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V IVACIA WAS SEETHING . Wintrow felt as if he were in the presence of a bubbling pot that was perpetually on the verge of boiling over and scalding everyone.

The worst part was that he could do nothing to calm her.

She not only would not allow herself to be calmed; she actively repelled any attempts to soothe her.

It had gone on for nearly a month now. Wintrow sensed in her the vengeful purpose of a child who has been told she is too small to do something.

Vivacia was determined to prove herself, and not just to Kennit.

Her defiant enthusiasm included Wintrow.

In the days since Opal had died on her deck, her resolve had grown and strengthened.

She would turn pirate. Every time Wintrow tried to dissuade her, she became more stubborn.

More troubling was that she grew more remote from him every day.

She was reaching out towards Kennit so strongly that she had left Wintrow behind and alone.

Kennit sensed her turmoil. He was well aware of the feelings he had stirred in her.

The pirate did not ignore her. He spoke gently to her and treated her with all courtesy.

But he no longer courted her. Instead, he had turned the sun of his face onto Etta, and in his light, the woman bloomed extravagantly.

Like a spark set to tinder, he had kindled her.

She walked the decks like a tigress on the prowl, and all heads turned to watch her pass.

There were a few other women aboard; Kennit had permitted some of the freed women to remain aboard, but in contrast to Etta, they seemed only moderately female.

The puzzling thing to Wintrow was that he could not name any specific change she had made in herself.

She dressed as she always had. Despite Kennit’s presentations of jewellery, she seldom wore more of it than a tiny ruby earring.

Instead, it was as if the ash had been brushed from a coal to reveal the fire burning within.

She had not stopped working the deck; she still flowed up the rigging with pantherish speed, she still talked and laughed with the men as her sail needle flashed in the sun.

Her tongue was as sharp as ever, her humour as biting.

Yet, when she looked at Kennit, even across the deck, the life in her seemed to multiply.

Captain Kennit, for his part, seemed to revel in her glory.

He could not pass her without touching her.

Even bluff Sorcor near blushed at the sight of them together on the deck.

Wintrow could only watch them in amazement and envy.

To his chagrin, every time Kennit caught him looking at them, he would raise his eyebrow at him. Or wink.

The entire crew responded to this new stimulus.

Wintrow would have expected jealousy, or discontent as the captain flaunted his lady.

Instead, they took pride in him, as if his virility and his possession of this desirable woman did credit to them all.

The morale on the ship had leapt to a higher level than Wintrow had ever known.

The new crew members were blending seamlessly with the old.

Any discontent the freed slaves had felt had evaporated.

Why clamour to possess a ship when one could be a part of Kennit’s own crew on his ship?

Vivacia had witnessed three more piracies since Opal had died.

In each case, they had been small cargo vessels, not slavers.

Wintrow knew the pattern. The channel Kennit and Sorcor had selected was admirably suited to these ambushes.

Sorcor lurked to the south of them. He selected the ships and started the chase.

Vivacia waited at the head end of the channel.

Her task was to run the pursued vessel onto the rocks.

Once the prey was aground, the pirates from the Marietta moved in to pick their prey clean of whatever they fancied.

The small cargo ships were not well manned or defended.

To give Kennit credit, he did not slaughter their crews.

There was little bloodshed, for once the ships were grounded, resistance flagged.

Kennit did not even hold them for ransom.

He simply took the cream of their cargo, and let them go with a stern warning to spread the word that Kennit of the Pirate Isles would not tolerate slavers passing through his waters.

He did not name himself as king. Not yet.

All three ships had managed to limp away from their encounters with him. The word would spread swiftly.

Vivacia both sulked and chafed at being held back from the action.

Like a child dismissed from adult conversation, she was no longer invited to discuss piracy or politics with Kennit.

He spent most of his evenings aboard the Marietta with Sorcor and Etta.

It was there that they planned their attacks and celebrated their victories.

When the pirate and his lady returned late at night, Etta was always decked with Kennit’s latest gifts to her.

Merry with wine, they would immediately retreat to their chamber.

While Wintrow suspected this was a deliberate ploy to make Vivacia both curious and jealous, he did not speak of it to her.

