"Here, Captain."
Anna took the glass as she stepped through the doors of the Split Tankard Inn. Her cloak still hung damply from her shoulders, but arms were put around her in well-meaning embraces even as someone removed the sodden wool to hang it by the fire. There was something afoot. Something that filled her stomach with dread. This kind of feeling in the well-known pirate tavern meant one thing and one thing alone. Someone had not made it back from the storms that had rocked the coasts of the islands.
Cold. She remembered how cold the glass was against her fingers as they lead her through the crowds. It had been placed in her hands by a one-eyed pirate by the name of Mardrake. She only knew him vaguely, but no one expected payment on a night like this. Silent prayers left her lips as she prayed it was not someone in her fleet -- a selfish thought but one that could not be helped. Please, Gods Above and Below, let it be someone else.
Red hair, still damp from the tumultuous seas was plastered against the woman's head as she turned into the light. Anna smiled slightly, her body tense from the feelings that ran heavily through the tavern. One friend found and she always had the latest information.
"Lita.. who?"
The red-haired woman, one of the few female captains worth their salt, drew Anna closer, leaning down to the tiny brunette, "Katie Two Bottle. Ain't been back in three days, lass."
Her eyes widened as she met her friend's gaze, "Katie?"
Lita nodded, "Aye. One of ours."
Ours. Not one of Sinclair's Corsairs, but one of the few female captains. There were many groups among the pirates of the seas around those lands, but none as strong as the bonds forged by the women that had fought their ways to the top. Anna swallowed her rum smoothly, her hand shaking from relief that it was not one of her boats and shock that one of the few sisters had met the bottom.
"Tell me."
"Nothing to tell, Lioness. Ain't seen nothing of her ship 'cept for a fragment."
"You, me..."
Anna's voice faded out as Lita nodded, "I got a parlour reserved. We mourn alone."
Like soldiers, sailors make their living expecting to die at some point in the chilled embrace of the sea. Anna studied her friend as the woman snored quietly, her glass forgotten in the wee hours before dawn. She and Lita had done their damnedest to send Katie off with a well-deserved wake. Quiet as it was, the two women mourned as sincerely as the boisterous men outside their door.
The woman known to many as the Lioness of the Seas pushed out of her seat with a world-weary sigh. It had been a long time since she had faced anything but the excitement of pirating. The excitement was grand, but it was a double-edged sword. Anna gathered up her cloak and hat, leaving a small pile of coins to cover her share of the drinking.
Silence reigned in the tavern, punctuated only by the occasional snore or grunt of the men passed out on the floor. Katie Two Bottles had been well known and well loved so her wake had been attended by many. Anna knew better than to seek out her crew just yet. They would stumble back to the Devil’s Courtesan as the sun moved higher in the sky.
Scents of freshly baking bread hung heavily in the morning air as she strode through the streets, making her way to the manor house that perched on the cliffs over Khardas Harbor. So many friends had not made it back from jobs. Could she, a mother and wife, justify what she was doing for fun? Anna tipped the brim of her leather hat down closer to her face, unwilling to be stopped on her way home.
A shiver wracked her body as though she, and not the ever-cheery Katie, had been drug to the bottom of the mercurial ocean. What the hell was she doing still running cargo at her age and with a young son at home? There had been more than her fair share of close calls and out and out miracles. A soft sigh left her lips as she glanced up at the rosy hues that were beginning to light the sky. The last time had almost been the death of her. When would her luck finally run out?
Copyright 2003
Erika Napier
Please email morningjuiceandserials <at> gmail <dot> com for information on reprinting
Professionalism and honor among pirates! An interesting take.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! It was a vignette that stuck in my head for a few days.
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