Where Loyalties Lie (Best Laid Plans Book 1)

by Rob J. Hayes

  “Then we should do just that.”

  Chapter 52 - Mary’s Virtue

  Daimen didn’t like the situation one bit. Their three ships were still anchored facing Tanner’s three, and these new boats were bearing down on them quickly with the island of Ash blocking their immediate escape. They’d have to first navigate around Ash before making a proper escape of it, and the wind was notoriously hard to rely upon around these parts, which made getting up to speed slow and laborious. If they did up and run now, they’d probably all make it, but they’d be leaving Drake and Stillwater and Tanner on the island to the dubious mercies of whoever was ambushing them. It was a situation Daimen usually referred to as “fucked”, and one he tried to avoid at all costs.

  Through his monoscope, Daimen could see Drake and the others scrambling down the side of Ash, jumping over rocks at a rate most would consider suicidal. Even then they would have to row out to their ships. There simply wasn’t enough time. He was glad of one thing, at least: Tanner hadn’t killed Drake.

  Rin appeared to be smiling on Drake today, and hopefully that meant an alliance had been forged. If Daimen knew one thing, it was that only Drake could pull all the pirate captains together. He had the will, the charisma, the reputation, and the money. He also had a plan, and that was worth more than all the rest put together.

  Of course, none of it would mean shit if Drake was hanged, and that was exactly what the Five Kingdoms folk would do if they got their hands on him. Daimen had never liked the idea of hanging; it seemed a really undignified way to go. He much preferred the tried and true method of dying in battle as a hero to a cause.

  “How’s the wind?” he said to his navigator.

  “Chopping and changing like a dog with two masters, Cap’n. We don’t leave now, we might not make it ’fore those ships catch up to us.”

  Daimen nodded. “Aye. Best get under way then. Give us some sail and bring us around.”

  “Course?”

  “Do ya see those ships over there?” Daimen pointed at the five vessels heading towards Ash. “Point us directly at the fuckers.”

  “Cap’n?”

  “’Fore ya say it, mate, it ain’t suicide,” Daimen said. “All we need ta do is slow the bastards down long enough for Drake and Tanner ta get back ta their boats. Then they'll turn the tide.”

  “How?”

  “By givin’ ’em something else ta chew on. Let’s see how the bastards like a taste of good ol’ pirate courage.”

  Daimen drew in a deep breath and yelled, “All hands on deck. Swords, bows, and axes, boys. We’re gonna sail this bitch right down their throats and choke ’em. We’ll buy Drake enough time ta get back to his ship an’ come an’ fucking repay the favour, eh?”

  A few of the crew of Mary’s Virtue cheered, but most who were close enough to hear looked uncertain and worried. Clearly Daimen’s insistence that they would be pulled out of the fire by Drake was not as reassuring as he’d hoped.

  “Tales will be told of how we helped build this kingdom, boys. We’ll all be fuckin’ heroes. Knee deep in whores an’ booze for the rest of our fuckin’ lives.” That got a few more cheers. If Daimen had learned one thing in his life, it was that nothing motivated pirates quite like money and, more importantly, the pleasures that money could buy.

  “So break out the weapons, step to ya jobs, and for the love of Rin, would someone start me a bloody shanty.”

  Maybe it was invoking the name of their goddess, or maybe it was Daimen’s relentless optimism that they’d survive, but before long the sails were loose, the ship was turning, and every crewman with a pair of lungs and a tongue was singing along to ‘Baring the Maiden Fair’. Daimen grinned into the wind, barked out a savage laugh, and joined in with the shanty.

  Chapter 53 - North Gale

  The fools weren’t even changing course. No doubt they believed their soldiers were more than a match for a few poorly trained pirates. The Five Kingdoms bastards would soon realise just how wrong they were.

  “Shields,” T’ruck roared. Two dozen of his crew rushed forwards, circular shields in hand, and formed a wall on the port side of the ship. Another dozen pirates formed behind them with spears and grapples and little gourds full of black powder. T’ruck’s people may be called savages by the citizens of the Five Kingdoms, but they were far from stupid, and T’ruck had long since learned the devastating uses of black powder.

