Cass watched the mermaid staring into the boy’s eyes. “Maybe someone should tell her.”
After weeks of sailing around islands, staking out fortresses and building small shelters, the pirates gathered to set their plan in motion and bring the people from Fivertown to their new home.
They sailed to the other side of the world and to the rogues’ hidey-hole on Rogamis. Harry dug out two bottles of whiskey and kissed the bottles. They were the Royal’s special stock and confiscated from the Admiral’s ship when three pirate trawlers took the frigate on. The pirates had been saving the potent brew for a special occasion. “Do your magic,” he whispered.
Cass tried on the handmaiden dress in Vincent’s cabin. She removed it again and folded it over his desk chair, and then lay on the cot waiting for him. Her eyes closed and she awoke in the darkness with Vincent’s lips surrounding a nipple and his hair cascading over her breast.
She sifted the soft strands through her fingers. “Things are set on board?” He nipped her tight peak and she gasped.
“Aye, don’t you be worrying yourself with what’s happening up top.” His teeth captured her tip and he tugged, stretching the soft skin and enjoying the feel of her hips squirming up against him.
His fingers trailed downward, over her stomach and below. The welcoming damp warmth made him smile. Cass kept her fingers secured in his waves while his lips kissed down her skin. Thighs resting on his broad shoulders, she bit her lip and her muscles clenched with the first sweep of his tongue. “Oh, god, Vincent.”
His tongue stroked her, tasting and delving. Her hips thrust up, leaving the cot, and he smiled. Her pleasurable moans excited him, urging him to continue lapping and kissing the soft skin of her inner thighs.
Her breath quickened to gasps and she tugged at his hair, trying to pull him on top of her. “I need you.”
“No you don’t, Cass-lass. I’ll be enjoying your passion one time before bein’ lost in my own.” He sucked, and felt her erupt immediately and passionately.
He rose, and Cass reached around, caressing the lean muscles of his back while her shudders slowed. Tongues met and slid along each other as he eased into her. The fullness inside her caused spasming, gripping excitement, and she pulsed with residual sparking nerves from her climax, feeling her passion building again.
She felt his tall frame go rigid. He pressed forward and groaned while he ground into her. “Oh fuck. Fuck me, Cass-lass.”
Vincent was shaking by the time he rolled against the hull, pulling her with him, still together. “You’ll not be leaving me, my beauty.”
Cass kissed him and snuggled her head under his chin. “No, pirate. I’ll not be leaving you.”
* * * * *
The reef of Fifth Realm was thirty feet away. “You sure you want to do be doin’ this?” Vincent searched her green eyes. The least bit of fear, and they would find another way.
“I have to, Vincent.” Reading his mind, she stroked her fingers down his jaw and through his beard. “You know there is no other way. I have to get the message spread in time to meet with Sandra before she goes to the celebration.” Once more she stood on deck wearing one of Vincent’s shirts. She pulled it over her head, and the pirates cursed approval and cat-called softly. Besides her bikini, she had a waterproof satchel tied to her waist, with the handmaiden dress and Vincent’s scarf inside.
“You can swim that far?” Vincent felt the unusual taste of fear she seemed to provoke. “We can get you closer.”
Cass laughed softly. “Vincent, the schooner is almost scraping bottom. The sea is calm and it’s not that far. I’ll be fine.”
“Remember, it’s the third house on the left with the blue ship painted on the door.”
“I won’t forget.” She stretched up to kiss him and stared into his dark eyes. “Just be waiting near the harbor for me.”
Vincent kissed her again. She smiled at the crew and dove over the side. Vincent watched until she pulled herself up on the beach. She waved, and opened the satchel, pulling the dress on and tying the scarf around her braid. Cass was glad he could not see her fingers shaking, and she turned to walk into Fivertown.
The dilapidated shacks made her wince. Every home was tended, and cared for with a pride that reached through the shabby materials. Unusual decorations, artfully displayed along the muddy road and in yards, marked her way to Vincent’s house. People stopped their chores and stared at her while she made her way up the street. The paint on the sailboat had faded, and Cass felt her stomach flutter with nerves when she walked up and knocked on the door. A man answered, and Cass almost gasped at his likeness to Vincent. “Mr. LeSeure?”
A woman crowded beside him and her eyes fixed on the scarf. “In here. By the sea, in here with you.” She burst into tears. “Have they caught my boy, then?”
“What? No, ma’am.”
“But, you’ve got his scarf, and the Admiral has given word to sink his ship.”
Cass smiled. “Vincent gave this to me not half an hour ago.”
Cass discovered Fifth Realm had its own system of leaders. They were quickly gathered and she told them the plan between bites of delicious stew. The people reminded her of the honest hardworking folks in Henryville, and she answered questions about sons who had spent years on the sea as rogues.
When she told them of the land off the end, they bombarded her with questions. Cass smiled and dug into her satchel. “It was prettier when Vincent picked it for you.” She handed his mother a wilted purple flower, complete with roots. The Makers’ creations left them off.
