As was typical when the Captain issued commands, there was a general bustle of activity all about the Ancilla, though it was far beyond Eleyna’s grasp of seamanship to guess this was in accord with the orders or not. In fact, she couldn’t even tell whether the Captain’s orders made any sense at all, or if he was just making it up as he went along. She imagined she would have the same amount of success if she stood on the forecastle and shouted whatever popped into her head. “Haul the wind! Hard a-lee! Open hawse and pawl the capstain! Quicker, yeh yellow loggerheads!” and so on and so forth. Either the crew knew what they were doing or they didn’t. And while she could see that it was important to have a Captain who shouted odd things, for morale purposes, the practical value seemed small.
“Ah!” cried the Captain, peering once again through his oddly tuned spyglass, pointing it out to the open sea. “The serpents arr readyin’ a broadside, let’s not us sail into it. Hard a-larboard! Hard a-larboard!”
The Ancilla lurched and heaved as the rudder was thrown to the far side, and the mizzen sails grew slack and empty.
“Captain,” asked Eleyna, “what of the prize crew on the Ledgerwood? Arden and Maurizio and the sailors, how shall we recover them?”
“Blistering blue barnacles, they’re lost, all lost, lass. Captain Gauliga has us outstripped by rights, cutting twixt us ‘an poor Piss-Bucket. Gauliga’s ship the Hannibal outguns Ancilla by thirty long-nines. Outrunning him ’tis the best we can do. We’d never stand hull to hull, his broadsides’d rip us to splinters.” The Captain turned and began yelling at the men hauling the lines. “More sheets! Men want yer tongues torn out and stewed with mutton? That’s what’s coming, that’s what’s on the wind! Gauliga the Merciless! Move, yeh buncha lubbers! If Gauliga don’t eatcher kidneys for supper I’ll have ‘em myself!”
Arden, lost to the brutal seas and the uncaring waves. Perhaps enslaved by a vicious pirate, if Gauliga had paused in his chase to launch a boarding party and take the Ledgerwood. Eleyna took a moment to mourn this fact, but couldn’t honestly bring herself to feel bad about Arden. So instead she thought of Maurizio, which gave her an appropriate twinge of sadness. He had been a good companion, entertaining and personable. She hoped he would survive; Maurizio did seem to have a knack at it. But Arden, well, now she was rid of him again, and that was that.
Her thoughts were cut short as the Hannibal‘s bowchasers discovered the Ancilla to be in range and scored their first hit. Eleyna heard the screams of wounded pirates and watched smoke rising from the deck. Now was no time to be lost in thought.
“Well sir,” Maurizio said to Arden, stumbling about what had been the captain’s cabin of the Ledgerwood. Maurizio was still shaking off the effects of an earlier wine-induced stupor. “Well this is a right mess you’ve gotten us into now.”
“For certain, Maurizio. These spiny Gurnards are nearly inedible, no matter how long you sauté them. I don’t know if there’s anything to be done.”
“Actually, begging your lordship’s pardon, I was referring to the pirate ship that seems to have sailed between us and the Ancilla. The one with the big, black sails, and the blood-red flags and all of that.”
Arden sighed and prodded at the surly lump of fish on his platter. “Maurizio, we were slaves on the Ancilla. If these new pirates commandeer our vessel, we shall be nothing more than rude servants again. So nothing seems likely to change in our situation, and the net impact on my quality of life is nil. Now, if this fish had been rendered delectable and crispy by frying, and if there had perhaps been a slice of lemon lying about the cabin, that would have improved my quality of life considerably. So this is by far the more pressing concern. Understood?”
“Not that I’ve no concern over your lordship’s breakfast, far from it.” Maurizio again checked the wine bottle he was clutching, to see if even a drop was left. Just as when he had checked two minutes before, there was nothing. “But those pirates there might want to do more than enslave us. They might want our blood to paint their pretty little flags, if you catch my drift.”
“Torture and death would at least bring me a reprieve from the last few months’ incredible boredom. Going to sea is one part pain and nine parts tedium. One is never warned about that aspect of the experience.”
Maurizio was beginning to feel the effects of yesterday’s wine, and not in a pleasant way. His stomach made its displeasure known all across the cabin’s rug.
“Honestly, Maurizio, can you do nothing but make my sorry life yet more unpleasant?” Arden aimed and let fly his plate, topped by inedible fish, at Maurizio’s head. The blow hit Maurizio strong enough to knock him to his knees, upon which his stomach let loose another volley of its own. “See if you can find any more foodstuffs about. I’d like to have one last decent meal if I am shortly to walk the plank,” commanded Arden. Through the aft windows, Arden watched the Hannibal, red flags waving their crossbones brightly, inexorably chasing down the fleeing Ancilla.
“It’s no good, Captain. They’re closing too fast.”
“Brine and sea bass, blasted buccaneers.” When situations were tense, or when he was drunk, the Captain adopted a sing-song voice and spouted nonsense more impenetrable than ever.
The Hannibal had kept up the chase, pulling to within three lengths of the Ancilla. Their stern had been peppered with shot. The deck smoldered with fire, as did a few members of the crew. Soaked in grog, they caught the flame fairly easily. Eleyna went from one wounded crewman to another, helping move the injured to a makeshift infirmary in the orlop. The Captain seemed to be everywhere, yelling encouragement to the fire crews and helping trim the sails.
Catching her breath, Eleyna found herself resting by bowsprit, where the Captain had retaken his post, spyglass in hand. “Gauliga’ll never back down, not while I yet draw breath,” the Captain whispered to Eleyna. His eyes blazed redder than the fires spotting the deck, his teeth grayer than powder smoke. “Gauliga the Merciless. Arr, ’tis a long year since we last crossed paths. Didn’t think he’d find me again. But he’s indomitable as he is merciless, I can tell ye.”
“What did you do to him, Captain?” Eleyna asked. Despite the screams and flames, something in the Captain’s gaze captivated her, pulled her out of the moment, so that the whole scene felt unreal.
“’Twas many a-year ago, before I was e’er Captain of me own ship. Yarr, but even then, knew in me bones I’d know no lady in my life like the sea. Except one woman…”
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