  The ship’s boy stumbled forwards carrying T’ruck’s own shield, a giant, curved rectangle of wood and metal, painted all in white and stained with blood and deep-rent scars. The shield was as tall as most men and most men struggled to lift it, but T’ruck was stronger than most men. With his right hand he drew his sword from over his back and paced along behind the shield wall.

  There was some nervous shifting in the wall as those at the front tried to get themselves into comfortable positions. Soon comfort would be the least of their worries. They were mere moments from the Five Kingdoms ship and still on course to sail alongside her.

  “Archers,” T’ruck screamed, and men and women both in the rigging and some standing behind the shields drew their bows and waited. The Five Kingdoms ship was just a handful of yards ahead of them now, with a gap of maybe ten yards between them. A hopeful archer from the enemy ship loosed an arrow, and to be fair to the man, his aim was true. But T’ruck saw the attack coming, and caught the arrow on the top half of his shield, where it stuck. Still he waited to give the order.

  A few more arrows crossed the gap, thudding into the hull, the deck, or the shields. None found their mark and none of T’ruck’s crew went down.

  Still T’ruck waited, knowing full well most of the crew on the other ship would be hiding until it came time to board. Some of T’ruck’s crew were tall, but he was the tallest of them all and, even hidden behind his giant shield, he could easily look over their heads to see the enemy ship approaching. It slipped alongside North Gale, and the first wave of men stood to throw their grapples.

  “Loose!” T’ruck roared, and the archers behind the shield wall stood, picked their targets, and let their arrows go. From above, the archers in the rigging did the same; they had orders to rain down death upon the enemy until they had no more arrows.

  T’ruck heard the evidence of his archers’ skill in the screams of those who didn’t die straight away, but he wasn’t watching.

  “Now,” he said to the three men just behind him, and they crowded around the lantern to light the fuses on the gourds, waited a few seconds, then launched them over the heads of the shield wall even as the first grapples gripped hold of North Gale.

  “Tightly now,” T’ruck shouted, and the shields held fast as the first gourd exploded, followed quickly by the second and third. The sound was deafening, and T’ruck grinned as the din faded into a cacophony of screams from the other ship.

  He risked a glance over the shield wall to see a ship in disarray. Splintered wood, burning canvas, dismembered bodies. One sailor was stumbling around the deck, his right arm off at the elbow and dripping blood. The man looked lost, as though he couldn’t tell where he was or why. An arrow thudded into the poor fool’s chest and he collapsed.

  T’ruck saw little resistance left on the ship and was about to order his own boat under way when soldiers began pouring out of the hatches. From below decks and from the captain’s cabin, men in armour started swarming onto the deck. Some stopped and emptied their stomachs at the carnage before them, but most ignored it, charging over to the railing and forming up under the command of their superiors. T’ruck looked upwards, but it appeared his archers were running short of arrows.

  “Captain?” Yu’truda called; she was one of the first ranks of the shield wall, and T’ruck could see her staring back at him.

  “Prepare to repel boarders,” T’ruck howled, and started banging his sword against the metal boss in the centre of his shield. Many of his crew took up the example, and in only moments the noise coming from North Gale was so vociferous it cou
ld have scared a storm.

  Some of the bravest or most foolish attempted to jump across before the ships had come together, and most of those were thrown back by the shield wall only to drown or be crushed as the ships collided. Some managed to scramble their way up the shields and were quickly killed by spear thrusts from the rank of T’ruck’s crew behind the shields. Not one man from that first attempt at boarding survived the crossing.

  North Gale and the Five Kingdoms ships slammed together with a jolt that rattled the shield wall and knocked some men from their footing. There was a scream from up above and a loud thud as one of T’ruck’s crew dropped from the rigging to their death, but he had no time to look at who it was or mourn their passing. The next wave of soldiers from the Five Kingdoms vessel was attempting to board, and they were accompanied by others swinging across on ropes.

