Page 31

VALI

Five Years Later

I watch the oncoming ship approach with interest, a stolen spyglass held up to my eye. Akara is in her spot, blocking the narrow strait with her large body, and the approaching ship is just now about to figure that out. We’re at the other end of the channel on a raft, and when the two ships slowly make their way into the channel, we move in behind them, neatly blocking them in the pass.

“A more agile ship could avoid all this,” Ranan comments, musing. “You would think the Aventinians would learn.”

“I’m glad they haven’t,” I tell my husband. “Their ships are the easiest to rob.”

“And the easiest to tip,” he agrees, smiling at my enthusiasm. “Are you ready to board, my sweet wife?”

I put on the fake slave collar we’ve made for such adventures and adjust my torn, tattered clothing. I love the pretending most of all. “Ready.”

He puts a hand on my shoulders, mouth twitching. “Quit looking so happy. You’re supposed to be a slave.”

I adjust my features, trying to put an appropriately grim expression on my face. Truth is, I love this. I love the thrill of robbing bad people. I love that we’re taking their spoils from them and giving them to the people we love or using that money for ourselves. I love that after we’re done, my husband’s blood runs hot and we make love like wild demons.

So yes, I absolutely love a life of piracy.

We watch as the ships come along the bend, skirting the jagged rocks and moving close to the cliffs. The straits are narrow here, and they’ve yet to notice that we’re behind them. I want to laugh at how low the long, heavy ship is in the waters. There’s one smaller boat and a much larger one with rowers. It’s the one with all the cargo. I count heads. They have far too many people on board, and not all of them are rowing. “Slave ship,” I point out to my husband.

“Aye, I see it.”

“Can we rescue them? The slaves?”

“Always.”

Another reason why I love the man. I hide my feral grin as the occupants on the ship notice us behind them and begin pointing. Time for the acting to begin. I pick up the large copper bell at my feet and ring it with the striker. As I do, I put on my “slave” expression. I make my face worried and fretful as I step forward. I ring the bell again and again as the two boats slowly approach Akara. Someone turns around in the boats and points at our raft behind them, and a cry goes up.

“Stay where you are,” I call out. “Listen to my master and no one gets hurt!”

We’d had the idea for me to pretend to be his slave the moment I volunteered to assist him. I can’t do the things he can in the water, and I don’t have the strength he does. But if people view me as an unwilling servant, they’re more likely to keep their focus on Ranan instead of taking out their anger on me.

And if that doesn’t work, I have a few strategically placed knives under my costume. I’m not afraid to jump overboard, and that stops most people from following me.

The ships pull up closer to Akara, and the captain of one stands up at the prow of the small boat, the men lifting their oars from the waters. “There’s a turtle blocking the way! We can’t pass!”

“The turtle belongs to my master,” I reply. “Do as he says and no one will come to harm!”

The captain’s face turns ugly. “You’re interfering with Aventinian ships. Tell your master to move through.”

“He will not,” I call out, stepping forward. “Not until you give us your valuables and your slaves. Then he’ll command the turtle to move.”

“Robbing sea-ogres,” the man snarls, stabbing a finger at Ranan. “You can’t do this!”

Rude.

Ranan gestures at the water, indicating that they have an alternative route. They can always swim all the way back to Aventine.

“Please,” I say, adding desperation to my voice. “My master will not be swayed. Just put your valuables in the basket he brings you and send your slaves over and he’ll let you pass.”

“Or we’ll fight you?—”

“Then you’ll still have to turn around,” I point out. They always get desperate before they give in. “He can speak to the turtle, I cannot. She will only move if he tells her to move. If you harm him, she might lash out and sink your ships.”

“Why would we do as you say?” the captain yells back. “We can just turn our ships around and move right past you.”

The men shoot panicked looks at that. They know as well as I do that the heavy ships, laden with goods, don’t move easily through the waters. They’ll have to go through us, or through Akara. Ranan takes the basket from my hands, and I act dramatically frightened. He dives into the water and while I shiver and act like a fearful idiot, he surfaces and immediately pulls on the prow of the boat to haul himself in. The men shout and immediately move to the other side to counterbalance, and the captain almost falls in himself.

I jump into the water, too, moving over to the smaller boat. I have a bag tucked into my belt, a knife in my teeth. When I climb on board, they all scurry to the far side of the craft like I’ve got the plague. I pull out the bag and gesture to it. “Valuables in here.”

“This is ridiculous,” cries the captain of the other ship.

“Don’t upset my master,” I yell out. “He’s likely to do something drastic.”

The captain isn’t buying it. He marches up to Ranan, moving down the narrow aisle between the rowers. He puts a finger in my husband’s scowling face. “You?—”

Before he can finish the statement, Ranan picks him up and tosses him overboard as if he weighs nothing.

Someone screams. Another person sobs aloud.

“He can’t swim,” one of the men says, getting to his feet. “Help him and we’ll give you what we have.”

Ranan crosses his arms, ignoring the request.

The man in the water splashes and flounders, his head never breaking the surface.

This is all part of the play-acting, too. “Please, my master,” I say, glancing at the bubbles on the surface of the water, the only sign that the armor-wearing man was here. “Spare his life? I’m sure they’ll all do as you say now.”

He glares at me. “Slave…”

I clasp my hands under my chin. “Please, my lord. Please! I’ll collect the funds and slaves and be quick about it!”

With a heavy sigh, Ranan scowls in my direction—and I have to admit, it arouses me. He’s just so good at being cranky and domineering. I’m getting better at hiding the fact that I’m turned on, but if this goes on for too long, I’ll lose my composure. The trick with our raids is to startle everyone, quickly get in and steal what we want, and then send them on their way.

