Page 15 of Scourge of the Shores

The New Proposal

Robert lay awake on the hut’s small deck, propped against the wooden exterior.

His boots drooped off the deck’s edge, one heel dug into the dirt.

He looked out at the sea with the round sun bulb in the east gently lifting.

The sea lay calm, as if it hadn’t dealt death the night before.

Blood spots in the rock and sand had turned dark beneath the morning light.

The living buried the dead to keep the morning birds from getting to them.

The screams of sorrow were fresh in Robert’s memory.

It was then that he realized why Danna had almost shot him when he had brought up Cain’s killings.

It was then that he realized why Danna did not trust him, despite never once lying to her, and why rage flared when he saved her from Cain’s strike.

He glanced over at Ervin, who was positioned the same. The doorway to Danna’s hut stood between them. Neither man had slept. Ervin returned Robert’s glance with bloodshot eyes.

“Don’t know what game ye’re playin’, matey,” Ervin said with a slight shake of his head. “But I’ll give ye this—ye saved her life.”

Robert’s jaw fell agape at Ervin’s words of gratitude and shut his mouth before the sea breeze could touch his tongue. “Aye, and I’d do it again, no question.”

Ervin stared at him, his eyes gone cold. “Then do her another favor—keep yer distance,” he warned.

Robert scoffed at the sudden change. “What?”

“Ye think yerself clever, but I see what’s going on in that thick skull of yers. Ye won’t stay. Once yer ship’s set right, ye’ll sail off without a backward glance. If ye got even a lick of honor in ye, ye’ll let her be. And if ye don’t, I’ll put lead in yer mouth.”

Robert rolled off the exterior to sit up straight, supporting his upper body on his hands. His head inclined as he studied Lucas Ervin, wondering what drove Ervin to push him away. “What game are ye playing , matey?” he asked.

Ervin sat up straight as well with narrowed eyes.

“Ye want her for yerself, aye?” Robert asked with a half-sneer, descending into his old-world pirate slang; he had to show Ervin he was serious about Danna. “I seen how ye watch her.”

“Mind yer tongue, Jaymes,” Ervin said. “She ain’t yer plaything.”

“She ain’t yers, either,” Robert said, returning to his reclined position, not wanting to brawl, but he’d not leave it at that. “If ye ain't got a claim, why do ye care? Or is it that if ye can’t have her, no man will?” Robert raised an eyebrow.

Ervin’s jaw twitched as he leaned back. “It ain’t like that.” A warning glinted in his eyes. Robert had crossed a boundary, but he pushed onward anyway.

“Looks exactly like that.” Robert shrugged with a lazy smirk curling on his lips. “Ye soft on her. Ye keep her guarded close, don’t ye? Like a prize ye ain’t willing to claim but won’t let another touch,” Robert argued.

Ervin growled. “Danna ain’t some prize to be won. She’s our leader.” His jaw clenched. “And she don’t need some sea-rovin’ rogue who’d turn tail the moment the tide shifts.”

“Why don’t any of these other landlubbers step up as the leader?” Robert asked. “Why let her shoulder the burdens?”

“She’s a Chadwick.” His voice was iron. “Her blood claims the island. Ain’t no one stays ’less she says so.”

“And if no man’s worthy enough to stand beside her, what happens when she’s gone?” Robert squinted, unable to follow Ervin’s logic. He was also clearly infatuated with her, but was spewing squid oil to keep Robert away.

Ervin went silent. “Look mate, I don’t like ye, but ye saved Danna’s life twice.

So, I’ll tell ye this.” He blew a loud, rattled breath through his lips.

“An enchanter washed up here when I be ten years old. I found him, and he took a’likin’ to me after Landon Chadwick didn’t kill him.

Name’s Hai. He was funny, though, a charmer, a rambler, talked nonsense most of the time . . .” Ervin’s gaze retreated inward.

Robert inclined his head, unsure where the story led.

Ervin tightened his arms across his chest. “Before a passin’ enchanter’s ship from the East took him, said I was gonna be a father to Danna, prepare her for her role on the island,” Ervin chuckled. “Danna hadn’t been born yet. Just thought it be another ramblin’ tale.”

“Did he tell you no man was worthy enough for Danna, too?” Robert asked, looking out to sea, and shook his head at Ervin’s unlikely story.

Ervin seemed to ignore Robert’s disbelief and continued. “Said a man worthy would come on the seas and wed Danna. Danna would bear a child that would die but live forever.”

“Die but live forever?” Robert scoffed. “Perhaps the enchanter did speak nonsense.”

