traveled from one man to the next until she knew what directions to order. “We stand down then until we see what she wants. Innis, prepare all cannons in the event the Malendroke is hostile. Fitz, you ready the galloglaigh for possible battle aboard the Malendroke. Stress possible.”

  When the two men took off, Quinn laid her hand on Tavish’s shoulder “You know as well as I do that Grace isn’t chasing us for a visit. She is angry and feels betrayed. We’re mutineers, Tavish.”

  Tavish did not respond.

  “She lost face. Like Sayyida lost face. There’s only one way to get it back.”

  Nodding, Tavish started to make his way down the steps. Before he reached the bottom step, he turned. “Ya ken I respect ya, lad. More than most. But when it comes to angerin’ women, no man I’ve ever met can do as well as ya.”

  Watching him walk across the deck, Quinn sighed.

  She knew that one day she would have to face Grace’s wrath.

  She just hadn’t realized it would be so soon.

  Quinn was only mildly surprised when the Malendroke pulled aside the Emerald without firing a single shot or preparing to board.

  “Captain O’Malley wants to parley,” came a voice from a man Quinn couldn’t remember ever meeting.

  “Parley?” Quinn called back. “Tell her there’s no reason to parley. We are not enemies.”

  The first mate, if that was what he was, talked to the four men surrounding him.

  “Look, just tell her I’ll come aboard. Alone.”

  “No, Callaghan,” Tavish growled. “Woman scorned and all that, lad.”

  “I have to, Tavish. Clearly she wishes to meet. It’s Grace. It’s not like I––”

  “Do I have to remind ya of the last captain ya angered?”

  “That was different with Sayyida.”

  “No, lad, it wasn’t. Ya have a way of angerin’ women unlike ennathin’ I’ve ever seen. I doona doubt it’ll be enna different with Grace. Ya took her main men from her. Someone is gonna have to pay the price.”

  “I think you’re wrong, Tavish. Grace is a lot of things, but unreasonable isn’t one of them.”

  Shaking his head, he continued down the steps. “Ya ken, fer a female, ya ken verra little about ’em. Reason isna somethin’ most women possess.”

  “I wish I could disagree with you, but I cannot. Luckily, I am not like most women.”

  “That yer not, lad.” When Tavish left her alone at the bow, Quinn looked across both bows at men she did not recognize.

  Surely Tavish was wrong about Grace.

  There was only one way to find out.

  “Drop the plank. I’m comin’ over.”

  “Alone.”

  Quinn nodded. “Alone. But do let her know before I cross that plank, that should I not return within the hour, my men will board her ship regardless of past history.”

  “I’m comin’ with our captain,” Innis said suddenly.

  Quinn glared down at him. She wanted to be angry with him, but she understood why he’d made his pronouncement, and it hurt her heart.

  “Captain said alone.”

  “Yer Captain knows better than that. Ya tell her Innis will be by Callaghan’s side, or there will be no parley.”

  The pirate nodded once and then disappeared.

  Quinn motioned for Innis to join her. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Innis looked down at the deck. “But I do, Callaghan. We both know I do.”

  Fitz and Tavish joined them.

  “Whattaya think?” Fitz asked Innis.

  “I think Captain O’Malley is spittin’ fire right now and is torn between sinkin’ us, capturin’ us, or lettin’ us go.”

  Quinn inhaled deeply. “What do you suggest?”

  Innis turned to Tavish. “Have the glaigh ready to board. We want the Mal’s crew to know we have serious fightin’ power at our disposal.”

  Tavish nodded and left the bow.

  “She’ll parley with ya alone, Callaghan, because there are things ya two gotta work out. I’ll be on deck just to give the signal fer our boys to board.”

  “Do you think that will be necessary?”

  Innis hiked his belt up. “Honestly? I thought I knew Grace O’Malley better than ennaone. Now? Now I’m not so sure.”

  Neither was Quinn.

  Standing weaponless in Grace’s quarters where they had, on many occasions, shared a whiskey or two, Quinn felt vulnerable.

  It wasn’t that she needed her sword. It was that she stood in front of a woman who was once her captain and friend, but was now . . .

  What, exactly, was Grace to her now?

  “What in bloody hell is goin’ on here, Callaghan?”

  Quinn noted that Grace had not asked her to sit down, nor was there any whiskey on the battered table Grace stood behind.

  “You tell me, Grace.”

  “From where I stand, yer a bloody mutineer who stole my crew, one of my boats, and most of my respect. I trusted ya with my life, Callaghan, and this is how you repay me?”

  “I’ve repaid you a dozen times over, Grace, and you know it. I’ve run errands, delivered messages, fought for you, killed for you, and did everything I could to free you from prison. So don’t play the guilt card on me, Grace. You’re better than that.”

  Grace’s eyes narrowed and the vein at her temple protruded. “But not so good as to keep ya and Innis on my crew? Ya didn’t even talk to me about it, Callaghan, before ya stole my rowboat and the best men on my ship like a coward. I oughtta run ya through just fer that alone.”

