Where Loyalties Lie (Best Laid Plans Book 1)

by Rob J. Hayes

  “I don’t see The Phoenix anywhere. Stillwater ain’t here. I think we should throw the rest of these mouths off our boat and sail back to Fango. Ya da won’t be pleased we’re here.”

  “Screw my da,” Elaina said, and hoped none of her crew were secretly his. “I’m curious. Want to know what’s going on here and how they managed to settle despite the burning cliffs and the sand monsters.”

  “Recognise the hat?” Pollick said with a sneer.

  Elaina did recognise the hat that was strolling down the beach towards the docks. As far as she knew, only one man in all the isles wore a round-topped hat. Most preferred flat-tops or tricorns these days, but Daimen Poole liked to stand out.

  “Reckon I might need a translator,” Elaina said, grinning. “Bastard’s accent is thicker than Gurn's porridge.”

  Poole reached the docks and greeted the refugees from Lillingburn; Elaina heard none of what was said from her position on Starry Dawn, but she got the distinct impression Poole was in charge of the town. After a brief conversation with some of the refugees, Poole started weaving his way through the bodies up to Elaina’s ship.

  “An’ what brings the Lady Black ta our little town? Other than droppin’ off these fine folk, that is.”

  “Lillingburn is gone.” Elaina stared down at the man, refusing to join him on the dock and refusing to extend him an invitation onto her ship.

  “So I hear. Reckon that evil bastard you call Da would prefer you took these folk ta Fango, but, well, here ya are.”

  Elaina ignored the insult to her father. Poole would get what was coming to him in due course. “They wanted to come here. I wanted to see if you really had colonised Cinto Cena.”

  “Aye? Well, as ya can see, we’ve colonised the fuck out of it. Bye now.” Poole turned to walk away.

  “We have goods to sell.” Elaina smirked down at the man. “Assuming your little town does actually facilitate our profession.”

  Poole stopped, and Elaina could tell by the slump of his shoulders that he’d let out a sigh.

  “Cap,” Rovel hissed. “Ya da won’t be pleased if ya sell here.”

  “Shut up. I have a plan, and you will fucking well follow my orders.”

  “Aye,” Poole said without turning around. “Little building attached to the tavern is where you’ll find the man with the money. He’ll buy ya crap off ya.”

  After Poole had walked away, Elaina turned on Rovel like a storm cloud. “Next time you try to contradict me like that I’ll have you mounted onto the keel of the ship. Folk here are in straights, just look at the town up the beach. Plenty of mouths, and I don’t reckon they got near enough supplies. That means they’ll pay over the odds for any old loot we can give them. That and the longer we’re here, the more shit we can dig up to take back to my da.” Elaina didn’t mention that she wanted to wait for Keelin to come back.

  Rovel didn’t look convinced. “You heard the folk from Lillingburn, Cap. This here is Drake Morrass’ town. What’ll he do to us if he comes back?”

  “Likely he’ll wet himself,” Elaina spat. “Morrass is a coward. Only reason my da hasn’t already gutted him is the bastard is too good at running away.”

  It was three days before Keelin returned to New Sev’relain, and in that time Elaina sold all Starry Dawn’s loot, allowed her crew the run of the town, and drunk herself into a stupor twice. She was back aboard her ship, stark naked and enjoying a saltwater wash when the call went up. The Phoenix had been spotted rounding the shore line and was heading into the bay.

  Elaina didn’t rush; she wouldn’t let her crew see her excitement. She calmly finished scrubbing herself down, doused herself with another bucket of salt water, and walked back to the cabin. Once inside with the door closed, however, she became a flurry of activity.

  Elaina wanted to be waiting on the docks when Keelin stepped off his ship. He’d know she was here by now – it was impossible to hide Starry Dawn – but she wanted to see his face as he docked with his town and saw her waiting. After that she’d drag him to the nearby inn, or to her ship, or maybe back onto his, and they’d pick up right where they’d left off. It had been a while since Elaina had had a good fuck, and it was fair to say she was looking forward to their reunion.

