“Not really.” It wasn’t enough that the bastards had built a fleet the size of which hadn’t been seen for hundreds of years – now they were turning Drake’s own allies against him. He was starting to regret leaving Poole to die.
“Drake?” Beck’s voice snapped him back to the problem at hand. “What do we do?”
Drake stormed over to Anders’ table, plucked his drink from his hand and downed it, to a chorus of moans from the drunkard.
“We gather the captains and tell them to get their ships in order.”
Chapter 52 - Fortune
The Righteous Indignation was cleared of stragglers, drunks, and anyone without the title of captain or first mate. By the time Anders sat down at Drake’s table to tell him that his full war council had convened, there were nearly a hundred people crammed in, filling every chair, every stool, every corner, and all the bits in between. It wasn’t just those who had signed on to help; even Elaina Black’s recruits had turned up to hear the news, and Drake realised now was the time to convince them to fight for him whatever their orders.
Tanner Black was a dark presence in the room. He’d taken a corner for his own and had a number of folk surrounding him, including the worthless shit of a fool he called a son. Tanner brought eight ships to the table, and that was no small number. Only Drake and Elaina could claim more.
T’ruck Khan had claimed the middle table, and that, and his size, made him the centre of attention. The giant was now known as the Hero of the Isles, a title Drake had helped to secure for him, and his influence was greater than he was aware. No one but his most loyal of crew knew how they’d taken the behemoth that floated in their waters, and those crew members were saying nothing. In truth it didn’t matter how the captain had accomplished the miracle, only that he had and that everyone knew it. T’ruck’s voice would carry as much weight as he did in the coming storm of words.
There were plenty of others too. Deun Burn had rallied some of his Riverlanders, and had three ships following his command. It was far from a lot, but even one combat-ready boat could make all the difference. Sienen Zhou had captured a slaver with his own ship, Freedom, and now both crews sailed under his flag.
Never before in any sort of history, recorded or otherwise, had there been a gathering of captains quite like this. Even in the days of the old Captain Black, the tyrant had never known these sorts of numbers. Drake had accomplished so much already; he’d brought all the captains together and united them under his command, his rule. Now he needed to convince them to fight for their kingdom, because until they crushed the fleets of their enemies their waters would never be free of those who wished to oppress them.
It had taken a fair portion of the day to get word to all the captains, and some of them had been in the tavern for a lot of it. One or two were already a little pickled, and the beer was flowing freely now they were all gathered and the doors were shut.
Drake stepped up onto his chair, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled so loudly even the rats paid him due attention. The noise died down – at least, as far as it could when there were a hundred pirates in a single room.
“Reckon you’ve probably all figured why I called ya here,” Drake started. “There’s…”
A loud banging on the door interrupted him, and a few moments later that same door opened. Keelin Stillwater stood on the other side with his first mate Morley beside him. Drake felt a grin spread across his face as Stillwater stepped into the tavern to a cheer from many of those inside. The grin dropped away a moment later, when Elaina Black came in after him.
“It’s about damned time ya…” Drake started, but was interrupted by two captains who rushed to Elaina, jostling each other for the chance to speak first.
“Captain Black,” said one, a tall man with dark hair braided into rows on top of his head. “The Lord and Lady of Chade send their regards.” He finished with a respectful bow of his head.
“Hmph,” grunted the other captain, who had been just a step behind. “As do the Council of Thirteen.”
“How many?” Elaina said, sending a smug glance towards Drake before turning that same look on her father.
“Ten,” said the captain from Chade.
“Fourteen,” said the captain from Larkos, in a voice that dripped with victory.
“All at my command?”
“Yours and no one else’s,” said the captain from Larkos.
“Good,” Elaina said.
“Where have you been, Stillwater?” Drake called, in an attempt to reclaim authority over the room.
“Following a lead,” Keelin said, moving to Drake’s table. “It didn’t work out.”
“I wouldn’t say that, Stillwater,” Elaina crowed, reclaiming the crowd’s attention. The woman pulled a ragged scroll from her jacket and walked to the centre of the room. She slapped the scroll down on T’ruck’s table. “Anyone here know any alchemy?”
A murmur ran through the crowd. It was Beck who spoke up. “I do.”
“Good to see you again, Arbiter,” Elaina said with a nod. “Fancy having a look?”
Beck stood and crossed to Elaina’s table. Drake hopped down from his chair and followed quickly. He was more than a little curious as to how the two women knew each other, but questioning either of them about it right now would only make him seem weak. Besides, he was also fairly curious as to what Elaina had found.
T’ruck glanced at the scroll and then turned his full attention to Elaina, a silly grin on his face. Drake opted for quite the opposite, with a curt glare at the woman followed by his full and undivided on the parchment.
“Looks like gibberish,” he said eventually. “And possibly a shopping list.”
“What? You can’t read it, Morrass?” Elaina grinned. “That’s why I scribbled down a translation.”
The woman was already starting to grate on Drake’s very last nerve, and worst of all was that she was doing it in front of all the other captains. “Enlighten me,” he growled.
“It’s the recipe for Everfire.”
There was a lot of noise as chairs were pushed away and pirates surged to their feet. Many tried to back away, as if the mere sight of the formula could set them on fire, while others pushed forwards to catch a glimpse.
Drake let out a sigh of frustration.
“Assuming you’re right – and we ain’t got nothing but your say so right now – where’d you find this?”
“The Forgotten Empire,” Elaina said, a statement that could only add weight to her claim.
“What the fuck were you doing there?” Drake said, with a little more venom than he’d intended.
“Looking after Stillwater.” Elaina narrowed her eyes. “Someone needs to keep him out of trouble.”
Drake turned to Keelin. The man was staring into a mug of beer. He’d appropriated Drake’s vacated chair and was doing a good job of trying to look uninterested in the situation. It seemed a little too much of a coincidence that Drake’s chart of the Forgotten Empire’s waters had been stolen and, just a short spell later, Stillwater had found himself in that area. Drake was starting to wonder if he could trust any of his captains.
“I can make this,” Beck said. “I have no idea if it will work as Captain Black promises though.”
“Get on it,” Elaina said with a grin.
Beck gave the woman a long, hard stare, then turned her gaze on Drake, who made a show of thinking it over before nodding his assent. Beck rolled up the scroll and headed for the door.
“If this is real…” Drake started.
“Then I just brought one hell of a weapon to the table,” Elaina finished for him. “Along with twenty-four ships. Of course, they’re only here to sail for me if I’m queen.” She grinned.
Drake looked at Tanner. The black-hearted bastard was just watching, apparently content to let matters proceed as they would.