“I’m Captain Taylor,” Trenton yelled. A few snickers resounded from the crew at his creative title, but Trenton ignored them. “What purpose do you have in chasing us? There are pirates in the area, and as the captain of this vessel, I’ll not be catering to the whims of such as those.”
A pause followed as Trenton’s words seemed to hover over the sea.
“Aye. I’ll not be blamin’ ye, that I’ll not,” Captain Errington called back. “We came upon the
Eastern Horizon
some three ‘ours ago, an’ she a victim of the pirate bastards who beset ‘er. We thought ye might be the very scoundrels.”
Trenton squinted across the distance. “On that you’re mistaken, sir. Another vessel, the
Westwind Riser
, was likewise attacked not more than two days ago. Her captain decried a cunning, bloodthirsty group of cutthroats.”
“Indeed.” Another interminable pause. “Just the same, I’ll ask ye to lower a boat an’ come alongside. An’ bring yer papers.”
Trenton cursed under his breath. “What now?” he whispered, glancing back at Nathaniel.
“Tell him no. You don’t know who he is any more than he does you.”
“I’m sorry, friend,” Trenton called back. “I’ll go to my guns before I’ll leave my crew or my ship vulnerable to a hostile boarding. I’ve nothing but your word that you’re not the very ones you claim to be looking for. We’re not pirates, but we stand ready to fight, if need be.”
Nathaniel’s muscles began to ache with the prolonged anxiety. Would Captain Errington resort to his guns? And if he did, could the
Royal Vengeance
best him?
“I’ll see yer papers,” Captain Errington yelled, “or ‘ear a satisfactory explanation for the strange signal comin’ from yer ship. If a message it be, it makes no sense whatever.”
Signal? Nathaniel blinked in surprise. What signal? He glanced around at his men. All were accounted for, even Rat, who still languished in a small cubical below.
Then his blood ran cold. Alexandra! It could only be her. Jake was with Tiny and Nanchu, and in his condition, he could scarce overpower the both of them.
“What do I say?” Trenton asked.
“Tell him we’ve a man sick with yellow fever who’s not in his right mind—that it must be him. The possibility of disease should make them less motivated to try and board us. I’ll go throttle the culprit now.”
Nathaniel heard Trenton repeat his words as he disappeared down the hatch. But he knew if Captain Errington didn’t believe them, Alexandra might prove their undoing at last.
* * *
Alexandra heard footsteps pounding down the hall and nearly dropped the mirror she was using to signal the other ship. Only rigid self-control enabled her to keep her tenuous grasp on its hard, slippery surface. This could be her only opportunity to escape Nathaniel and the others, adrift as she was and completely at their mercy.
Gritting her teeth, she continued to reflect what little sunlight remained, watching the flashes streak across the water. But they were random and probably meaningless. She had no knowledge of any official system of signals and could only hope that her cry for help would be interpreted as such—or cause enough of a stir to make the other ship take a closer look.
Alexandra heard the door to Nathaniel’s cabin bang open at the other end of the corridor, and repressed a shiver. She had taken Nathaniel’s diamond-shaped mirror to the purser’s small quarters, just in case. Now she thanked whatever providence had guided her to do so. Whoever searched for her would have no trouble finding her eventually, but her new location would buy her a few more seconds at least. And that might be all she needed.
“Please respond, please respond,” she whispered without really knowing what she expected the schooner to do. Would they signal back? Try to board? At that particular moment, Alexandra didn’t care, just so long as they helped her.
“Where are you, dammit?”
Alexandra heard Nathaniel’s voice as he moved closer, doors crashing open as he made his way forward. So it was the pirate captain himself who came after her, she realized with mild surprise, wondering what was happening on deck without him. She wished the voices that called above were more than a low rumble, but they were barely audible above the creaking of the berths and the slapping of the waves against the ship.
She stared across the water.
Do they see me? Will they help?
The door to the purser’s quarters banged against the inside wall, and Alexandra screamed and dropped the mirror.
Nathaniel filled the portal, his face thunderous. “There you are,” he growled. “What are you trying to do, kill the entire lot of us, yourself included? Or would you have
us
kill
them?”