  Elaina dressed black on black, with britches, a shirt, and a long jacket over the top. She bound her breasts a little higher than usual and buttoned her shirt a little lower. After running a brush quickly through her hair, she decided to leave it down instead of in her usual tail, and after pulling on her newest pair of boots, she delved into her oils, powders, and scent kit. Elaina was not one to make herself up regularly, but she knew how to when it suited her, and knew she would turn heads. She ran some scented oil through her hair and wrapped a black bandana over it, sprayed a similar scent onto her clothes, and ringed her eyes with a black powder to make her icy blues stand out.

  When she was finished she emerged into the morning light and buckled a rapier onto her belt before leaping down to the docks and making her way to the free berth, just as The Phoenix was being towed in by her dinghies.

  Keelin spotted her. She could see him standing at the railing, and when he looked her way it was obvious. Elaina cut a striking figure on the worst of days, and right now she was on one of her best. She fixed a wry smile onto her face and waited. Keelin was the first ashore, leaping down onto the docks as soon as The Phoenix was in place and long before any gangplanks had been extended. Behind him, his crew rushed to get the ship tied and docked, and a few of them jumped down to follow him, but he was far ahead. Elaina knew he’d missed her as much as she had him, even if neither would admit it.

  “Elaina…” Keelin started as he stopped just a pace from her.

  She gave him no time to continue. Closing the gap between them with one easy stride, Elaina went up onto her toes and kissed Keelin, grabbing his cock through his britches at the same time.

  For a long moment Keelin kissed her back, and Elaina felt him going hard. She leaned into him and wondered which was closest, her cabin or his. Then Keelin stepped backwards, breaking the kiss and making Elaina stumble to catch her feet.

  “Elaina…”

  “What?”

  “We’re not doing this,” Keelin said, and it didn’t look like he was joking. Elaina felt an anger pulsing up from somewhere deep down, but it did nothing to stop her feeling horny.

  “Why not?” she asked stupidly. “Felt like you were up for it.”

  Keelin glanced behind him quickly. “We’re just not anymore.”

  Elaina looked past Keelin to see a few members of his crew securing the ship, others in the dinghies, and one just a dozen paces back trying desperately not to look interested in her captain and Elaina.

  “Really?” Elaina felt her cheeks go hot, as well as a pressing need to hit either Keelin or the bitch. “That mousy waif?”

  The girl looked up at the insult, and there was a fire in her dull brown eyes, but it was nothing compared to the inferno raging in Elaina’s chest, choking her breath and making her want to scream.

  “She’s not…” Keelin started, but Elaina wasn’t about to stand around to let the bastard finish.

  Elaina gave Keelin the full force of her anger in a glare that could have boiled the sea. “Fuck you, Stillwater.” She turned and strode away.

  Her anger filled her like a furnace, and it was all she could do to not stab the nearest man she came across, but Elaina kept her sword firmly in its sheath. She couldn’t go back to her ship – it would look too much like running away, both to Keelin and her crew – so she headed for the next best place. The tavern.

  Chapter 43 - Starry Dawn

  Elaina wanted to get drunk. She wanted the sweet bliss of intoxication to dull the pain. The only problem was she didn’t feel like drinking. After ordering one mug of what passed for ale, it now sat untouched on the table, both tempting and repulsing her.

  It was a lively place, the Righteous Indignation. Men and women drank, sang, danced, and d
rank some more. Her own crew mingled with those from Mary’s Virtue, North Gale, and The Phoenix, and with the townsfolk as well, and it was both merry and rowdy.

  Some men and women paired up and slipped out, while others stayed to keep the money flowing in the direction of the tavern owner. A number of competitions started up, tests of strength or durability and even a brief wrestling match. Pirates and sailors alike spent most of their lives aboard a ship with only brief interludes ashore where they could truly unwind, and unwind they did. Elaina didn’t join them. While most of the tavern was loud, lively, and filled with song or laughter, Elaina’s corner was a void of merriment. She sat alone, her boots up on the table, scowling at everything and everyone. No one dared approach, not even the serving boy, and those that glanced her way quickly moved their eyes elsewhere. All but the giant of a man she remembered from Fango. Khan, she seemed to remember his name was, and he wasn’t subtle about his interest in Elaina – though even he didn’t dare to come near.