“Thought the same, til I watched his words come true. Said Landon Chadwick would die young, and he did. About five years after Landon and Marian,” Ervin gestured to the interior of the hut, “Ma” before continuing, “had a daughter and named her Danna.”

Ervin stared wide-eyed at the sea in front of him.

Robert chewed on his lip as he wondered if Ervin was speaking the truth. “So ye took her in as yer own?”

Ervin nodded. “Aye. I don’t want her for meself as ye said, but I know ye’re not the worthy man from the seas. And I’ll see to it that the man meant for her ain’t some wayward pirate who don’t belong. So, I’m warning ye—leave her be. Danna Chadwick will never be yers.”

Robert’s body tensed. “I refuse to believe that. The enchanter never said he’d stay on the island.”

“Hai said to prepare Danna for her role on the island. That means she stays.”

Robert chewed on his lip and rested his head on the hut’s exterior. “Depends on how ye read it,” he muttered.

The prophecy planted a seed within Robert.

The idea that he could be the man meant for her gnawed deep in his belly.

Pirates didn’t believe in fate, but the land of the East was steeped in magic.

If the enchanter said it, then it was likely to happen.

The question remained: Was he the worthy man from the seas, or had he yet to be revealed?

“Lucas,” Ma’s whisper came from the interior.

Ervin was up fast and walked inside. Robert followed him, but Ervin spun around and pressed a firm hand on Robert’s chest before Robert could cross the threshold.

“Remember me warning, Jaymes.” His harsh whisper cut the serene morning.

Robert forced a polite smile. “Whatever ye say, mate.”

Ervin grabbed his shirt and pulled Robert close to show off his strength.

Robert let him be, for the moment.

“Danna might’ve let ye live, but I’ll take her punishment for killing ye and save her the turmoil of yer games.”

Robert stared him down before giving a short nod. He doubted that Ervin would let him enter without some kind of agreement.

Ervin’s hand fell from Robert’s shirt, and they proceeded through the small kitchen and to the hearth. Robert stood at the foot of the bed while Ervin leaned over and wiped a timid hand across Danna’s brow. Danna was still so pale. Robert swallowed the lump in his throat.

When she had passed out after he had spent a while stitching her leg up, layer by layer, his heart crashed into his belly. He’d never felt such worry about anyone in his life before, except his mother.

Scotty had burst in and accused him of killing her. But he didn’t care that Scotty had shoved a flintlock in his face. He scooped her up and barked an order to take them to Ma.

Seeing her in the morning light, blinking rapidly as Ervin pulled the bottom of her eye open, Robert knew he was the worthy one from the seas.

He wanted her.

He wanted to hold her in his arms.

But she pushed him away, and now Ervin told him to leave her alone. Even if she liked him in return, he doubted she’d leave her Ma based on what she said.

Robert glanced at the woman in the bed. She had shriveled to almost nothing.

Her nub waved toward Ervin, and the blanket fell flat at her knees.

Danna would never leave her Ma in that state, which meant he would have to stay on the island.

But could he do that? His attention fell back on Danna.

She moaned and whispered in a feverish haze, “Lucas.”

If she stayed in the state she was in, though, she probably wouldn’t last another few days.

His mind flipped through his secret inventory of enchantments as he thumbed the edge of his belt, where the enchantment would sit if he had it with him.

There was one he had been saving for himself that she desperately needed—its bright red pearlescent shimmer came to his mind’s eye.

He stroked his two-day beard. Should the Pirate Kings mutiny, he’d likely need it. Enchantments like that were rare in the North. He’d have to sail East to get more. He’d have to decide soon if he’d give it to her, even if he were not the worthy one from the prophecy.

He glanced at Ervin speaking in hushed tones with Ma before Ervin kissed Danna on the forehead. He strode toward the door and jerked his head for Robert to follow him out.

But the thought of leaving and never returning sickened him. Danna let out a pitiful moan in her fitful, pain-filled half-sleep. He’d seen maimed men, dying men, and wenches in pain, but seeing Danna slowly drift from life put his heart in a vice.

If he gave her his enchantment, she would owe him nothing—she would live, but she wouldn’t be his.

Ervin barked a whisper, “Jaymes.”

But Robert slipped first to Danna’s side. He kneeled beside her and took her clammy hand in his.

Ma reached over, touched his cheek, and whispered, “Thank you for saving her.”

Robert nodded and let his gaze fall to Danna. The perfect outline of her brow, nose, and full lips illuminated in the morning light. He imagined waking every morning to her pretty face.

“Stay with us, Danna. I’ll try to save your life a third time,” he whispered in her ear. “And if we are never to be, I will always hold you in my heart as the first woman who took mine.”