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The men and women that lined the railings alongside him lifted up a cheer at the bloody prizes.

To them, the heads represented not only the Satrap who had condoned their slavery but Chalced, the most avaricious market for enslaved humanity.

As the Marietta drew closer, Wintrow could see other signs of their battle with the patrol galley.

Several of the pirates wore crude bandages.

That didn’t stop them from grinning and waving to their compatriots aboard Vivacia.

There was a tug at Wintrow’s sleeve. ‘The woman says you’re to come and wait on the Captain,’ Dedge told him dourly.

Wintrow looked at him carefully, fixing the man’s face and his name in his memory.

He tried to look past the lineage of his slavery and see the man beneath the sprawling tattoos.

His eyes were sea-grey, his hair no more than a fringe above his ears.

Despite his years, muscle showed through his rags.

Etta had already marked him as her own; he wore a sash of silk about his waist. ‘The woman’ he had called her, like a title, as if she were the only woman aboard the ship.

Wintrow supposed that in a sense, she was.

‘I’ll come right away,’ he responded to the man.

The Marietta was dropping anchor. Soon a gig would be lowered to bring Sorcor aboard to report to Kennit.

Wintrow had no idea why Kennit had summoned him, but perhaps Kennit would allow him to be in the room when Sorcor reported.

Earlier today, when he had checked on his father, Kyle had insisted Wintrow must gather as much knowledge of the pirates as he could.

Wintrow tried to push the memory of that painful hour away.

Confinement and pain had made Kyle more of a tyrant than ever, and he seemed to believe Wintrow was his only remaining subject.

In truth, the boy felt almost no loyalty to him at all, save for a residue of duty.

His father’s insistence that he must constantly spy and plot for a way to regain control of the ship struck him as laughable.

But he had not laughed; he had merely let the man rant while he saw to his injuries and coaxed him to eat the dry bread and old water that were the only rations afforded him.

It was easier to let his words flow past. Wintrow had nodded to them, but said little in reply.

To try to explain their real situation aboard the Vivacia would only have angered Kyle.

Wintrow had let him keep his far-fetched dream that they would somehow regain control of the ship.

It seemed the easiest thing to do. Soon enough, they would reach Bull Creek, and then they both must confront what had befallen them.

Wintrow would not battle his father to make him recognize reality; reality would do that itself.

He tapped at the door, then entered at Etta’s soft response. Kennit was awake on the bunk. He turned his head to greet him with, ‘She won’t help me sit up.’

‘She is right. You should not sit up, not yet,’ Wintrow replied. ‘You should lie still and rest completely. How do you feel?’ He set his hand to the pirate’s forehead.

Kennit rolled his head away from the touch. ‘Wretched. Oh, do not ask me what I feel. I am alive; what can it matter what I feel? Sorcor is coming, fresh from triumph, and here I lie, mauled and stinking like a corpse. I will not be seen like this. Help me to sit up, at least.’

‘You must not,’ Wintrow warned him. ‘Your blood is quiescent just now. Lie still and let it remain so. To sit up will change the reservoirs of your organs, and may spill blood that then must find its way out through your wound. This I learned well at the monastery.’

‘This I learned well on the deck: a pirate captain who can no longer actively lead his crew is soon fish bait. I will be sitting up when Sorcor arrives here.’

‘Even if it kills you?’ Wintrow asked quietly.

‘Are you challenging my will in this?’ Kennit demanded abruptly.

‘No. Not your will. Your common sense. Why choose to die here, in your bed, for a certainty, simply to impress a man who impresses me as unfailing in his loyalty to you? I think you misjudge your crew. They will not turn on you over your need to rest.’

‘You’re a puppy,’ Kennit declared in disdain. He rolled his head away from the boy, choosing to look at the wall. ‘What can you know of loyalty, or how a ship is run? I tell you, I will not be seen like this.’ There was an edge in his voice that Wintrow suddenly recognized.

‘Why did you not say that your pain was back? The kwazi rind essence can dull it again. You will think more clearly without agony distracting you. And you will be able to rest.’

‘You mean I will be more tractable if you drug me,’ Kennit snarled.

‘You simply seek to impose your will upon me.’ He lifted a shaking hand to his brow.

‘My head pounds with pain; how can that be due to my leg? Is it not more likely the result of some poison given me?’ Even in his weariness, the pirate managed to summon up a look of sly amusement.

Clearly, he supposed he had surprised Wintrow in a plot.

His words shocked Wintrow into momentary silence.

How did one deal with such suspicion and distrust?

In a cold, stiff voice he heard himself say, ‘I will force no medicines upon you, sir. If your pain becomes such that you desire release from it, summon me and I shall apply the kwazi rind. Until then, I shall not trouble you.’ He spoke over his shoulder as he turned to go.

‘If you sit up to see Sorcor, the flow of blood you cause will end both our lives. But I cannot argue with your stubbornness.’

‘Stop this,’ Etta hissed at both of them. ‘There is a simple solution, one that may please us all. Will you allow me to suggest it?’

Kennit rolled his head back to stare at her with dulled eyes. ‘It is?’ he prompted.

‘Do not receive Sorcor. Simply give him an order to sail for Bull Creek and we will follow him. He does not need to know how weak you are. By the time we arrive in Bull Creek, you may be stronger.’

A spark of cunning lit in Kennit’s eyes. ‘Bull Creek is too close,’ he declared. ‘Have him lead us back to Divvytown. That will give me more time to recover.’ He paused. ‘But Sorcor will surely wonder that I do not wish to hear his report. He will suspect something.’

Etta folded her arms across her chest. ‘Say you are busy. With me.’ She gave him a small smile. ‘Send the boy to give the word to Brig, to pass to Sorcor. He will accept it.’

‘It might work,’ Kennit assented slowly.

He flapped a slow hand at Wintrow. ‘Go now, right now. Tell Brig I am with Etta and do not wish to be disturbed. Pass on to him my orders that we are to head for Divvytown.’ Kennit’s eyes narrowed, but from slyness or weariness, Wintrow could not tell.

‘Suggest I may judge Brig’s seamanship by how well he manages the ship between here and there.

Imply this is a test of his skill, not a lapse on my part.

’ His eyelids sagged further. ‘Wait a time, until we are under way. Then come back here. I will judge you by how well this task is done. Convince Brig and Sorcor, and perhaps I will trust you to numb my leg for me.’ Kennit’s eyes closed completely.

In a smaller voice he added, ‘Perhaps I shall let you live.’