Chapter 20

  Jonathon woke the next morning with the comfortable sensation of Cass’s body pressed against his. He had no idea how long it had been before they both finally fell asleep, but he felt exhausted. He savored the moment, smelling the salt in her hair. Even with all of the washing and primping the stylists did before their dinner last night, they couldn’t get the smell of the ocean out of her hair. Jonathon was appreciative of that. Anything less wouldn’t have been her.

  Suddenly, like a rogue wave in a storm, Jonathon was hit with a wave of anxiety. What had they done? They had held the line of professionalism for so long only to cross it now. What did this mean now? Jonathon hated the idea of having to find a new quartermaster, but what choice would he have if…whatever this was ended poorly? He cursed himself for being so short-sighted and succumbing to his temptations.

  He felt her stir, her hips unintentionally pressing back against him, chasing his fleeting doubts from his mind. As she woke, he said, “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Captain,” she groaned, stretching out the night’s stiffness. “How are you already awake? I’m exhausted.”

  “Back to ‘Captain’ already, huh?” Jonathon teased.

  She smiled as she turned to face him, her forehead touching his. “Good morning, Jonathon.”

  Jonathon smiled widely at this. He wasn’t sure how, but her saying his name was the sweetest sound he could think of. “Good morning back, Cass. And I just woke up myself. I’m exhausted too.” He felt a stirring as his body took in the sensation of hers pressed tightly against him. “But I could be persuaded to stay awake a little longer, under the right circumstances.”

  A low, throaty giggle escaped her lips. Soft and velvety with just a hint of mischief, the sound lingered in the air like a whispered invitation. Her eyes held a hungry desire as she began to wrap around him.

  There was a knock at the door to his cabin. “Cap’n, you in there? The boys and I are here. Don’t know where Cassandra be, but it’s time for our daily muster. You decent?”

  Cassandra jumped at the sound of her name. Then they both began to panic as Beckett’s unanticipated arrival shocked them both back to the real world.

  “What do we do?” she whispered panickedly.

  “Nothing,” Jonathon whispered back. “You just showed up before them and we’ve been waiting on them.”

  “Naked, Jonathon?!” she hissed back.

  Jonathon rolled his eyes and smiled. “Obviously not. Get dressed, quickly.” He gave her a quick but deep kiss, jumped out of bed, and began tugging on his clothes. “Give me just a second boys, we…” he stopped mid-sentence as Cass pulled on his arm.

  “The only clothing I have in here is the dress I wore last night,” she whispered fearfully. “Unless you’re wanting to just come right out with it here and now, I don’t think that’s going to fly.”

  “I’m okay with it if you are,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation.

  Her eyes widened and she smiled. She gave him a quick peck on his cheek and whispered playfully, “That’s sweet, but I think I’d like to keep you to myself for now. My cabin is directly below yours. I’ll climb down the stern of the ship to my room.”

  He couldn’t help but smile at this new side of his quartermaster that only he was privy to. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he wanted to share this with anyone yet either. “…I just overslept a bit boys,” he said, turning his attention back to the men outside his door. “Give me a second to tug on me breeches.” He gave a wink to Cass as she crawled out his window, her dress on just enough to cover herself.

  He closed the window and let the group into his cabin. As they all took their seats, Jonathon couldn’t help but listen to make sure he didn’t hear a splash in the water.

  About ten minutes later, Cassie entered his cabin, her hair hastily pulled back into a ponytail. Not an uncommon style for her, but Jonathon smiled to himself, knowing the truth behind her appearance. He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he was the only other one in the room that knew why or the intimate nature of his knowledge, but seeing her so hastily put together made him afraid to stand.

  “Ah, Quartermaster, good of you to join us this morning,” Jonathon teased as she rushed into the room.

  Cassandra blushed with embarrassment. “Apologies, Captain. I had some personal matters to attend to this morning.”

  Jonathon nodded. “Understood. Have a seat.”

  “What?” Dryden started.

  “If that were us–” Ryden continued.

  “–we’d be given swab duty for three days,” Dryden finished.

  “And if you had half the responsibilities or experience that Cass does, you’d be given more leniency,” Jonathon retorted. “Besides, her tardiness is an aberration. You two being on time would be the aberration. In fact, if I hadn’t given Beckett the duty of making sure you boys were here on time, you both would likely still be on swab duty.” The boys smiled sheepishly, and Beckett suppressed a laugh. “Now,” Jonathon continued, “assuming there are no other objections to one of our crewmate’s personal matters, let’s continue. Cassie, report.”

  They all nodded as Cassandra joined them at the table and spoke, “Thank you, Captain. No reported issues over the past day, and the poison will be ready on the morrow. We still need to discuss finding a trade vessel once we leave Brightstone, but otherwise, nothing new to report.”

  Jonathon nodded and turned expectantly to Beckett, “Beckett, what did you find in your questioning yesterday?”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Beckett cleared his throat, “Aye Cap’n. There appear to be at least two expected within the next week: a shipment of spices and textiles from a smaller trade group, and a shipment of the same but with additional luxury items aboard a larger, better equipped vessel.”

  Jonathon thought for a moment. “Well, the smaller vessel would be the obvious and easier target. We could shoot out their sails to slow ‘em down, board ‘em, and trade their lives for their goods. The larger vessel would likely require a more protracted battle, possibly longer than I’d prefer to spend on this side venture. It’d also risk a higher loss of necessary crew, especially if they happened to have hired protection. Do you know if this is the case? Which of the two is supposed to arrive first?”

  “Unsure sir,” Beckett responded. “They’re both expected any day now. In terms of protection, can’t say I’ve ‘eard anything ‘bout additional muscle. We could always attempt a subtle approach, kidnap their captain and navigational tools, and hold ‘em for ransom.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Cassandra noted.

