Belle and the Pirate

by Vivienne Savage

  “Fear not. She was quite free and lively when I saw her. In fact, she fought several mercenaries alongside him. I’ve rarely seen two souls so in sync.”

  “Our Tink fought mercenaries?”

  “She did. Mercenaries hired by the emperor himself. In the past, I’ve told him to keep his bounty hunters away from my city, but my warning has gone unheeded.” Joaidane steepled his fingers. “So, as you can see, I have a bone to pick with Emperor Da’Wio myself.”

  “I’ve written several times without any response.”

  “Then I vow the aid of Samahara during your time of need,” the sorcerer replied. “Give me time to contact the emperor, and we shall see what he says regarding your lost citizens.”

  Anastasia’s shoulders dropped, and she tilted her head back with her eyes closed. The tension drained from her spine before she sagged forward on the chair. “Thank you, Joaidane. Thank you. Truly. We owe a great debt to—”

  “No. You owe nothing to me,” he interrupted her. “Your cousin brought my family together again, and for that, I can never repay her, so I shall not try. What I do, I do because it is right, and for no other reason. Please, tell your husband and his aunt to turn back. Don’t approach the emerald gates without invitation, but trust that I’ll do whatever is necessary to gain them an audience with Da’Wio.”

  “Thank you. I’ll contact them to share the news immediately.”

  Joaidane inclined his head to her. “You’re very welcome. Until we speak again, my friend.”

  Chapter

  DAYS HAD PASSED since Belle’s transformation back to her small size, and James had done his best to make every moment count. Her change in stature didn’t make him love her any less, and he made every effort to prove it despite the unrelenting melancholy smothering her mood.

  “In another week or so, we’ll see your kingdom,” he said as he stood at the rail on the quarterdeck. “I’ve been giving some thought on how to get you home, since the coast is a wall of cliffs.”

  “Oh?” Tink sat on his shoulder with her head leaned up against his neck.

  “I thought it might be best if we approached through Creag Morden. It would mean days of travel, or perhaps we could find a way to contact your queen.”

  “But that will put the Jolly Roger in Eisland’s waters.”

  “The only other option is to travel north through Liang. Given their inhospitable nature toward me, it would be a treacherous journey. At sea, we can make a run for it, if needed.”

  Belle fluttered up and hovered near his face, surrounded in a dim blue glow. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  “Love, we’ll be in no more danger than we face any other day. Everything will be—”

  “Sails!” Peter cried out from the crow’s nest. “There’s a war ship flying Eisland’s colors on the horizon.”

  Belle became an alarmed blip of red and wrung her small hands together. “Does that mean we have to fight them?”

  “Nothing to fret over, love,” James said, dabbing his brow with a handkerchief. The unusual temperature of the afternoon had made for an unbearable day of sailing. “I prefer to avoid battling their ships if we can help it. We’ll be long gone before they reach us.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I am. I’ve yet to come across a ship that can match the Jolly Roger in speed.”

  So why did uneasiness curl in his gut and knot his shoulders with tension? James looked back at the speck on the horizon and stared at the blue sails.

  Nigel approached with a gnomish telescope clutched in his hand. “James, I think we have a problem. That ship over yonder? It isn’t just any Eislander ship. It’s the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Have a look.”

  Once the powerful scope exchanged hands, its lens revealed a magnified image of the vessel King Harold had awarded Teach only days prior to James setting sail from their shores for the last time. Weeks later, he’d encountered the Golden Goose and found himself incapable of remaining under Teach’s command another day.

  James grunted. While beautiful and enormous, they’d outrun the Queen Anne’s Revenge numerous times over the years, leaving only choppy sea foam in their wake whenever the warship attempted to engage them in battle. “This changes nothing. They had the fortune of coming upon the others while they were at a standstill, but we’ve got the wind in our favor. Between the cargo we’ve unloaded at Ankirith and Neverland, we’re lighter than ever.”

  “Not to mention our clean hull,” Belle said.