Alexandra threw a glance toward the schooner she had been trying to signal. There was no visible evidence that they had seen her. They kept the same position they had from the beginning, though the voices from above continued.
“I’m not trying to kill anybody.” She pressed her back against the wall as two long strides brought Nathaniel so close she could reach out and touch him. “I’m trying to save myself, and possibly that boy you injured, before anyone else gets hurt.”
“The best chance that boy’s got at saving his hand is with Nanchu. The
Horizon’s
own surgeon would have hacked it off directly. And that’s what will happen to him still, if he returns now. Why do you think I brought him here in the first place?”
Alexandra shook her head. “I have no idea, but perhaps you’ll forgive me if I didn’t see it as an act of charity.” She let sarcasm enter her own voice, using it to conceal her fear as Nathaniel’s face twisted into an angry grimace.
“Don’t make judgments on matters you know nothing about,” he snapped. “That boy asked for everything he got. And as for you and your safety, I’m taking you home directly.”
“You’re what?” Alexandra dropped her shield of outrage as surprise took its place.
“You heard me.”
“So what now?” She stared at the shards of glass at her feet. They reflected Nathaniel’s dark image, contorting his handsome face into something more akin to a monster.
“That depends on what the
Voyager
makes of your little mirror trick.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her from the room. “If they open fire, there’s no telling.”
Alexandra shivered, remembering the morning’s battle against the
Eastern Horizon.
The
Vengeance
had rocked violently, making her stomach churn with seasickness. Smoke had burned her throat and brought tears to her eyes, and her ears still rang with the blast of cannon. The worst of it was the fear: not knowing whether they’d take a ball and sink into a watery grave, or be captured, or come off victorious, which, for Alexandra, might prove just as bad.
If they open fire…
she heard Nathaniel’s words again in her mind. The schooner had seemed like a lifeline. She was desperate to get away from Nathaniel before… before what? Before he refused to shield her from Rat? Before she witnessed any more proof that he was the blackguard she had originally thought he was?
She remembered the powerful response his touch evoked in her, and felt a deep-seated panic nearly overwhelm her. She craved the kiss of a criminal, a thief, a pirate. Somehow she had to protect herself from that alone.
But the
Vengeance
couldn’t surrender. Nathaniel and his crew had to fight, or they would probably hang. And how many might be killed in the process?
Nathaniel retrieved a bit of rope when they reached his cabin, but Alexandra raised a hand to forestall him.
“That won’t be necessary,” she said in resignation. “I’ll stay put.”
The pirate captain quirked an eyebrow at her, obviously skeptical, but shrugged. “It’s probably too late anyway,” he said, throwing the rope back into the corner. “The damage has already been done. Besides, if something should happen to me, I wouldn’t want you trapped below.”
He moved to go, but Alexandra reached out, catching him by the arm. “I’m sorry,” she said when he turned back. “I—I suppose I panicked.”
Cupping her chin in his hand, Nathaniel tilted her face up. He studied her for a moment as she gazed into his eyes, blue eyes of almost unfathomable depth. Then he dropped his hand and disappeared down the corridor without another word.
* * *
Alexandra almost screamed when the sound of cannon fire shattered the still night air. Peering through the porthole, she saw a series of small orange flashes in the vicinity of the other ship, and nearly swooned. It was happening. The schooner was attacking.
The
Royal Vengeance
shuddered as Nathaniel and his crew returned fire, causing Alexandra’s stomach to turn queasy again. The ship already swayed drunkenly against a strong breeze, rising and falling on great troughs of water like a horse jumping hedges, and the weather promised only to make matters worse. Dark clouds obscured the stars, revealing only a faint slice of moon, and the wind whistled through the rigging above. Its keening wail, though barely audible in the cabin, sent a chill of foreboding down Alexandra’s spine all the same.
A second round of shot barked from the big guns, and Alexandra threw herself on the bed. What fate would befall her? What fate would befall them all? How could she have been so thoughtless? She had wanted only to escape and to save the injured Jake before matters grew even worse, but she had probably signed the boy’s death warrant along with her own.
