The Briny Deep

by Simon Archer

  “We reached the archipelago from the mainland about four days sailing from Avion. The winds had carried us a bit more northerly than we wanted, so we had to turn southwards once we realized we were closer to Tarrant than we really wanted to be.” The old man doodled out a rough line for the coast of Bargest, poked a divot in the sand along the shore for Tarrant, then another out about a foot away for his ship.

  “I can see that,” Ember mused. “A treasure ship near a den of pirates would be quite the prize.”

  “If they knew we were there,” Eustace continued. “All the books and news pegged us as a shipment of textiles. The truth was in the captain’s manifest alone. There was a sloop along with us, The Lady Gray, serving as escort for our wallowing barge of a vessel. Any captain looking twice at us could tell we ran too low in the water to be carrying cloth, but luck was with us, and we didn’t encounter a damned thing… until the storm.”

  He stabbed a finger into the sand to what would have been the south of Tarrant. “It blew up out of nowhere, and suddenly we had waves washing over the deck ‘til the captain got us turned into them. The rain was so hard that we lost sight of our escort, and the winds carried us where they would. If it hadn’t come up so fast, I’d have said we blundered into a hurricane, but this was sudden. There was no darkening of the sky, no building of the wind or whitecaps before we found ourselves overwhelmed.”

  Eustace shook his head sadly. “‘Twas like the hand of some angry god pointed at The Golden Bull and sent her helpless into the maw of the sea.”

  “Did ye not have a witch?” Mary asked.

  Eustace shrugged. “We did, and she tried, but a wave carried her and the first mate overboard the moment she started to sing.” His eyes clouded with memory as the rest of us exchanged brooding looks.

  Ember gave a low whistle and looked sidelong at Tabitha. “I hadn’t heard this particular bit of the story.”

  “Nor had I,” the Ailur said.

  I waved for the old man to continue. Hexes, angry spirits, or the wrath of the gods meant little to me. I had the best crew of pirates, spiritcallers, and hexers I could want. Far better than some mildly talented Admiralty witch.

  His eyes flicked to me, then past, and we all looked over to see Ligeia strolling out of the waves wearing nothing but jewelry and a closed-lipped smile.

  Eustace cackled again and said, “Well, damn my eyes that I should behold a sea-singer before I died.” He dipped his head in a sort of bow to my siren as she padded up, her bare feet silent on the damp sand.

  “What have I missed?” she asked me.

  “Yon oldster spoke of the last voyage of The Golden Bull , and a storm that sprang up out of nothing,” I replied and looked over at Eustace. “About where were ye again?”

  “Oh, a full day or so south of Tarrant,” came the reply. His eyes were fixed on Ligeia’s chest as if hypnotized.

  Kargad just shook his head, and Shrike smirked while the women, well, all but Adra, rolled their eyes at the old man’s distraction. I couldn’t blame him for starting, the siren was beautifully formed and enticing in her innocent nakedness. My own gaze was nearly entrapped as Ligeia slipped over and settled down next to me, on the opposite side from Mary. I focused on the tale-teller.

  “So ye ran before this storm for how long?”

  “I couldn’t tell you, lad.” Eustace reached up and rubbed his nose slowly. “‘Twas a day at least, maybe more. Full half the crew went overboard, and the captain lashed himself to the wheel. Many of us hid belowdecks, though the ship was already taking on water. Then, as quick as it came, the storm was gone.”

  He looked at each and every one of us in the eye in turn, as if daring us to dispute his tale. “Captain Pierce was dead with a broken neck, still lashed to the wheel, and we were stranded on a sandbar off the shore of an island much like this one.”

  “That ain’t too helpful,” Shrike grumbled and peered at me.

  I didn’t give him much. My face was expressionless while I let my mind’s eye wander. There were lots of islands south of Tarrant, but this particular one needed a sandbar and a cove. It had to have at least one major current that ran to it, or close enough to make it reasonable for a ship to wash up on said sandbar in a storm. I also suspected that there was a sharp drop past the shelf beyond the sandbar, at least within a quarter-mile or so. While I thought, I listened to the rest of Eustace Brill’s tale.

