Jules followed Liv forward, seeing Ferd’s body lying still. She knelt by him, seeing that it was far too late to call for the healer even if such wounds could have been survived. Even a young, vigorous man wouldn’t have been able to live with those injuries. Old Ferd hadn’t had a chance. “I should have ordered him to stay on the other ship. I thought about doing it and I didn’t.”
“He’s happier this way,” Liv said. “Ferd never really wanted to leave the sea, for all his talk of getting a place on land. He’s been getting more careless of late, heedless of dangers, but I don’t think it was because of his age. He wanted to die out here on the waves.”
“That one killed him!” Gord said, pointing an angry finger at an Imperial sailor.
“It was a fair fight,” Jules muttered.
“No, it wasn’t! Ferd was down. I saw it! He couldn’t move. And that one ran him through twice more!”
Jules’ head came around to stare at the Imperial singled out by Gord. “You murdered him?”
“It was combat!” the Imperial sailor protested, his voice high with fear. “We had orders to show no mercy!” He looked to either side at his comrades for backing, but they avoided his gaze.
Jules walked up to face the sailor, her eyes on him. For a moment she couldn’t feel anything, an emptiness shadowed by violent emotions ready to rush in. “I know Imperial orders. Your commander said only leaders would be executed. That’s not a no-mercy command. Is it?”
The sailor didn’t answer, shaking.
“Is it?” Jules yelled, anger filling that emptiness as she glared at the other captured Imperial sailors. “You murdered an old man who couldn’t defend himself! Is that what the Emperor expects of his servants? Is it?”
“You promised mercy,” the Imperial sailor said, his voice quivering. “You promised mercy.”
Jules looked to Captain Erin, who had come down from the quarterdeck and was standing to one side, watching.
Erin shrugged. “The prize was taken jointly, but that man there murdered one of your crew. The decision of what to do with him is yours alone.”
“You did promise mercy,” Liv muttered as she gazed at the sailor with death in her eyes. “That doesn’t mean I can’t kill him, though.”
She should wait until Captain Mak brought the Sun Queen back. Let him pass judgment. But she had been in command here, and Ferd had been murdered while answering to her orders. Jules felt a cold, clear certainty wash through her, sweeping away the heat of her anger but leaving no compassion in its wake. “No, Liv. I promised mercy. He’ll get mercy.”
“Jeri?” Liv stared at her, having heard something in her voice that had alarmed the older woman.
Jules looked at the Imperial sailor and pointed off to the side, where only open water could be seen. “The nearest land is that way. Just head south. You can’t miss it. If you’re a strong enough swimmer to cover the distance and beat the currents, and if you manage to avoid the sharks, you’ll come ashore on the Bleak Coast, and if you’re very lucky and very strong you’ll survive there until you reach safety.”
“I won’t have a chance!” the sailor cried.
“Yes, you will. A small chance. A very small chance,” Jules said.
“You promised mercy!”
“I did. And you’re getting it. Instead of killing you out of hand, as you deserve, I’m giving you that very small chance. More of a chance than you gave the old man you murdered.” Jules came closer to the sailor, knowing her face showed that cold certainty and little else. “No one murders one of mine. No one.”
She turned away and gestured to her crew. “Over the side with him.”
Jules turned back in time to see several of her pirates toss the struggling Imperial sailor over the side of the sloop. The sailor’s despairing wail ended in a splash, resuming again but diminishing as the sloop and the Storm Rider drifted away from where the sailor struggled to stay afloat.
“Thank you, Jeri,” Liv said.
“Yes, thank you,” Gord said. “Ferd would be happy.”
Jules faced the Imperials, trying to control that coldness still filling her, seeing the fear in their eyes as they waited for whatever she would do next. “Who’s the senior surviving member of your crew?”
Hands pointed to a figure sitting against the mainmast, holding his head. It was the officer Jules had struck down when she first leaped aboard.