  “Talk to you?” Quinn raised her voice. “There was no talking to you, Grace. You risked every man’s life on board with that stupid sail up the Thames, and once you got to London, you chose the wrong woman to side with before you turned on her as well.”

  “Ya don’t have children, Callaghan, or ya’d know that family means––”

  “Family,” Quinn roared, “used to be the men on this ship and the whole of Ireland. That’s who our family used to be, Grace, but you traded it all in for Elizabeth’s good graces. Did it ever occur to you how that looked and felt to the crew?”

  “I’m captain of this ship, Callaghan, and I––”

  “Chose wrong!” Quinn inhaled a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Leaving the Malendroke was an easy choice for men you endangered to save your own kin.”

  “They’d not have gone if there was no place to go.”

  Quinn shook her head. This was not the woman she fought
for a year ago. “You underestimate them, Grace. Without my help on the Fortune Teller, you, the Malendroke, and every man on it would be at the bottom of the Thames. You know it as well as I do.”

  “Don’t get so fulla yerself, Callaghan. Ya couldn’t even outrun me fer a hundred heartbeats. When the men realize yer just playin’ at Captain, they’ll regret ever leavin’.”

  Quinn opened her mouth to reply, then thought better of it. This circular conversation would go nowhere. “I made a choice between two women once as well, Grace, and I chose you even though Fiona needed me. Every man on board has chosen you more than once over someone or something else, and you repay them by sailing up the Thames to parley with Elizabeth? Elizabeth? Have you lost your mind? The men think you have. That’s why so many came with me.”

  Grace’s vein bulged more. “Ya don’t have all the facts, Callaghan, but it’s too late fer ya to get them now. What ya’ve done here is irreversible.”

  “Who said anything about reversing it? I learned a great deal from you, Grace. I’m a good captain. I’m not perfect, but I’m good.”

  Grace shook her head slowly. “What happened to ya on that island, Callaghan? Since ya returned, ya’ve never been the same.”

  Quinn felt the sting of hot tears come to her eyes as the memories of that time squeezed her heart. “I was forced to listen to my best friend as he was tortured before I had to mercy kill him by stabbing him in the heart. Did you know his arms and legs were pulled out of their sockets? Connor was in such horrible pain, he begged me to kill him. Begged me. Then I had to listen to Tavish’s screams while they broke every bone in his hand. So no, Grace, I’m not the same person I was before the shipwreck. I am battle-scarred and war-wise. I understand the immense weight you seemed to have forgotten.”

  Grace leaned with her palms on the table. “Yer wrong on that score, Callaghan. Verra wrong.”

  “Am I? If you planned on attacking us, Grace, you should have done it from afar because I can tell you right now, if we go sword to sword, my galloglaigh will tear your new crew to pieces. I don’t wish to do so, but if you have any notion of taking this further than a parley, your deck will run bloody from your crew.”

  Grace glared at her now. For tense moments, neither said a word.

  “Yer playin’ at captainin’, Callaghan.”

  Quinn grit her teeth. “Not playing at all, Grace. Parley or fight. Those are your only choices. What is it you want?”

  Grace cleared her throat, her cold glare looking over Quinn’s shoulder and out the door. “I want Innis back.”

  Quinn was taken aback. “Innis? Grace, if Innis wanted to be on board the Mal, he would be.”

  “Ya give me Innis and I’ll let ya sail away without sinkin’ ya. That’s the deal.”

  Quinn just stared at her. “Why?” Quinn waved the word away. “I mean, why Innis?”

  “That’s none of yer business.”

  Quinn started for the door. “Then no deal. You can either watch us sail away or––”

  “Because my new crew is green. Greener than most. They need trainin’. I need Innis to help with that.”

  Slowly turning, Quinn stared at a woman she barely knew. “What happened to you, Grace? You know what happened to me, but what happened to you after the shipwreck?”

  Grace turned her head to the right and stared at the wall. “Ya’d never understand, Callaghan, and I hope ya never have to. It’s Innis or be responsible fer a lot of bloodshed.”

  “You’d really do that? You’d really punish your former crew and present crew for my mutiny?”

  Grace slowly turned. The anger evident on her face. “So at least ya admit what ya are and what ya did.”

  “What I did was remove myself from a position of peril that did not need to exist. Some men followed me. No one was forced to walk away from you or the ship.”

  “And all I want is one of those men back, and ya are free to leave unmolested.”

  “What if he doesn’t want to come back to the Mal?”

  “Innis will do what he knows is in the best interest of the crew. He’ll come willingly.”

  That’s when Quinn realized just how sly Grace O’Malley was and what a shrewd negotiator she turned out to be.

  If Quinn gave up one of her men as a result of a parley, it would show her crew that she held no loyalty to them, that every men on board, was expendable. If she didn’t hand him over, she was no better than Grace in being willing to sacrifice the many for the one.

  It was a brilliant parley. Her intention was to discredit Quinn and weaken her leadership, which it would do no matter which decision she made.

