Page 71 of A Flash of Golden Fire

“In England?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. Or Asia. Or some tropical country. I haven’t decided.” He eyed me carefully. “What are your plans for the future?”

I blinked. “I don’t make plans that far ahead. I don’t even have plans for tomorrow. I’m a live by the moment sort of fellow, I suppose. I ain’t convinced I have a future, to be honest. Not the kind you’re talking about.”

“Don’t be silly. You can do whatever you want, Simon. Don’t let anyone tell you different,” he said. “I used to think my life was the way it was because of God’s plan. But I was dead inside, not really alive. Only going through the motions.”

“Why did you stop being a navy captain?” I asked.

“The hypocrisy. The cruelty. Things I was required to do without a thought that I didn’t believe in.”

I didn’t ask what those things had been. I’d heard stories of the way the navy kept their men in line. Didn’t surprise me, really, that Dinesh had decided to have no more of that way of living.

“Here, on theArrow, I run things my way. Our small community might be unconventional, but I’ve seen more acts of sheer bravery and honor on this ship than on any navy vessel I’ve been assigned to.”

Hillier was still shouting orders to the crew, and men ran about, preparing our approach.

Captain Martin lifted his spyglass to the distant vessel as theArrowclosed the distance.

“Looks to be a Chinese vessel, but I think they’ve already been through a skirmish of some sort,” he muttered. “Here, have a look.”

He passed the glass to me, as if I had the same kind of credentials he did. My heart lifted, and I felt more like a man than I ever had before.

I took the spyglass from him and brought it to my eye.

As I scanned the ornately designed rail of the other vessel, my gaze landed on a person who was holding a spyglass in my direction. After a moment, their glass lowered to reveal the strangest visage I’d ever seen. The person looked neither male nor female. They looked too young to be the captain, with long waves of tangled hair kept out of their gaunt face with bunches of string. Their stature was small and sleight, and their handsome face was covered with geometric black tattoos. They stared at me, as if they could see me with their bare eye, when I needed a glass to see them. They turned to a stocky man beside them and spoke.

The stocky man held his hand out for the spy glass, and the person with the tattooed face gave it to him, then looked in our direction with a resigned expression. The stocky man, likely the captain or the quartermaster, peered at theArrowthrough his spyglass, then shrugged and limped away whilst the tattooed man stared after him with a face full of worry.

“Looks like an easy mark,” I commented.

They didn’t appear to give a damn about us. I’d only seen a handful of men on deck, and there were chunks missing from part of the ship. A couple of their sails were torn.

“But I don’t know if we’re going to find much loot.”

I lowered the glass and saw Captain Martin looking at me with amusement.

“What?”

“How the fuck do you know?” he asked.

“I beg your pardon. I don’t. I thought you wanted my opinion.”

“Well, I wanted you to be prepared.”

“For what? A bloody tea party? They don’t look all that frightening.”

Captain Martin stared at me. Perhaps he was wondering what had ever possessed him to invite me aboard. “Give me that,” he said, reaching for the glass.

I passed the shiny instrument to him.

“A bloody tea party,” he muttered, lifting it to his eye and pretending to be annoyed as his lip twitched and I grinned, scratching my chin and gazing out at the fine weather. Quite a good day to attack a crippled ship, I figured.

Captain Martin observed the other ship for several moments. Then he lowered the glass and met my gaze. “How are you with a sword, Rooster?”

I blinked. “If that’s a clever way of asking me about my skills in the bedroom, then quite good really.”

The captain sighed. “No, I mean an actual sword. Can you defend yourself, if necessary?”

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