She would not have tolerated hearing it from him.

Between piracies, the life of the pirates was almost indolent.

Kennit still kept his crew occupied, but he fed them well from the plundered vessels, and gave them time for both gaming and music.

He included Wintrow in these pursuits, often summoning him to his cabin.

Not for Kennit simple games of dice or cards.

He challenged Wintrow to games of strategy, not chance.

Wintrow had the uneasy feeling that the pirate was evaluating him.

Often, before the long afternoons were over, the game would lie forgotten between them while Kennit quizzed him on the philosophy of Sa.

The second ship they had raided had been carrying a good store of books.

Kennit was a voracious reader and shared his trove with Wintrow.

Wintrow could not deny these interludes were pleasant ones.

Sometimes Etta would sit in on both the game and the discussion.

Wintrow had come to respect her lively intelligence, which was at least the match of Kennit’s, though less schooled.

She kept up well with both of them as long as they were speaking in generalities; it was only when they discussed the views of particular philosophers that she would grow first taciturn, and then withdrawn.

One afternoon when Wintrow deliberately made an effort to include her, he stumbled onto her deficiency.

He attempted to pass the book they were discussing to her. She would not accept it from his hands.

‘I can’t read it, so don’t bother,’ she had declared angrily. She had been perched on a bench behind Kennit, gently massaging his shoulders as they talked. Now she stood abruptly and walked to the door of the chamber. Her hand was on the latch when Kennit’s voice stopped her.

‘Etta. Come back here.’

She turned to face him. For the first time since he had met her, Wintrow saw a flash of defiance in her eyes as she looked at Kennit. ‘Why?’ she challenged him. ‘So I can see all the more clearly how ignorant I am?’

A spasm of anger passed over Kennit’s face.

Wintrow watched him smooth his features, then hold his hand out to the woman.

‘Because I wish you to,’ he said, almost gently.

She came back to him, but gazed at the book he picked up as if it were a hated rival.

He held it out to her. ‘You should read this.’

‘I can’t.’

‘I want you to.’

She clenched her teeth. ‘I don’t know how!’ she raged. ‘I never had teachers or lessons. Not unless you count the men who taught me my trade before I was even a woman! I’m not like you, Kennit, I…’

‘Quiet!’ he barked at her. Again, he held the book out to her. ‘Take this.’ It was an order.

She snatched it from his hand and stood holding it as if it were a sack of offal.

Kennit shifted his attention to Wintrow. A very slight smile played about his face. ‘Wintrow will teach you to read it. Barring that, he will read it to you.’ He glanced back at Etta. ‘He will have no other tasks aboard ship until he has completed this one. I don’t care how long it takes.’

‘The crew will laugh at me,’ Etta protested.

Kennit narrowed his eyes. ‘Not for long. It’s difficult to laugh with one’s tongue cut out.

’ He took a breath, then smiled. ‘And if you wish to keep these lessons private, so be it. You may use these chambers. I will see that you have sufficient time alone and undisturbed to complete this task.’ He gestured at the other plundered books scattered about the chamber.

‘There is much here for you to learn, Etta. Poetry and history, as well as philosophy.’ Kennit leaned forward.

He captured Etta’s hand and drew her closer.

With his free hand, he stroked her hair back from her face.

‘Don’t be stubborn. I wish you to enjoy this.

’ He shot Wintrow a peculiar, flickering glance.

It was almost as if he wished to be sure he was watching them.

‘I hope it will bring great pleasure and learning to both of you.’ He brushed his lips across her face.

Etta closed her eyes to his touch. But Kennit’s eyes were wide open, and watching Wintrow.

Wintrow was acutely uncomfortable. In some unnatural way, he felt included in the embrace. ‘You must excuse me,’ he muttered, rising hastily from the gameboard. Kennit’s voice stopped him at the door.

‘You won’t mind teaching Etta. Will you, Wintrow?’ There was little query in his voice. He held the woman close to him and looked at Wintrow over her bent head.

Wintrow cleared his throat. ‘Not at all.’

‘Good. See that you begin soon. Today, in fact.’