Drake felt her compulsion brush against his will. “Aye,” he said with a grin. “Can’t exactly get to Rin’s court without drowning. Waters closed in over my head and filled my lungs and the light went out. Next thing I know, my eyes are opening and there’s the goddess herself, breathing air back into my lungs. Must’ve wretched up half the ocean before I found myself speaking again.”
“What was she like?” said the shipwright, leaning eagerly forwards in his chair.
Drake gazed off into the ocean and smiled. “She was ever changing. One moment her skin would be driftwood and her hair seaweed, then she might seem to clear, like she was made of water itself. Or she would appear to be part of the coral throne she sat upon.” He took a deep breath and let it out as a ragged sigh. “Only thing I can say for sure is she was beautiful no matter what form she took. Not human beauty though. Beautiful like the sea, eh.
“Turns out not many men seek her court willingly, so she was a drop curious as to why a man like myself might throw his self upon her mercy. So I told her. Said I needed a ship, one like no other. But deals aren’t lightly struck with gods now, are they? I agreed to give her something no other man could.” He paused and glanced at Beck; the woman was making a good show of feigning disinterest, but Drake could see she was listening intently. “Something no other person in this whole world of ours could give. And in return she gave me the Fortune. Fastest ship ever to call the seas its home.”
“What did you give her?” the shipwright asked right on cue.
Drake smiled out at the ocean, well aware that both the shipwright and the Arbiter were watching him, waiting for him to answer. Eventually he turned and walked away, heading towards the town. After a few moments Arbiter Beck began to follow.
“How much of that story you just told is truth?” she called.
“How do you know any of it is?”
“The best lies are half truths,” she said, struggling to keep up with Drake’s longer stride in the sand. “Makes the shit easier to swallow. Folk of my profession learn to spot them pretty quick.”
Drake nodded along. “I can honestly say, Arbiter, that there is more truth than not in that tale. I can also say that we suffer under a different set of gods out here on the sea, and you would do well to be more careful. Volmar won’t be able to save you out there in the blue, but our quaint gods might just.”
“Where are you going this time?” the Arbiter demanded as she quickened her pace to catch up with Drake.
“Why are you following me?” Drake shot back.
“Because I have to protect you.”
“And what if I’m just going for a piss again? Didn’t get a good enough look last time, eh? I know my cock is fairly impressive an’ all, but a woman of your age and passing good looks, I reckon you’ve seen better and bigger. Just how old are you, anyways? I know you Arbiters tend to live a bit longer than us mere mortals.”
“Old enough to know the difference between a man with purpose in his stride and one just wandering off for a piss. So where are you going?”
Drake stopped and grinned at the woman. “I do like it when you get all commanding.” Beck didn’t show a hint of a blush, and that just made Drake want her more. “Might be you happened to miss that ship on the horizon over there.” He pointed and the Arbiter turned to look. Drake pounced on the opportunity to walk away, but she quickly turned and caught up with him again. “Reckon I might just go wait for their arrival.”
Chapter 10 - The Phoenix
Port Sev’relain was exactly the sort of place Keelin liked. It wasn’t one of those trading towns that claimed to be a free city, but neither did it belong to any sort of empire. It was a small town, though large in comparison to most pirate settlements, full of hard-working honest folk just trying to get by. Here people raised children, enjoyed their lives, and weren’t subject to taxes or the rule of another person. That wasn’t to say there weren’t rules, but they were the rules of the people and any justice that needed handing out was also handed out by the people.
The buildings were small, ugly things mostly made from the trees that crowded the island. It seemed every island of any sort of habitable size in the Pirate Isles was swamped by tall green trees that threatened to label themselves as a jungle. It made clearing an area for a new settlement hard work, but it also had the benefit of providing handy building materials for both houses and ships. Not that many ships out on the water were built by the pirates that infested the isles – just stolen by them.
A one-legged man wielding a wooden crutch began hobbling along the pier towards The Phoenix’s dinghy as it was rowed into position and Morley leapt up to secure it to its berth. The one-legged man made good speed despite his affliction, and the small boy behind him carrying a large tome moved just as fast.
Keelin climbed out of the boat and signalled for the rest of his crew to wait. He’d brought just eight men ashore.
“Come on,” said the one-legged harbour master. “Let’s hear ya voice. My eyesight ain’t no good no more, but unless you’re another new one I reckon I’ll know you by your voice.”
Keelin smiled and briefly considered using a fake accent. “I’ll pay you an extra copper bit for the berth if you get it right,” he said.
The old harbour master snorted. “I’ll accept no bribes from you or anyone else, Stillwater. Still The Phoenix, is it?”
“No other ship for me, old man.”
“Old man? I have the good manners to remember your name,” the harbour master snapped. “Damned least you can do is repay the favour.”
“Uh…”
The harbour master spat into the bay. “Ask around. Loading or unloading?”
“Unloading,” Keelin said, feeling a little embarrassed. “Just a little.”
“Little or a lot, you all pay the same. How long a stay?”
“A few days.”
The old man sighed. “Few is not a fucking number, lad. I thought captains had to know how to count.”
Keelin heard a few of his crew laugh from the boat, and he turned and shot them a glare. “We’ll say four days then.”
“One gold bit,” said the harbour master. “That’s ten silver bits, in case you’re still finding the counting hard. Some people use their fingers as aids.”
Keelin decided the best course was to smile through the humiliation. “It was only eight silver bits last I was here. That’s a two-silver markup.”
“More pirates these days,” the old man said, and he wasn’t wrong. Keelin counted more ships than he’d seen in one place in the Pirate Isles for a long time. “Space is at a premium. And I’m charging you an extra bit for your attitude.”
The old man waited, and the boy behind him carrying the tome watched Keelin. Clearly most captains would attempt to haggle. Keelin knew better than to waste his time. “Sounds reasonable,” he lied as he pulled his purse from his belt and began counting bits.
The boy with the tome stepped forward and expertly opened the large book to a half-filled page. Keelin couldn’t help but notice that his name and that of his ship were already scribbled on the bottom of the page with only the particulars, and the cost of his stay, left blank. He spilled ten silver bits onto the book, which promptly snapped shut. The boy took a hasty step backwards.
“I wonder, um, harbour master,” Keelin said quickly as the man turned to walk away. “Has anyone from Sev’relain seen the Fortune recently.”
The boy stepped forward again, and again opened the book. Keelin noticed the ten silver he’d previously deposited had already vanished. He dropped another bit onto the book, which again snapped shut.
“The Fortune is currently undergoing repairs on a beach just a short walk that way,” the harbour master said with the briefest of nods as to the direction before turning away again.