Page 69 of The Tempest
She went right to the subject, one that had perhaps been the most important subject to settle since the day Maude and Astria first came into contact with one another, but it was much more complex with the advent of the marriage. Maude set down the cup of watered wine in her hand.
“Ye and I could not have had a more difficult beginning if we’d tried,” she said. “Aye, I would like peace. I hope ye know that I never hated ye, lass. I was never angry at ye. What I did was…”
“Your duty,” Astria finished for her.
Maude drew in a long, perhaps regretful, breath. “Aye,” she muttered. “My duty. My duty tae take what I can, even if what I take is a person.”
Astria could see that the woman was uncomfortable and quickly put up a hand to ease her. “Please let me finish what I was going to say,” she said. “Maude, I know that our beginnings were difficult. But you were not any more difficult than I was. And you did not attack an innocent merchant fleet, so please putthat out of your mind. What you attacked was me stealing ships from my stepson, who is the rightful Sea God. The San Miguel family is full of pirates, Maude. They are the Titans of the Deep. I want to be clear about that.”
“I know.”
Astria’s brow furrowed. “Youknow?” she said. “How do you know?”
Maude smiled faintly. “Because I’d be a poor pirate, indeed, if I dinna know who my enemies were,” she said. “I’ve been around awhile, lass. I know more than ye think I do.”
Astria was a little stunned. She’d fully expected her information to be a revelation in nature, but evidently, Maude already knew.
She thought she knew why.
“Did Payne tell you?” she asked.
Maude nodded. “He did,” she said. “But I already knew before he told me. He told me that ye were concerned about my knowing of yer past activities as The Sea God. Truthfully, ye look more like a sea goddess tae me.”
It was odd how the tension between them had suddenly eased. Truths were being spoken and honesty was preserved, which did much in dispelling whatever angst was still held between them. Truthfully, Astria felt as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
She smiled weakly.
“It was all part of the family I married into,” she said. “In the San Miguel family, the father managed the legitimate shipping business and the son managed the piracy business. Because my husband was quite old and his mind wandered toward the end, I was forced to manage both because his son, Arnaldo, was not as he seemed.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that he killed his father so he could assume both enterprises,” Astria said bluntly. “He poisoned his father and then fled before he could be brought to justice. But I knew where he was. I knew where the fleets were moored, and that is why I stole those ships, the ones you captured. I took them from him because he was running from his punishment. He’d prematurely taken something that did not belong to him, so I took it back. Or tried to.”
Maude nodded in understanding, realizing that the captive she’d taken those months ago, the one who fought like a wildcat, was evidently a woman of some spirit. Going to war against the rightful heir of a dukedom, no matter how he had acquired it, took resolve. She admired that.
Truthfully, she really wasn’t surprised.
“I seem tae have a dishonorable lad myself,” she muttered. “Declan the Devil, they call him. He envies all that I have, all that Payne has. I think he’d do away with all of us if he could.”
“He’s ruthless.”
“Exactly.”
A silence settled between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was pensive because a new understanding had dawned. Two women who had done basically the same thing, had fought for their families in an unsavory family business, yet were facing opposition from someone close to them. They were more similar than either of them had realized, but they had one thing in common above all.
Payne.
“I suppose what I wanted to say to you is this,” Astria said. “I think I want your forgiveness as much as you want mine. I was not exactly a model prisoner. I was very difficult and we had difficult moments, you and I. But you brought me to your son, who is by far one of the most honorable and kindest menI’ve ever met, and because he is the way he is, that tells me something about you.”
Maude’s gaze was surprisingly warm. “What does it tell ye?”
“That beneath that pirate queen persona, there is a remarkable woman,” Astria said. “Only a woman of great character could have raised so fine a son. You and I may never be close, or the best of friends, but I want you to know how grateful I am to you for bringing me to Payne. Because of him, I’ve learned much about myself and about the warmth and comfort life has to offer. I’ve never known that before. But now I do. Because a madwoman named Bloody Maude captured me and two of my ships, my life is forever changed, and I am grateful.”
By the time she was finished, Maude was smiling. “Those are words I never thought I’d hear from yer lips.”
“Those are words I never thought I’d say.”
“How does it feel? Do ye have a bad taste in yer mouth now?”
