The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (12 page)

Chapter 14

Ace didn’t know how long he’d been lying on the shore with the waves lapping around him. But what brought him from his slumber was a wooden stick poking him in the back. Thinking it was the sheik coming back to claim him, he rolled over quickly and grabbed onto the stick, causing someone to scream right before they fell atop him.

“Damn it, Willis, don’t do that!” Ace realized he held on to Willis’s peg leg and had now pulled the man atop him in the process.

“Lord Ace, you’re alive!” Boots stood over him as well, and several of the other men looked on from behind him.

“What ar
e you fools looking at?” he growled and jumped to his feet. He reached out to give Willis a hand, but the man refused his offer and got to his feet on his own.

“We thought you were dead,” said Sir John, pushing his way to the front of the crowd.

“Well, I’m not, so now you can stop gawking.” He felt uncomfortable standing there under the perusal of a dozen men while wearing only his braies. “What are you doing back so soon anyway?” he asked. “Couldn’t get a wench after all?”

“Nay,” said Cook from the back of the crowd. “That stew
was the best stew I’ve ever tasted.”

Ace couldn’t help but notice the man’s smile. He realized they all looked like they’d
had a good bedding from a willing wench and he was happy for them.

“Juturna made us return early,” Boots informed him. “She said she saw in her crystal that you were in trouble.”

“Well, she was right,” he told them.

“Move over you lunk, let me through already.” Juturna pushed the body of Moose aside, and made her
way to the front of the crowd. “Thank the heavens you are alive, Sir Asad,” said Juturna. “Are you harmed at all?”

“Sir Asad?” asked one of the men from the back o
f the crowd. “Why is she calling you that, Lord Ace?”

“I’m fine,” he told
Juturna. Then looking at his men he said, “and though you know me as Lord Ace, my real name is Asad. I’ll explain everything later.”

“Where is Ebba-Tyne?” asked Juturna, looking around frantically. “Please tell me that she is alright or I will never forgive myself for not staying here with her.”

“There’s nothing you could have done, Juturna.”

“What
do you mean? Did something happen? She is alive, is she not?”

“I don’t know her
present state,” he sadly admitted. “The sheik came and took her. I tried to save her, but I couldn’t outfight them.”

“I can see why,” said Boots, surveying the fact he was nearly naked and without a weapon.

“I am going after her to save her,” he told them.

“Then bring an army abo
ard your ship,” Juturna instructed.

“I don’t have an army,” he said, pacing back and forth and looking out to the sea.

“What about Lord Drake?” asked Boots. “He may be able to help you.”

“I can’t ask the man to risk his life. If he so much as steps foot on
to the soil of Tamaris, every warrior there will be waiting with a sword at his throat wanting his head.”

“Hire some mercenaries,” Barnabus shouted out.

“No coin for that,” he said, having sent the bag of coins and gold he retrieved from the thieves back to shore with Boots to pay some of his debts to the merchants. The rest he’d instructed Boots to use on the stew for the men, as well as drinks and accommodations while they were on the mainland. “And unfortunately I’ve lost my entire crew since I’ve stayed on the island so long, so I don’t even have enough men to sail my ship across the sea.”

“There must be another lord’s army from the mainland that would help you,” said Willis.

“’Twould take too long to round one up,” said Ace. “Nay, I am just going to have to do this by myself.”

“Don’t be a fool,” said Juturna. “One man cannot take on a sheik and his army and save a girl
too.”

“That’s right,” said Boots. “And
you know the high seas are rough, and it would take more than the three of us to sail there. You would need a full crew.”

“Well, I don’t have one,” Ace said looking out over the water and shaking his head.
“And now I’m going to lose the girl I love because I haven’t the means to save her.”

There was silence for a few moments, then it was Juturna who spoke up brashly – as always.

“Look around you, Ace. You have exactly what you need but are more blind than Cook if you cannot see it.”

“What
do you mean by that?” he asked, turning toward Juturna and the men.

“You have a crew to sail your ship and also men to help you fight and bring back Ebba-Tyne standing right here. Now use them, you fool.”

Ace knew Juturna’s brash ways and it didn’t even bother him that she’d just called him a fool in front of the men. She was right. They were a bunch of misfits, but they had good intentions. And most of them were fighting men at one time. He’d seen the progress they’d been making with their weapons. They were good at what they did, and Ace had been training them personally. Mayhap this could work.

But then h
e looked around at every man there. They had gone through hard times and already lost everything they had and even limbs while trying to protect their liege lord. They owed no loyalty to Ace, nor would he let them risk their lives for him.

“Nay,” he said. “I cannot
ask you men to do it.”