  Jonathon and the rest of the crew nodded along. “Not bad at all. How exactly would we ‘subtly’ get aboard a ship on the open ocean? Perhaps we play the part of the stranded vessel?”

  Beckett shook his head. “That may work with a smaller ship with a smaller crew, but with what I ‘ear of this one, we’d likely be better suited with sneaking aboard in the dead of night and stealing what we desire and leaving the note for them to find in the morning.”

  Jonathon thought on this for a moment. “That may work. We can discuss it more as the opportunity arises, but for now I’d say these are both suitable enough plans going forward.” He turned to his cook, “Thayer?”

  “Aye, Cap’n,” Thayer began. “I’ve nothing to report, sir. As our quartermaster said, the poison’ll be ready on the morrow. I’ve cleared away enough space to store the barrels, so we’ll be ready to leave as soon as it’s delivered.”

  Jonathon grimaced. “We’re storing the poison with the food?”

  Thayer nodded, “We’ll be soaking most of the scrap meat we bought in the poison during our sailing, so having the barrels nearby would make that easier. Don’t worry Cap’n, I won’t be poisonin’ the crew anytime soon.”

  Jonathon nodded hesitantly. “As you say. Ryden? Dryden?”

  “Powders sifted. Cannonballs and weapons inspected and cleaned,” Ryden grinned. “Also, I was thinkin’ about running some drills with the powder monkeys today. Get them prepped for when we’re back on open water.”

  Jonathon’s eyebrows rose, pleased at the initiative. “Good thinking, Ryden. Permission granted. We can’t do live fire drills in port, obviously, but practice never hurts.”

  Ryden smiled. “Sick…uh, sir.”

  Jonathon turned to the other twin, “Dryden?”

  Dryden shifted, clearly feeling the pressure to match his brother’s enthusiasm. “Captain, the careening of the ship has been completed. We will be ready for departure once the poison has been loaded. The sails and the rigging are all in good shape and seaworthy, sir.” Compared to his normal demeanor and his brother, his speech was overly formal as he tried to recite his rehearsed presentation without mistake. He then added, “I too was thinking about doing some drills with the crew today to prep for our departure, Captain. If that’s okay…”

  Nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, Jonathon thought. “Sounds good to me, Dryden. Permission granted.”

  Ryden nudged Dryden and muttered, “Copycat.”

  “Alright crew,” Jonathon said, “today’s our last day in port. Let’s run these drills and get the word out to the crew. Dismissed.”

  “Aye, Captain,” they responded.

  ~~

  “Ahh, Captain Harding, how wonderful to see you all again,” came the sultry cry of Pavlov, the shop’s purveyor, as Jonathon and the inner crew entered his shop the following day. “Your order has just been completed, as I was just telling our dear Naomi here.”

  Jonathon smiled at the man. He was flamboyant and exceedingly extravagant in a way one would not expect from someone in his profession, but Jonathon couldn’t help but like the man. “Glad to hear it, Pavlov,” he said, placing the remainder of the payment on the counter. “The rest of your payment, as agreed. I hear you suffered no disruptions during this week. I hope this means your concerns for retaliation are over?”

  Pavlov spread his arms wide and smiled, “Not a peep from any of the rapscallions you helped to chase off. But the rats do like to scurry when the cat is present, don’t they?” He glanced over at Naomi, then Ryden and added wryly, “Though I did find it difficult to sleep this week. Such sounds there were at night. I daresay I was worried on occasion that someone was being murdered with some of the screaming I heard.” Naomi and Ryden’s faces both turned a deep crimson and they quickly began studying their feet. Pavlov smiled amusedly. “Regardless, I do expect I’ll be picking up shop soon and relocating to a new port of call. Should you ever find yourself in Silvercove Harbor, please do come find me.”

  Jonathon, noting the two’s behavior, added, “That explains Ryden’s sudden ‘altruistic’ desire to volunteer for the night shift every night.” The redness in their ears deepened. “Silvercove Harbor though? You expect you’ll be able to continue business there?”

  “Ah,” Pavlov intoned, “you’d be surprised how many of those fancy, ‘high society’ folks love their poisons. An awfully catty bunch, they are. I’d actually been planning on moving there eventually, I was simply saving up. Thanks to this order and what your dear Naomi saved me, I daresay I have enough to make the move and get started.”

  “Well, all’s well that ends well, I suppose,” Jonathon concluded.

  “Indeed.” Pavlov smiled.

  Jonathon turned to Cass. “Are the men ready to load this up?”

  “Aye, Captain, they are waiting outside,” she responded.

  “Good. Let’s get ‘er loaded up and set sail. I don’t want to wait a second longer.”

  ~~

  “Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!” Jonathon cried from the helm of Mother’s Myth. His excitement was hard to contain. After all these years, he was taking another step that would bring him even closer to his dream. He’d never been this close before. His desire to reach The Spectre burned in the depths of his soul.

  The ship came alive again as the crew raised the anchor and lowered the sails. Their supplies had been loaded, their debts paid, and their path charted.

  Beckett had convinced him to stick to the trading route between Silvercove Harbor and Brightstone long enough to raid the first ship they came across. Afterward, they could shift their focus and sail directly for the island. It would unfortunately add a day or two to their travel time, but it would also ensure the crew had a chance to ‘stretch their legs,’ as it were, and reward them for their patience.

  Jonathon admittedly wasn’t thrilled about waiting the extra couple of days. If they made it to The Spectre, they wouldn’t have to raid ever again anyway. Oh well, he thought, what was two more days, he thought to himself as the ship lurched forward and they set sail.