Page 5 of A Pirate's Pleasure

Chapter Three

Lief

“I have no reason to help you, and all the reasons in the world to leave you to your fate.”

The words kept rebounding in my skull as I tossed and turned in the uncomfortable bed, sleep evading me. It hadn’t just been the words either. It had been the look on Zephyr’s face as he’d said them, like he’d waited eight long years for the opportunity to say those words to me and had relished every moment.

When I’d made my way to Glimmerfield, I’d truly believed that we’d be able to put the past behind us. That while help might be grudging, that Zephyr of all people wouldn’t turn his back on me. How wrong I’d been. And now I was out of options. When I’d fled Silkdrift, the only coin I’d had was what was in my pockets, and it was rapidly running out, which ruled out hiding here forever. Not that I’d want to. The only draw to Glimmerfield and The Black Skull had been Zephyr.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at where the ceiling would be if the room wasn’t pitch black. Zephyr might not be prepared to help, but there were other pirates. Thanks to him, I knew my way around a ship. What was to stop me from finding work as a first mate with another captain? It wouldn’t be a simple life, but it was better than the alternative. If nothing else, it would buy me time, which had been the plan all along. It wasn’t like I’d planned to set sail with Zephyr forever. That ship had sailed a long time ago, both literally and figuratively. I let out a sigh, feeling marginally better at having a plan. Yeah, tomorrow… Tomorrow, I’d start asking around, and to hell with Zephyr Chase.

Heavy footsteps in the corridor roused me from a dream of sharing kisses beneath a starlit sky, the wood of the deck still warm from the blazing heat of the day. I got up and dressed quickly, just enough light from the first rays of dawn streaming in through the threadbare curtains to make it possible. I knew what was coming, knew that my time had run out, and I’d rather not be in a state of undress when it happened. Had Zephyr come good on his threat and given me up in exchange for the reward? No, even with the simmering hatred that had boiled in his eyes, I couldn’t believe that of him.

They didn’t knock, the door flying open beneath a hefty kick and the small room filling with soldiers. “Lief Cooper?” one of them asked.

A bubble of hysteria rose in me, the temptation to say, sorry, no, wrong person, almost overwhelming. As it was, they didn’t wait for an answer, two of them grabbing me, while a third patted me down and quickly divested me of the knife in my boot.

One soldier stepped forward, his craggy face and the amount of gray in his beard placing him in his mid to late fifties. “We’re detaining you for the murder of Erolith Magran. You’ll be tried in accordance with the laws of Silkdrift. If found guilty, the courts will decide on a fitting punishment for you.”

I swallowed down bile. There was only one punishment for murder and that was death. “I didn’t do it,” I said, my voice coming out thinner and reedier than I’d have liked. I tried again, mustering more conviction in the hope they’d believe me. “I didn’t kill Erolith. He was a friend of mine. I don’t know about you, but I don’t kill my friends. I was framed.”

The soldier couldn’t have seemed less unmoved by my plea. “That’s for the courts to decide. You can tell them your story.”

My story! Like it was nothing more than a flight of fantasy.

“Innocent men don’t run,” one of the other soldiers said, this one much younger.

They do if they’re scared. I didn’t say that, though. It would have been a waste of breath. “Who let you in?” I asked instead.

“Big, ugly bloke,” another soldier said. “Only had one good eye.”

Dax. My heart sank. It seemed Dax had only given me the benefit of doubt for as long as it had taken for Zephyr to make his judgment. Once he had, he’d come down firmly on Zephyr’s side, which was the way it had always been for the three of us. Either that or he’d just been following Zephyr’s directive, but I didn’t want to think that could be true. Refusing to help was one thing, but actively turning me in…

“Are you going to come quietly?” the young soldier asked.

Despite it not being the time, I couldn’t help myself. “Oh, I never come quietly,” I drawled. “Where’s the fun in that?” The young soldier’s cheeks turned scarlet, and he shuffled on the spot. I laughed. If I was facing my doom, I might as well have some fun before they strung me up. “If you don’t know that, you must have been doing it wrong. Or not doing it at all.”

The soldier who had hold of my right arm gave me a rough shake. “That’s enough! You’ll win yourself no favors by being difficult.”

“Difficult! I was simply offering our young friend here some free advice. He can take it or leave it.”

They led me out into the corridor wreathed in shadows, the soldiers’ firm grip leaving no option but to do as they insisted. The corridor was empty, the soldiers presumably having picked the time when they knew everyone would be abed. We’d barely gotten halfway down it, though, before a familiar bulky figure appeared at the end, prompting the soldiers to come to a premature halt. My heart leapt at the sight of Dax. Had he changed his mind?

“Stand aside, Mr. Fitzgerald,” the old soldier said. “This is not the time to be changing your mind.”

“Oh, I haven’t changed my mind,” Dax said, the shred of optimism that had formed in my chest shriveling away. “Just got someone who’d like a word with yer before yer go, that’s all.”

“Is that right?” the soldier said. “I trust they’re not planning to interfere with the letter of the law?”

Dax shrugged. “Don’t rightly know, do I? Guess yer’d ‘ave to ask ‘im yerself.”

He stepped aside to reveal Zephyr leaning nonchalantly against the wall, my heart doing the same pitter-patter thing it had always done. He crossed his arms over his chest and studied the scene in front of him with an ill-concealed contempt. Despite it being dawn, he was fully dressed without so much as a hair out of place. He’d even found a coat from somewhere.

The old soldier stepped forward while the two holding my arms were less composed, fidgeting restlessly. Either they knew who Zephyr was or they were simply reacting to his commanding presence. My money was on the former.

“We’re not here for you, pirate,” the old soldier said, his mouth lifting in a sneer and his tone derogatory. “We’re here on a matter of murder, so stand aside and you can continue about your business.”

“Murder!” Zephyr said, one dark eyebrow lifting. “Is that so?” His gaze slid briefly over to me before returning to the soldier. “And who, pray tell, is the victim of this atrocity?”

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