Princess sauntered into the little clearing carrying a small, unmarked barrel no more than a foot high. He carefully set it down on the sand and stood in front of his captain. He looked relieved.
“Good ta see ya, Cap’n.” Princess almost sounded choked with tears. “Safe ta say, me and some of the boys were starting ta get a little worried. Reckon ya’ve proved us all fools now.”
Drake grinned back at his first mate. “You should know never to bet against me, Princess.”
“Hell of a shiner though,” the pirate said, looking at Drake’s black eye. “That beastie give you a pummelling?”
“There is no monster in the jungle.” Drake sighed.
Keelin noticed Kebble Salt drifting into the clearing, silent and watchful as always. He found himself glad of the man’s presence, but wished Morley were there. Unfortunately the man was needed on board The Phoenix, as Keelin didn’t entirely trust every member of his crew.
“The roaring and shaking is just a geyser,” Drake continued. “Erupts every so often. Nothing to be worried about. It even comes with a hot spring, if anyone fancies a nice dip.”
“So how’d ya get the black eye, Cap’n?”
Drake’s face soured, and he paused to take a long swig of water, glancing at the Arbiter. “I tripped.”
“There are some dangers in the forest,” Beck said. “Magical traps would be the best way to describe them. We triggered one and it almost cost us. I found another few as we were returning and disarmed them, but there may be more.”
“Of course you would know how to disarm a magical trap,” Keelin spat.
Drake seemed to perk up a little then. He looked between Keelin and the Arbiter and let out a heavy sigh. “Like that matters. Question is who set ’em and why, and how many more are there?”
“Got a solution, Cap’n?” Princess said.
“Of sorts. Beck here says she can make us some charms that’ll warn folk when one of these traps is nearby. For now it’ll have to do. Nobody goes into the jungle alone, and not without a charm.”
Keelin felt the anger burning in his chest. He already knew the Sarth woman was an Arbiter, but now it appeared that Drake knew as well.
“Found this when we started gutting the Man of War,” Princess said, pointing to the barrel. He pulled a small cork from the lid and tipped the barrel at a slight angle. Black powder spilled out of the hole, and Princess quickly put the cork back in and kicked sand over the small pile.
“Would you mind moving that barrel into the shade,” Kebble said. “Black powder is unstable and best kept away from any heat sources; I would suggest that includes the sun.”
Princess looked at the barrel sceptically, but moved it under the shade of some hanging canvas all the same. “How much do ya reckon a barrel like that is worth?”
“A small fortune,” the Arbiter said. “A pouch can cost upwards of five gold bits, depending on the merchant. A barrel that size, hundreds at least.”
Princess grinned. “We found ten of them.”
There was a stunned silence. Keelin could hear the work crews hammering and sawing, and even the jungle birds cawing from far away.
“How many barrels would it take to explode a ship?” Drake sounded beyond tired.
Kebble and the Arbiter exchanged a glance, and it was Kebble who answered. “That depends on how you mean. One barrel, placed correctly, would put a hole in a ship large enough to sink it. To turn a ship into debris, such as at Sev’relain… five might suffice. More likely ten or more.”
Drake sat in silence for a while, his eyes closed. Keelin was about to check whether the man had fallen asleep when he sat up straight and the ghost of a grin passed his lips.
“Well, I reckon those bastards have given us a hell of a weapon there. You two take as much as you need to replenish your stocks,” he said to the Arbiter and Kebble. “The rest I want storing somewhere safe, here on the island. I want as few folk as possible knowing about it. Good?”
“Aye, Cap’n,” Princess said.
“Good.” Drake stood from his barrel, swaying on his feet. The Arbiter rushed forwards to hold him upright. Keelin couldn’t quite figure out the relationship. If the Arbiter was Drake’s keeper, making certain he kept to whatever agenda the Inquisition had, why did she seem to care so much for him? “Now, if you all don’t mind, I need to rest. Princess, I’ll need a boat back to the Fortune.”
Chapter 30 - Starry Dawn
The beer was bitter and warm and foul, but Elaina swigged it down nevertheless. Courage was what she needed now, and while that was something she usually had in spades, and then some, the matter at hand was sensitive, and she had a bad feeling about it.
Three days ago Blu and Ocean Deep had arrived at north port, and three days ago Corin had gone missing. The quartermaster of Starry Dawn was known well in Fango, and not least of all because he could put it back and pass out under a tavern table as well as any sailor, but his disappearance had set Elaina’s mind ill at ease.
Fango was a large town with many buildings stretching across multiple trees, from jungle floor to canopy. Elaina had searched as many of them as she could, but to no avail. Even Quartermain hadn’t seen the man. Elaina supposed it was possible Corin had wandered off into the jungle, but that seemed unlikely given the fearsome reputation of the place. Much more likely was that Corin had turned on his friend and captain, turned on his crew, and told Tanner all about the ship they’d taken. The possibility of such treachery made Elaina sad and angry at the same time, and she couldn’t decide whether she’d hug her friend or stab him when she finally caught up to him.
The shade of the tree and the slight breeze should have been enough to keep Elaina cool, but her blood was boiling and no amount of wind could take away the heat she felt in her cheeks. She finished off the mug of vile beer and threw it into a nearby bush, her eyes fixed on the last place she could think to look for her friend: The Nymph. If she found Corin sitting in Tanner Black’s court, the betrayal would be undeniable.
Elaina set off at a sprint and leapt just before she reached the nearest climbing rope, taking it mid-jump and beginning her climb long before the rope had stopped swinging. She went hand over hand as quickly as she could, forsaking finesse for pure power. It was a waste of energy, but she felt like she had energy to burn, and releasing it in this way might make her less hotheaded in a confrontation.
Sweat was dripping from her face by the time she reached the ground floor of the brothel and pulled herself to her feet. As always, one of Tanner’s pirates stood guard at the entrance. Luckily for both of them, it wasn’t Mace. Elaina wasn’t sure how she’d react to the man’s presence in her current state. The pirate gave her a cheerful greeting; Elaina ignored the bastard and barged into the brothel.
It was the middle of the day, and though the music was absent, the activity in the brothel was no less vigorous than ever. Pirates drank and pirates fucked and whores earned their pay. Elaina had no time for any of it, and she headed straight to her father’s alcove, ignoring Quell’s attempt to detain her with flowery words.
Tanner Black was absent, but his court was not. Many of his pirates – and many of Blu’s – lounged around drinking and fiddling with their coin purses, trying to decide whether they should buy another fuck now or save their money for later. Blu himself was collapsed in a chair, with his head resting on his shoulder and a thin line of drool wetting his fancy shirt. One of Blu’s crew leaned over and poked his captain, and the fool woke with a start, his eyes going wide with shock and fear.
“Where’s Da?” Elaina all but shouted.
Blu made a sleepy, non-committal noise, and then shrugged. One of the other pirates was more awake and not so useless.