by LJ Andrews
Taylor cried out in pain and Nova’s eyes flashed open. The old man fell to his knees, clutching his bloody shoulder where the bullet had gone through.
“You monster! Leave him be,” she shouted.
Smythe slapped her other cheek, and her face was beginning to feel spongy like jelly.
His forehead touched hers, and the cold metal of his flintlock’s barrel slid across her bruised chin.
“I’ll use the old man for target practice until every bone in his worthless body shatters if ye dare lie again,” he threatened darkly. “Now, do you need to think about what this says on me arm, or does Gold-tooth need another hole?”
Nova’s lip trembled as she watched Taylor clutch his wound. She glanced at the words; they’d finished inscribing into Smythe’s arm and she could understand them clear as anything she’d ever read.
“It’s a task, not a map,” she said softly. “It says: Retrieve the glass to guide your way.”
Smythe watched her, but she could almost see his mind whirling as he thought. After a long, silent moment, in which the crew stood so still only the hot breeze was heard, Smythe straightened. “Take her to the brig.” Kane’s hands immediately wrapped around her and pulled her down the short steps onto the main deck. “Men, prepare to sail across dangerous skies. The temple gods will make certain we be worthy to obtain the treasure, but we’ll solve their riddles and become wealthy men!”
Smythe’s speech was drowned out by the loud cheering from the crew as Kane led Nova below deck toward the dark, moldy cells.
Chapter 22
A New Ally
She leaned against the cold, moss-ridden wall. The wood smelled like the damp river soil covering the surface of Mollem.
Nova sat stoically in the same position she’d been in for three days. Water seeped in through the small holes and crevices of the Vengeance, dampening the back of her shirt. Everything was over, it seemed. The furious power she’d allowed inside her mind and soul had since abandoned her, and she felt weaker by the hour.
Tears splashed down her smooth cheeks as she thought of her mother. Was she looking for her?
“I’m sorry, Mother,” she said to the empty brig. “I’ve made a mess of everything. I wish I was home with you cleaning up after pub rats.”
The door leading to the brig from the gun deck slammed on its hinges and heavy, clomping boots sounded on the stairs. Nova grimaced, thinking of the steel-tip boots of the brig master, Theo. Theo had made a habit of spilling her plate of food so her bread sopped up every dirty sliver off the deck, and occasionally he kicked her hips or knees through the bars. He usually offered only a small amount of fresh water, so her throat was chronically parched and she dreamed of the smooth mango juice she’d had every morning back home.
But it wasn’t Theo. Nova glared when Smythe smiled wickedly at her through the bars.
“How are you finding your quarters, girl?” He sneered, refusing to say her name.
“Go away,” she snarled. Nothing she could say would get her killed. The captain had proved to her she was too valuable. She tried to hold back the words she truly wished to say, but knew her discomfort could get much worse if she wasn’t careful.
“Ye should be more respectful. I did save yer life.”
Nova scoffed. “Yes, right after you tried to kill me. Forgive me if I don’t spill over with gratitude.”
“Ye have the attitude of Varick, and that’s what got him killed.”
Nova clenched her jaw tightly, refusing to cry in front of Smythe. “You’re lying.”
“How does it make ye feel, girl, to learn yer pap was nothing but a murderin’, back-stabbin’ pirate? One of the wickedest men I ever did meet.”
Nova’s cheeks flushed with angry heat, but even she couldn’t deny that the idea of her father behaving as the Star’s Vengeance crew made her stomach turn.
“Ye don’t like that much, I see. Well, perhaps that’s why ye took to the life so quickly. Yer poor mother—if she knew her husband was some killer and her daughter followed in his footsteps,” he tskd his tongue in mock shame. “No wonder we ain’t heard nothing about a runaway from Mollem. She’s probably relieved to be rid of ye both,” Smythe said, chuckling.
Nova shot to her feet and gripped the bars, succumbing to her building anger. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about my family. My father was…is a good man,” she stuttered.
Smythe’s eyes narrowed. “I know plenty about Varick’s two women. I know yer mother ran with ye to Arbeiten, and if ye think of betrayin’ me I’ll hunt her down and kill her…slowly.”
Nova’s jaw dropped. “How…how did you…”
“Yer lover has told me all about ye since he found his true loyalties. I suspect he was a little jealous some girl was getting so much attention from the captain. If I’d have known what good would come from playing on his weakness, I’d have promoted ye to first mate.”
Nova’s heart split down the center. After months of enjoying a budding romance, she was bewildered how quickly Atlas could turn on her.
“Why are you here?” she finally asked, desperate for him to leave her in peace.
Smythe spit a long string of brown saliva into her cell. “I came to tell ye I know the first task, somethin’ we had the first time we found the temple—a certain spyglass. It will be hidden and nearly impossible to reach without dying. Which is why I’ll be sendin’ ye to fetch it.”
“What if I die? Then you’ll never find the temple.”
Smythe nodded. “It’ll be harder, but I’ve done it before. I’m sure there be others who can read the ancient language. I’m a patient man. I’ll find them.”