“I, for one
, want to go get revenge on the sheik who took our lord’s life and captured the Lady of Varusa,” said Moose.

“Not to mention make them pay for leavi
ng us maimed and left for dead,” added Willis.

“My brother and I would
sail with you, Lord Ace and fight if we have to in order to help you,” Boots spoke up bravely, impressing Ace with his loyalty. But then again, the man and his brother had not deserted Ace yet, so this shouldn’t surprise him.

“We owe our allegi
ance to the late Lord Marcus, and would do anything to protect his daughter,” said Barnabus.

“Aye,” added Sir John. “We have known Ebba-Tyne since she was but a child. She is like a daughter to some of us. I
, for one, would not think twice to risk my life to save her.”

“But this is a suicide mission,” said Ace. “Some of you – mayhap all of us – may never return.”

“Let’s get them,” shouted someone from the back of the crowd.

“Aye, I’m in,” said another.

Before he knew it, they were all shouting and cheering and even Juturna said she’d come along and help to sew up the wounded.

“You are all the best damned crew and pack of friends a man ever had,” said Ace with a slight smile. “But before I let you risk your life for me, I need to tell you my whole story. And after that, if any of you want to change your minds, I’ll understand.”

“What story?” asked Sir John. “What are you talking about?”

“I am one of them,” said Ace.

“One of who?” asked Cook.

“He’s a Tama
rian, you fool,” whispered Barnabus. “You can tell by his dark features and his bronzed skin.”

“You are the fool,” said Cook. “If you weren’t so dense you’d remember I’m blind.”

“And that’s not all,” said Ace. “You see, I have to tell you that my mother was a harem girl to the sheik who has killed your lord and abducted your lady and now taken Ebba-Tyne as well. And my father – I am not sure at this moment who my father really is, but I need to let you all know before you decide to come with me, that my father may be the Sheik of Tamaris himself.”

* * *

Ebba had slept the entire way to Tamaris. The guards now pulled her off the pallet she was lying on, in the sheik’s cabin. They yanked her to a standing position and then up the stairs of the ship. They threw her down on the ground at the sheik’s feet.

“Look at me, Siren,” he called out from above her.

Her face was just inches from the wood deck and her hair hung long around her, forming a tent around her body. She could see the bottom of the man’s long white robes that covered his feet.

“Blue Hair,
” he called her, “I said to look at me, now!”

She raised her eyes slowly, squinting in the sun as his tall form
towered over her. His robe lifted in the breeze around him, making him a threatening site. His head was wrapped in a turban to keep him from the desert sun, trailing down and tossed over one shoulder. He had a wiry dark beard and bushy brows and a hawk-like nose.

“As soon as you are strong
er, you would meet me in my palace and dance for me, Siren.”

“I would not dance for you. Ever!”

He raised his foot and pushed it against her body until she fell to the deck on her back. “You are a fae, you would dance. And since you are a siren, you would also sing to excite me.” He took the tip of his sword and lifted the edge of her shift, trying to look underneath. She pushed it away and clamped her legs together tightly, sitting up and wrapping her arms around herself.

“Bring her to the harem,” he instructed his man. “Tell th
em I want her washed and trained to see to my pleasures by this evening.

“Of course, Sire,
” he said, grabbing her and bringing her to her feet. He dragged her over the floor, and she spotted a bucket of water being used to swab the decks. She broke away from the guard and dove for it, reaching in with her arms and splashing water on her face and neck. Instantly she felt a surge of life go through her.

“Get her out of here,” growled the sheik and waved his hand. The guard pulled her roughly to her feet and dra
gged her down the boarding plank and to the shore. She stopped when they set foot on land and looked around. To her horror, it was a vast, hot, dry desert that lay before her. She’d never seen anything like it.

“Get moving,” said the guard and pushed her forward. She found it hard to walk in the hot sand and fell to the ground. She picked up a fistful
of sand and let it slowly sieve through her fingers. This would be her life, she realized, as it slowly slipped away. She could not survive in the desert for long. This – the hot air that took away the water – was an element more dangerous to her than even the wretched sheik threatening to bed her. And if something didn’t happen to change things fast, she knew this land named Tamaris is the place where her life would end, once and for all.

Chapter 15

“Captain, the men are all aboard the ship as well as Juturna, and we are ready to go.” Boots stood patiently waiting for Ace to answer.

Ace walked along the beach deep in thought, stopping right where he remembered the coral reef to be. He knew the coral cave was just beyond that under the water.

“Lord Ace?” asked Boots, “did you hear me?”

“Aye,” said Ace with a nod of his head. “And did you load all the exotic spices leftover from inside the castle as well as the fine silks and linens?”

