The Pirate and the Amber Cat 20

Chapter 20

The Nysse comes under attack.

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Several days passed as the Lita Nysse made good time heading up Ullira's western coast. A southwest wind prevailed, blowing in a shallow rain the second night that broke the following morning. Suili lost track of the days she had been on the ship in that time, lost in thought as she was with her own dilemma.

Cortleno was well aware of the days. The Nysse would find the harbor of Cold Rock in another five days. He was not concerned about missing the appointment with Juriz Shaenen. It would take at least fifteen days to reach Lusson by land and another three to go from there to Cold Rock. And that was with fast horses.

He knew Suili was anxious to dock at the northern port, but she wouldn't like waiting nearly half a week for Juriz while bottled up in the cabin. With the Nysse's present speed she already had a wait of a day or two before Juriz could possibly reach the port.

Not wanting to be trapped in Cold Rock was not the entire reason Cortleno wanted to dock in Brimshire. The Rak weapons would bring handsome prices there, and he was eager to give the crew a short holiday before the next confrontation with Shaenen.

He looked to where Suili leaned on the rail watching the evening waters lap at the ship hull. The wind lifted her green velvet skirts and hem of the white chemise just enough to offer a stunted peek of her legs beneath in the muted torch light. He was not alone in noticing. Under their captain's glare, three crewmen averted their stares also.

Suili wasn't the only one who had given Cortleno's newly voiced accusations so much thought. Cortleno had known immediately he shouldn't have told her anything. He had not meant to tell her, but the appeal of those emerald eyes and the beckon of her pout had been so persuasive, even when he knew things would only worsen between them.

That was where he had made the first dire mistake, he knew.

Thinking of her in any manner except as a captive—a tool to be used in achieving Joshan's release—was a downfall he could have avoided. Had this been over in Leneau, as he planned, he would have been done with her, and concerns for a woman aboard the Nysse would never have been an issue.

But he wasn't entirely to blame for revealing the Shaenen practice of slavery, he rationalized, watching Suili's hair wave in the breeze of the starless, opaque night. She shouldn't have seen mark on his arm, but should have taken his word not to ask about it. Her stark shock that night had been unpretentious, and as the realization of her uncle made its impact, she had exhibited a concern he had not expected.

He had anticipated denial, which she portrayed, or maybe indifference, if she already knew, and perhaps even a condescending amusement. She was Lux and the idea of slavery in a country where it was forbidden may not be a complete astonishment. Her reaction to the revelation unsettled him. He almost preferred callousness rather than her shame-ridden apologies. It left him with a moral uneasiness for which he had not prepared, and he didn't like it.

He met her when she moved to the center of the ship and leaned against the wide hind derrick beneath the crow's nest, hiding from stares of some of the crew at the fore deck.

"Are you cold?" He took her arm. "I'll take you in."

Suili tried to avoid his touch. "Not yet. Please. I . . ." She looked to the back of her hand as two drops of blood fell on it.

He snatched her hand, looking up to the crow's nest above them.