She crouched down to talk to him. “Your ship has been taken.”
The officer looked back at her, confused as he tried to recover from the blow to his head. “Captain Tod-”
“Is dead. Has the healer seen you?”
“I don’t…know.”
The cold vanished. There was a young man sitting before her, hurt and unable to think. A young officer who could have been her, had Jules never walked into that tavern at Jacksport.
Jules stood up. “Where’s the healer?”
“On the other ship,” Liv said.
“This one has a healer’s assistant. Where’s the healer’s assistant?”
A young man was pushed forward from the ranks of the captured sailors. “I’m…I’m…”
“Why the blazes aren’t you working?” Jules demanded. “We’ve got cuts and broken limbs and this officer might have a head injury. Get to it!”
This she could do. Organize things. Tell people what to do. Make sure all the injured were being taken care of, including the wounded centurion who clearly wished that she still had her short sword handy when Jules stopped to check on her. “All efforts must be made to capture me alive,” Jules told the centurion, earning herself a baffled glance in place of the hostility. “You don’t get to kill me yet.”
By the time the Sun Queen rejoined them, the sun was close to setting and Jules felt worn out. Captain Erin and Captain Mak jointly decided to transfer the Imperials from the captured sloop to the merchant ship before letting it go to carry both crews home to Landfall. Jules watched the last of the Imperial sailors being ferried over to the merchant ship, thinking about Shin and hoping he’d be all right.
“The Cap’n asked me to sail the sloop back to Jacksport,” Ang told her. “I’ll have some of our crew and some of Erin’s.”
“Good,” Jules said. “I guess I should get back to the Sun Queen.” She staggered as the sloop rolled over a swell. “I can barely stay on my feet.”
Pulling herself up onto the Sun Queen’s deck took more effort than it should have. “Where’s Captain Mak?”
“Still talking to Captain Erin,” Liv said. “Get in your hammock, Jeri. I’ll wake you for the dawn watch.”
“Thanks.” Jules got below without tripping on the ladder, paused only long enough to remove the cutlass from her belt, then crawled into her hammock.
She slept like a stone through the night before being roused sometime before dawn to stand her watch on the helm. One day you’re boarding ships and fighting with a cutlass, Jules thought, and the next you’re standing on a quarterdeck steering a ship as if nothing had happened the day before.
“Hold her north of west,” instructed the sailor she relieved from the helm watch. “She’s fighting the rudder a little, trying to turn east, so watch for that.”
“Got it,” Jules said.
The seas had subsided a bit, and so had the winds, giving her an easier watch than she’d feared. As she stood at the helm, the sky to the east slowly paled, giving way to the day. The quiet broken only by the sounds of wind and wave and creaking wood disappeared in a series of routine errands by men and women rising to deal with the challenges of another day at sea.
Captain Mak came on deck right after dawn, scanning the seas, but said nothing to her despite Jules’ “good morning, sir.” Perhaps he was preoccupied, she thought.
The next watch finally took over. Jules stepped away from the helm, shaking her arms to relax them, for the first time that day free to look around as well.
The three ships were sailing together toward Jacksport, the Storm Rider and the Su
n Queen in front roughly even with each other and a few hundred lances apart, the captured sloop of war bringing up the rear a few hundred lances astern. A few whitecaps still dotted the waves, and a few clouds still swept by overhead. The wind felt fresh and clean, something Jules had always enjoyed since growing up in one of the less fancy portions of Landfall where ash and smoke from coal stoves often sullied the air.
Jules gazed back at the sloop, waving to Ang on the quarterdeck of the captured Imperial ship. When she turned, she saw Captain Mak watching her with a gaze that appeared cold. “We need to talk, Jeri. Follow me.”
Worried by Mak’s demeanor, Jules followed him down the ladder to the main deck and into the cabin. Captain Mak sat down in one of the chairs, stretching his legs out before him, arms crossed on his chest as he eyed her. Unlike his usual habit, he didn’t ask her to take the other chair, so Jules stayed standing just inside the door. “Is something wrong, Captain?”