“I did, though I don’t see why we’ll need them.”

“I want some bargaining tools,” he told him. “Did you load every blasted weapon we have though it isn’t many at all?”

“I did, Captain. And we have extra weapons as well as some fine jewelry aboard the ship. ’Tis part of a trade that needs to go to Tamaris, though no one in port wanted to take it. The merchants were still angry at you for losing their wares so I thought it best to suffice them for now and loaded them aboard the ship.”

“
But you know we don’t trade with Tamaris. I haven’t set foot on that soil since the day I left.”

“I do know that
,” Boots replied, “but Juturna was actually the one who suggested I take it. And you know how hard it is to say no to that woman.”

“Actually, since we’re headed there anyway whether I like it or not, it is good we have the extra supplies and weapons,
and something to trade so as not to cause suspicion. I thank you. We may be able to use them to our advantage after all.”

“If we don’t come back with their trade again, I shudder to think what is going to happen to us.”

“That’s the least of our problems, Boots. Just coming back alive is our first concern. And bringing back Ebba as well.”

“Do you think it’s possible to take h
er from the sheik? Or perhaps we can trade for her.”

“I think we need somet
hing more than spices or jewelry.”

“Like what?”

“Like something so valuable and sought after, even the sheik would give up a siren to get it,” Ace explained.

“Too bad we don’t know of anything with those requiremen
ts. Well, shall we cast off to sea, Captain?” Boots turned to leave.

“We do.”

“Pardon me, my lord?” Boot turned around and came back when he realized Ace didn’t follow.

“We have the perfect bargaining tool, and I’m just trying
to figure out how to get it without drowning in the process.”

“What’s that?” asked Boots, pulling a goat’s bladder filled with rum from his side and taking a swig.

“It’s called the crystal dolphin. It’s in a cave beneath the water. And whoever has it can see not only the past but the present and future as well.

“Well, too bad we don’t have it now so it can tell us how to retrieve it.” Boots laughed and took another swig of rum from the bladder.

“Wait. That’s it,” Ace said excitedly pointing to the bladder.

“What’s it?
” Boots looked down to the rum and smiled. “Oh, how rude of me, please have some rum, as I think you could use this.”

“I
could
use it. That is exactly right.” He ripped the bladder from the man’s hand and turned it over, proceeding to empty the rum onto the sand at their feet.

“
Stop! What are you doing?” Boot’s eyes opened wide. “You’re wasting the rum.” He reached for it but Ace held it off to the side and pushed him away with his arm until every last drop was emptied. He’d never seen a man look so forlorn as Boots at this moment.

“That was going to get me through the night. And I can’t possibly sail into the land of sand and sheiks without being drunk.”
Boots held a hand over his face.

“You’ll need your wits about you if we’re going to win this battle. No rum for you
nor any of the men until we return. We’ve got to stay sharp,” Ace told him.

“Well, you didn’t need to go to such extremes, you could have just told me.”

“I need this bladder,” he said, pulling off his clothes and standing there in just his undergarments. He took a cloth he had brought with and stuck it into the waist of his braies.

Boots looked at him oddly and just shook his head. “I don’t want to know what you’re going to do with that, because I can guarantee it’s something I won’t like.”

“Well, I can guarantee Ebba won’t like it either.”

“Mayhap
I’ll wait back at the ship,” Boots said, turning away.

“Nay. Wait right here. I want you to watch me.”

A look of horror washed over the man’s face. “Captain, I know you miss Ebba but perhaps you can make a stop at the stew later like the rest of the men did . . . instead . . . instead of using that.”

“What in the devil’s name are you rambling
on about?” asked Ace. “I am going to use this bladder as an extra air supply to make it to the cave and back. I hope it works, and I hope to hell the tide doesn’t start coming in while I’m in there. I don’t want to drown here before I even have a chance to save Ebba.”

“I still don’t quite understand, but go on
, my lord, and I would wait right here for you.”

“Good enough.” Ace took a deep breath and blew air into the bladder. When it inflated, he
wrapped the end around his finger. He then waded into the water, and taking another deep breath, he ducked below the waves hoping he remembered the way to the coral cave.

He swam through the waters, seeing the coral, but not finding the entrance to the cave. He was about to go back up when he saw a dolphin and had an idea.

Show me the way into the cave, please,
he thought, hoping the dolphin would hear the words in his mind.
I need the crystal dolphin to help save Ebba-Tyne’s life.

He took the bladder
and held it up to his mouth, taking some air into his lungs. It worked beautifully. Then the dolphin swam up to him and he knew he was going to get the help he needed after all.