  T’ruck cut his sword in a slash that near chopped one swinging soldier’s leg off. The soldier fell to the deck screaming, and T’ruck finished him off with a stab to the face. He looked around for another fool thinking to come aboard.

  Now the soldiers from the Five Kingdoms ship were attacking the shield wall, hacking at it with axes and stabbing with spears, trying to find gaps through which to kill or injure. In other places, where the wall was thinnest, soldiers had started to board North Gale, and T’ruck’s crew were engaged in half a dozen small skirmishes. They were outnumbered, that much was clear, and the soldiers were only keeping his crew busy by attacking the wall while they swarmed over in other places and eventually surrounded his smaller crew. A glance over the shields gave T’ruck a better idea of numbers, and he could already see this was not a fight they were likely to win with a wall.

  “Break and form up on me,” he shouted.

  As one the shieldbearers started moving backwards step by step. A couple of over-reaching soldiers fell into the gap left by the retreating pirates and were quickly dispatched by the spears behind. The soldiers from the Five Kingdoms ship didn’t wait for orders; they saw their enemy retreating and surged forwards with a cheer.

  T’ruck’s crew closed around him, a new wall forming with him at the centre. Some of his crew were still fighting elsewhere on the decks, but they were quickly outnumbered and cut down. Before T’ruck could think of a way to save them, the first wave of soldiers hit the newly formed wall and men started dying.

  Chapter 54 - Fortune

  “What’s he doing?” Stillwater said, pulling hard on the oar, his head craned around to stare across at Mary's Virtue.

  “Saving us all,” Drake growled. He could still taste cold iron on his tongue, and his pride burned with anger at the treatment Tanner had given him, but he swallowed down his rage for the sake of his plans. He could feign a little humility if the end result was a crown. “Stop looking and pay attention to your oar.”

  Beck was quiet, but her rage was a fire that Drake could feel even through the wind and the spray from the sea. He pulled on his oar hard, wishing there were some way to make the little boat move faster.

  “The Phoenix is closer,” Drake wheezed between breaths. “Soon as we’re aboard, we sail. I’ll signal the Fortune to follow.”

  “What’s the plan?” Stillwater said.

  Drake’s arms ached. His back ached. His tongue was stinging and his nose hurt like a serrated knife had recently cut a gash across it that hadn’t been patched up. And the salt water that kept splashing him in the face only made it hurt more.

  “We run.” Drake ground his jaw at the decision, glad that Stillwater couldn’t see his face.

  “We’re just gonna leave Poole?” Stillwater said.

  Spray whipped across Drake’s face and he shut his eyes. When he opened them he saw Beck staring at him across the small boat; her face was a mixture of pity and understanding, and her cold blue eyes sparkled in the light.

  “Can’t save him or his ship,” Drake wheezed.

  With that there seemed little else left to say. Drake hated leaving Poole behind, but he wasn’t about to sacrifice the rest of them as well. He sent a prayer to Rin, knowing it was pointless. The goddess didn’t take requests.

  Chapter 55 - North Gale

  The dead and dying bodies at their feet were more than enough proof of their prowess and determination, but the dead and dying bodies behind them were more than enough proof of the Five Kingdoms’ superior numbers. It felt like they’d been in the shield wall for hours, stabbing, blocking, grunting, swearing, screaming, stabbing, bleeding, stabbing.

  Wave after wave of soldiers had fallen upon them at first, and at a heavy cost to themselves they’d succeeded in felling a good number of T’ruck’s crew. After the Five Kingdoms commanders took control and formed a shield wall of their own things started to change. Most pirates weren’t used to fighting with shields, but T’ruck had trained his own crew well. He’d been born a warrior first, and had taken his lessons from battle to the seas.

  Now, with dwindling numbers and wounded men to tend to, the crew of North Gale looked on the verge of collapse. The very idea of surrendering to a Five Kingdoms cock-tickler made T’ruck angry beyond rage, and that rage lent him new strength. He was sure the enemy line would collapse if only they could get to the commander. With that plan in mind, T’ruck sucked in a deep breath and screamed out a battle cry to terrify the gods.

  “Push!” T’ruck roared as he put both his strength and weight behind his mammoth shield.