  James grinned and passed the telescope back to his lieutenant. “Good thing, I say. They’ll never come within range to fire their mystery weapon, but let’s have everyone at the ready, shall we? I have no fear of this ship-destroying weapon when they’re unable to close in on us.”

  “A good plan,” Nigel agreed. After he moved away to shout new orders to the crew, James gazed at the dark speck in the distance.

  Was it coincidence they had been found? Or was something more at play? He was too clever to think they could live like this forever, escaping Eisland time and time again, but he’d be damned if he went down now—not before he kept his promise to Belle.

  Before he could return to the wheel, the ship lurched to the side and a tremendous wave rolled over the deck. James stumbled to the side before regaining his balance, every sense on high alert. He canted his head and listened. A subdued ticking reached his ears, but when he spun and glanced at the water, nothing remained but a faint disturbance.

  Croc had returned for more. “Load the cannons, men! Arms at the ready.”

  “We can’t aim a cannon at a creature beneath our boat, James,” Nigel replied.

  “No, but when the beast resurfaces, we can blast him to hell. Callum!”

  The mage emerged from the hatch, Tootles a few steps behind him. “Yes, Captain?”

  “Do you think that boy of yours can assist us again?”

  “We’ll see what we can do.”

  “James, the Revenge—”

  “I know,” he snapped at Nigel, “but it’ll be impossible to escape with Croc nipping our heels.”

  “It’s not only that. Look at our sails. We’ve lost the wind, but they’re approaching faster than ever. Blackbeard may have an aeromancer at his command this time. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

  As the shifting elements turned the tides against them, James closed his eyes and dipped his chin. The wind, time, and now the relentless pet of a spurned woman stood between them and freedom. Caecilia had been blameless before and claimed no responsibility for the crocodile’s behavior in the past, but had she sent it as a final act of vengeance? James had dared to deny her in no uncertain terms.

  Tinker Bell floated in front of him and wrung her small hands together. “What do we do, James?”

  “We fight,” he said grimly. “Fetch the gunpowder and supplies. We haven’t been defeated yet. I’ll be damned if I give in and roll over. Eliza’s trained a little alongside Little Wolf to learn the craft. Ask her to join Callum and Tootles. I know wind isn’t her specialty, but she’s all we have.”

  Nigel nodded and hurried away to give commands, as Belle darted through the cargo access in search of gunpowder. They’d need plenty of it.

  Too many people depended on James to surrender the ship. He glanced toward the crow’s nest. Peter had already begun the long trek down, but he and Tootles needed his protection the most.

  I won’t let them have you boys again.

  Regaining his composure, as well as his morale, James sprang to the wheel and took it in his hand. Eliza had already joined Callum and Tootles on the forecastle, and together the three mages joined hands to take control of the rocking vessel each time Croc nudged it from beneath the hull. A swift wind blew from behind them and billowed the quiet sails as the low hum of their magic washed over the ship, raising the hairs on his arms. A low buzz filled his ears.

  Little Wolf had handled the wind currents like a natural, but those three needed every ounce of concentration
to harness a power they hadn’t trained all their lives to use.

  We’ll make it.

  Those words became James’s mantra as they navigated the waters on the best course to keep the Queen Anne’s Revenge beyond firing range. Judging by the speed of their approach, he had less than fifteen minutes for Croc to make his appearance for a proper thrashing.

  Then the gods answered his prayers and Croc rose from the churning waves. Water sluiced over the beast’s gargantuan body and the fetid stench of his last meal rolled over the deck. Despite the report of a dozen flintlock pistols launching high-powered, magically enhanced rounds into its body, Croc lunged forward at the closest pirate at the rail and closed his teeth around the man’s lower body. Hands beat uselessly against the sides of the beast’s massive maw, but nothing could save the man’s life. Bloodcurdling screams raised the hairs on James’s arms, the agonized shrieks of a man in his final moments. Croc slid into the water anew and took his prize with him.

