a pirate invasion, part 5
At noon the next day, I called my men together and related The Lady’s plan to them. They were a little surprised by her intentions, as most of them had been solidly convinced she was going after the jewel trader, but they got over it quickly. It was silly of them to suppose they knew exactly what was going on inside her head. Other than this slight hiccup, the discussions and planning went smoothly and soon we all dispersed to our habitual tasks.
Nothing about this attack was unordinary, we would be proceeding in the usual manner, but for some reason I was almost giddy as I helped the men load their weapons and organize the deck.
And then it was time.
We approached in the direction of the setting sun, taking advantage of its brightness in order to shield our approach from prying eyes.
By the time my crew reached the fray, the battle was already in full sway, and the confusion was delicious.
We swept through the group, heading toward a particular ship, the one The Lady assumed held the captain of the fleet, and pulled up beside it. Its crew were already preoccupied with keeping off another ship and so our approach was hardly acknowledged, exactly as we intended.
The rest of my men quickly provided assistance to our fellows on the deck but I, with a few of my most capable underlings, immediately headed to the cabins through the windows.
I entered smoothly, dodging a fruitless arrow aimed my way. The cabin was small and contained a half dressed young man, ruffled from recent sleep and desperately trying to get his clothes on. My entrance startled him severely, and he immediately fell to the floor, whimpering and pleading for his life.
I suppose I should have felt pity, but I could only scoff at him. ‘Get up, you ninny, and stop whining. What a soldier you’re making.’
I managed to shut him up mid sob, but whether that was because of my strong reproach or because my voice caught him off guard wasn’t clear. At least he was quiet.
‘Good. Now that blubbering is over with, take me to your captain. I’d like a word.’
His next words were not surprising: ‘No! I won’t let you near him,’ so I was hardly perturbed. I chuckled and gestured at him with my saber before saying in warning, ‘You better be careful, young one. I don’t want any trouble. And besides, that wonderful show you gave me proves you are the last person likely to be portraying heroics. Stop wasting my time and get a move on,’ and I poked him lightly with the saber point.
His eyes widened in terror and I smiled. ‘Alright, fine, follow me,’ he said, pulling on his coat. He made an attempt to grab his sword as we left but in a flash of steel, I knocked his hand away. ‘Oh and don’t think about trying anything,’ I said slowly, ‘Or I will just kill you. You are merely a convenience.’
The journey to the captain’s cabin was strangely quiet. Occasionally we would pass a room and would hear the sound of a window shattering or a person scrabbling around inside but the inner corridor was basically empty. This was not entirely suspicious, once you were inside it was hard to get out again, but I was still attentive and on my guard.
By the time we reached the cabin, my mild companion was sweating buckets and I was as cool as ever.
‘Uh well, he’ll probably be inside. He hardly leaves unless it’s serious,’ the young man said shakily as he gestured to the cabin door.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘What an attentive overlord,’ I remarked. ‘I have to say he is severely delusional if he thinks the current situation with his crew doesn’t count as serious. But I suppose his cowardice makes all of this easier for me.’ I paused, and then turned to him with a smile and said, ‘Well, thank you for your treachery, but unfortunately I can’t just let you go. Good night.’
And I knocked him out with the edge of my sword.
After stepping over his incapacitated body, I, casually, of course, kicked in the cabin door.
I will admit, the captain’s reaction was quite unsatisfactory.
He merely looked up at me with an eyebrow raised and sighed.
‘So, I’ve been thwarted again. How wonderful.’
To my chagrin, I started violently from recognition, and for a few moments, was at a loss for words. But I pushed through it. Clearing my throat, I strode forward and said disdainfully, ‘Where is it, Blake?’
He cocked his head to the side. ‘Hmm, how interesting,’ he drawled. ‘Am I allowed to ask who I’m addressing? You seem to know me already, but I cannot say I have any recollection of you.’
‘Evasive prick, just answer my question!’ I exclaimed, half annoyed, half nervous. ‘I’ve already had my time wasted by your underlings, just give me the safe. You know you won’t be able to keep hold of it.’ I was a little perturbed by how quickly my persuasive abilities and confidence were dissolving in his presence, but to be fair, it had been months since I actually had to reason with my victims. Usually they just gave up.
‘Oh I’m happy to, along with this little gift!’ And he lunged at me.
~dys [yeah, I know nothing about boats or piracy and I'm sure that's obvious but that's not really the point of all this, is it?]