The Pirate and the Amber Cat 7
Chapter 7
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The morning had passed quickly for Suili, a pleasant contrast to the previous day. Her venture on to the deck was an unexpected freedom after the glass incident, and it gave her a sense of hopefulness.
Maybe she had made some progress despite her clumsy attack.
She ate alone in the bedroom late that afternoon with an appetite she had lacked the day before. With the meal finished, however, Suili faced boredom. Cortleno was still on deck, and she grew weary of looking out the open bench window. Even the sky was darkening too early to be evening.
On impulse she checked the cabinet and closet locks again, then looked to the door. There had been no click of the key this when Cortleno had left.
The latch turned easily and she opened the door slowly. Without pausing in the empty room, she went to the stair door and found it locked. She turned back to the office with a short sigh. Well, at least he had not locked her in just the bedroom this time. She doubted he had made a mistake; he had left the bedroom door open intentionally. She presumed this gave her permission to wander.
The fireplace on this side was much like it was in the bedchamber, except she found the grate lock in the gray stone siding. It was unlocked, she noted. A free-standing wood case was against the mantle wall near the bedroom door and its metal contents clanked when she tried to turn the latch.
There was a log cradle, but it was empty also on this side and she figured the Lita Nysse had been in southern waters for quite a while. The far corner of the fireplace was met by a large walnut desk, carved, but not like the bedposts. Here the detailing was fine and at the corners inlaid with an intarsia of different obsidians polished smooth. Against the starboard wall was a chest-on-chest and bookcase, the latter with a matching inlay of the desk. They had once been a handsome set of rooms that had not suffered too badly under their present master, she decided in fairness. She wondered at the fate of the previous owner.
Across from the fireplace was a heavy table with six chairs and beyond that a wall lined with more built-in closets. These she found locked, too. The view out the windows was only of water, as in the bedroom, and the land they had departed was now beyond the horizon. At least here she could hear more sounds of activity from the deck.
The room darkened momentarily, bringing her to the window behind the desk. The sky was clowding over, the sunlight only intermittent now. A flicker of the keep-candle caught her eye from beside the desk, but she did not light the hanging lamp.
With a curious glance at the door, she tried the drawers at the desk and discovered them locked, as she expected. She looked to the bookshelf, amazed at the number of books. The top shelf held catalogs of charts and maps, and below it were leather volumes of what she recognized as Othalian print. She knew it was Othalian because her first governess had been from that country. Education among women was not popular in Luxil, but Suili's father was resolute in his daughters' studies. He had insisted on an Othalian tutor, too, because of their marked reputations.
But Suili and her younger sister Iyene had not been taught to read Othalian. Their studies had been in Lux and Ulliran.
The third shelf held scrolls, most of parchment, which yielded maps when unrolled. She put these back and crouched to the last shelf. A dusty row of chapbooks had become victim to mice, but it was mostly superficial damage. She took one out, blowing a thin cloud of dust from the cover. Carefully she opened it, surprised to find it contained sonnets. She eagerly took out another of short prose, and then jumped as the stair door latch turned.
"Found your way, I see," Cortleno said, stepping in as she knelt at the case.
He didn't look upset, she judged. "The door was unlocked."
He nodded, shutting but not locking the door. "Break any lamps today I should know about?"
"No." She scowled at him, rising. She realized how dark the room had become when he lit a lamp at the desk.
"What did you find?" When she stared at him in puzzlement, he gestured to the books. "Those aren't navigating charts."
She looked down at the chapbooks. "No. They're verses."
He stepped closer and took the one of poems from her and looked at the cover, nodding in recognition. "Those came off a Luresian vessel a few years ago."
"And you kept them?" Her voice held a lilt he did not like.
"Of course. Would you have burned them? The Lux are notorious for their lack of academics among women," he commented dryly, handing the book back. "These are Luresian. Can you read them?"
"For the most part," she said. "Luresian is much like Lux."
He took a bottle from one of the built-in cabinets, and then a second, returning her careful attention. He sat on the edge of the desk, nodding to her. "Read something."
A short laugh escaped her. "No."
"You can't read." He took a long drink from the darker bottle. "I didn't think so."
"I can, but . . . these are not verses to read aloud," she said haltingly. His outright stare made her conscious of the room's warmth. She held the books closer.
"Your husband taught you to read?"
"No. My governess."
"In Luxil?"
She nodded.
He set the bottle on the table and stood up, watching her flinch slightly. "My quarrel is with your husband, Suili, not you. Your capture is necessary to serve my purpose," he told her levelly. He walked around her, admiring the shimmer of light off her hair. "You will be on the Nysse for only a short time."
"How much is my ransom?"
"It's not a matter of how much. It's best you remain ignorant of that detail. It would mar your view of your husband. Let him tell you."
She frowned at the elusive answer. "How much?"
He studied her eyes, deciding they were a color between deep jade and smoky emerald. "Not money."
"What else is there? Carnelian? If you won't let a few beads of it remain I can hardly imagine a hold full. Copper? You could get that right off his ships. You wouldn't need me here," she reasoned, lifting an eyebrow. "Or is this a new form of piracy? The abduction of promised wives?"
He laughed, raising a blush to her cheeks. "It is not my habit to steal helpless women to demand ransom, but what I require from Shaenen calls for a high risk and a certain delicacy." He took the bottle from the desk. "What could he hold in higher esteem than his tender wife?"
She wanted to dissolve the smugness in his smile. "Perhaps you overestimate Juriz's loyalty to me, Captain."
His smile took a sharp twist. "If I do, you have a lot to lose, Suili."
She did not like the results of her ploy. "He'll pay you. Whatever you ask."
His smile deepened as he offered her the second bottle from the desk.
She shook her head.
"You're a cold firefly, Ros Dai Shaenen," he said. "Watch that your light doesn't go out."
"I am not a fly," she snapped, again irked by the use of the title. She set the books beside him on the desk and went into the other room.
It was nearly dark now and a light rain fell outside. Lamplight from the office streamed in through the fireplace opening as Suili sat on the bench. She looked out the window at the sea jumping with raindrops.
She sighed, wondering what her ransom could be, if not money.
PG13. #romance #cleanromance #teenromance #YA #fantasy #pirateromance #pirates #ambercat #ChancelJordan
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