Somehow, the thought of Nathaniel floating in the briny water gave her little solace. She might have practiced a thousand forms of revenge upon the pirate captain in her dreams, but his slow, sardonic smile always taunted her in the end.
She groaned aloud and covered her ears, attempting to block out the din of battle. Grabbing one of the pillows, she buried her head beneath it until the sound of feet running down the companionway made her sit up and take notice. What was happening?
Crossing to the portal, Alexandra poked her head out just as a thin young man she didn’t know came charging down the hallway.
“What is it?” she asked in alarm.
“Just goin’ for more powder, miss. Can’t store powder near the big guns, ye know. Might explode the whole ship. With the storm it’d only get wet anyway.”
He hurried on as Alexandra closed the door. So they were preparing for a serious fight. Returning to the window, she clung to the bedpost for support, straining her eyes to see beyond the darkness.
Lanterns dimly lit the opponent’s ship between the brief, fiery flashes of cannon fire. The schooner wasn’t more than a quarter of a mile away.
Vaguely Alexandra wondered about the
Vengeance’s
chance of survival. How many men vied for their destruction? What kind of firepower did the schooner have? She knew next to nothing about cannons or gunfire or sailing, but the danger of battle after nightfall and in the middle of a storm seemed obvious enough.
The ship lurched to one side, and Alexandra yelped as she landed hard on her backside. She could scarcely rise for the ship’s movements, but when water began to creep beneath the door, covering the floor like a thin layer of ice, she sprang to her feet.
They were sinking! Why else would water be rising so quickly?
Alexandra’s fear of closed places once again reared its head, and she sloshed toward the door. The water reached her ankles now, making the polished wood slick. But she wasn’t about to be caught in the cabin, buried by water, pressed somewhere to the ceiling.
The door opened easily against the pressure of the water coming down the corridor, but Alexandra had to fight that same current as she made her way forward. Were they taking on water from above because of the storm, or below due to a ball, or both?
A man came up from behind, startling Alexandra as she waded through the icy coldness. He shoved her aside in his haste, carrying more powder, no doubt. The sound of cannon still reverberated above all else, despite the water, despite the storm, despite everything.
This time Nathaniel was not at the wheel when Alexandra emerged on deck. She was almost completely drenched, doused by the water pouring down upon her head as she climbed up the slippery ladder, but it didn’t matter because the storm finished the job, quickly wetting her to the skin. Rain slanted into her face, stinging droplets that pelted them all, though the men, who yelled and cursed and rushed about cleaning cannon muzzles and trimming sails, seemed oblivious.
Alexandra instinctively searched for Nathaniel. She had to see that he was in control to give herself some small scrap of hope and perhaps relieve her fear. But she couldn’t identify one man from another. A palpable urgency ran like a current through all on board as they ducked against the elements and fought to control the ship while getting off another round of shot.
Alexandra hugged the mast to help keep her balance. Then she saw him. Nathaniel stood near the binnacle, muscles taut as he kept his footing on the rollicking deck. His shirt gaped open to the waist and billowed in the wind as spray from the frothy ocean mingled with rain to course down his bare torso in rivulets. His black hair dripped water onto his chiseled face; his teeth gleamed as he shouted instructions to his crew.
“Nathaniel,” she cried, shoving away from the mast to force her way toward him. Her voice was drowned out by pistols that popped like toy guns as the crews of both ships drew firearms and began to pick men off from the opposing deck.
Alexandra took a deep breath and called Nathaniel again. She didn’t know what she wanted to tell the pirate captain. No doubt he already knew about the water filling the ship; his men slogged through it to retrieve the gunpowder stored below. But Nathaniel was always so self-assured. Surely his confidence would comfort her now.
“There’s water down below. Are we sinking?” she cried above the cacophony of storm and bullets when she reached him.
He turned, apparently noticing her for the first time, and scowled. “What are you doing up here?”
“I can’t stay below.”
Lightning flashed across the sky, momentarily illuminating the entire scene and freezing it in Alexandra’s mind’s eye like the painting of some famous naval battle. The other ship approached just off the bow, so close she could nearly jump from one deck to the other. It looked for all the world as though they would collide.