He nodded, keeping that harsh gaze on her. “I heard what happened to Ferd.”
“Yes, sir. He was-”
“I know.” Mak’s gaze grew a little harder. “And you took it on yourself to decide the fate of his murderer.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
She stared back at him, feeling unhappy and angry at what felt like a chewing out. “He was part of my crew.”
“Ferd was part of my crew.”
“He was under my command-”
“You were both under my command.”
“Sir, I had to act!”
“Why?” Mak demanded. “Why couldn’t you have waited until I brought the Sun Queen back to join you?”
“I…it felt like…a decision I had to make.”
“Really?” Mak waved aft. “Do you want command of the sloop, Jeri?”
“No, sir.”
“No?” He seemed surprised by her answer. “Why not?”
“I’m not ready for independent command,” Jules said. “I have training, but I don’t have experience to match it. And I need to learn more.”
“You’re not ready for independent command?” Mak asked.
“No, sir.”
“But you felt qualified to independently decide the fate of a man who murdered one of my crew. You felt qualified to usurp my authority and my responsibility over my crew.”
“Sir, that’s not what happened!” Jules protested, feeling unjustly accused. “That’s not what I was thinking.”
“It’s not? What do you suppose every witness to your actions is thinking? What do you supposed they’re telling everyone else about it?”
“I…I…”
He leaned forward, feet flat on the deck, his eyes holding her. “You don’t want command of the sloop. Are you angling for command of a bigger prize?”
“Sir, I…”
“You seem to think you’re already captain of the Sun Queen,” Mak said. “How long until you call a vote to make it official?”
She stared at him, his accusing words filtering down through her brain which seemed to have stopped working, until finally words burst from her. “No! No, sir!”
“No, sir, what?”
“That was not my intent! That is not my desire! I did not mean to undermine your authority! I apologize to the captain for creating the impression that I desired anything other than to carry out my orders in the most effective manner!”
The vehemence of her response seemed to mollify Mak a little. He sat back again. “You’ve got the backing of the Mechanics Guild. Not me. You’re carrying that Mechanic weapon. Not me. This is already a delicate situation in terms of authority on this ship. Didn’t you realize that?”
“No, sir,” Jules said, feeling deflated and miserable.
“What?” Mak seemed genuinely startled by her response.
“You’re the captain, sir. How can anyone question who’s in charge of this ship?”
“You’re serious? It never crossed your mind?”
“No, sir. You’re the captain. I’m…I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Imperial discipline. I hadn’t realized it had soaked into you that deeply already.”
“This isn’t about Imperial discipline, sir,” Jules said. “You’re the captain.”
Mak studied her with growing understanding. “Are you saying that by your choice I’m the captain? That as far as you’re personally concerned, it can’t be questioned?”
“Yes, sir. I think so.” Jules waited, wondering what Mak would say next.
He shook his head. “Here I thought you were undermining me, and instead you were acting the way you did because it didn’t occur to you that anyone would question my authority. Jeri, that’s not how it works.”
“Why not? I thought on a free ship we got to decide who the captain was. And you’re the captain.”
“That’s not written in stone. It’s not like I’m the Emperor.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t understand. Like I said, I need to know more. I need to learn more. And I know if I stay on this ship, I will. Please…you’re not going to put me off, are you?”
“Why would I put you off?” Mak asked.
“For challenging your authority,” Jules said. “And messing up so badly when we attacked the sloop.”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “You don’t see that as triumph for you?”
“No, sir. How could I do that? We were losing. If Captain Erin hadn’t shown up when she did. we probably would have all died or been captured. I totally messed that up. My plan was flawed. We didn’t have enough fighters on our side, and we needed to have crossbows instead of just cutlasses. I’d told those with crossbows to wait and let those with cutlasses board the sloop first and clear a space before the crossbows boarded. But that meant when the sloop veered off none of our crossbows had reached its deck. It was my fault.”
