The Pirate and the Amber Cat 16

Chapter 16

Cortleno attacks the Gorzai Queen.

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For three days the Lita Nysse galloped northward to Cold Rock. As Cortleno predicted, the weather grew from chilly to crisp in a matter of days. It did not snow, but Suili's breath frosted when she ventured onto deck one night to watch the stars.

She never believed weather could change so swiftly until witnessing it herself. Even Cortleno admitted the fluctuation was extreme. Actually, the days were warm enough, although not balmy like those of the southern Ullira interior, but an acceptable transition into autumn. Early mornings and nights ranged from uncomfortably cool to downright cold, which Suili did not like. The temperature changes were more radical farther out to sea, Cortleno had explained, and she cared not to experience that.

She now stood at the port rail with her eyes lifted skyward. The dark blue heavens were littered with winking stars and had caught the attentions of the pirates, too. Three of the largest, brightest stars formed a clear triangle. The stars were known as Viin, Pael, and Delvane on the Ullira-Mezpar continent, or Vinu, Pael, and Deivne in Suili's homeland. They formed the triangle called Arisse every year and marked the advent of harvest in Ullira. In Luxil, Queen Menat had even named her oldest daughter Arisse. The stars remained brilliant as the dark skies swirled with clouds lit violet and fuchsia, making the ship's deck wash a pale pink and lavender.

To the pirates the constellation meant good fortune and they were eager to find a victim ship before it faded in three days. Their anticipation was contagious and Suili found herself anxious with them for unexplained reasons. When the colorful haze of clouds slowed and finally dissipated altogether, she asked Cortleno to go to the cabin.

Once inside, she went to the office hearth where a fire burned and held her chilled hands to the warmth. Behind her Cortleno turned a key in the door as he left, a comforting sound that had once made her furious. That was before she had fully understood her position and the dangers of a sole woman on a pirate ship.

In the bedchamber she hung the periwinkle shawl in the armoire and unlaced her boots. Quickly she undressed behind the screen, shivering in the corner where little heat ventured. She pulled the mauve flannel cote on over the matching gown and fastened its ties.

All evening something had nagged at her thoughts, something unassuming in and of itself, but weightier when viewed under other light. She took the chapbook and pushed a chair to the fireplace, but did not read. She only sat and opened the book, gazing into the flames at the bedchamber hearth.

Cortleno had said abducting her was not his initial approach to Juriz, she recalled. He had tried other ways, including bribery, but failed. He even said these attempts had worsened conditions for his interest.

It was a vague description of her ransom, she knew, and did little to help her identify who Cortleno wanted in her exchange. All it really meant was that he had failed at other attempts—if he was telling her the truth. She frowned, wondering if Cortleno and Juriz had met before the confrontation in Leneau. As she thought more about Juriz's actions that afternoon, she realized he knew exactly what Cortleno demanded and seemed more worried than angry.

But Juriz had spoken with Cortleno the preceding day, she remembered, sighing. She had forgotten that, and she only knew that Cortleno had told him to come back. Perhaps there had been more to the conversation than he recounted. She rested her feet on the warm hearth bricks, smiling momentarily at the welcome heat. Her earlier ideas of Cortleno's interest being an escaped slave or criminal fell away. The bounty would have to be pretty steep to justify a failed bribe, and he adamantly denied participating in slavery.

Her thoughts turned naturally to a woman. Men took strange, drastic measures where a woman was concerned. Perhaps even a pirate could be moved by a soft voice and a sweet smile.

She sighed again. How did a woman figure into the picture? There was no place for her in the mines. There weren't even any water maidens. The mines were strictly worked by men only. She sat back in the chair and stared into the fire, unseeing.

But no, it could not involve a woman, not in the manner she was thinking. Cortleno had said his quarrel was with Juriz, and he would attack every Shaenen ship on his course.

Suili frowned. It was a personal grudge against Juriz, and she knew only few pieces to this puzzle.

The next day a ship was spotted, barely within scope view, and the Lita Nysse changed course to intercept it that night. Suili overheard the instruction when she was on deck watching two jaegers tail and dive among the seagulls. She had learned much in her two weeks on board. She knew the vessel's square masts could be turned to catch any breeze, and could even be rigged in ways to allow the ship to sail nearly straight into the wind. The Nysse did this now in fact, using the cold winds of Kacerak to drive it farther north.

She had also learned to wave at the silver dolphins that leaped beside the ship hull. A few even returned her gesture by bobbing their beaked heads or chattering. The gray-belly whales grew scarcer as the ship headed to colder waters, and she thought herself lucky to see one every two or three days.

Late that afternoon Suili could see the intended victim ship as an enlarging dot on the horizon. As early evening drew on it became a discernable object, but would not be within range until well after dark.

She idled away the time by reading what she could of the chapbook, then decided to ready for bed. As she was about to retire, Cortleno came in, a tense look on his face. She slipped the flannel cote back on expectantly.

"We're hitting the Gorzai Queen now," he said.

Her face fell, and then the urgency of recognition leapt into it. She followed him to the armory case. "Could you let it go?"

He didn't pause strapping on the second weapons belt. "No. I told you I would sink any Shaenen ship I encounter."

"Oh, but please," she said desperately. She reached to touch his sleeve, but withdrew her hand instead. "Not this one. It has . . . I . . . Can't you spare it, Cortleno?"

