I added a bit more to his bowl anyway, and Briar laughed.
Duke dunked a huge wedge of cornbread into his chili and shoved the entire thing into his mouth, nodding in approval. Quincy was oblivious to everything going on around him. He was too focused on scraping his now empty bowl, then diving in for seconds.
“I meant to ask…” Briar looked at Maddox. “On my way to meet with Lord Norwood earlier—the man was in quiet the state after indulging in too much wine last night—I overheard two knights from the Royal Order. They mentioned you met with Captain Stone and her crew.”
“The pirates?” I asked. “Did something happen?”
“Of sorts.” Quincy wiped at his mouth. “They—”
“We’ll speak on it after dinner,” Maddox interjected, then forced a smile when his voice came out harsher than he probably intended.
Baden glanced down at his plate. Duke slowed in his chewing and found the wall suddenly interesting. Quincy toyed with a string on his sleeve.
Callum was the only one who looked at me, and by the scrunch of his brow, I knew he wanted to tell me. He’d always been that way; not sugarcoating the truth in order to spare my feelings. It’s something I appreciated—and loved—about him. But one glance at Maddox had him looking away and reaching for his mug.
I narrowed my eyes at Maddox. He returned my stare, expressionless. He had one hell of a poker face—even if he sucked at playing actual poker.
With nerves rolling around in my gut, I somehow managed to eat all of my food before clearing the table and busying myself with the dishes. Callum came over to help. Soap suds covered my forearms as I washed a plate, then handed to him. He lightly bumped against my shoulder as he rinsed the plate and set it on the rack to dry.
“About the pirates…” I kept my gaze on the soapy water. “What did they want?”
“Well.” Callum’s brow pulled together. “Captain Stone and her crew were—”
“Sweetheart?” Maddox stepped into the kitchen. The tightness around his eyes was one I knew well. One that usually came with bad news. “Let’s join the others in the dining room. We’ll speak there.”
I dried my hands and walked with him and Callum to the other room, nerves rolling in my gut.
Lake and Duke sat at the table playing chess, both intently focused on the board. Rowan sat at the bar and watched them as he drank from his glass of rum, legs kicked up on the stool beside him.
“No cheating,” Lake told him.
“I’m not even playing.” Rowan sneered.
“You’ll help him win.”
Duke huffed. “I don’t need help winning.”
Lake made his move and swiped Duke’s bishop.
“Gods be damned,” Duke said with a sigh.
Briar sat next to Lake and tried not to laugh. It was nice seeing him so relaxed. He’d overdone it at the clinic lately. Thane was quickly progressing through his apprenticeship, however, and would be able to take on more work soon.
Quincy and Baden arm-wrestled at one of the two-seater tables near the hearth, a large brownie beside them. The prize for the winner.
Silly knights.
“All right, enough tomfoolery,” Maddox said in a serious tone. They stopped mid-wrestle and snapped their heads in his direction. His attention, however, shifted to me. “Callum and I met with Captain Stone today. She and her crew weredoing a routine patrol of the waters along the coast when they discovered something.”
“What did they find?” I asked.
Wariness touched his eyes. “A ship.”
“Who was aboard?” Lake glanced up from the chess piece he’d just taken from Duke. A rook this time.
“No one.” A deep wrinkle formed in Maddox’s brow. “The ship was found abandoned. No damage or anything to explain why the crew left it.”
“Quite the mystery.” I shifted weight to my other leg as my thoughts raced. “Maybe a disease wiped them out? Or there was a mutiny, and they killed off the captain before killing each other.”
