Page 19 of Empire of Death
“The only bond or alliance forged by pirates is with other pirates.”
Every time I wanted to emphasize the seriousness of this situation, he dismissed it. “You don’t get it, Jack. Wounds that don’t heal, however small, will kill you. There are many Barbarians, and after losing their mind to a permanent winter, they seek to conquer and destroy.”
“And what do you want us to do about that? We’re loyal to no one.”
“You should be loyal to the Southern Isles since my father allows you to sail across the Great Sea without restriction. He allows you to conduct your business freely. Allows you to retain your sovereignty in exchange for little. And now I’m here telling youthat he’s been stabbed by a cursed blade and our way of life is threatened, and all you do is dismiss me?” Perhaps he assumed I didn’t know about the agreement between Skull Island and the Southern Isles. Well, he was mistaken. “My father could have conquered you in a single battle. But because a part of him will always be a pirate, he pardoned you out of some old sense of loyalty. But if you’re going to tell me that alliance is dead, then perhaps I’ll burn every ship in this harbor and this entire city to the ground and all those within it.”
His stare remained locked on mine, and then he slowly crossed his arms over his chest.
“I know the pirates came to my father’s aid when he took back the Southern Isles.”
“Because he had been one of us. We still call him the Pirate King.”
“Then it sounds like pirates do believe in kings.”
Hostility slowly started to fill his eyes. “I don’t appreciate you coming here and threatening us, but perhaps I should focus on what has made you so desperate as to do something so stupid.”
“I’m just reminding you that we all share this ocean. We’re good neighbors who don’t intrude on your peace, and you don’t intrude on ours. The landscapes of our lives could drastically change if these assholes win. I’d rather be overly prepared than overly arrogant in the matter. But I understand how pirates think, because I was sort of one for a couple of months, and I’m willing to offer you something in exchange.”
“This is better, much better.” The hostility started to wane, his eyes sharpening like the edge of a blade, but in excitement rather than bloodlust.
“I’ve seen their armada with the naked eye. Their hulls are constructed with an artistic fresco of gold, a painting carved within the gold. If I hadn’t been under such duress, I would have paid attention to whatever it was they displayed. But I can tell you it was beautiful and impossible, because how could something so heavy sail so smoothly across the water. Even though we were lighter, they still caught up to us so easily. The most magnificent ship I’ve ever seen. And because of the structure of their hulls, probably indestructible. Come to my aid, and they’re yours.”
Instead of immediately agreeing to my terms, he studied my face like he was searching for something else.
“What say you?”
“I just find it odd that no pirate here has seen what you’ve described.”
“Because they’re all dead,” I said bluntly. “They’re men, but they’re savage and brutal, and they’re different from the men of the Southern Isles and the pirates of Skull Island. They’re…more like animals. But their origins must be affluent and ancient if they’ve managed to build a fleet of ships so spectacular. Imagine having those in your private armada. Unsinkable, a blazing light when the sun strikes the hull on the horizon and blinds your enemies.” I reached for my tankard to take a drink, and as happened every so often, I forgot my newfound strength and picked up the cup way too hard, and I nearly sloshed it across the table. Wrath hadn’t taken back his power even though the battle was over. There were times when I remembered my strength, like when I challenged King Ithaca, and there were other times when I forgot it…like now.
Jack watched me almost spill all over the table. “Why were you the only survivor?”
He broached the topic I didn’t want to discuss. Something I didn’t mention to Wrath. “Because they took me prisoner and threw everyone else overboard.” My eyes dropped for the first time, looking at my tankard. I answered the next question before he answered it, just to save time and cut out the sting of his intrusion. “I was able to break out of the cell and take one of their lifeboats in the rear. Sailed home alone…barely made it.”
He gave a slight nod. “Perhaps you’re more suited to the life of a pirate than the life of a queen.”
“Why can’t I be both?” I asked. “The Pirate Queen.”
His ghostly smile returned. “Like I said before, I’m no king. All I do is enforce the code and make perpetrators walk the plank if they violate it. I can ask for volunteers to sail under your banner in exchange for the fleet of golden ships, but that’s all I can do—ask.”
“I’d appreciate it if you would.”
“I suspect you’d get more volunteers if we were able to see one of these ships with our own eyes.”
“I don’t know where the Barbarians are right now, and I imagine if I ran into them, I’d be dead.”
“Perhaps you could recover one from the previous battle. Have the dragons raise it from the sea and bring it here. There’s no greater ambition for a pirate than the sight of gold. Or perhaps you could do something for us first…”
“Such as?”
He gave a slight shrug like he didn’t have an idea right away, but it was obvious there was one already sitting on his tongue. “Captain Moonscar sails with a fleet that calls themselves the liberators. They came for us a few months ago, and if we hadn’t been ready for the attack, we could have lost the battle. They’re expert sailors and even better pirates, so capturing them and defeating them has been impossible.”
“And what do you want me to do about that?” I asked.
“Burn their fleet to the bottom of the sea,” he said simply. “Earn the loyalty of the pirates who only know you as a stranger. Avenge their loved ones who died protecting this island that many pirates call home.”
It seemed easy and straightforward, but it left a pit in my stomach that could swallow an avalanche of stone. “It feels wrong to massacre an armada of people who haven’t personally wronged me or my kingdom. I’m relying on your word that they maliciously provoked you, but without actual evidence of that, you could easily be trying to make a fool of me. Get me to do your dirty work so your hands remain clean.” Wrath would be helpful in a moment like this, because he could confirm whether this was true or false. But I remembered that my father said pirates were known for their brutal honesty.