“Then just kill me now and go find them,” she cried. “If I’m of no worth, rid yourself of me and do me a kindness in turn.”
“Aye, I could do that, but it’s much more gratifying making ye suffer a bit before I kill ye.”
Smythe laughed wildly and whipped around, his coat slapping against the bars. Nova’s eyes burned. So she was to be a pawn in Smythe’s game for the temple. Perhaps if the task for the spyglass was as dangerous as he said, she could get killed on purpose. The thought shifted to the back of her mind as she fell to the floor and cried herself to sleep.
A loud clang on the bars woke her from her fitful sleep. Nova squinted against the dim cell as the sun set behind the vast horizon.
Kale stood in front of the bars, holding a tin plate with half a dry roll and some watery broth.
“Dinner,” he said and scooted the plate through the bars. He filled a tin mug with water and slid that, too.
“What are you doing here?” Nova demanded, although she was grateful he wasn’t Theo.
Kale’s lips pulled up into a half smile. “I bested that fool, Kane, with the sword during training. Apparently, beating the first mate is not smiled upon. So the Captain felt I should be demoted to the brig master. That smelly man who was in charge before, I’ve never seen anyone so happy to be relieved of duty.”
Nova didn’t smile, but she simply watched him for a long while. Her stomach rumbled as the salty broth smell wafted toward her, but she didn’t touch the plate. “Do you plan on poisoning my food? It’d be a perfect opportunity to take your revenge.”
Kale glared at her. “If I remember right, someone led me to believe perhaps not everyone is here on their own accord.”
Nova rolled her eyes. “And what makes you think I didn’t want to be here? I stole that ring, and never felt so alive,” she said venomously. She was angry, but didn’t know why she was punishing Kale for what had happened.
Kale threw up his hands. “My mistake. After your boyfriend betrayed you, I thought maybe you might be different than the rest, but I was obviously mistaken. Enjoy your food.”
Kale stepped away toward the small closet and took out a mop in order to scrub the crusty deck; in his frustration, he forgot to fill the bucket.
For the next few days, Kale passed her one plate of food every night, not saying a word. Nova
watched him silently as he went about the brig duties. Since her father had been taken, she’d learned for herself that trust can be a fleeting thing. Kale seemed trustworthy, but so had Atlas.
“Eat up,” he said the next evening.
There was no crust of bread. There was only the broth, but at least it was still slightly warm. Nova took the plate as he filled her mug. “Thank you,” she finally said, trying to break through her own wall of anger.
Kale lifted his head in surprise; he nodded but didn’t say anything.
Nova cleared her throat and lowered her eyes to the ground. “You were right. I…I didn’t want to be here. I…I’m sorry I forced you into this life. I’m sure you gave up a lot joining the crew.”
He watched her thoughtfully. “It’s nothing I can dwell on now,” he said. She saw the pain in his eyes and her guilt grew. After a short pause, Kale looked at her again. “I’m sorry about your father.”
Her eyes burned with tears again. “I refuse to believe he’s gone. Smythe is a liar.”
“Well, what was he like?”
“You want to know about my father?” she asked suspiciously.
“When my mother died, it helped me to talk about her.”
She smiled sadly. “He was wonderful. He helped me sneak trousers from my home, so my mother wouldn’t know I wasn’t wearing dresses around town. I think she knew anyway.” Nova smiled thinking of him, and Kale laughed. “He taught me how to use a sword, or so I thought until I went against a pirate. He was tall and distinguished though we were anything but wealthy. And he had this scar along his cheek—every time I asked him about it he would make up wild stories about how he’d gotten it.” Her voice trembled as she finished.
Kale’s face was scrunched as he listened. “Smythe said you are from Mollem. Is that true?”
Nova nodded. “Why?”
Kale shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “The more I hear your story, the more memories come to me. Before I left Regen, I remember a man looking for a girl.”
Nova’s eye widened. “What kind of man?”
Kale rubbed the back of his neck as if it would help him remember. “Well, kind of rough around the edges, but he seemed genuinely concerned. Come to think of it he had a woman with him too; I don’t remember much, as I was just passing by my commander’s office when they came. But I remember she was a smaller woman.” Nova held her breath, it wasn’t possible Briggs and her mother were looking for her—was it? “Anyway, my commander couldn’t really help because they seemed very hesitant to give too many details. I guess that’s why I remember, it seemed odd to be looking for someone but not provide a description.”
“Kale, that sounds like…like my mother and uncle. What if they’re looking for me? I…thought I saw my mother on Pierata Island, but I never said anything. How would she know about that island if she were really there? It’s for pirates.”
Kale shrugged, then his eyes widened again and he opened his mouth as if to say something more before quickly changing his mind.
“What?” she asked. “Do you know something?”
He shook his head. “I probably shouldn’t say anything.”
“Well now you have to. Tell me,” she demanded.
“It’s something else about Mollem…and your father. There was word of a man shipwrecking on the shores of the hidden naval port in province four. It’s not far from Mollem. The description sent throughout the ports said he had a long scar on his left cheek.”
