The Pirate and the Amber Cat 13

Chapter 13

Suili discovers a new addition on deck.

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Later that night the Lita Nysse attacked a ship Suili heard identified only as the Rona Di Belran. Again she sat alone in the dark, sealed bedroom during the siege, but this time Cortleno did not leave her a lit lamp, and the Rona's crew put up a fight.

For an eternity the sounds of curses and screams and the crash of bodies against the cabin wall made Suili cringe and offer desperate prayers. She sat at the window bench, knees drawn close to her chest, the poniard clenched in her white knuckle hands. She told herself it was only the lack of light and shut up windows that made the fight seem so long, but it was little consolation. To add to the chaos, the wind threw waves at the starboard wall, and she recoiled as much from them as the fight on deck.

Even when the raid was over the winds did not die. By the time the cries on deck turned jubilant and Cortleno opened the door to the dark bedchamber, Suili was nauseous from the dip and tumble of the ship.

Her eyes squinted as she looked to the torch he carried. "Did you win?"

"Of course. What's wrong?" He held the light closer, picking up the knife from the floor where she had dropped it. "You're sick. The sea?"

She started to nod, then thought better of it. "Yes." She watched him light the hanging lantern, which swayed freely. Her arms tightened over her queasy stomach as she caught sight of the blood at his side. "Are you hurt?"

"Hm? No." He offered his hand. "Stand up for a while. Sitting against the side of the storm will make it seem worse."

Her eyes rested on his hand, spotted with dried blood. "I'll stay here."

He nodded. "I see."

She closed her eyes tight again as he moved away, the waves echoing in her head. The ship lurched and she caught the sill to keep from being dumped on the floor. Suddenly the air felt lighter and cooler, and the storm grew louder.

"Come along now."

She looked up to see he had washed and changed clothes. Beyond him the portside windows were open halfway. "Please, I'd rather—"

"That's the worst spot to sit right now," he told her stoutly. "Come sit on the chest. It's centermost of the room."

She glanced at the chest and took the hand he offered. His grip on hers was strong, warm, not the same spotted hand he had offered earlier. When she got to the trunk she sat heavily on it, hands clenched in her lap.

He poured an ivory cup half full from a bottle and gave it to her.

A strong smell met her nose and she shook her head. "It'll make me sick."

"Drink it. Maybe you can sleep through the storm."

She hesitantly took the cup. "Will it sink us?"

"It's not that bad, Suili." He draped the pelisse around her shoulders. "Sitting in the dark and against the side like that only made it seem worse."

She looked away from the liquid in the cup she held. "It isn't as rocky here," she admitted, holding the cup up to him. "I really don't need this."

He refused to take it. "Drink it anyway. Once you lay down the waves will feel worse."

She watched him holster the cutlass and turn down the lantern wick. "Where are you going?"

"Just on deck to get a tally for the cargo. Drink that and lay down, and you'll be all right."

Suili didn't believe him, but after he was gone for half an hour, she chanced a sip of the amber liquor. It tasted of nuts and molasses, with a short bitterness when she swallowed it. A warmth grew in her stomach, dissolving the spasmodic wrenching there. She had to admit sitting on the chest was much more stable than the pitching sidewalls.

She drank half the brandy, shrugging off the lace pelisse when it became too warm. Another smell mingled with that of the drink and she recognized it as cinnamon. Part of the cargo, she reasoned, finishing the cup. During a lull in the waves she rinsed the cup in the bucket of salt water by the fireplace and set it on the table. She lowered the lamp wick and crawled into bed, pleasantly surprised the rolling of the ship seemed calmer. She inhaled the sweet smell of cinnamon, now detecting other scents too faint to determine. She pulled the sheets closer, and shut her eyes against the muted light.

Suili awoke early the next morning to a gnawing ebb in her stomach. She curled tighter in the finely woven sheets, a menagerie of smells meeting her nose. She looked around in the twilight of daybreak. The ship still moved with lesser winds, but now seemed to be riding the swells rather than being tossed by them.

Cortleno's snoring brought her attention to that corner. The window by him was wide open. She looked out it at the waters rising and falling. With the early hour the sea was no color, only a changing, rippling sheet of dark gray. The horizon was a paler gray, too, making the outside world seem strangely without color.

Cortleno had stopped snoring and she looked at him to find he was awake. His eyes were following her gaze out the window near him, curious what held her attention there.

He looked back to her. "Did you see something?"

She shook her head. "Everything looks gray this morning."

"It's always like that after a storm." He got to his feet, stretched, and rolled up the hammock. "Go back to sleep. It's early."

She said nothing, but watched him pull on a shirt. Her eyes rested on his arm where she had earlier seen a mark near his shoulder. What it was, she had never bothered to see clearly, but it looked like a tattoo. Probably some mark of allegiance to a pirate brotherhood, she thought, averting her eyes as he turned.