And then afterwards, Ranan and I go through our booty and then frantically make love, our blood rushing from the excitement of it all.

Ranan continues to glare at me, and everyone looks anxious. There’s a bit of thrashing in the water from the man that went overboard, but he doesn’t surface.

“Please!” I cry again. I know Ranan won’t let him drown, but it doesn’t hurt to seem nervous.

My husband looks at the people on the ship. The man in front of him immediately takes off a heavy golden necklace and dumps it in the basket. “Just save Bridic.”

With that, Ranan sighs and dives overboard, sending the boat rocking and people scrambling to hold on once more.

It’s my turn to play things up. “You all need to do what he says,” I yell out dramatically. “He tore apart a man on the last ship for disobeying him! Please don’t make him angry!”

“In the basket,” the man tells them, pulling off his rings. “Everything you’ve got.”

Oh good. This is going to be easy, after all.

They make quick work of stripping off their valuables, and once I’m confident there’s no uprising, I turn to the occupants of my boat and hold the bag out. The man closest to me scowls, but he pulls off a jeweled brooch and asks no questions. I turn around, and to my surprise, there’s a large guardsman standing in my way.

“You don’t have to do this. We can help you.”

His mouth doesn’t move, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s not him talking after all. There’s someone behind him, using him as a human shield. Coward.

“Show yourself,” I say, holding the bag out. “My master wants all the jewels. Please make this easy on yourself and no one will get hurt.”

The woman steps out from behind the guard, and to my surprise, it’s a face I recognize. I stare into the hard, sneering face of Lady Dywan. She’s not a slave like I’d wondered, but covered in jewels and wears a fine dress. And she’s riding in a slave boat wearing those things, which tells me that she’s found a way to regain her fortune. Why is it that bad people always somehow find a way to survive?

She looks at me with equal surprise. “You.”

“Me,” I agree, and hold the bag out.

“The monster kept you? All this time?”

“Aye, he did. I’ve seen terrible, horrible things that would make your hair curl. Please, Lady Dywan, do as he says.”

She doesn’t strip off her jewels. Instead, she takes a step forward and holds her hands out to me. They’re covered in gaudy rings, her bracelets clinking as she extends her fingers. “You don’t have to do this,” she tells me. “We can save you. I can save you.”

I’m touched…at first. It’s kind of her to offer to rescue me. I remember five years ago, when she was the only one that protested that I’d be given to the sea-ogre. But I know now that Lady Dywan’s rescue isn’t a rescue after all. I’d just be patted on the back even as shackles were put around my wrists. Lady Dywan is the type that gets ahead by stepping on others. The fact that she’s a slaver now tells me everything.

Not that I’d ever take her up on her offer. I clasp her delicate, bony fingers in mine…and slip the biggest ring off of her hand, a huge ruby surrounded by knots of gold. “I’m good.”

Some time later, the seven slaves are huddled on Akara’s back in the fish-hide tent as the turtle lazily makes her way out to sea. The slaver ships are floating somewhere in the channel where we’d left them after taking all their oars and tossing them into the water. If they’re smart, they retrieved them and went on their way. If not…well. Lord Vor tends to those who tend to themselves.

I lounge near the water’s edge with Ranan’s arms around me. We pick idly through the riches we stole from the slavers, but I’m more concerned with the poor souls we rescued. My husband’s chin rests on my head and we watch as they ravenously tear through our stored supplies that we’d given them, eating everything down to the old, dry bits of fish jerky.

“I don’t think they were fed on those ships,” I tell my husband as his fingers stroke along my arm. “You’re going to have to fish tomorrow to feed all these hungry bellies.”

“I can do that.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Did you have fun today? You were very convincing.”

“A lot of fun. It occurs to me that we don’t need this gold nearly as much as our new friends do.” I point at the rescued slaves. “The fun is in the stealing anyhow.” After seeing all the riches that pour in from our piracy, I’m less excited about pretty, sparkly things. It’s more fun to give them away to others and to watch them light up with delight. I’ve got a few particularly jade-encrusted pieces I’ve kept aside for Balo. It’s become a tradition for him to give me jewels with rubies and for me to give him jade or emerald. It started when he joked that the red gems matched my hair, so I gave him green for the same reason. Never mind that we both have the same hair color.

The flotilla probably thinks all humans are as silly as the two of us when we get together.

“You want to give all our ill-gotten goods to the slaves?” He just chuckles. “If we keep doing that, my lovely wife, we’re going to be the poorest pirates in all the seas.”

I snuggle in his arms, loving that I’m cocooned in his embrace. There’s nothing quite like a four-armed snuggle to make you feel truly safe. “You’re just annoyed I suggested it before you did.”

“Not annoyed.” He nips at my ear and then notices the big ruby I’m still wearing on my finger. He picks up my hand and admires the ring. “You keeping this one?”

I muse as I admire Lady Dywan’s ring on my finger. “I might. It’s a good reminder.”

“Of what?”

I turn to gaze up at my husband. Five years together, and I never grow tired of looking at him. The proud sail atop his head is a little taller, his cheeks a little leaner, but otherwise he’s as hard and unyielding-looking as the day I met him. Ranan still misspeaks from time to time, but I’m confident in my place at his side, and we’re able to laugh off the worst of it. “It reminds me that pretty words are nice, but sometimes you’re better off picking the sea monster.”

“I’ll show you sea monster, wife,” he snarls, and then tickles me ferociously.