Keelin shook his head. “Because he’s the only one who can bring us all together. He’s the only one every captain and pirate and settler in the isles will line up behind. He’s the only one with a plan to fight back and stop those bastards from Sarth and the Five Kingdoms from purging us ever again.
“Piracy the way we know it is all but dead, Tanner. There’s too many of us, and the merchants know it as well as those navy fucks. Either we’re wiped out, or they sail elsewhere. We’re bleeding the bastards dry and they can’t afford it. That’s why this is happening. That’s why they’re coming for us, killing us. We can’t just beat the bastards. We need to change as well.”
Pilf screamed from Tanner’s shoulder, but the man silenced the bird with a hiss. “My crews won’t follow Drake,” he said, staring down at Keelin.
“They will if you tell them to. That’s why Drake needs you alive as an ally, not dead as a martyr. Help us, Tanner. Help us turn the isles into something other than a graveyard.”
Tanner stared at Keelin for a few more moments before turning and fighting his way through the gusting wind to where Drake knelt, still restrained by two pirates.
“Terms?” Tanner shouted down at Drake.
Drake glanced quickly at Keelin before spitting out some of the blood that had run into his mouth from the gash on his nose.
“You keep command of your ships, but you follow my orders when I give ’em. You leave the ships I tell you to leave and attack any navy vessels you can take. You protect Fango and New Sev’relain and the people that live there.”
Tanner growled but didn’t argue. “The loot?”
“You keep half.”
“That’s a little steep, mate. Not many folk have the stones to impose such terms from their knees. I’ll take seventy percent.”
Drake shook his head. “You’ll take half, and the other half will go to fortifying the towns, building new ships, and recruiting new crew.”
“And I suppose I’ll have ta kneel and call you king?” Tanner’s lip curled as he said the title.
“Aye, you can call me king,” Drake said. “But I don’t give a fuck about your knees.”
“Da…” Blu shouted, but he was quickly silenced with a hard stare from Tanner.
Tanner bent down close to Drake and said something Keelin couldn’t hear. It didn’t look much like Drake was pleased by it, but after Tanner had finished he nodded all the same.
Tanner Black stood back to his full height and stared down at Drake. He had a look on his face as though he was deciding whether or not to disregard their negotiations completely and gut the man there and then.
“I want ya to remember, Drake, when ya calling yourself king. Remember that I had you on ya knees and spared ya miserable life. Let him go. The pretty bitch too.”
The two pirates behind Drake let go of his arms and he slumped, slowly pushing himself to his feet. He was a dishevelled mess, his hair slick and his face pale and streaked with blood from his nose. The pirates holding Beck were less gentle, shoving her forwards and dancing backwards lest her rage be directed upon them. She tore the rag from her mouth and surged to her feet, cold blue eyes flashing with all the calm of a violent storm.
Drake stumbled over to Beck and reached out to calm her, but she knocked his hand away and shoved him back.
“I should kill all of you,” Beck screamed over the gusting wind, her voice breaking on her rage.
“I don’t reckon that’d be too smart, luv. After I’ve just struck a deal with ya captain.” Tanner smiled, all teeth and threat. Keelin remembered that smile well; it usually preceded violence.
“Beck!” Drake shouted, shaking his head as he did.
The Arbiter seemed to calm a little. She stalked over to her discarded pistols and began shoving them back into their holsters. Keelin let out a heavy sigh and picked up his cutlasses. He noticed for the first time that some of the ships had their sails up. It took a moment for him to realise that they were also much further away than they should be and were not any of the three ships that had accompanied Tanner or Drake.
“Tanner,” he called over the wind. “Are they yours?” He pointed.
Tanner looked and cursed. “Not mine.”
“I count five ships,” Beck said, and Keelin could only wonder at how good her vision was. “At least two are as big as that Man of War we took.”
The ships were moving fast and had the wind on their side. Whoever they were, they were coming straight for Ash.
“Are we good here?” Drake said to Tanner. He was trembling, shaking on his feet. “We have a deal?”
“Aye.” Tanner nodded. “Deal’ll stand, mate. Long as we get outta here alive.”
“Then we should do just that.”
Chapter 52 - Mary’s Virtue
Daimen didn’t like the situation one bit. Their three ships were still anchored facing Tanner’s three, and these new boats were bearing down on them quickly with the island of Ash blocking their immediate escape. They’d have to first navigate around Ash before making a proper escape of it, and the wind was notoriously hard to rely upon around these parts, which made getting up to speed slow and laborious. If they did up and run now, they’d probably all make it, but they’d be leaving Drake and Stillwater and Tanner on the island to the dubious mercies of whoever was ambushing them. It was a situation Daimen usually referred to as “fucked”, and one he tried to avoid at all costs.
Through his monoscope, Daimen could see Drake and the others scrambling down the side of Ash, jumping over rocks at a rate most would consider suicidal. Even then they would have to row out to their ships. There simply wasn’t enough time. He was glad of one thing, at least: Tanner hadn’t killed Drake.
Rin appeared to be smiling on Drake today, and hopefully that meant an alliance had been forged. If Daimen knew one thing, it was that only Drake could pull all the pirate captains together. He had the will, the charisma, the reputation, and the money. He also had a plan, and that was worth more than all the rest put together.
Of course, none of it would mean shit if Drake was hanged, and that was exactly what the Five Kingdoms folk would do if they got their hands on him. Daimen had never liked the idea of hanging; it seemed a really undignified way to go. He much preferred the tried and true method of dying in battle as a hero to a cause.
“How’s the wind?” he said to his navigator.
“Chopping and changing like a dog with two masters, Cap’n. We don’t leave now, we might not make it ’fore those ships catch up to us.”
Daimen nodded. “Aye. Best get under way then. Give us some sail and bring us around.”
“Course?”
“Do ya see those ships over there?” Daimen pointed at the five vessels heading towards Ash. “Point us directly at the fuckers.”
“Cap’n?”
“’Fore ya say it, mate, it ain’t suicide,” Daimen said. “All we need ta do is slow the bastards down long enough for Drake and Tanner ta get back ta their boats. Then they'll turn the tide.”
“How?”
“By givin’ ’em something else ta chew on. Let’s see how the bastards like a taste of good ol’ pirate courage.”
Daimen drew in a deep breath and yelled, “All hands on deck. Swords, bows, and axes, boys. We’re gonna sail this bitch right down their throats and choke ’em. We’ll buy Drake enough time ta get back to his ship an’ come an’ fucking repay the favour, eh?”
A few of the crew of Mary’s Virtue cheered, but most who were close enough to hear looked uncertain and worried. Clearly Daimen’s insistence that they would be pulled out of the fire by Drake was not as reassuring as he’d hoped.
“Tales will be told of how we helped build this kingdom, boys. We’ll all be fuckin’ heroes. Knee deep in whores an’ booze for the rest of our fuckin’ lives.” That got a few more cheers. If Daimen had learned one thing in his life, it was that nothing motivated pirates quite like money and, more importantly, the pleasures that money could buy.