Warm water started raining down upon Drake, and a moment later a beautiful, and very naked, woman appeared before him. She was saying something, but no sound could penetrate the ringing in his ears, and Drake couldn’t keep his attention on her mouth to attempt to read her lips. His eyes rolled downwards and he saw her breasts hanging there, swaying back and forth a little as she shook him. Drake focused every bit of strength and willpower he had left, managed the heroic feat of lifting his arm from the ground, and cupped Beck’s left breast.
Chapter 28 - Starry Dawn
Elaina had been pushing her crew for days now, and it had paid off. Not only had they successfully escaped the Five Kingdoms naval patrol vessel, but they’d outdistanced Ocean Deep and Blu to make it back home to Fango at least a day ahead of the useless blue-bearded fool. Elaina would explain things to their father long before Blu could have his say, and she’d also present him with some of the more decadent items they’d pilfered from the Acanthian fluyt.
“Should be able to taste dry land in just over an hour, Cap,” Corin said from behind Elaina. “Pollick says he spies a ship looks a lot like The Black Death, so reckon ya da’s there.”
“Good,” was Elaina’s only reply. She’d been cold and then icy on top to her friend since they’d taken the fluyt, despite Corin’s apparent sobriety, but damn if the man didn’t deserve it. He was quartermaster aboard a pirate vessel – and not just any pirate vessel, but one belonging to Tanner Black. He should know better than to attempt his duties while high on Lucy. It wasn’t something Elaina was willing to accept from any of her crew, even her best friend, and her displeasure needed to be well known.
“Ya won’t, um…” Corin let out a heavy sigh. “Ya won’t tell him, will ya?” Corin had grown up with Elaina, and he’d seen the things Tanner Black was capable of. He’d seen that family and friends were spared no leniency just because of their ties to the man. Elaina’s father believed in gaining strength through pain and hardship, and he was no stranger to doling them out either.
“All of my crew’s discipline as well as their punishments are my responsibility, Corin,” Elaina said without looking at her friend. “This has fuck all to do with my da, and even if it did, the last thing I’d do is let his men get their grubby fuckin’ hands on ya.”
“Thanks, El.”
“I told you not to call me that anymore.”
“Sorry, Cap.”
“Is it a problem, Cor?” Elaina said quietly before her quartermaster could leave.
There was a significant silence. “No. No problem.”
“When was the last time you used that shit?”
“Day we took the fluyt. Day you found out.” Elaina knew her friend too well; the quiver in his voice betrayed the lie.
“Corin, if…”
“It’s fine, Cap. As you said it. What I do on my time is my affair, long as it don’t affect ship’s business. It won’t. I swear.”
Elaina turned, but her friend was already sprinting away across the deck in search of a job to do, and that was well and truly the end of it.
“What do we do with the loot, Cap?” said Rovel as Elaina leapt out of the boat and onto the pier.
“Nothing yet. Not until my da has had a chance ta look it over.”
“What the fuck?” Ylander shouted. The pirate was known for her shrill voice. “That loot is ours, not his. Why should…”
Rovel gave Ylander a hard slap across the mouth to quiet her – and not soon enough. Bad-mouthing Tanner Black on his own island was a feat only for the brave and foolish.
“We’re on his island,” Elaina said quietly. “He gets tribute, and that means his pick. Good?”
Ylander nodded, but she didn’t look pleased.
“I’ll be back soon,” Elaina said with a grimace.
Rovel folded his beefy arms across his equally beefy chest. “Do you need an escort?”
Elaina snorted and walked away.
Most people feared the Isle of Goats. They’d crowd around the populated places and only tread in “safe” areas marked by wards Tanner claimed were magical. It was true that men and women had been known to wander off into the jungle never to return; or perhaps they’d return, but changed beyond recollection. But the Isle of Goats held no secrets for Elaina.
She’d been born on the island, and raised both there and at sea. Early on in her life folk had warned her not to go out into the jungle, that it was dangerous – but that had only spurred her on. By the age of ten she’d explored every tree, every cave, every secret, and every mystery the island had to offer. It wasn’t that what she’d found hadn’t terrified her – it had – but Elaina wasn’t the type to be terrified into inaction, so she’d kept up her exploration and the secrets of the Isle of Goats were no longer secrets. They did still terrify her though.
Her mother lived in the island interior, far beyond the protective wards and well into the territory of the spirits that called the isle their home. She lived apart and alone save for the army of monkeys that she raised and fed and called her friends. Oljanka Black wasn’t entirely sane, and that was something Elaina had long ago come to terms with. Despite her obvious instability, the woman was strong and kind, and the only person in the world who could get away with upsetting Tanner Black. She’d given the man nine children, though only five had survived birth, and had the honour of being the only thing in the world that he truly loved. Elaina envied her mother for that.
She looked up at the tree house that her mother called home, squinting against the glare of the sun that glanced through the canopy above. The house was no more than fifty feet from the forest floor, certainly not the loftiest in Fango, and there were a few ways to reach it. A series of wooden planks had been nailed into the tree to form a makeshift ladder, and two ropes hung down the full length from house to ground. Elaina smiled as she remembered racing Keelin up those ropes. Stillwater was the only person who didn’t share their blood that Tanner Black had ever allowed to visit Oljanka’s home.
Ignoring hooting calls from above, Elaina set first her hands to the rope, then her feet, and started climbing. The climb was taxing yet didn’t take overly long. Elaina was well used to scaling ropes; it was almost second nature for her. Her brothers used to tease her, saying she’d been born with a tail and was actually the daughter of a monkey, not Tanner Black. Insults like that had created more than their fair share of fights, and Elaina had won most of them despite being smaller than all three of her brothers.
As she finished her climb and set her hands to the solid wooden decking of the tree house, Elaina found herself face to face with a monkey no larger than a cat. The little beast sat on its haunches, barring her way and staring down at the intruder with a curious expression on its almost-human face. Its eyes were big and round, and the diminutive creature held its tail in its hands, nibbling on the end of it in such a way that made it seem nervous.
“Move,” Elaina said as she held herself half in the tree house and half on the rope.
The monkey opened its mouth, showing a large number of sharp little teeth, and screamed at her.
Elaina sighed. “Mother.”
Oljanka Black wandered out of one of the tree house’s side rooms, nibbling on what appeared to be nuts much in the same way the monkey was chewing on its tail. She was grey and wrinkled, plump in a matronly fashion, but she had a piercing stare that could skewer a person at an impressive distance. Despite her appearance Oljanka wasn’t actually that old; years of hard living had taken their toll, and Tanner Black was, by all accounts, hard to live with.