  Their attacker reappeared within a minute of dragging the screaming sailor to his death. Wounds inflicted from the wave of pistol shots revealed the pink flesh beneath his tough, mottled green hide, but their show of force failed to deter him. He surged from the water anew. The monster must have perfected his vertical leap in the time since their last battle, as he displayed his acrobatic prowess by soaring from the pink-tinted waves and onto their deck before anyone had a chance to fend him off. Wood creaked beneath his weight, reinforced beams and planks shattered, and his thrashing tail swept one man into the rail with a sickly crack.

  Seconds after taking the deck, Croc became a living whirlwind of death and destruction. His tail took six men off their feet, smashing them against the wall and one another before slamming into the mast.

  A hairline crack formed in the wood. Croc thrashed again before its awful intent became apparent to James. “He’s trying to break the mast!” he shouted in warning to the others before he sprang over the rail and down to the main deck.

  Peter was above them, shrieking in terror each time the mast groaned in protest. The gods-awful noise of cracking wood continued, and the boy missed his footing during the descent.

  “James, help me!” he cried.

  The moment James sprinted toward the mast, Croc spun about toward him and smacked the wooden pole again. It feinted at James and growled low, guarding the newfound leverage it had found. A low chuckle rumbled from its throat, sending rotten fish breath over the deck.

  “Ahh… the great Captain Hook. At last, I know what you fear losing. Does this boy mean so much to you?” Croc rumbled.

  Unseen by the beast, or written off as no threat to him, Belle darted toward Peter. Her courageous scarlet glow circled around him several times, trailing fairy dust like glitter.

  What is she doing? James wondered, although he didn’t dare draw too much attention to her. “He’s only a boy. Your grievance is with me, Croc. I’m the one who took your eye. I hurt your mistress. This boy and my crew have done nothing but try to defend themselves.”

  “They defend you. That is crime enough,” Croc hissed.

  Before James could lurch forward, the crocodile delivered the final blow to its target. As the main mast snapped in half, lines broke and the pillar toppled into the foremast, tangling sails and rigging. The force of the collision shook Peter loose, and the boy tumbled from the lines, on a direct course for the deck dozens of feet below and Croc’s waiting mouth.

  Before Peter fell more than a dozen feet, he hung suspended in the air. “Haha!” Belle crowed in triumph. “You won’t get this snack, you big bully!”

  The soft inner flesh of Croc’s mouth lay exposed to them, and, at that moment, James realized what he needed to do. All the time they’d wasted peppering its tough hide with rounds, they’d ignored the most tender and vulnerable part of it. Whipping his sword from the scabbard, he lunged forward and stabbed it in Croc’s mouth.

  The crocodile roared viciously and snapped after him, missing the mark by mere inches. The click of its teeth echoed in James’s eardrums, and foul breath washed over him anew.

  Now that he knew its weak spot, how did he communicate it to the others without alerting their prey? He couldn’t.

  And if he couldn’t share the news with the others, that meant it was up to James, and James alone, to deliver the killing blow. Confidence surged through him as he tightened his grip on the sword hilt. He spun and danced, providing the perfect, infuriating distraction to his opponent while Nigel directed the crew to cut the sails loose before the sheer weight of them capsized the ship.

  Belle swooped down again and trailed golden dust over the heads of Patrick and Nigel. Within seconds, both lifted from the deck and floated in the air. One by one, his magical and wondrously courageous sprite made his crew members airborne. Realizing his folly in ignoring her, the ticking crocodile whirled and spun.

  James leapt in again and stabbed it behind the left foreleg, capitalizing by attacking its blindside. Croc returned its attention to him with a vengeance, lunging forward and giving chase, snapping and snarling until the pirate dropped the sword in lieu of drawing his pistol. Beseeching the gods and goddesses he’d never cared to acknowledge, he prayed his shot would be true and pulled the trigger as the beast lunged toward him for the kill.

  Fueled by the magic of Samahara’s most powerful sorcerer, the ball exploded from the muzzle of the pistol surrounded by a halo of fire. It flew on a perfect course, and, the moment it hit unprotected tissue, it split the interior of the monster’s mouth and lodged in Croc’s brain. Dead at that instant, the bulky corpse slumped to the deck.

