Corin hovered nearby, watching and chewing on his lip. Elaina had noticed him even before she sat back down on the deck, but decided to wait for her quartermaster to make his move.
The knot in the rope loosened just enough for Elaina to start threading it through, and within a minute she’d untangled it entirely, leaving only a stiff, salt-encrusted kink in the rope where it had been. Unfortunately the kink would need to be ironed out before the rope could be used again, but that was a task for later, once all the knots had been removed. The loosening of the knot had also revealed yet another mouldy strand of rope that would need to be cleaned. Elaina pulled out her boot knife and started scraping away at the green-blue filth.
“Elaina…” Corin said after what seemed like an age of waiting.
Familiarity with the crew was something her father disagreed with, but whatever his misgivings, he let Elaina run her ship as she pleased, and she preferred to breed trust through friendship. Most of her crew still referred to her as “Captain”, but Corin had known her since birth; they had in fact both fed off the same tit as babies, after Elaina’s mother had run dry. An unfortunate consequence of having eight previous children, Elaina wagered.
“Your concerns, or the crew’s?” Elaina interrupted him
The quartermaster squirmed a little, then walked to the aft railing to stare out at the sea. “Mine. Crew would follow you into the port of Sarth if you led them there. Probably.”
“Because they know I never would,” Elaina countered as she cut away a decaying thread of rope. She heard Corin spit over the side of the ship. “Point is, they trust you, perhaps more than they should.”
“Have I ever done wrong by them before? Haven’t I earned that trust?”
“Earned it and more, Elaina. You know that. But I got responsibilities, as quartermaster, to them, to you, and to the ship. Ya know?”
“It’s OK, Corin. Out with it.”
There was silence, a little too long a silence. Elaina looked up to find her friend staring out across the blue behind them with a vacant look on his face that went beyond peaceful and into serene. Elaina was up in flash, the old rope once again discarded. She grabbed hold of Corin and shook him hard, until his eyes came back into focus.
“Are you using on board my ship?” Elaina hissed as she held the man close. Close enough to smell it on his breath.
“Um…” Corin glanced downwards, and Elaina realised she was still holding her boot knife – only now it was pressed up against the quartermaster’s neck.
With a curse that was more fury than words, Elaina drove the knife point-first into the aft railing and took a step back from Corin. She could feel a choking rage inside that was attempting to blot out all rational thought, but she took control and refused to let it out. Her temper was a horrible thing, and it ran in the family. Hers was second only to her father’s; even so, it was nothing in comparison to his.
Elaina had once witnessed her father beat a man to death with his bare hands, and keep on swinging until there was little left of the man’s head but bloody mush and bone. Even then, he’d ordered the corpse strung up so he could continue to beat it. The mere memory helped Elaina to calm her inner rage.
“I don’t care what ya do on your time, but I told ya not to use that shit while on my ship.”
“I don’t,” Corin protested. “Not usually. I mean, I just… I needed something to take the edge off before I came to speak to you.”
“Take the edge off?”
“It helps me relax.”
“You weren’t just relaxed.” Elaina gave him a hard shove before sitting back down with her rope. “You were one shitting step away from being asleep.”
“I wasn’t. I was…” Corin paused, fiddling with his locks of matted brown hair. “Contemplating.”
“You ain’t boarding.”
“Elaina, that ain’t…”
“No,” she said firmly. “You just damn near fell asleep during a conversation. What happens if ya do the same during a fight? You ain’t going anywhere near a fight till that shit is out of ya.”
Corin made a whining sound, but didn’t argue any further. After a few moments Elaina looked up to find her friend chewing on his lip again. He looked very much like he had something to say.
“Concerns,” Elaina prompted.
“You sailed us south-west, Elaina. Towards Acanthia.”
“I’m well aware.”
“What if that’s an Acanthian ship?”
“I hope it is.”
“And what if it’s one that’s got protection? Not even your da goes against the Guild.”
That was precisely why Elaina had ordered the crew to sail towards Acanthia. She needed to regain her father’s favour, to prove she had stones as big as his own. That wasn’t something Corin needed to hear. He, like the rest of the crew, was a pirate, and the language they spoke was loot.
“Acanthian merchants are pretty much hands down the richest in the world, right?” Elaina said as she used brute force to try to work a knot free. The salty rope didn’t budge.
“Right.”
“Because those bastards over in Truridge don’t just trade in normal goods. They have access to exotic shit, the likes of which can’t be got anywhere else. I don’t know how they do it, but they sell and ship Drurr-made items. Glass swords that glow with the light of a candle and don’t ever chip or break. Leather armour harder than steel. Cloth that changes colour depending on who’s looking at it. Shit like that is worth more than its weight in gold, and they’re the only ones that sell it. Guess they must trade with the Drurr, or something. That’s why they’re so damned rich, and that’s why they can afford to pay the Guild for protection.”
“But the Guild…”
“Fuck the Guild,” Elaina spat. “If that ship’s a trader, and if it is from Acanthia, and if it is one with Guild protection – who’s gonna tell the Guild it was us that took ’em when all their throats are cut? We kill everyone on board, no exceptions, and whatever fancy loot we take off ’em is gonna make us all rich. Even my da will have to be impressed then.”
“I don’t know, Elaina…”
“Well I do,” she snapped. “And as it fucking happens, I’m captain. We’re taking that ship, and you aren’t going anywhere near the fight. Get yourself below decks and don’t let me see you again until that shit is out of your system.”
Corin opened his mouth to say more, but quickly closed it when Elaina shot him an acid glare. With a nod, the quartermaster turned to slink away. It was a harsh way to deal with a friend, Elaina knew, but she wasn’t about to have her decisions questioned – not over this, and especially not by a man so drugged up on Lucy his teeth likely shone in the dark.
With a growl, Elaina threw the tangled rope aside and leapt to her feet. Feeling the need to expend some energy all of a sudden, she ran all the way to the forecastle as fast as her bare feet could carry her.
Three hours later, and not only had they confirmed the ship was a trading fluyt, but they were quickly gaining on her. The Starry Dawn was not the fastest ship in the isles, nor the fastest in Tanner Black’s little fleet, but she was sure as a watery grave fast enough to outrun a merchant vessel that was clearly riding low in the water. Elaina’s crew had piled on as much canvas as they dared tie to the ship, and she was cutting her way through the waves in leaps and bounds.
Elaina grinned into the spray as it whipped up in front of the ship and washed over the deck. With her black hair plastered to her skull and a rictus grin distorting her features, she no doubt made a terrifying sight as she hung onto the front of the boat. Elaina didn’t care. The thrill of the chase would be over all too soon, and she intended to enjoy it while she could. They only had a few hours of daylight left and would need to catch the fluyt before it disappeared, or they’d lose her in the night. A single, slight course change and the two ships could pass within a hundred feet of each other and never know it in the dark. Or even worse, the two could collide, and they could both be dragged down into the depths. No, night-time piracy was a fool’s game, and Elaina was brave, not stupid.