The Pirate and the Amber Cat 11
Chapter 11
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Juriz was back on the Leneau pier early the next evening. He did not board the Lita Nysse docked there immediately, but stood at the end of her gangplank, alone. Although he didn't look directly at any of the scores of pirates loitering on deck in the torchlight he was very much aware of their presence. His eyes fastened on one particular man, the one responsible for the dire situation. The thought of his promised wife captive to the pirate captain summoned feelings new to Juriz.
"Where's my wife, D'Arkaise?" he demanded from the dock.
Cortleno gestured for him to board. He noted the broadsword at the wealthy man's side as he crossed the gangplank and neared. "You didn't bring the ransom."
"I want to see her first," Juriz said. "Then we'll discuss your price."
Cortleno shook his head. "No deal."
Juriz was at a momentary loss. His eyes went to the cabin door, trying desperately to see beyond it. "You know that slavery is illegal in Ullira."
"I know it."
Juriz chose his next words carefully. "There are many workers in the Shaenen mines," he said deliberately. "I don't know if I can locate him soon."
"I suggest you make this a priority," Cortleno told him darkly.
Juriz considered this for a moment. "I want to see her. Now."
Cortleno nodded to Lucas.
The first mate brought Suili from the cabin to Cortleno's side.
Cortleno pushed her before Juriz, his hand firm on her shoulder as she stopped, staring at Juriz.
"Are you hurt, Suili?" Juriz looked over her face and arms quickly. He did not remember her hair being the color of bright copper in the sun, or that she was indeed a young woman and no longer the child he had amused for six years as she grew up. The time had slipped by hastily and he realized he had been absent much of the time since Methden's death.
"No." Suili bit her lip against the words that wanted to tumble out. Too many words rushed to her mind to voice them coherently as she looked with hope to her rescuer.
Juriz glanced to Cortleno's hand on her shoulder and his jaw tightened. "Let her go now, D'Arkaise. I'll bring what you want."
Cortleno shook his head. "She stays until you deliver."
Juriz straightened, bringing him nearly equal in height to the pirate. "You have my word. Let her go, and I'll go to the mines personally."
Cortleno's grip on Suili's shoulder was firm as she tried to move away. "She stays, and you have my word I will not touch her, for one week."
A small whimper escaped Suili as she looked from Juriz to Cortleno and back again. "Juriz—"
"A week isn't long enough," Juriz said, avoiding her eyes. "I have to go to Lusson."
Cortleno appraised Juriz warily. "It was the Ibereth mine."
Juriz shook his head. "It can't be. That location caved in a month ago. All the, the workers have been transferred north." His expression softened when he looked to Suili, reading the plea in her face. "It'll take me over a week to get to Lusson."
"Two weeks," Cortleno allowed. "Be in Cold Rock in two weeks, Shaenen, or I sell her on the Mezparian blocks."
Juriz's hand went to his sword. The sound of steel being drawn echoed around the ship as dozens of pirates followed the action.
Juriz slowly released the weapon. "There were casualties in the Ibereth collapse."
"That is your misfortune also, if it is mine," Cortleno promised. He let Suili's hair fall through his fingers, watching Juriz bristle at the movement. "She's a very pretty flower, Shaenen. Eyes like a Luresian tiger, skin as sweet as wild honey," he said in a low tone. His hand tightened on Suili's arm when she tried to bolt from him. "Two weeks, in Cold Rock, Shaenen, or I sell her."
Juriz reached for Suili's hand, but Cortleno pushed her to Lucas. Juriz estimated the pirate captain coolly. "Keep your filthy hands off her, D'Arkaise," he warned thickly, his hand returning to his sword.
"Only if you keep your end of the deal."
Juriz looked to Suili under Cortleno's watchful eye. "I'll come for you in Cold Rock, Suili."
He left then, and with him went Suili's hope and assurance.
She fought Lucas as she escorted her to the cabin, screaming oaths in every language she knew, succeeding in leaving a few fingernail scratches in his arm. The first mate only laughed, warding off her flailing arms until Cortleno joined them in the office a moment later. He gave order to sail and dismissed the mate.
When he looked to Suili he was greeted by a flash of the gauche she had snatched from his belt. He sidestepped the clumsy swipe, the blade lodging in the wall. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head against the mantle wall.
"Let me go!" She pulled futilely and tried to kick him until he leaned heavily on her. "Get off me," she said through gritted teeth, squirming.
"You attack me one more time, Dai Shaenen, and I'll blindfold you until we get to Cold Rock!"
She glared at him, his face only inches from her own. "Don't you ever touch me again!"
His eyes dropped over her for a moment, making her shrink even farther away. "If your husband doesn't show up on time in Cold Rock," he said quietly, holding her gaze steadily, "I'm going to do a lot more than ruffle your hair."
She drew a shaky breath when he released her, wincing as he jerked the short sword from the wall beside her. She escaped to the solace of the dark bedchamber, easily finding the window bench seat without a candle. She crowded against the sill, hugged her knees, and sobbed unrestrained until her skirt was saltier than the sea.
By sea, traveling to Cold Rock took only a week, with good winds, but by land it took seventeen days, if one hastened by horseback. Cold Rock was one of the largest Ulliran cities near the border, and so volatile were the residents that visitors often thought they were in Mezpar.
Although illegal, slavery was very much an industry there, and King Gade's efforts to quell the human trade failed.
As it was, the Lita Nysse headed out to sea from Leneau to be enveloped in a dense fog pulled in by the strong Penda Hane currents form Luxil and Luresia. A mild breeze lifted the sails and the ship's navigator was confident the fog would blow away, but the weather made many in the crew uneasy.