  “Those of us who made it through the storm abandoned ship and made it to the island. We took the surviving food and fresh water, then camped the night and were going to recover some of the gold and other items from the wreck the next day, but come morning, The Golden Bull was gone.” As the old man finished, he settled back a bit, peering owlishly around at the group of us gathered around.

  “Gone?” Shrike demanded. “How in the hells does a grounded ship just bloody vanish?”

  Brill shrugged. “If I knew, lad, I’d tell you. None of us saw or heard anything at all, that night, but we were fair exhausted.”

  “So, how do we know this tale is true?” Kargad grunted and leaned forward to peer at the old man.

  “We have the bloody manifest,” Tabitha protested. “What more do we need?”

  That convinced me right there that Captain Binx had more riding on this expedition than she’d let on. She’d wagered her reputation, her ship, and her crew that we’d be able to find the sunken treasure ship on the word of this geezer, here. I frowned a bit. The others might not be convinced, but there was a little, niggling touch in the back of my mind that inclined me to believe his tale.

  “Well, lad,” Eustace leaned forward and held out a hand, “I took this before my turn came to go ashore.”

  Nestled in his palm was a four-fifths wheel, a coin rarely seen by anyone not of Imperial nobility. A full wheel was a heavy gold coin scored into five parts as part of the minting process. Each fifth was set with a gemstone of some sort, usually diamonds, rubies, or emeralds. The coins were works of art and usually depicted a picture of the current reigning emperor of the realm.

  All of us leaned forward in wide-eyed curiosity, aside from Adra and Ligeia, whose interests didn’t so much include wealth like the rest of us. In the light of the fire, my keen eyes picked out the profile of a man that wasn’t Asmond Blackburn, which meant…

  “Corso?” Shrike asked.

  “Aye,” Eustace said with a grin. “Minted right before The Golden Bull set sail. I had to trade a fifth for passage to Potter and spent my years there.”

  “That’s where I found him,” Tabitha spoke up. “Ran across a bloke in Tarrant that claimed to be the son of one o’ the survivors o’ The Golden Bull . He told me one of the survivors lived on Red Cliff Isle, so I went searchin’, an’ found this ol’ pain in the arse.”

  Brill cackled at that. “I’m the last, far as I know. Likely the only one who didn’t squander his take or drown himself in drink while hiding from the Empire.” He shrugged and peered around the circle, then looked off into the fire, the light and shadow playing over his wrinkled, craggy face.

  “How long did it take to reach Potter?” I asked. “Once ye got picked up by… what?”

  “A fisherman,” Eustace answered brightly. “Seems the tuna liked to crowd the waters off that little island. We bribed him with a fifth of the wheel and told him there was a pirate treasure there. Maybe he went back for it, and maybe he didn’t, but he dropped me off at Potter, which was maybe two days with a slow wind from where we wrecked.”

  “Bloody hell,” I muttered. “No wonder ye lost the damned ship. It ain’t a shelf the sandbar marks, but a sea’s eye. That’s a bloody loss if the wreck’s in that bottomless deep.”

  A sea’s eye was usually a roughly round location nearby an island and often surrounded by an out-thrust of land, or a sandbar or some other demarkation. They took their name from the deep blue of the water within, a marked difference from the surroundings.

  “Bardak,” Ligeia spoke up before anyone else could. I looke
d over at her in some surprise, as I hadn’t realized she was actually listening. “Thou art only partly correct. A sea’s eye is deep, yes, but it has a bottom, and with my gift, you may tread it, should you wish.”

  “Ha!” Tabitha slapped her knee. “I knew this was a good idea! I knew it!”

  “Hold a moment.” I held up my right hand for silence. “First, we don’t know that the ship is truly sunk in the eye, nor do we even know it rests near this island at all.”

  Faces fell, and the others silenced while only Mary and Ligeia had their eyes on me. They knew I had more to say.

  “But I bloody well mean to find out,” I said firmly. “We rest here tonight, an’ tomorrow we sail. I’ve a destination in mind, an’ Eustace Brill can confirm if I’ve the right of it when we arrive.”

  “Cap’n!” Jimmy Mocker ran up to the fire, practically bouncing with excitement. “Yon galleon bore a payroll in addition to her guns an’ powder. Do ye wish me to transfer it to The Hullbreaker, or divvy it amongst the men?”

