The next few hours on the Black Marlin were fraught with tension. Despite Nismond and Logrin’s best efforts as they tirelessly manned the pump which pulled seawater out of the hold and dumped it overboard, the Black Marlin was wallowing lower and lower in the water. Croocq had informed the captain that it was impossible to patch the leaks while they were travelling at full speed away from Gamlin’s Trading Post, and he and Kerran were currently doing what they could to slow the flow of water into the hold.
According to Stolya, who had recovered enough to climb to the top of the main mast, there was no sign of pursuit, Elouise didn’t dare slow down while they were still within view of the trading post, and no one on the vessel was about to argue with that decision. That is, perhaps, except for the hulking Karru captain, who had been stripped of his armour and weapons, and was sitting at the foot of the mast. He had been bound with ropes and secured to the mast with chains after being disarmed, and Katrina had been tasked to keep an eye on him.
Katrina had been unsettled by Stolya’s display. Witches were dangerous and any identified with such powers were given two choices. Take the Pledge, where they bound their souls to a master, only able to use their powers on their master’s command, or death. Even Pledged witches were often treated with suspicion by the people at large and as property by their masters.
She blinked when she heard Cossus speak and looked at him in shock. The heavyset man shook his head and continued. “It’s dangerous, what you’re doing. I would go so far as to call it reckless.”
“But what choice…” she began, but the heavyset man cut her off.
“You’ve misunderstood the prophecy, and you doom us all by taking the Promise Stone away from our shores.”
Silence hung between them until Cossus looked around and frowned. “We are slowing down.”
“Indeed we are,” Elouise declared as she stepped down from the quarterdeck. “We can no longer put repairs off, and we need to discuss our next steps.”
“Do we have grounds to annul the contract?” Logrin panted as he worked the hand pump.
Elouise shook her head. “No, Logrin. We need to assess how bad our damage is and decide how we’re going to provision.”
The young man spat deftly into a scupper. “This is becoming more trouble than it’s worth.”
Elouise gave him a sharp look. “You should have spoken sooner if you know of a better way to make four thousand sovereigns.”
Logrin bit back a curse and scowled.
“Keep an eye on this one,” the captain ordered. “I’m headed below decks with the girly to take a gander at what’s going on.”
“What does she know about ship repair?” Logrin protested.
Elouise shrugged. “She was the first to notice the leak. Perhaps she saw something Croocq missed.”
The scarred man made a face, and Katrina found the captain’s reason flimsy as well, and she wanted to question him on just what he meant. However, touched her arm and gave her a look indicating that she wanted to talk in private.
“You know if he tries anything funny, I’ll have to get off the pump, and we’re likely to sink,” Logrin warned as the two women walked towards the hatch that led to the hold.
Elouise paused and levelled her gaze on Cossus, who returned it with an icy one of his own. “Perhaps knowing that will motivate him not to try anything funny.”
Before Logrin could retort, Elouise led Katrina down the stairs into the hold where Kerran was standing in waist high water with a bag of tools close at hand. Katrina was about to ask where Croocq was when the old man suddenly burst from the water and inhaled sharply.
“Go boil some more tar, boy!” he snapped as he tossed Kerran the hammer he was holding. He then noticed the two new arrivals, standing at the foot of the stairs. The old man wasn’t wearing his spectacles and waded closer to peer up at the women.
“What’s the situation?” Elouise asked as Kerran moved past them and climbed the stairs out of the hold.
“Captain!” Croocq barked. “I think I’ve stopped the worst of the leaks, but we’ll have to send someone over the side to be sure.”
“What happened back there?”
The old man shrugged his scrawny shoulders nervously. “It looks like some sort of steel trap that they floated just under the surface. Six teeth in all, and it punctured the hull in three places. Had to tap on the hull to find the ones that hadn’t pierced all the way through and knock holes through the deck. We were fortunate none grabbed onto the keel.”
Elouise furrowed her brow and nodded. “He’s an inventive man, that Gamlin.”
“We’re also lucky Stolya has such a good ear,” Croocq continued as he stared myopically at Katrina. It was as though he couldn’t tell who she was. “She found them very quickly indeed. We were a hairsbreadth from getting boarded, weren’t we?”
The captain looked up at the roof of the hold and sighed. “In a way, we did get boarded.” She paused before adding. “I’ll call Stolya down from the mast and send over the side to take a look in a bit but first I need to have a word with our guest here.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Good eyes and good ears,” Croocq remarked, brightening noticeably now that he knew it was Katrina who was standing by the captain’s side. “The hallmarks of a witch.”
Elouise raised an eyebrow. “I was upfront with you… all of you about her nature.”
“Indeed you were, captain,” Croocq said quickly. “However there’s a difference between being told something and seeing it for yourself.”
“You’ve shared this ship with her for years, Croocq,” Elouise pointed out, sounding concerned.
The old man shook his head slowly. “Well, now everyone knows, eh? We won’t be able to show our faces at Gamlin’s for a while. And once he tells everyone, and he will, it’ll be hard for us to pull into any port close to the Maelstrom.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it,” Elouise said grimly, before forcing a smile. “Besides, four thousand sovereigns will let us start whatever lives we want.”
Croocq bobbed his head. “As you say, Captain.”
“I need a moment alone with our guest,” Elouise continued. “Go up top and tell Stolya to go over the side. I’ll be in my cabin if you need me.”
“Aye, Captain.”
After the old man waded past the pair and began shuffling up the stairs, Elouise tapped Katrina on the arm and led the way to a door cabin at the rear of the hold. She opened it to reveal a cabin that spanned the breadth of the Black Marlin. The cabin was neat and sparsely furnished. A mirror of polished steel stood in a corner, charts were stuffed into cupboards above a desk, well above the waist high water, and a made double bed was built into one of the bulkheads.
