The Pirate's Wish (23 page)

“Good,” Marjani said when I told her, though she seemed distracted. We were ambling around the perimeter of the palace, next to the fence that kept the jungle from pushing in on the royal lands. “I really didn’t want to leave her here.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and all the bangles on her wrists tinkled like bits of glass. “You can captain her, if you’d like.”

“What?” I stopped. “She’s your boat!”

“We captured her with your manticore,” Marjani said. “She’s as much yours as she is mine.”

“I can’t captain a boat.”

Marjani glanced at me over the top of one bare shoulder. “Of course you can,” she said. “If I can do it, you can do it.”

“You’re smarter than me.”

“Smarter doesn’t necessarily make a good captain.” She shrugged. “Clever does. And you’re plenty clever.”

I didn’t know what to say. All my life I’d wanted to captain a ship, but lately it hadn’t seemed that important to me anymore. I was distracted by that bird and its map and its weird note, afraid the Hariris weren’t really dead. And I was afraid Naji would be, if we ever found the starstones.

“Besides,” said Marjani. “It’s just along the coast. A day and a half’s journey. Think of it as practice.”

Practice. Ha! Well, maybe I’d take off with her boat and her crew, see how she liked it then. Not that I knew where I’d go.

I ain’t no mutineer. But I toyed with the thought for a few seconds anyway, the way I toyed with handing Naji over to the Mists. And I felt just as guilty about it afterward.

“We’re leaving at dawn tomorrow morning,” she said. “Saida really does want you to come. Naji too. She likes talking to him.”

Naji and Saida had swapped magic stories at dinner, spells gone wrong and so on – she said she didn’t know much about magic if you asked, though that was a right lie from hearing the way she talked. Naji stuck to discussing earth-magic. I wondered what Queen Saida would think if he told her about me spilling my blood on the deck of the
Nadir
so we could win the fight against the Hariri clan. Probably wrinkle her nose and reach for a piece of flatbread.

So that was how I came to captain the
Nadir
for a day and a half. Wasn’t much to it, of course, cause we just followed behind Queen Saida’s queen ship, the colors bright against the blue sky and the blue water. Crew was lazy on account of the smooth waves and the favorable winds. I wandered up and down the deck shouting every insult and curse word I knew, the way Papa always did, trying to get ’em off their asses.

“First mate!” Jeric yi Niru called out while I was making one of my rounds. I stopped and glared at him. He was up in the rigging.

“What do you want?” I shouted. “If you say the word
starstone
to me, I swear on Kaol and her watery birthbed that I will shoot you in the heart.” And I pulled out my pistol like I meant to use it.

Jeric yi Niru laughed and came dropping down to deck on a line of rope. “You sound like an Empire captain,” he said. “They like to threaten the lives of their crew too.”

I shoved my gun back into the waistband of my pants. “What is it?” I asked.

“The crew,” he said. “I want to apologize for them. You dragged them away from one of the wealthiest cities in the world. The dice houses here–” He shook his head in fake disbelief. I wanted to hit him. “And the women.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m taking ’em to the Aja Shore,” I said. “There’ll be whores and gambling aplenty there, too.”

“Tell them that,” said Jeric yi Niru. “I realize to a pirate captain’s daughter the life of a captain is nothing but orders given and orders followed, but in truth it’s an exchange.”

I hate to admit it, but he had my attention. “An exchange?”

“Yes. Like your relationship with that manticore. It was built on favors, yes?”

I didn’t say nothing. I wished to the deep blue sea I knew how he got his information.

“You tell the crew we’re sailing to the Aja Shore at the lovely Queen Saida’s request, but what do they care of Queen Saida? What do they care of
you
? All they care about–”

“Is pissing their money away at the dice houses. I get it.”

Jeric yi Niru gave me one of his insolent Empire smiles. But he was right. I’d played the manticore and the manticore had played me and we’d wound up friends. Even if her boon hadn’t turned out how she intended.

So I climbed up on the helm and rang the warning bell till I got the crew’s attention.

“What is it, Lady Navigator?” one of ’em called out.

“I wanted to let you know!” I said. “That we’ll be spending close to a week along the Aja Shore.”

The crew all stared at me like I’d just turned into a kitten.

“I know the lot of you have already lost half your earnings to the gambling houses in Arkuz.”

“Most of us more’n that!” somebody called out, and some of the crew laughed and some of them grumbled under their breaths.

“That’s cause you were gambling in Arkuz,” I said. “They take one look at your clothes and see an Empire scummy who don’t know how to hold on to his money.” I paused, looking out over them. “They
cheat
, is what I’m saying.”

The crew clapped and stomped and hollered in agreement.

“But on the Aja Coast,” I said, “they play nice and fair. You boys want to earn your pressed gold back? Now’s your chance.”

I had no idea how accurate any of this was, but the crew was hollering again.

“And the
whores
,” I added, not knowing the slightest how to build on that. Apparently it was enough, though, cause the crew hooted and stomped and nudged one another. I guess just saying the word
whores
is enough to get them excited.

“So I want you boys to think about those Aja women and those Aja dice houses,” I shouted. “While you’re climbing up in the rigging and steering us forward. I ain’t sailing on Queen Saida’s command, I’m sailing to give the lot of you a little taste of paradise.”

They actually cheered me. Not like a crowd cheering a champion in the fighting ring, mind, just some yelling and hollering and whatnot. Still felt good.

“Now!” I shouted. “Get back to work!”

And no one was as surprised as me when they did.

The Aja Shore reminded me of Bone Island, only cleaner and full of nobles and rich merchants instead of cutthroats and pirates. Queen Saida kept a private island set a ways off from the shore, with a big house filled with servants, who, far as I could see, got to live there all year and only had to work when Queen Saida decided she wanted a vacation.