  “Well met, Grace. Your intention is clear and you’ve backed me into a corner. I only ask to speak with Innis alone first.”

  A grin Quinn had never seen on Grace’s face was almost eerie. “Good decision, Callaghan. Make it fast. There’s a storm comin’ and I want to be far from it.”

  Quinn whirled around and left Grace’s quarters. She found Innis laughing it up with his old buddies. “Innis, a word.”

  He immediately stopped laughing and joined her at the railing. “Aye, Callaghan?”

  She carefully explained to him what Grace wanted and why. For his part, he listened intently, waiting for her to finish.

  When Quinn was done, he nodded. “She’s got ya dead to rights, Callaghan, but I know Grace. Once I train her crew, she’ll let me make my own decision, but not before she sweetens the pot to get me to stay.”

  “She’ll bribe you?”

  “Oh, aye. With lands. With gold. If she wants ya not to have me bad enough, she’ll make it verra hard to say no.”

  Quinn laid her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll understand if you choose to take her offer, Innis. You need to take care of your family. I understand as much.”

  “Mebbe ya do, mebbe ya don’t. Tell Captain O’Malley I’ll do it, but I need to get my sword and purse first.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Innis.”

  He looked her straight in the eyes. “Tell me ya’ll not ferget me, Callaghan. The Malendroke isn’t my home ennamore. We can let Grace believe we are doin’ her biddin’, but at the end of the day, I’ll find my way back to the Emerald. That’s where I belong.”

  Quinn clapped him hard on the back. “Aye, Innis, that is, indeed, where you belong.” Quinn started to turn away, when he caught her eye and stared hard at her.

  For a protracted moment, neither said a word. Quinn knew he was trying to tell her something without actually saying it.

  “Until we meet again, old friend.” Making her way back to Grace’s quarters, Quinn glared openly at her former captain and friend. “He’ll come.”

  “Of course he will. I know my crew, Callaghan. Innis would never place his crewmates in harm’s way unless ordered to.”

  “It was his choice to make. He is grabbing his sword and will return shortly.”

  “Too bad yer crew won’t see it that way. Once Innis is back on deck, we will sail away first. If ya follow us at all, I’ll sink ya. If ya ever come within half a mile of us, I’ll chase ya into the rocks. The next time ya see my face, Callaghan, rest assured, I will be runnin’ ya through.”

  Quinn sighed. “I don’t know what transpired to change you into . . . this––” Quinn waved her hand in the air, “but it suits you not at all.” Quinn stepped up to the table, the only thing standing in between them. “And if you ever threaten me or my ship again, I’ll forget we were once friends and I’ll remove your head from your shoulders.” Turning on her heel, Quinn left the captain’s quarters.

  She was almost to the gangplank when Grace called out to her.

  “I’ve fought better captains than ya, Callaghan, and lived to tell about it.”

  Quinn glanced over her shoulder. “Better is not smarter, Grace. You’d do well to remember that.”

  They all stood at the bow watching the Malendroke pull away, her sails bulging from the fierce tailwind of the storm Grace had known was coming.
r />   “What, exactly, did Innis say again?” Quinn asked.

  Fitz closed his eyes, thinking about what Innis had said to the crew when he came back for his sword. “He said he knew exactly what game Grace was playin’ and warned us not to fall fer it. He told us what Grace was tryin’ to do and let us know he was leavin’ only temporarily and fer us not to fall prey to Grace’s trap of believin’ that ya have no loyalty to our men.”

  “He said this was his decision and his alone.” Tavish turned to look at Quinn. “She is not the captain we once kenned.”

  “No, I’m afraid she’s not. Something changed her, Tavish. When I look into her eyes, all I see is red-hot anger, and I don’t know if it happened when she thought we were drowned or when she was in prison or––”

  “Or when she thought ya were dead.”

  Quinn watched as the Malendroke got smaller and smaller. “I suppose it could be all of those together, eh?”

  “Aye, lad. Ya can never ken with a woman, but one thing is certain. Ya’ve hurt her to the deepest part of her soul, and sometimes that’s a wound that never heals.”

  Maggie wrapped her arm around Quinn’s waist. “I think you’re both missing the real reason she has changed. She does not know if her boy is alive or dead. She needs to be a captain, a leader, and a mother all at the same time. She is probably beside herself with worry and all sorts of other emotions.”

  Quinn’s heart ached. She wished she’d never said anything about removing Grace’s head from her shoulders. It felt wrong threatening a friend . . . even one who had moved her to the enemy column.

  “Callaghan has a wee bit of a bad habit of angerin’ the women who love him.”

  “Tavish, when are you gonna start referrin’ to Callaghan as she?”

  “Never?”

  Maggie chuckled. “That’s what I thought.” To Quinn she said, “Everyone has their own journey to take, Callaghan. Think of this as one in which you and Grace must travel separately.”

  “I don’t mind separation, Maggie, but I’ve made an enemy of a dear friend, and that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”

  “It’d be more bitter if Innis hadn’t explained why we shouldn’t take offense for you leaving him with Grace.”