The dolphin brou
ght him right to the entrance of the cave and Ace swam inside. He made it to the barrel sponge on the end and reached within, but the crystal was not there.

Then he ducked his head under the water and saw the precious piece lying on the ground just in front of it as if someone had dropped it. He picked it up and was
going to head back but stopped suddenly as he saw the shark swimming back and forth in front of the opening to the cave. He returned and noticed the pocket of air in the cave and climbed atop the rock out of the water to wait.

He held the crystal dolphin up to the sun and then rubbed it with his hand. He was thinking about Ebba when the crystal clouded over and a vision of her face appeared in the stone. He was so surprised that he let go of the bladder. The air slipped out and it shot across the cave and disappeared into the water.

“Ebba?” he said aloud. “Ebba, where are you? Are you all right?”

He thought he saw her wearing the outfit of a harem girl like his mother used to wear. This could not be a good thing. He knew he had to get to Tamaris as quickly as possible. He had the bargaining tool now and also the means to save Ebba. He was wrapping it in a clo
th he had tucked into his waistband when he noticed the crystal changing in color.

He had an idea – something he needed to know. And although Ebba told him it wasn’t always a good idea to kno
w the future, he had to find out. “What is my future?” he asked the crystal dolphin, then squinted hard and tried to focus as a vision came to site. It was his face. He was wearing the traditional robes of the sheiks of his land. He didn’t understand it. There was a harem girl at his side though it was cloudy inside the crystal and he couldn’t see the girl’s face.

“What does this mean?” he asked aloud. “Why would I be wearing the robes of a sheik and have a harem girl at m
y side?” Then he realized he might not be asking the question properly. “Show me my father,” he said, needing to know the identity of the man who’d sired him. “Show me my father’s face.”

He looked closely as a vision started to appear again. This time there was a crowd of people and
he had to look closely to try to recognize anyone. He saw the back of a Tamarian man talking to someone whom he recognized as the man he’d once called uncle. The sheik’s own brother seemed to know the man whose face Ace could not see.

“Show me the man’s face!” he said,
needing to see his father’s identity once and for all. With that, the man turned and his dark eyes looked right into Ace from the center of the crystal. And to his horror, he realized that the man was none other than the Talib ibn Tamman, Sheik of Tamaris. The man who’d killed his mother as well as Ebba’s father. He wished he’d never asked now, because the last thing he wanted to find out was that the Sheik of Tamaris was really his own father!

The tide started coming in, taking with it the small pocket of air from the cave. The water washed higher up to Ace’s neck now, and he took the crystal dolphin and wrapped it carefully in the cloth hanging at his side. He then tied the precious piece around his chest. He reached down for the bladder to blow air into it, but realized it was some
where under the water. The waves lapped higher quickly, almost covering his nose now. He dived underneath and looked for the bladder but it was dark and murky and he could not see it. When he came up for air he realized he had but one chance to take a breath before the water closed over him completely.

With no bladder of extra air he was not sure he’d even make it to the surface. And with the shark outside the entrance of the cave, his future was looking dim. He had no choice. He had to risk it. If he didn’t get out of the cave alive, Ebba would have no chance of a rescue.

He took the deepest breath he possibly could and the water washed over his head, filling the cave completely. Then he swam as fast as possible to the entrance of the cave only to see the shark looking at him head on.

He hadn’t even a dagger about him with which to fight the man-eating enemy of the sea. But he would take on the shark with his bare hands if need be in order to leave here and have the chance to save Ebba.

Just as he was reaching out for the shark, a group of dolphins came to his aid. The shark took off in the other direction and the dolphins came up under his arms and he grabbed on as they brought him swiftly to the surface. Breaking free of the water, he gasped for the air of life. Then they brought him right up to the shore and he thanked them aloud this time and joined Boots who was waiting on the sand with his mouth opened wide.

“Close your mouth or you’ll start catching flies,” Ace told him.

“Did I just see you – did you just – did dolphins . . . ”

“Aye,” he answered picking up his clothes and donning them quickly.

“Did I also hear you thank the dolphins? He made a face and looked at Ace from the corner of his eyes.

“Of course
I did,” Ace answered. “I am grateful for their assistance or I never would have made it to the surface before I drowned or got eaten by the shark.”

“Th- the shark, my lord?”

“Boots, do you have a hearing problem today? Now let’s get the hell to the ship already so we can get to Tamaris and save Ebba.”

“Of course. To save Ebba,
” he repeated, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

“Not only that,
” added Ace, “but now I also need to kill my father!”

Ace walked away toward the ship and left Boots standing there
on the beach, once again catching flies.