Page 17 of Scourge of the Shores

The Shared Passion

Danna rolled off her mother’s bed and dragged herself to the table.

With dead legs, she climbed into the seat, spent and groaning.

Her spinning head made her vision blur. The urge to vomit presented at the top of her throat.

She focused on her leg. The fabric of her pants had grown stiff with dried blood.

The white sign of infection puffed around the sewn-up gash.

Cold sweat rolled down her back and brow.

She leaned over the table, her cheek on the surface, arms outstretched as if embracing the round edge.

Ma’s soft snores sounded in cadence with the flicker of the hearth fire.

Her ribs ached in her bent position, but the strength to sit up escaped her.

She finally got one arm beneath her neck and pushed until she fell back into the seat.

Her shoulders rose, and her belly filled with fresh air.

The paste in her mouth thickened. She stared at the hazy outline of the open door as two shadows appeared.

“I’m glad to see you’re up,” Robert’s voice pounded in her head.

She grimaced and threw her fist up on the table in an attempt to show she was in control.

“Danna, ye look like death,” Lucas’s voice came from the other shadow.

A cool, wet rag dabbed at her brow, and Lucas’s face faded into focus as he steadied her head.

Ma’s snores stopped, and the creaks from the bed indicated she had sat up.

Lucas acknowledged Ma with a nod before glancing down at her leg and gently pulling the pant flap back to reveal the entire wound.

His grimace told Danna he didn’t think it looked good either.

He smoothed the rag down the side of her face.

“Danna,” he said, grabbing her attention.

She focused on his lips as they spoke.

“Captain Jaymes says he brought ye something that might save yer life.”

Robert sat in the chair beside her and placed a small vial of pearlescent liquid, garnet-colored, on the table.

“Drink it,” Robert said.

She attempted to sit up straight, recoiling her hands to the seat bottom to aid her.

“Poison?” she sputtered, her strength giving way to Lucas’s hand around her shoulders.

Robert cocked his head and gave her a stare. Lucas shook his head.

“Do you think I’d poison you now?” Robert moved it directly in front of her. “It’s an enchantment from the East. I stole it from a ship we looted. It heals wounds in rapid speed.”

Danna’s mind raced. She faintly remembered him saying he would never give her an enchantment even if he had it. Her tongue was too fat to speak well. Her head dipped—too heavy to hold up without Lucas’s support. “Why . . .” she rasped. “Why would ye give me this?”

Robert opened his mouth to speak, but Danna shoved it back at Robert. “Give it to Ma.”

He hung his head and turned to address Ma. “Mrs. Chadwick, it only heals wounds. Your wounds are healed. You’re not bleeding. You’ve no infection. This enchantment’ll do nothing for you.”

He refocused his attention on Danna.

“But your daughter here is still weak and pale. She will likely die soon.”

Danna’s lip quivered as cold sweat mixed with the cool rag Lucas dabbed on her brow. Her arms twitched without her consent.

Lucas said with a solemn voice, “Your leg is infected, Danna.”

Danna’s eyes lifted to Lucas as Robert spoke. “You don’t look good and probably ain’t gonna last long, either that, or you’ll lose your leg.”

Danna glanced down at her leg. It was indigo, ashen, and angry red—the pain unbearable.

Lucas added again. “And we need ye. We need ye, Danna, to defeat Cain.”

“How do I,” Danna rasped, her throat raw, and found Lucas’s gaze. “How do ye know it be what he claims?”

Lucas kneeled so he was face-to-face with her. “Don’t know, Danna. But he pulled ye from the jaws of death, and he seems to care for ye.” His eyes slid over to Robert. “I hope this vial be what he claims and nothin’ more.”

Robert gestured toward the vial. “It ain’t going to make her fall in love with me, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He chuckled with a sigh. “No enchantment can do that, at least not for the long-term.”

Lucas narrowed his eyes as Danna lowered her forehead to the crook of Lucas’s neck. His flesh was cool, but his whisper sounded so loud. “She’s feverish.”

Her stomach retched, forcing a hushed groan from her lips.

“Drink it, and you’ll see I ain’t spinnin’ tales.” Robert came as if from a well.

Lucas grabbed the vial and popped the cork before bringing it to Danna’s lips. “Drink.” His arm wrapped around her, and he adjusted her head back with his shoulder. “Danna, please drink.”

Her gaze found Robert’s as the liquid burned all the way down. She gasped for air and grabbed her throat. Lucas dropped the vial, shattering the glass.

“What did you do to her?” Ma screamed.

Lucas’s arms squeezed her as he shot a death glare at Robert. “I trusted ye.”