“So, you’re a princess,” Elouise observed as she closed the door.
“I’m the king’s ninth daughter, born to him by a consort,” Katrina replied. “A nobody as far as His Majesty is concerned.”
“That man doesn’t seem to think so,” Elouise remarked, as she looked up at the ceiling. “Speaking of whom, he’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?”
Katrina nodded. She felt a pit appear in her stomach and steeled her nerves. The life of one of the men who had practically raised her now depended on how persuasive she could be.
“I shouldn’t have to tell you that he is a threat to you and your quest,” Elouise remarked.
“The man is a Karru officer,” Katrina pointed out. “He could be a powerful ally.”
Elouise laughed bitterly and shook her head. “He is a fanatical servant of the throne.”
“Whose mission is to bring me back alive,” Katrina pointed out. “Once we are through the Gap of Eternity, he will have no choice but to aid our cause to further that end.”
“You can’t be that naïve!” Elouise scoffed.
“As you said, he is a fanatic and will do anything to fulfil his duty,” Katrina replied, refusing to be cowed. “He is strong, motivated, and a ferocious fighter.”
Seeing that the captain still wasn’t convinced, Katrina pressed on. “His men saw us haul him onto our ship you know.”
Elouise narrowed her eyes. “What are you implying?”
“They know he lived when we pulled on board,” Katrina pointed out. “If he turns up dead, or not at all, they’re going to assume we killed him.”
“We’re already up to our necks in excrement thanks to you!” Elouise cried.
“He is a Karru officer and from one of the kingdom’s most noble families,” Katrina continued calmly. “The trouble we find ourselves in now will seem petty indeed if anything were to happen to him under our care.”
Katrina could tell the captain was wavering, and it was time for her to go for broke. “If we can win him over to our side, show him that my way is correct, then he can help smooth things over when we get back.”
“Are you sure you are correct, and he is the one who is mistaken?” Elouise ventured. She knew nothing about what was going on and wanted to keep it that way. Besides, they were talking about prophecies, and in her experience, both interpretations of it were likely to be bunk.
Katrina nodded with absolute conviction. “I am, and when I prove that, the king will reward all of you lavishly. It will make the four thousand sovereigns I am paying you look like a pittance. Elevation to the high nobility is not out of the question.”
The shorter woman saw a flash of irritation cross the captain’s face and feared she had gone too far. “Do now attempt to cloud my judgement with promises of riches and power.”
“The fate of a kingdom, no, I daresay the Continent is at stake here,” Katrina said quietly. “If you don’t care about that, then just think of the reward you would be given as its saviour.”
Elouise raised an eyebrow. “You can keep all that. A greedy captain is a shipwrecked one, and I’m beginning to think that I was too greedy in signing that contract, Vanham or not.”
Katrina looked up at the captain and held her breath as Elouise fidgeted with her hair. At length, the captain looked down and her and her eyes hardened. “The Karru stays in chains until we are through the Gap.”
“Agreed,” Katrina said, doing her best not to let the relief show on her face. “How soon can we do that.”
“First, we have to provision,” Elouise frowned.
“But where can we do that now?” Katrina asked.
Without answering, the captain walked towards the door. Once there, she paused and looked down. “Good, the water’s receding. Perhaps we can get underway again.”
She opened the door, and almost at once, Croocq burst up from under the water. He spotted the captain, and his face split into a toothy grin. “Good timing, captain, I think I’ve just patched the last of the holes up. Well, as much as I can while it’s still flooded like this.”
Elouise nodded. “Good work. Come with me. Crew meeting.”
Croocq gave Katrina a curious look as he fell in behind the two women. Together, they climbed the stairs just as Stolya was soaking wet and panting as she sat on the gunwale. Kerran, who had thrown the rope she’d used to pull herself up gave her a wide berth, and the two men manning the pumps eyed her warily.
“Enough of that,” the captain snapped as she strode towards the redhead’s lonely figure, “She’s the same Stolya you’ve known for the last couple of years.
Elouise took her sea coat off and threw it around Stolya’s shoulders before caressing the petite woman on the cheek. “You did well. Very well. You saved us all.”
Stolya looked up and gave a faint smile. Elouise pecked her on the cheek before turning to the crew. “Do any of you have any complaints about her?”
For a long moment, the only sound was from the pump as Nismond and Logrin took turns to push their end of the arm down. Her words were a demand. A challenge. And there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that violence would ensue if anyone dared step forward.
At length, broke the silence and cocked his head at Cossus. “That’s enough about her, what about him?”
Elouise smirked and gave Katrina a long, lingering look. “I’ve been led to believe that keeping him alive is in our best interests.”
“He’s a Karru!” Logrin exclaimed. The other members of the crew looked equally shocked at their captain’s decision.
“I’ve taken that into consideration,” she replied, turning to the giant of a man who was sitting at the foot of her mast. “However, the young princess seems to believe that he can be of use to us.”
“You can’t be serious!” Croocq scoffed.
“I have made my decision,” the captain declared, putting an end to the debate. She looked at each of her crew in turn and could tell that it was a hard one for them to swallow. She then turned to their captive and bored her eyes into his. “That isn’t to say we won’t slit your throat at the first sign of trouble.”
“I am grateful for your mercy,” Cossus said thinly.
“So what now, captain?” Nismond asked.
“We provision,” Elouise replied simply.
“Where?” Croocq asked incredulously.
A sly smile spread across the captain’s face. “Solitaire.”