“It’s real,” she gasped. “I remember. They stopped growing before I was a young woman.”
“Let me guess,” Cass said. “After the Makers arrived?”
So much of what the strange girl said made terrifying sense. Lots of thumbs poked at foreheads, and the bottom line that passed the vote was that the people in Fifth Realm had nothing to lose. They would meet at the dock at midnight.
“This is Lucy and Franny. If they can’t get those guards’ attention, their cocks have long since died,” a man boasted.
It seemed odd he was so willing to offer his daughters, but Cass had to admit the beautiful young women looked saucy enough to handle their part. “You’ve got to hand this coin to them so they get their men to go to the tavern. Convince them you’ll stay to watch the dock with them and get them drunk as… well… sailors, I guess.” The women took the bottles and the coins.
“I wish I could take you to Sandra myself, but they might suspect an old woman in the palace. Margaret has been her handmaiden for a year. She’ll get you there all right.” Vincent’s mother kissed her cheek. “Luck of the sea be with you, Cass-lass.”
She laughed nervously. “That’s what Vincent calls me.”
“It’s a good omen to see you off with then.”
“Just follow behind me with that laundry,” Margaret instructed. “Try not to let any guards catch your eye or they’ll be badgering you for a toss.” The palace’s first floor was six inches deep in water. “They expected Fifth Realm to flood first.”
“The Makers are closer to this end. Fivertown is probably the safest place on Espedene,” Cass whispered back.
Sandra was waiting in her chamber for Margaret to arrive and help dress her for the festivities. When Cass walked in and she noticed the scarf, she laughed softly. “I wondered when I’d get to meet the woman who stole my Vincent’s heart. Come in, Cassandra. Pascal has told me a little about you.”
“Is Addie Queen yet?”
“Adelaide is in prison, as is Pascal. He has assured us that is safest for now. Whatever power you women have over the Makers has the King in a panic.”
Cass explained the plan, once more pulling a flower from the satchel.
“It’s true? There is real land?”
“Yes, but we need you to convince your husband to help us.” Cass looked nervously around the luxurious chamber.
Sandra took her hands and smiled into her eyes. “Naturally, we co
uld not come back here.”
“No, Sandra.”
Sandra sighed. “Well, even Charles says the whole damn place is sinking. On to greener pastures, then.”
“He’ll be willing to help?”
“Yes, and Lorena and her husband will want to join us. With the Fivers’ help, we should be able to get the frigate to sea.”
“Lorena would help steal her father’s ship?”
“Lorena helped Vincent steal the schooner. Damien has never forgiven her for costing him the right ear of the throne. Gossip has it that his own wife spends her time with another officer. She was denied three years’ worth of her turn claiming treasures from the Makers in exchange for Damien’s dowry request.”
“What about Pascal and Addie?”
“That will have to be arranged for another day, I’m afraid. They are in the Royal prison, in the thick of the festivities. The appointments are quite nice, so she’s not suffering.” There was a noise from outside the chamber. “Charles and his aid, no doubt. Well, we don’t need his gossiping nose in here.”
Sandra stood, and in a randy voice she called out, “Charles, come give us a toss before I’m trapped behind my corset.” She smiled at Cass. “Raunchy Fiver talk excites him.”
Cass quickly whispered, “He loved you, you know. Vincent told me he did.”
“And I loved him. The world just wasn’t right for us.”
After the explanations were finished, Charles held Sandra’s hands and looked into her eyes. “I’m willing to sail to the end with you, love. But all I’ve ever had to offer you is my status and these frivolities.”
Sandra raised a hand to his cheek. “Charles, you’ve given me years of news of my brother and news of Vincent, even though it broke your heart to tell me.” She cleared her throat from emotion. “You’ll be taking me off the end, my Charles. We’ll live in a shack and run through real grass, and you’ll never go to sea without me.”
Cass waited in Sandra’s chambers until well after they left for the celebration. The couple returned and quickly packed a traveling bag, and changed their clothes from the elegant costuming. They met Lorena and her husband at the palace entrance, hiding behind columns until they were clear from the sight of the guards.
They reached the docks to find Fivertown folk, hidden behind guard shacks or crouched in the shadows. Lucy and Franny had the guards on the ground, singing drunken choruses and groping through their skirts.
“Oh for god sakes,” Lorena sniffed. “The plan was to get them drunk? Those men drink all night long. They’ll never pass out with all that singing.” She strode onto the dock before anyone could catch her. “Captain Billings and Lieutenant Shafer, is this how you guard the Royal dock?”
They stumbled to their feet. “Lady Astier, the… um… celebration.”
“Is still in full swing. Come with me. We’re having our own party on ship.” She walked down the dock with her husband chasing after her.
“Lorena?” her husband panicked. “The guards?”
“Are Third and Fourth Realm, Felix. I imagine Lieutenant Shafer’s apartment is already sinking and he is treading water to reach his breakfast. And Captain Billings is married to Angela Harper. Do you really think he’s going to miss that shrew?” She turned to see a crowd at the end of the dock. “Cassandra, is your group planning to sail or swim, dear?”