Robert held up his hand. “Just let it work. My, the dramatics are wonderful indeed.”

Danna fell forward and pressed her forehead against Lucas’s cheek as the pain warped around her belly and spread like fire throughout her limbs.

Her scream caught in her convulsing chest as the searing agony traced every vein, congregating in her leg, lip, and ribs.

She pushed back against Lucas’s embrace as the pain stabbed her through the heart and wrapped around each rib.

Tears ran down her cheeks as vomit choked her air, but she swallowed it back down.

Lucas held her gaze as she endured the pain. Her eyelids drooped.

Robert coaxed her. “Breathe, Danna.”

But the pain squeezed too tightly.

Lucas echoed Robert. “Danna, breathe. Now.”

The fresh intake of air sucked into her lungs with a ghastly rattle.

“Now out, Danna,” Robert said.

Her body rocked from pain.

“Push out the air, Danna. Breathe it in. In and out,” Lucas told her. His hands gripped her body hard, until finally she released the breath shakily over her lips. The next breath was easier, less painful.

Robert’s eyes widened. “See, Ma? Her lip is healing before your very eyes.”

The pain faded from her lip and ribs and raced down to her leg.

Ma’s low voice grounded her. “Well, I’ve never seen such sorcery.”

Danna’s vision cleared, and clarity replaced the fog in her mind. The pain subsided until she was left blinking and breathing hard in Lucas’s arms.

“How do you feel, Danna?” Robert asked, his words clear and present.

She sat up and stared at Ervin, who placed his hand on her forehead. “Fever’s gone,” he said. He repeated Robert’s question. “How do ye feel?”

Danna’s gaze dropped as she figured out her bearings.

She ran a hand over her cheeks, wiping the sweat from them before pressing it to her chest, then her ribs.

She breathed easily, though she felt like she’d swum the entire North Sea.

There was nothing but a dull throb in her leg where her wound once lived, though she felt an insatiable urge to sleep.

Pain’s tension dropped from her shoulders.

“I feel,” she rasped, blinking and leaning her body against the table’s edge. “I feel . . . tired, but the pain’s gone.”

“Perfect,” Robert whispered with a half-smile. "The enchantment heals wounds, but you ain’t gonna be strong overnight. Your body still thinks it’s healing."

Danna huffed. "Figures. Even magic’s a cheat."

Robert chuckled. "Aye. No such thing as getting something for nothing as pirates say.”

Her gaze drifted to Robert, as did Lucas’.

“So then, why?” Her voice steadied, though her pulse did not. “Ye said ye’d never give me an enchantment, even if ye had one.”

Robert leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. “And then I watched you nearly fall through Tophet’s door. Changed my mind. Simple as that.”

She didn’t like the answer. It was too easy. Too smooth. Too contradictory of what he just said.

“Ye want something in return?” she asked, leaning away from him.

His half-smile became full, and his hands fell on the table as if he had a significant demand ready on the tongue. She could only guess what her life was worth to him. All the goats. All the trees. Full labor. He wasn’t going to get any of it. She didn’t ask him to save her.

Robert glanced at Lucas before putting his full attention on Danna. “It was a gift.”

She scoffed with a furrowed brow. “Pirates give no gifts. Everything’s got a price, as ye said.”

Robert chuckled with a wide grin of perfect teeth. She thought it odd. She’d never seen a pirate with good, white teeth.

“Then consider the price free,” he said and sat back.

“Why?” she asked again. She was thankful he’d saved her a third time, but she wasn’t a fool. Robert wanted something. There was still a gleam in his eye.

Lucas stood beside her and crossed his arms.

“Aye, Jaymes, enlighten us,” Lucas said.

Robert slid a finger along his full bottom lip before shrugging. He addressed Danna. “Your tenacity and leadership have earned my respect, and I honor you as my fellow Pirate King, or my Pirate Queen, if you will.”

Her eyes locked with him. “I’ll never be yer Pirate Queen.”

Robert’s eyes glinted. “‘Course. Didn’t know if you’d want ‘King’ for a title.”

“King’s fine,” Danna retorted with narrowed eyes.

Robert chuckled. “Well, it looks like Danna Chadwick is back, and Captain Ervin, as you can see, she’s clearly not in love with me.”

Danna gagged as Lucas towered over the small table. He squared his shoulders to Robert while extending his hand. “Ye’ve earned my trust, Captain Jaymes. Don’t lose it too fast.”

Robert shook his hand. “Of course, big fella. Now, shall we eat? I’m hungry, and I saw some eggs over there,” Robert said, pointing to the stash of food on the shelf.

Lucas scoffed and shook his head. “Heal Danna, and all ye ask for is eggs?”