  That wasn’t a hard decision. “Dole out half by weight among the crews, split the rest among the ships,” I told him. “Let’s give everybody a bit o’ reward for a job well done.”

  22

  O nce our discussion of how to approach the treasure ship wound down, I drifted away from the bonfires to the edge of the small forest that masked the center of this little island. Mary, Ember, and Nagra had all started talking shop, Shrike slipped off to talk to his crew, and Kargad discussed some finer points of shamanism with Adra. Among the rest of the crews, there was more than a little fraternization in pairs and threes, and The Black Cat’s crew seemed amenable to join in, something I hadn’t really expected.

  Ligeia walked with me a bit, humming a soft melody that helped calm my raging thoughts. “You are troubled,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

  “Aye, a bit,” I replied. “Seems brooding be important for captains, an’ I don’t want to disappoint my men.”

  The siren hissed laughter for a moment then hooked her right arm with my left as we walked. “I can share my kiss with a handful more before I need to retrieve my magic. Are there any ye would include in your plundering of The Golden Bull , my captain?”

  A shadow stepped up beside us, and a purring voice said, “I want t’be there if ye please.”

  “Ye were listenin’ in, aye, Binx?” I growled.

  She flicked one of her ears and grinned, white teeth shining. “Ain’t like I meant to, but I figured ye were talkin’ about how ye were gonna make the dive. Unless yer dwarven crew are packin’ deep-dive suits in yer hold, ye’d need some other way to get down there.” Her eyes flickered to Ligeia. “An’ one way is walkin’ right beside ye.”

  “Should I eat her?” Ligeia mused, drawing her lips back to reveal her mouthful of shark’s teeth.

  “Ye’ll find I don’t go down easy,” the Ailur replied.

  I shook my head. “Peace, both o’ ye.” The momentary thought of the pair of them squaring off went through my mind’s eye, and while it might be something to witness, I didn’t want either of the women hurting each other. “We all be on the same side here, aye.”

  Tabitha nodded and smiled disarmingly up at the much taller siren. “I’d be yer friend, Ligeia, if ye’d have me.”

  The siren blinked both sets of her eyelids and tilted her head curiously as she regarded the smaller, feline woman. “I do not have many friends, really, and only one lover.”

  I coughed as Tabitha chuckled. “Only one?” she purred. “I’ve none, though I might wonder if ye an’ the witch would share. Yer captain seems quite the man.”

  “Indeed he is,” the siren answered in a bemused tone. “I see no problem with adding another, provided no one is neglected.”

  “Are ye quite done?” I interjected. It had been quite a while since I’d been talked about like a side of meat, though it was kind of flattering, too, considering the sources.

  They both laughed, and we walked on. At least they weren’t going to kill each other yet, and I wasn’t sure if Tabitha was speaking in jest or not.

  “So ye know about a siren’s kiss,” I observed. “I suppose ye know ‘tis Mary and me who have the gift, now?”

  “I suspected, considerin’ how close the three o’ ye be,” Tabitha replied. “Is it an initiation of sorts, or was it less planned than that?”

  “It was how Ligeia saved us when The Indomitable’s powder room exploded, throwing us into the deeps,” I answered before Ligeia could. “We’ve enjoyed it since, though ‘tis a bit hard to get used to.”

  “I can bloody well imagine,” Binx said. “Now, before ye go thinkin’ about cats not likin water, consider this: I’m a bloody pirate captain.” She grinned broadly. “I can swim like a damned fish, fight, hold me breath, an’ fuck like a dolphin in the sea. I’m also not the sort t’ turn down any kind o’ adventure.”

  She stepped out in front of me and put her hands on her hips, looking up at me and my siren. “I wasn’t blowin’ smoke up yer ass when I told ye back in Caber that I wanted to join ye.”

  “I figured ye spoke true,” I said. “An’ I accepted ye into me fleet on yer word.” Pausing, I gestured back towards the fires and the dark shapes around them, then to Ligeia. “What do ye think I meant by that?”

  Tabitha shrugged. “I know not. Maybe that ye wanted me to work for ye?”

  Ligeia hissed with soft laughter.