He frowned, searching her eyes. "Who's on it?"

"Who?" she repeated. Her hands fell to her sides. "Well, I don't know. A crew, I suppose."

"No one you know?"

"I don't know anyone in Kacerak," she said stoutly.

He shoved the gauche into his belt and held a long dagger out to her. "What does the Queen carry that interests you?"

She stood straighter, and then shrugged lopsidedly, not wanting to voice the answer. She slowly took the dagger. "I don't know the cargo of every ship Juriz owns."

"Why your concern?" A new regard crossed his face. "Is your family coming for the wedding?"

"No." She frowned. "My concern is that you're attacking the property of my future husband."

His gaze shifted to each of her eyes. "You're lying."

The battle was not terribly long or fierce, but it was well past midnight by the time Cortleno returned to the cabin. The Gorzai Queen carried a cargo of Kacerak soapstone, ink, chalk, bicklath pelts, Kacerak whiskey, weapons, bolts of canvas, and one other odd piece of merchandise that Cortleno confiscated from the crew's unruly brawl.

He flung open the bedchamber door, watching Suili jump at the outburst in the candle's low light. She stood ready with the poniard half raised until she saw him.

"Where's the rest of your trousseau?" he demanded.

Her eyes went to the bundle of wadded lace and satin in his hand. "You saved it," she breathed, unanswering.

"Where is the rest?" He repeated, crossing the room to her.

She stepped back, her spine against the armoire. "I . . . It already arrived. In the valley. I was waiting on the dress."

He held the material beneath her chin. "This was what you were worried about, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she said almost inaudibly.

His voice lost its caustic edge as he watched her features soften, her eyes going over the dress in his hand. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She gently touched its lace hem that hung from his fingers, almost unaware of him now. "I thought you would laugh."

He put the dress in her hands. "I see nothing funny about a wedding dress. Besides, it's too late. Your wedding was to be two days ago."

Abundant folds of lace, ruffles, and smooth satin fell through Suili's fingers as she appreciated the Rak workmanship of the gown, and she forgot to tell him it was actually three days ago. The stitching was fine and even, the pearls sewn at the drooping collar an opalescent cream. She was conscious of Cortleno still very near and looked up to see his gaze also on the dress.

"Thank you," she said quietly, gathering the dress close to her as a possessiveness gripped her. "Thank you for not letting them have it."

For a moment he couldn't look away from the unveiled despair and hope in her eyes. It was not until her chin tilted and the familiar effrontery hinted in her expression that he nodded and left the room.

When he was gone, Suili hugged the gown closer, seeking a comfort it could not offer. For a moment her eyes closed as mixed thoughts flew through her head. With determination, she kept her mind only on the fact that she had the dress. She could not bare the image of pirates handling and tearing the dress she would wear for her wedding.

As much as the thought unsettled her, she couldn't bring herself to tell Cortleno what was on the Queen when he had asked. How could she appear to care more for a dress she would only wear once than the crew of the victim ship?

He wouldn't care, she thought dryly, hanging the gown on the armoire door to view. She lit the lantern and turned up the wick. He was just a barbarian who could never understand anything that did not lead to bloodshed. She brushed the wrinkles from the satin, straightening a turned hem.

She didn't believe that, and she knew it.

If it were true he would have rendered her the gown shredded and mauled, perhaps bloodied, if it reached her at all. As much as he mocked and despised her marriage arrangements, he must know what the gown meant to her.

She sighed, sitting distraughtly on the edge on the bed as her gaze lingered on the dress. It marked a change in her life she was uneager to encounter. Many nights she had lain awake in her bed in the valley thinking of what the wedding night entailed, and she had no pleasant expectation. The times events and banquets brought her and Juriz together to act as an espoused couple, their touches had been rehearsed and mechanical.

She shuddered unconsciously. She didn't anticipate his hollow embrace. If Juriz hadn't taken a mistress already, he would soon. There had to be a passionate outlet somewhere, if not at home. Perhaps the idea of a lover for herself was not as preposterous as she told Cortleno it was.

Suili stood up suddenly. Unmarried yet and she was already thinking about being unfaithful!

She shook her head and put the dress in the closet. If she were home in the valley she wouldn't be thinking like this, she told herself. Too long on a ship of pirates. That was it.

She turned the lantern down low and blew out the candle lamp, then crawled into bed. But some of these were not new thoughts. They were only more focused and too real lately, even before that terrible day in the garden.

The smell of scorched and burning wood grew strong and she knew it was from the Gorzai Queen being torched. She closed her eyes tightly. She wanted Juriz to rescue her from the Nysse, but she really didn't want to go back to the valley with him, something she had not even thought until now, when she was away from the valley. Oh, the valley is nice enough, with the grand, beautiful house and lovely gardens, she thought. But life as Juriz's wife—that was different.

He'll be gone a lot, she consoled herself hopefully. He would be busy with the mines, as before. After she produced two children, he may even lose all interest in her bed. Vainly, she was not sure she liked the idea of that, either. She didn't want to be completely forgotten.

With a final sigh, she hugged the second pillow close, buried her face in it, and denied herself any further thoughts.

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PG13. #romance #cleanromance #teenromance #YA #fantasy #pirateromance #pirates #ambercat #ChancelJordan