Nova’s eyes widened. “What report? When was this?”
He held up his hands. “Slow down. It was well over a year ago.” Kale shifted nervously before continuing. “The reports are sent out when the navy deems someone…a criminal and…they escape custody.”
Nova slowly lowered to the floor, not believing what she was hearing. She thought of the soldiers in the palace on Koning. She’d overheard them talking of a man commandeering ships; hadn’t they said their suspect was a former shipwrecked man? She cursed her memory for not remembering on which island they’d said he’d been spotted. What if it was her father?
“Listen, I’m sure it wasn’t him. From what you’ve described, he couldn’t be a person to make the navy’s list.”
“Kale, but what if it is? That means he’s alive and possibly in trouble. I have to get out of here,” she said desperately.
“There’s no way to get out of here. We are in uncharted skies; I don’t even know where we are.”
Nova bit her lip, gnawing on the inside skin until it bled. “The task. Smythe is going to send me to get that spyglass, or whatever it is. I’ll escape then.”
“Yes, but what if this treasure is real—the temple, I mean,” Kale said. “I didn’t believe it at first, but after you brought back that ring and seeing it carve the words magically into Smythe’s arm, what if there really is a treasure that could make him the most powerful man in the skies? What would be the point of escaping? He’d track us down the first chance he got.”
“You’re saying we should stop him first?”
Kale’s eyes darted toward the stairs as if making sure no one was coming. “I’m saying, what if we got to the treasure first? We stop Smythe and keep whatever is at this temple out of the wrong hands for good.”
“I can’t trust you,” she whispered.
“And I can’t trust you,” he retorted. “But out of anyone on this ship, I don’t trust you the least.”
Nova smiled and her heart raced as she thought of what Kale was suggesting.
“So, what do you say? I could try to steal the ring while you get the spyglass.” he said.
“I say…let’s do it.”
Nova and Kale looked at one another, both feeling the danger of their decision, both feeling similar apprehension for one another. As she thought of the task, the strange power slithered into her heart. She began to feel the dark tendrils wrap around her thoughts, urging her to beat Smythe and his crew. After he was gone, finding her father would be safer and easier.
Nova’s lips curled into a confident smile. She would leave the ship, and perhaps with Kale’s help in stealing the ring, they would find the temple first, once and for all ridding the skies of Captain Smythe.
Thank you for beginning this new series with me. I sincerely hope you enjoyed Pirate’s Vengeance. I’d like to offer you a free short story as a companion book, Pirate’s Atlas, when you sign up to my mailing list. I have a no spam rule. You only hear from me once or twice a month, unless I’m releasing a new book, in that case you get all sorts of extra goodies like fun giveaways and freebies. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Get you free book below.
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Glossary:
Berth: A location in a port or harbor used specifically for mooring vessels while not at sea
Brig: Interior part of the ship used to detain prisoners
Bow: front of a ship
Come About: To change track
Gangplank: A moveable bridge used in boarding a ship.
Gun Deck: the deck below a ship used to hold cannons
Gun port: an opening in the side of a ship in which the guns protrude
Helm: steering mechanism for a ship
Helmsmen: crewmen who steers the ship
Hull: the shell and framework of the floatation portion of the ship
Keel: the central structural base of the hull
Main mast: the tallest mast on a ship
Port side: left side of a ship
Quarterdeck: The aftermost deck of a ship. In the age of sail, the quarterdeck was the preserve of the ship's officers
Rigging: the system of masts and lines on a ship
Scuttle a ship: Sink a ship deliberately
Starboard side: Right side of the ship
Stern: rear of a ship
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible if not for my wonderful husband and talking about a wild idea of flying pirate ships. Thank you for your support and encouragement even when
things get a little sketchy, you are always there to help me focus and reengage. Thank you to my beautiful children, Linnea, Andrea, Jarom and CharliJo. You four are the reason I keep writing. You will all do amazing things, and I promise if you keep working hard you will reach your goals and dreams. Thank you to Aubrey and Katie, you are amazing for reading every stinking book I write and giving me honest feedback. No one can make me feel better about what I’m doing than you two. Thank you to my mom and dad and your endless support and my amazing Grandma—I know digital books can be hard but you’re facing them like a champ. Thank you to Cover Studio for the awesome cover, seriously…wow. Thank you to Scott Clark for creating a map of a made up world and making it look awesome! Thank you to Amy Martin for editing this book and catching all my uses of “suddenly”. And finally, my deepest thanks to my readers. I have been incredibly humbled by the support, reviews, and kind words offered from my previous series and this new series. I love you all!
About the Author
LJ Andrews made her debut author premier with the epic fantasy series The Lost Relics. She loves writing clean, fantasy with fun worlds and exciting characters. LJ lives with her husband, four children, two dogs, and cat in a hallmark town surrounded by mountains. She loves writing and hearing from readers, occasionally writing someone into her books! You can contact her at [email protected].
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