  Elaina didn’t want to be there. Not in the tavern, not in New Sev’relain, not even in the isles. Right now she wanted to be anywhere but, yet there she was and there she would stay. If Starry Dawn sailed out now, it would look like she was running away, and that wasn’t something she could live with. She’d already run away from her father and from Fango, and she couldn’t run away from Keelin and this shit hole as well.

  Why he’d choose that little slip of a girl still didn’t make any sense to her. Elaina had known Keelin since they were children. He’d walked onto The Black Death at just thirteen years old and demanded a spot on the crew. Tanner wasn’t the type of man to take demands, especially aboard his own ship, so he’d had Keelin beaten to a bloody mess. But Tanner had seen something in the boy, something that made him stop short of killing Keelin, and he’d given the lad what he wanted. Elaina was eleven at the time, and she’d seen something in Keelin too, though it was likely a very different something.

  For years Elaina and Keelin had been inseparable whether on the ship or off, and it hadn’t been long before they were far more than just friends. Elaina’s father had known what they were doing, but Tanner didn’t care who she fucked and he’d liked Keelin, treated him almost as another son. Elaina even got pregnant once, but long before she’d told Keelin and before she’d even decided whether to keep it or not, she lost the wretched thing.

  Then came The Phoenix. Tanner captured the galleon, and a true prize she was, even more beautiful than The Black Death. Blu already had his ship and Elaina was just old enough to take her own command, so Tanner gave her the boat and let her pick a few crew members to go with her. Of course she’d taken Keelin, though her father had almost refused that request. It was no secret he wanted Keelin to have a ship of his own under Tanner’s command.

  Elaina still didn’t know how Keelin had managed it, but the bastard turned a few of the crew, and before Elaina even had a chance to sail her new ship, Keelin and Yanic stole the damned thing and ran.

  Tanner had been furious, threatening death and worse as soon as he caught Stillwater, but Elaina hadn’t been angry in the slightest; if anything it only made her want Keelin more.

  It wasn’t like they were promised. They’d never made any commitments to each other, and they both knew they’d fucked others, but Elaina had always thought they had a connection. No matter what happened in-between, every time they ended up at the same port, the sparks flew and left them both feeling sore. Every time one sailed away from the other, Elaina found it harder and harder.

  Elaina’s mother had once told her that some people were born to be together and that fate would guide them to each other again and again until they fulfilled their destiny. Elaina had thought it a tale full of shit. Deep down, though, she’d honestly believed she and Keelin were being pushed together by fate. Never had she chosen another man over him and, until now, he’d never chosen another woman. It was maddening, and Elaina knew full well that madness ran in her family.

  As her mood spiralled darker and darker, Elaina finally decided it was time to stop before she did something stupid. She downed half the mug of ale in one go and was just thinking about vacating her lone table and joining the festivities when the tavern door opened and Keelin walked through, followed closely by the little girl he’d chosen.

  Elaina relaxed back into her seat, all thoughts of enjoying her evening forgotten, and sent an icy glare towards Keelin and his new lover. The girl was the first to notice, perhaps sensing hostile eyes following her, and whispered into Keelin’s ear. Elaina felt her rage surge as the woman clearly laid claim to her captain.

  Keelin pointed towards a group of men from his crew, and the girl reluctantly left his side. Elaina watched as he approached her table.

  “Mind if I sit, Elaina?”

  She considered kicking the spare chair into his legs. It would be a petty thing to do and would never cause any real damage, so she refrained. She nodded just once by way of reply.

  Keelin pulled out the chair and sat slowly, never taking his eyes from Elaina. “About earlier…”

  “You work for Morrass now?” Elaina said. An idea had popped into her head, a way to punish Keelin and a way to get back into her father’s graces all at once.

  “I… We work together,” Keelin said awkwardly. “He has a plan for the isles, Elaina. I think it might be a good thing.”