  It was over. At last, they’d finally done the impossible and slain one of the largest beasts to ever haunt the Viridian Sea.

  Chest heaving, James stood above the corpse of his fallen enemy, too petrified to move a muscle. Once his body cooperated, he nudged its nose with his boot. The blast from the flintlock pistol had done something he’d never witnessed before, tearing through Croc’s skull and exiting through the rear of its head as if he’d fired a comet instead of a leaden ball.

  Joaidane may have promised magic, but James hadn’t anticipated a miracle. Maybe the gods had been with him, after all.

  * * *

  Tink stared at the fallen crocodile and silently thanked the stars and the ancestors that James had survived the encounter. She’d been struck mute and frozen with terror when she’d spotted him, certain she would never see her beloved pirate again. Yet there he stood, victorious.

  Thanks to Tink, they’d lost only a single man during the battle. While there were plenty of broken bones all around for Eliza to set, no other loss of life had occurred. The others had already touched down, but Peter remained airborne and hovering weightless beside her.

  “Now what?” Nigel joined them at the slain croc’s side, his breaths heavy. “James, without our mast, we can’t hope to outrun the Revenge. We’ll be limping until they close in on us with their weapon.”

  Belle crossed her arms and looked toward the fast approaching ship in the distance. During their battle with the crocodile, it had gained on them, and it would only be a matter of minutes before the Revenge caught them.

  “What if we destroy the weapon so they can’t shoot us?” she asked.

  “That would be a splendid idea, love, if we had a way aboard their ship without dying.”

  “What about me? I could fly over there and destroy it before they ever knew what was happening,” she said.

  “Absolutely not,” James snapped. “I won’t allow you to do it. It’s too dangerous.”

  “If they reach you with that weapon, everyone will die.”

  James scrubbed his face with his left hand. Sweat had plastered his dark hair to his brow and his cheeks. “Launch the longboat,” he said at last. “I may not have much of a chance at escaping, but most of you can get away. Nigel, take Tootles, Eliza, Callum, and Peter along with anyone else with a family. Fit as many on board as you can, and the others can swim for
it until the worst is over. Croc’s presence will have chased away any other predators for miles. Create an invisibility curtain. With three mages working together, it shouldn’t be difficult to fortify the protections on the longboat. Belle, you ride on Nigel’s shoulder.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Nigel said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You are. I’ve given my orders.”

  “You don’t order me, James. This isn’t the military. I’m your second-in-command, not some bloody subordinate here to follow your every directive. I’m staying here with you to the end.”

  Heads nodded among the crew. Even Callum crossed his brawny arms against his chest. “I won’t go, and I’d like to see you try to make me.”

  “I won’t go, either,” Smee said. “Why don’t you hear Belle out?”

  “Because it’s suicide. She’s already weakened from expending so much fairy dust.”

  “It is suicide,” Tink agreed quietly. “If I sabotage their weapon, I may not have enough dust to return. But it can be the last thing I do to help you all.”

  James shook his head. “Then I forbid it.”

  “Good thing you don’t control me.”

  Tink shot away, narrowly missing James’s hand when it swung up to catch her. The Queen Anne’s Revenge appeared as little more than a tiny speck in the distance at the edge of the horizon, but she’d already read the accounting from the Twilight Witch regarding the power of its enchanted cannon.

  Her captain’s cries echoed across the water, following Tink even as tears blurred her vision. Instead of stealing one final look at her lover, she flew like a thunderbolt over crystalline blue waters reflecting the setting sun.

  “Belle! Belle, don’t do it! Not for us!”

  Not for them. Not specifically for the Jolly Roger. She was doing it for him. For Peter and Tootles, who had their entire lives ahead of them after enduring a traumatizing childhood. For the kids at Neverland who needed James and looked up to him as a savior. For the slaves he fought to liberate from captivity at the cost of his commission and the life he’d known in Eisland. Because the world needed Captain James Hook and his crew of benevolent pirates as much, if not more, than one little sprite.