Suili awoke the next day to Brons calling out bells on deck that afternoon. Her head ached where it had lain on the window sill all night and her legs were cramped from being drawn. She groaned, putting a hand to her throbbing temple. She looked strangely to the spare blanket pulled over her, then to the undisturbed bed and rolled hammock. The room was empty.
Outside a thin gray fog settled over the hazy waters like a sparse cloud. She could not judge how far they were from land.
Nor did she care.
Juriz had left without her. Nothing else mattered.
She sighed, then shuddered, pulling the blanket closer as Cortleno's words from the previous evening rang again in her ears. If Juriz was even late she would be sold at a slave auction in Mezpar.
"Oh, please, Juriz," she implored with desperation, staring vacantly into the fog.
Other words echoed in her head, too.
Juriz had two weeks to bring one of the mine workers to Cortleno. That was her ransom.
She couldn't imagine why a pirate would make such a demand. Perhaps the worker was an escaped slave Cortleno had owned, or maybe even a felon with a bounty to be collected.
No, she thought, stretching her legs testily, grimacing at her cramped toes. Cortleno was not acting like a man after something as simple as a runaway slave or bounty. And it could not be a wife. There were no women in the mines. She had never visited the Shaenen mines, but she knew Juriz would not employ women in such conditions.
She looked at the bowl of strawberries and melon on the table, then to the open door. She heard nothing. She silently crossed the room and looked into the office.
Cortleno was sitting at the desk, writing on a ledger.
She went to the bedchamber armoire and found a dress and changed quickly. As she washed her face, she was shocked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red and dark and her hair matted. She changed quickly behind the screen and combed the knots from her hair, but her eyes were still hollow. She saw another movement behind her in the washstand mirror.
"Come in here when you're done," Cortleno instructed from the doorway. "Bring your breakfast with you." He then went back into the first room.
She draped the damask shawl over her shoulders and went into the other room. She stood before the desk until he looked up.
"Sit down, Suili. You aren't hungry?"
"No." She sat on the velvet covered chair, pulling the shawl closer.
He pushed the ledger away. "You look terrible. You should eat."
"Who do you know in the Lusson mines?" she asked without deliberation.
He studied her, and then shook his head. "No one. Who concerns me was at Ibereth. What do you know about the collapse there?"
"Only that it happened." She shrugged slowly, wearily. "A messenger came to the house shortly after Juriz left for the border and said the main tunnel had collapsed. We sent a runner to meet Juriz with the news." Her eyes were bleary, but honest when she looked to him. "He must have ordered the workers to the Lusson mines, the ones that would go."
"Would go," he scoffed, cursing. "You don't know much about the Shaenen family, do you?"
"That they're a seventeen-generation legend in Ullira?" she posed, her chin tilted with the last of her hope. "That they're second only to royalty? Maybe you don't know that because they're also a very modest family, and Juriz is the last of his line. Methden was the most charitable of the Shaenens to date. Do you know he built the library in Ridollin?"
"How very generous." He sat back, pleased with her defiance despite being at his mercy. "I don't know if you're just ignorant, Suili, or accepting of the situation."
"Situation?" Puzzlement crowded her face as she tried to read his expression. "Juriz has nothing to hide," she said, eyes narrowing. "You're just tormenting me to amuse yourself. Your own life is so full or murder and thievery and slavery and, and rape you can't imagine anyone being respectable!"
"My judgment is well found," he told her, watching her agitation, "and I don't slave."
"A lie." She bit her trembling lip, swallowing her fear. "I won't be the first you've taken to the blocks.
"I don't slave!" he bellowed, suddenly over the table, leaning toward her. He held her shaken gaze. "There has never been a slave on this ship since I've been captain, and there never will be. Besides," he continued, sitting back in the chair again, clearing his throat, "you're Lux. Slavery shouldn't startle you."
"We never owned slaves. My father was Ulliran," she said stiffly. "He despised the practice."
"Then it must be ignorance," he said with finality.
"You should have let me go last night; Juriz would keep his word to you."
"Perhaps, but as long as you're here, the chances are far better." The shawl fell off her shoulder and he watched her snap it back into place. "I'll tell you now, Suili Shae– Brijholn, I won't sell you at the slave auction. Or anywhere else."
She sat staring speechlessly at him as other thoughts came into her mind.
He rested his elbows on the table, continuing. "Much of what I said last night was to provoke your husband to action. Simply an idle threat."
She gathered her slipped composure, sitting straighter. "Not all your threats met Juriz's ears."
"Yes, I recall." His eyes held hers. "I would not keep you blindfolded, dear Suili, but I do not like repeated assaults from women. That was to get your attention."
She summoned her ragged courage. "And I do not like threats of personal assault."
He shook his head, surprised she would voice the concern. "I was distracted last night," he admitted, watching her eyes flash a deeper hue. "With the scent of your hair, and the warmth . . ." He paused as she moved uncomfortably on the chair. He sighed. "I am not a rapist, and I'll make no exception in your case, even if Shaenen is late coming to Cold Rock."
"You were bluffing," she said, realizing she was holding her breath. "But, but if you wouldn't sell me, and, and if—"
"If you have gods, Suili, pray Shaenen makes good on his promise," he said as a bell sounded on deck. He stood up. "Brons will be in with your lunch. You won't like being on deck in the fog, but you have the run of the rooms."
PG13. #romance #cleanromance #teenromance #YA #fantasy #pirateromance #pirates #ambercat #ChancelJordan
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