Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
“You just like to shoot your cannons,” I retorted.
“I do, indeed,” he said irately, and suggestively.
Sirens save me from bawdy pirates.
“It was just a small wave,” I told him.
“Ha-Lah, we’ll be fishing their men out of the sea for an hour.”
I shrugged.
“Cap, we’ve identified their captain,” Tint said from beside us.
“Excellent,” Aramus muttered, turned on his boot and stomped to the gangplank that led from our galleon to the one we’d just captured.
Due to my wave.
All right, so I nearly capsized the bloody thing.
I also managed to stop that drattedly loud cannon fire.
I followed after him.
When we made the deck of the other ship, I saw there were a great number of men on their knees and they were soggy.
This made me happy, and perhaps a little smug, but I didn’t show that last.
Aramus followed Tintagel to a man whose clothing veritably screamed buccaneer.
But he wasn’t.
He was a killer.
Aramus stopped before him.
I came up to my king’s side.
“Do we have identification on them?” Aramus asked Ore, who was standing over the man at the man’s back.
“Not yet,” Ore answered.
“Their stores?” Aramus inquired.
“So far, they’ve been unsuccessful,” Ore informed him. “They’re empty.”
I released a breath of relief.
Aramus studied the defeated captain and stated the obvious, “He’s not Mar-el. He looks Dellish or from the Northlands. Where are you from, captain?”
“The Vale,” the man spat.
“Merchant and passenger lanes have been open for some months,” Aramus noted. “And as such, I’m certain you’ve received much news from Triton.”
The man said nothing.
“And as King Noctorno is a particular friend of mine, I am aware that, at my urging, he made some proclamations of his own, which I would assume, him being a king, spread very widely,” Aramus said.
The man stretched out his neck.
But no words came from his mouth.
“Including,” Aramus continued, “that it is a punishable act to hunt whale in any of the waters around our continent.”
The man remained silent.
“And yet, we came upon you, hunting whale,” Aramus carried on. “Or, fortunately, attempting it, though not successful. As yet.”
The man still said no words.
So Aramus did.
“Now, ignorance of the law is no excuse,” he shared. “But as you took none of my wife’s beloved beasts, I’m feeling generous.”
Oreti looked to Aramus.
Tintagel looked to Aramus.
I looked to Aramus.
We all did this for, thus far, in matters such as these, Aramus had not felt generous.
Ever.
Aramus turned to Tint.
“Each of his men receive twenty lashes, he gets thirty. Take them to Nautilus. He’s stockaded for a week. His men serve a term of nine months. Him a year. When they’re released, they’re given sailor’s clothing and crewed on a ship bound to The Mystics. There, they’ll be dropped. They can find their way home from that land.”
Well then.
My husband wasn’t feeling generous.
He was just playing.
“That’s generous?” the captain demanded, not feeling very playful.
Aramus suddenly bent to him. “I’d have your blood draining from your throat while you hang from a yardarm if you’d taken one of my creatures. I am the King of the Sea, arsehole. And I will make it known the waters are safe for my beasts, and anyone who thinks differently will learn how adamantly I disagree.”
And after delivering that, he turned and strode away.
I looked to Tint.
“Save us all from a convert,” he muttered.
I was smiling when I followed my husband.
He was on the port side of our ship when I found him.
He was also leaning over the railings, saying, “You have to wait for her. I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
I came to stand by his side, looked over the railing, and saw the snouts of three dolphins, all of them chattering up at him.
“They say there are smugglers hiding booty on an island south of here that is officially in the waters of Triton,” I told him.
Aramus grinned down at the glistening, gray noses.
“My beautiful spies,” he cooed.
I rolled my eyes to the heavens.
The dolphins squealed their delight.
My husband turned.
“Bond!” he shouted. “You and Tint take some men and sail that ship to Nautilus. Impound it. Then set it for auction. We sail south.”
“Aye,” Bond replied.
“Sorry?” I asked.
Aramus looked down at me. “There’s booty to be had.”
“Husband, you’re king. You’re wealthy. You live in a castle. You have the ear of the gods. You don’t need booty.”
He then grasped me with an arm about my waist and pulled me tight to his body, dipping his face to mine.
“My Ha-Lah, I’m a pirate and pirates always need booty.”
I experienced a lovely tingle.
It was as if Aramus sensed it for his eyes then dropped to my mouth and he muttered, “Now to shoot my cannon.”
I really should have been exasperated.
But instead, I let my husband drag his wench to his cabin.
And I did it laughing.
Queen Farah
Guest Cell, Reception Hall
DOME CITY
“Why are we here again?” True asked, making a mess of his neckcloth.