  Breaking free from his own wall and crashing into the enemy’s, T’ruck slashed one way then the other. He charged through the ill-prepared Five Kingdoms line, hacking and slashing, and men fell around him like wheat to a scythe. He took wounds, but T’ruck was well used to wounds and none were severe enough to stop him, only fuel his battle rage.

  The crew of North Gale surged through the gap their captain had opened, splitting the enemy wall and turning it, falling upon it from two sides and cutting down swathes of enemy soldiers.

  T’ruck spotted the enemy commander, sabre in hand and shouting orders to his men, and wasted no time in cutting his way through to the man.

  Pain blossomed in T’ruck’s side, just below his ribs. A Five Kingdoms soldier, barely more than a boy, had stabbed him with a spear, but T’ruck was a big man with a lot of muscle and fat. The wound was deep, but not deep enough. He snapped the spearhead off with his sword and crushed the young soldier’s face with the boss of his shield. T’ruck turned back to the enemy commander to find the man gone.

  Again pain erupted in T’ruck’s side, this time his right. He turned just as the Five Kingdoms commander, a greying fool with an inexcusably waxed moustache, slashed at T’ruck’s belly with his sabre.

  The commander drew back his sword for another strike and something large dropped on him from above, flattening him in an instant. T’ruck looked down upon the ship’s boy, Fried, as he rolled away from the commander, his legs obviously broken. The commander looked stunned but otherwise uninjured; T’ruck remedied the situation by crushing the man’s skull with his shield.

  Looking up from the dead commander and dying boy, T’ruck could see his charge had worked. The shield walls were gone, replaced with bloody bodies and clusters of soldiers fighting with pirates. His crew were no longer outnumbered; they’d turned the tide and everywhere they were cutting down smaller groups of men who, without a commander to give them orders, seemed devoid of any organisation. The Five Kingdoms ship had no more soldiers to throw at them, and the captain and his crew were already cutting the lines and pushing the two ships apart. T’ruck would let them; he had no wish to linger.

  A single soldier, still bloodcrazed from the battle, charged at T’ruck. It was a simple thing to knock away the man’s sword with his shield, and then T’ruck skewered him, staring down into his uncomprehending eyes as the light left them. He would happily cut down every man in the Five Kingdoms for what they’d done to his family, and he would dance in their blood and drink from their skulls. But there was no time for revelling in the deaths today; they ha
d to run away from the bastards.

  “Finish them off and get us moving,” T’ruck roared as loudly as he could.

  “Captain!” The scream came from above, and it was raw, a guttural sound full of terror.

  North Gale shifted. The world shifted. One moment T’ruck was on his feet and the next he was in the air, arse over head and falling, then rolling across the sloping deck of his ship.

  T’ruck shook his head, attempting to still the world and figure out what had happened. Screams were drowned out by the sound of wood crunching and cracking, and T’ruck realised North Gale was splitting in half down its midsection, a rent opening up and travelling down the planks of wood as they bent and snapped. There, towering above his ship, blocking out the light and bringing with it the death of his crew, was the monstruous Five Kingdoms vessel, its ram splitting T’ruck’s ship in half.

  Dazed and too confused to be angry, T’ruck let go of both his shield and sword and pushed to his feet. He started straight into a run, charging up the sloping, snapping deck of his ship, towards the Five Kingdoms behemoth. He passed enemy soldiers and friendly pirates alike as they all struggled to understand what was happening.

  The Five Kingdoms ship was crushing its way through his ship, and the beast wasn’t stopping. T’ruck leapt for the monster even as he heard the mast of North Gale give way and snap. It was a terrible sound, the death of his ship, and it lent extra power and fury to T’ruck as he used all his strength to pull his way up the ram of the enemy ship. Hand by bloody hand he climbed, ignoring the screams of his crew dying below.

  T’ruck couldn’t tell if it took an hour or only a moment, but he reached the top of the ram and pulled himself up onto the railing of the Five Kingdoms ship before jumping down onto the fore deck and roaring his defiance at conquering this new monster.