We didn’t bother making port at the dock, just dropped anchor out in the open sea off behind Queen Saida’s island, the
Nadir
looking big and hulking and monstrous next to her pretty little garden-ship. I let the crew row in to the mainland to go chasing after the gambling I promised them. Then Naji and me made our way to Queen Saida’s house. It was like being in the palace. Her private guards hung around trying to look inconspicuous, and the servants gave me weird looks before leading us up to our rooms. They seemed to give Naji a pass, probably cause every time he opened his mouth he sounded like a noble.

“We’re preparing your midday meal now,” the servant told us as she wandered around my room, pulling down sheets and drawing the curtains away from the open windows. The sea glittered in the sunlight. “The house bell will chime when it’s prepared.” She nodded at me and slipped off into the hallway.

I sank down on the bed and sighed. The warm wind blowing in through the windows made me sleepy, though at least it smelled like the sea, like home, instead of the jungle. It didn’t take long before I drifted off to some breezy dream. Marjani was there, and Queen Saida and the manticore. No Naji. It was nice.

In the dream, Marjani knocked on wood, looking at me expectantly. She knocked so loud it woke me up, and I realized someone was knocking on my door. The little whisper in my head told me it was Naji.

“What do you want?” I called out.

He pushed the door open and stood there staring at me.

“Well?” I asked. “Ain’t no Mist lady in here.”

“I can see that,” he said.

I had half a mind to go sifting through his head, but I didn’t much feel like putting forth the energy.

“Seriously,” I said, “did you need something?”

Naji shook his head silently and just kept staring at me. I sighed and rolled over onto my back, looked up at the ceiling.

“I spoke to the Order about this Court of the Waves,” Naji said. “There’s no record of such a place in any of our histories. Saida’s librarian had never heard of it either.”

I sighed. “Well then. I
really
don’t trust it.”

Bells started ringing.

“Well, that’s proper timing, isn’t it?” I sat up. “Food’s always better than magical killing rocks.”

“Wait,” Naji said.

“What? They said they’d ring the bells for lunch.”

Naji shook his head. “They aren’t coming from the house.”

I froze, listening. He was right. The bells were caught on the wind, blowing in from the sea–

And then I heard the faint boom of cannon fire.

That got me to my feet. I rolled off the bed and darted over to the window. I couldn’t see nothing but the sparking sea, but the smell of cannon fire smoke, acrid and burning, was on the air.

Naji grabbed me by the arm, yanked me back. “My room,” he said.

He dragged me down the hallway. His room looked the same as mine, but the thud of cannons was louder. I ran over to his window, which faced land.

The Aja Shore was burning in patches. A Confederation ship sidled up along it sideways. Another volley of cannon fire. I leaned out the window, ignoring the sudden pain in my temple, straining to see what colors she was flying – but the smoke was too thick.

The city bells clanged against my skull. Naji tried to pull me out of the window.

“No!” I shouted. “I gotta see which ship. If it’s some Hariri allies–”

“Ananna, you’re hurting me.”

The pain in his voice startled me enough that I loosened my grip on the windowsill and went tumbling backward. He caught me before I could hit the floor. My headache evaporated.

“They aren’t here for you,” he said. “They’re sacking the town.”

“Yeah, looking for me!” I wrenched away from him and was halfway to the door when he had one hand on my shoulder, one arm wrapping around my chest, drawing me into an embrace that startled me into stillness.

“Please,” he whispered into the top of my head. “Please. It hurts me even more now. Now that I–”

I pulled away from him. Whatever he almost said, I didn’t care. And besides, I didn’t have any other choice. I needed to get out to sea. It wouldn’t take long before they made it to Queen Saida’s island, before they saw our boat floating out in the water – if they hadn’t already. We didn’t have the colors up – I ain’t stupid – but any pirate worth his salt would see that the
Nadir
was a gussied-up Empire boat. And if these were Hariri allies, they would know what that meant.

“I ain’t safe here, neither,” I finally told him, pulling out one of my pistols. “And if we lose our ship, then we lose everything.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Marjani caught me in the hallway. She had her sword in one hand and her pistol in the other, though she was still dressed like a princess.

“Do you know who it is?” I asked.

The smell of smoke was everywhere.

“Not any of the Hariri allies that I know about.”

I slumped with relief, dropping my sword to my side.

“They’re here because of Saida,” she said. “The Aja merchants always bring out the best jewelry and silks when she comes to visit.” Marjani took a deep breath. “Her guards have taken the queen’s ship. I told her we’d take the
Nadir
.”

“As privateers?” I frowned. “Are we gonna have to swear allegiance to Jokja and all that?”

Marjani scowled. “Does it matter? And not officially, no.” She jerked her head in direction of the shore. “Those pirates are going to try and take the
Nadir
once they’ve finished sacking the shore anyway.”

That was probably true.

We didn’t have much crew on the
Nadir
– most of ’em were on shore, and so we just had the few scoundrels who got stuck with the second shift. Jeric yi Niru was one of them, though, and lo and behold he’d gotten them to ready the boat for battle. When me and Marjani came on board and saw the crew packing the cannons and readying the sails, he gave us both a bow and a tip of his Qilari hat.

“Captain,” he said. “I imagine we’ll need to fetch the rest of our soldiers for the battle.”

“They’re my crew, not soldiers,” Marjani said. “But yes, you’re right.” She took the helm. I stood beside her, my heart pounding in my chest. The sky was black with smoke, and I could hear screaming and pistol blasts coming from the mainland. The queen ship was ahead of us, her green sails bright against the haze. My head ached some, from being separated from Naji, but it wasn’t too bad. If I concentrated I could make it disappear completely.