They ran up the dock, and within minutes the Churning Redemption was closing in on the sails of the rogue pirate vessels. Cass was transferred to Vincent’s schooner, but the rest of the reunions had to wait until they sailed off the end.
While the Fivertown exiles and pirates reacquainted with each other and toured the close islands, Cass spent most of her time watching Jimmy with his mermaid. “Doesn’t it bother you that she can’t leave the water?”
“No, miss. I like the sea just fine, and my witch can walk on land for almost an hour now before we have to come back to the pool.”
“And she doesn’t ever try to follow the other ones?”
“No, miss. My witch, well, she’s my witch. I cared for her for a lot of years.”
Arms wrapped around her and she smiled. Vincent leaned down and whispered, “It’s time, Cass.” It had been two days since they returned.
Harry Tilly and a few crewmembers boarded the frigate, and Vincent led in his schooner. They reached the reef surrounding Rogamis harbor and the frigate turned and unloaded its cannons. It ripped through the rock and pounded the cove. They aimed away from the trawlers and shot towards town, until the alarm bell gave its five rings.
As soon as Harry was certain they had seen the Churning Redemption, he sailed towards Espedene. When the harbor was within sight and a frigate set sail, Harry Tilly and his crew transferred to the Floralinda Sunset. They left the Admiral’s frigate cut loose and drifting towards the harbor.
“You’re sure this is the course, Vincent?”
“Aye, Harry. It don’t seem right stealin’ Damien’s fine boat. Besides, the truce is officially ended. You know the Rogamis settlers have no doubt the missing rogue pirates must have attacked Espedene, and the Realm answered by sending the Admiral’s frigate. The two settlements are at war, and Damien will have much more to do than be chasing me. His daughter is missing, and when he sets to sea he’ll not be expecting Rogamis to be firing on him.”
Vincent sailed over the edge and left Harry and his crew at their new fortress. “You’ll be goin’ alone?”
“Pascal’s my friend, Harry. I’ll be leaving you here to look after things.” Vincent still had no firm plan as to how to rescue Addie or Pascal. On the sail back to Espedene, Mudeye called down, “Captain, land.”
Vincent took the spyglass. “That’s the sandbar we found you on.”
Cass took the glass, and after sighting the sandbar she swept it to the left. “Vincent, the island is back.”
They sailed towards the sandbar, and the rock cave was there, except instead of spewing water, it was sucking it down at an alarming rate. “Please don’t go back.” Vincent gripped her arm.
“I’m not leaving you, Vincent. Something tells me that passage doesn’t lead to my world anyway. The water is pulling down, not up.” Cass was not sure how she knew this was wrong, but goose bumps raised on her arms. “Get us away from it.”
They were half way to Espedene when the sky thundered. The two moons spit bursts of light into the atmosphere above. This in itself was frightening, but the answering lasers slamming into the moons were terrifying. A speck appeared on the horizon, coming towards them at an alarming speed.
Cass thought it might be a missile, but they did not have any such things on this world. Vincent and his crew stared in shock, until it crashed into the water off the stern. They turned the ship when three women climbed out of a hatch to flag them over. Before they could reach them, their spacecraft sank and they were swimming to the Floralinda Sunset.
“Who are they?” Vincent whispered. Sky witches, is it? And what is the cost to Aquadea for them?
“God, I don’t know. But I think it might be better to pick them up and try to get on their side before the Realm or Rogamis grabs them,” Cass said.
The schooner pulled alongside and dropped a rope ladder down the hull. The women were dressed in odd warrior clothing. Two collapsed on the deck, and a tall blonde woman held onto the railing.
Vincent approached carefully. Watching the rise and fall of their chests, he did not think they were androids. “I am Captain Vincent LeSeure.”
The woman studied the pirate outfit, and grinned. “Glad to meet ya’.” The woman swung out a hand, and then let it drop to her side while she panted in exhaustion. She looked up into the pirate’s dark eyes, and announced, “We’ve come to save you.” Her knees buckled and she sank to the deck beside her friends.
It took a long while before the women caught their breath and their muscles were no longer jelly. Cass sat next to them, silently waiting. When they sat up, she introduced herself. “I’m Cass. Something big is goi
ng on, and I suppose you have answers.”
“What’s happening?” the woman with dark spiky hair asked.
“There was all this firefight in the sky, and then you guys landed.” Cass laughed uneasily. “Now, the seas are receding. It’s like they’re being sucked into a cave.”
“Shit, they’ve slip-streamed,” the tall blonde girl muttered. “You from Earth?”
Under any other circumstances, Cass would have laughed. Not now, though. “Yes. I’ve been here about three months, as close as I can tell. Weird things happen in Aquadea.” She looked at the women and sighed. “This is going to sound crazy, but we’re in the middle of a pirate war.”
The dark haired pixie continued to question her. “You know what a slip-stream is?”
Cassandra's Pirate (The Atlantis Series) Page 12