Mak shook his head rapidly like someone trying to order confused thoughts. “You weren’t thinking of yourself as the conquering hero?”
“How could I feel that way? I messed up. Badly!” Jules paused, trying to sort out the right words. “Sir, please let me stay aboard so I can benefit from your experience.”
Mak spread his hands, as if confused. “What is it you’re expecting of me, Jeri?”
“What you’re doing. Teaching me. Showing me how to do things. Telling me what I need to think about.” She flinched. “Like now. Telling me what I should have thought about. I don’t know what to call that.”
“Mentoring? A role model? Jeri. have you ever had an authority figure who was concerned about teaching you and supporting you? Helping you become more of what you wanted to be?”
“No, sir. That’s called mentoring?”
Mak sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “I didn’t realize. I was trying to look out for you, but I didn’t realize how much that involved. You often seem very wise in the ways of the world, Jeri. Experienced beyond your years. But there’s a lot you’ve never learned.”
“I grew up in a legion orphan home, sir. And since then it’s been discipline and training in Imperial service, doing what I was told when I was told, by officers and centurions who knew what I was and didn’t make any secret of what they thought of me because of that.”
“I knew that. I didn’t know all that it meant, though. I thought Imperial officers were taught to think as well as to follow orders.”
Jules shook her head, looking down at the deck, old misery filling her. “No, sir. Not me. I had to do exactly as I was told, and nothing else, or I’d get a black mark. I learned a lot of technical skills, but I didn’t dare think, Captain. Too many of my trainers and superiors just wanted any excuse to knock me down into the enlisted ranks where they thought anyone out of one of the homes belonged.”
Mak nodded to her. “I’ve misjudged a number of things. Sit down, Jeri.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I think I understand why you rendered judgment on that Imperial sailor. But you need to find ways to make it clear to the
crew of this ship that you thought you were acting as I wanted you to act. Not that you were acting on your own to preempt whatever I might decide to do.”
“I can do that, sir,” Jules said as she sat down in the other chair. “I will do that.”
“I can’t fault your actual punishment of the man. It was fairly brilliant, the sort of thing that will enhance your reputation. I guess that’s why I didn’t realize you were oblivious to other aspects of what you were doing.”
“It just felt like the right thing, sir. I’m sorry that I-”
“You already apologized, Jeri.” Mak looked searchingly at her. “That was a very effective punishment. I’m surprised you could have done it. It takes ice in your heart to make that kind of decision in cold blood.”
Jules nodded, feeling depressed. “Ferd was right.”
“About what?”
“We had a talk, soon after I joined the crew, and he said the others thought that if someone crossed me I’d cut out his heart and eat it in front of him. I didn’t think that was true of me. I guess it is.”
Mak smiled. “Jeri, I don’t think you’d do that.”
“You don’t?”
“Not unless you had some salt. I don’t think you’d eat a man’s heart without some seasoning.”
She stared at him, momentarily lost for words. “That’s a joke, isn’t it? You are telling a joke, right?”
“I’m honestly not sure.” Mak gave her a long, appraising look. “All right. You and I have both learned something. If I’m going to keep grooming you for command-”
“What?”
“Didn’t you realize I was doing that?”
Jules shook her head. “I thought you were just making use of my Imperial training.”
Mak laughed. “That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?”
“What about Ang, sir? I thought he was in line to command the Sun Queen if…I mean…when…”
“It’s up to the crew who becomes captain after me,” Mak said. “There’s no line of succession like there would be on an Imperial ship. As for Ang, I’ve talked with him about command someday. He’s not interested. Ang is a very good sailor, and a very good first officer, and that’s what he wants to remain. I think he’d be a fine captain, but for reasons of his own he has no desire for the job. I have to respect that. If he ever changes his mind, he knows all he has to do is tell me.”
Pirate of the Prophecy Page 17