  “This is my clan, Cap’n Tabitha Binx,” I told her. “This is what I’m tryin’ to build out here in the Archipelago out o’ misfits, cutthroats, an’ pirates. I’m old enough an’ strong enough to found my own extended family, so this be it.”

  “Ye be an interestin’ creature, Cap’n Bardak Skullsplitter,” Tabitha stopped and crossed her arms beneath her breasts, her eyes focused on Ligeia and me. Her tail twitched to and fro, then curled into a question mark. “What d’ye call this clan o’ yers?”

  I chuckled and grinned at her. “Hullbreaker, what else?”

  The Ailur woman snorted laughter while Ligeia looked at her in curiosity, head cocked.

  “So ye’d be willin’ t’ give this stray cat a home, aye?” Tabitha asked after a moment. “Ain’t been many in my life would say that.”

  The siren and I exchanged glances, then I nodded and held out my hand to Tabitha. “Welcome t’ Hullbreaker, Tabitha Binx,” I said solemnly.

  She stared at the offered hand, so much larger than her own petite, slim-fingered one. “Ye be serious, don’t ye?”

  I nodded and met her gaze, the slit pupils of her eyes were so large they appeared almost round. “Why would I not be, lass?”

  “Well, damn me for a drunken kitten.” The black-furred feline woman slapped her small hand into mine, and we clasped tightly. She was strong for her size, which wasn’t really surprising at all to me. “Count me in, Cap’n, an’ if all goes well an’ we snatch this booty from the depths, I’d…” She paused for a moment and lightly caught her lower lip in her fangs. “... like to join ye more personal-like, if ye get my meaning.”

  Ligeia leaned against my side and studied the Ailur woman with her dark, shining eyes. “If that is truly what you wish, little cat,” the siren said softly. “I do not object, provided that Mary and our Captain do not.”

  Tabitha bounced on her toes and grinned, fairly quivering with excitement. “Aye, shall I go and speak with yon witch, then?”

  I chuckled deeply and waved her off. “Aye, if ye wish, Cap’n Binx.”

  “I do wish,” she said with a broad grin, then scampered off back towards the fires.

  “Excitable,” Ligeia observed as we watched her go.

  “Aye,” I mused. If Tabitha meant what I suspected, then apparently she had eyes on me. It wasn’t something I objected to, most orc chieftains had multiple mates, and mine were both exceptional. A third would certainly be a proverbial notch in my axe handle, but I just couldn’t think of any of them as just prizes.

  All of them had chosen me, and then I
discovered that I had more than rage inside me. If Mary and Ligeia had no trouble accepting the feisty little Tabitha Binx, then who was I to argue?

  “Someone is following her,” my siren announced quietly, breaking my momentary reverie.

  “Bloody hell, what?” I turned and gazed back towards the fires. I had no problem seeing through the darkness, but several shadows moved among the trees, and I’d missed my chance.

  “A figure from the trees slipped after her, but she reached the light and the others too quickly. That’s when her shadow stopped and went a different path,” Ligeia explained. “I only chanced to be looking that way and saw them pass between us and the bonfires.”

  “Maybe it was just one of the crews returning from a tryst,” I rationalized, confident that this island was uninhabited but for us, and I really couldn’t imagine any of my crew having ill-intentions towards any other.

  Except maybe one.

  I flared my nostrils and snorted. There was no proof, but I’d have Kargad keep a close eye on Drammond Screed. The man smelled more and more sour to me by the moment, and Tabitha had confessed that he’d been an old lover. For some reason, I felt a surge of jealousy. It passed quickly, and I stood, staring off towards the fires until I felt a cool hand on my back.

  “Do not worry for that one, my Captain,” Ligeia whispered in my ear. She barely had to stand on her tiptoes to reach me, and her body pressed temptingly against mine. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

  “Are ye just going to stand there like a lump, my Captain?” Mary slipped out of the darkness to join the siren and me. “Or do ye mean to enjoy our little reprieve?”

  “Methinks I’ll enjoy it, lass,” I replied as Ligeia pressed fully against my back, kissing across my shoulders. The soft murmur of her song filled the air around me.

  “Good choice,” Mary stepped up to me and smiled, brightly, her mismatched eyes gleaming in the night as she undid the loose laces on her blouse and shrugged out of it. Her pale skin seemed to glow as I reached out to her.