  “Aye?” Elaina glanced towards the girl, to find her staring right back. Elaina let slip an ugly grin and turned her attention back to Keelin.

  “He wants to unify the folk of the isles. All of us. He wants us to stand up against the other kingdoms, not just hide from them.”

  “Can’t unify shit without my da on his side.”

  “We know.”

  “What if I can do that?”

  Keelin looked confused. “You really think you can get Tanner to talk to Drake?”

  Elaina smiled and held Keelin’s eyes until he looked away. “My da knows we’re in the shit as well as you do. Bastards are burning our towns, killing us. Best way to stop that is together. He knows it. Just don’t wanna be the one to make the first move. Now, if we were to say that Drake asked for a parley – well, that’d look like Drake was coming to my da, not the other way round.”

  “Drake isn’t here,” Keelin pointed out as if Elaina didn’t already know.

  “But he will be soon?”

  “Any time now.” Keelin sounded far less than certain.

  “Seventy days from now,” Elaina said. “On Ash.”

  Ash was a small island far away from both New Sev’relain and Fango, and it could be considered neutral ground. The island was too small to be habitable; it was little more than rock and sand with a few overgrown weeds daring to call themselves trees, but it was a good place to spring a trap. If she could convince Keelin to drag Drake to his own execution, her father would have no choice but to accept Elaina back into his good books. She might even be able to ask for Corin’s release.

  The thought of Corin tugged open the wound in Elaina’s chest, and at that moment she wanted nothing so much as to tell Keelin about it. He would understand her pain; he’d always understood her.

  Keelin appeared to be mulling it over in his head, but eventually he nodded. “Seventy days from now on Ash.” He hesitated. “Elaina, about earlier. Aimi…”

  Elaina pulled her feet off the table and leaned forwards to give the bastard a good view of her cleavage. She barked out a savage laugh. “I don’t care who you fuck, Captain Stillwater.”

  Before Keelin could say anything else, Elaina stood and walked away. She crossed the room to where Captain Khan was sitting, and with two words whispered in his ear he followed her back to Starry Dawn.

  Part 4 – Parley

  You need Tanner said the Oracle

  Drake laughed

  He’ll come to you said the Oracle

  Chapter 44 - Fortune

  “As you can see, Drake, in your absence we’ve made a few improvements.”

  Stillw
ater wasn’t wrong about that. By Drake’s estimate, the size of New Sev’relain had more than doubled in his months away, and not just in the land it now claimed. Hundreds of people were living in the town, and it was a busy, thriving settlement that already came close to rivalling the size of old Sev’relain.

  The bones of the Man of War still sat tall and proud on the beach, but it was no more than a skeleton left to remind the folk of the isles just what they were capable of. And the folk of Sarth just what they were up against.

  Halfway up the beach, towards the tree line, the docks ended and the town began with stalls set up by enterprising merchants already dotting the sand, and even a few poorly constructed tents offering pirates “Cheap Hores!”. Fire pits, old and new, darkened patches of the sand where those men without enough coin for the tavern kept themselves happy and lubricated.

  A large warehouse rose up just apart from the town. It was marked by a number of armed men loitering around the exterior and a raised guard tower to its rear.

  One of the first things Drake noticed as they approached the town was a raised wooden stage in what could possibly pass as the town square. Beyond the stage, rushed buildings stretched off in almost every direction with alleys that snaked between in a twisting maze of dirt, trees, waste, and the occasional unconscious pirate.

  “What’s that for?” Drake nodded towards the stage.

  “Folk built it for a duel,” Stillwater said. “Afterwards, they reckoned it’d be worth keeping around. Public declarations and what not are held there so everyone can hear the news. Lillingburn is gone. Five Kingdoms soldiers took it and burned it to the ground. Bunch of survivors fled here, swelled the population some. We’ve had extra houses knocked up, a second tavern and brothel, but we’re finding problems supplying the taverns with booze and the brothels with whores.”

  Drake groaned. He’d been back on dry land for all of five minutes and already he was being saddled with the problems Stillwater was too single-minded to solve.