The seventeen men and women who captained the raider ships in port convened to assemble the council of captains. Now they all shouted back and forth at each other, deeply divided over the issue before them. Cari found it hard to hear or sort out what was being said.
More than one captain pointed at her in the midst of making whatever point they had. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. Cari didn’t even know if the meeting of the council had even officially started yet.
After several minutes of back and forth, the loud bang of a gunshot broke through the shouting, and everyone stopped to look at the center of the assembly hall’s central platform.
A gray-haired man, his long, white beard braided and tied off with red ribbons, stood at the podium with a smoking pistol pointed at the ceiling.
“Sit down you mangy dogs. We’ll never get anything decided with you arguing back and forth like competing fishmongers. Cap’n Hitchcock, you brought this woman here under your protection. It is for you to tell us what business she has here that is so urgent we don’t string her up and sink her ship right now.”
“Cap’n Wheldon, I encountered her vessel headed this way. It flew the white flag, and I was honor bound to offer her escort.”
“Bah! No, you weren’t. You could’ve sunk her right then and there and saved us the trouble of this council meeting.”
“I’m glad I did not, Cap’n. She had my wife and children aboard. She and her crew rescued them from the secret prison where the Duke of Charon sent them. I felt that required me to honor the flag and bring her here. More than half the captains here have now reunited with their loved ones, taken five years ago almost to the day.”
Captain Wheldon fixed Cari with his blue-eyed gaze and she found herself fidgeting under that glare.
This man held a great deal of power here. He’d decide her fate. The other captains would follow his lead.
“So, the Dread Raider Cari is here before me. The most wanted woman in these islands is standing here. You've got a price on your head not just here, but also, I’ve heard, in the lands of the Sultanate now. Today you’re here to petition this council for your life. Tell me, Cari Dix. Why should we spare your life?”
“You misunderstand my intention, Captain. I haven’t come to beg for my life. I’ve come to offer you the return of yours.”
The shouting started all over again at this announcement. Every person in the room yelled their angry retort to her statement, every person except Captain Wheldon. He nodded, a strange sort of smile beginning at the corner of his lips.
“Enough! Let the girl have her say. I, for one, am intrigued to find out how she expects to give me back something I already have.”
The voices of outrage petered out until the room was silent once more.
“Thank you, Captain,” Cari said. “I would be happy to explain myself.” She stole a glance back at the entrance to the council chamber where Stefan and Rodrigo stood flanked by four burly raiders. They’d all been disarmed on their arrival. Her two friends both stood staring back at her, expecting her to find a way out of this mess.
“Five long years ago, an Imperial fleet sailed into your harbor and took possession of many of your loved ones while the Imperial nobleman in charge of the vessels issued a set of demands, demands to be enforced over the lives of your wives, husbands, and children.”
“She ain’t telling us anything we don’t already know,” a female captain with raven black hair shouted. “I don’t need a history lesson.”
“Be still, Rayleen,” Captain Wheldon ordered. “I’m sure she will explain herself in due time. Continue, Captain Dix.”
Cari reordered her thoughts after the interruption and then continued.
“The raider clans had long been at peace with the Empire. You all peacefully traded with the communities on the western edge of the continent. Then you were told to return to the ways of your ancestors and begin living up to the name you hold, all at the behest of a man determined to overthrow the Empire and take it for himself. He fitted your ships with new weapons and made it so few ships could stand up to you in these western waters. I took it upon myself to defend the western coast over this last year because it needed defending.”
“Yes, it is true I’ve sunk many raider ships and killed people who were your friends.”
The shouting started up again. Cari raised her voice and pressed on, standing up straight and proud while she continued. “That is the way it is with war. But I discovered there was a way to stop the raiding and the dying. As soon as I found it, I went to investigate it and located your captive families. With them returned to you, you no longer have to honor the orders of the Duke of Charon. You can return to your peaceful ways. It is my hope that we can begin a new alliance where you join me and those loyal to the Imperial royal line and stop the killing here in these waters.”
“What’s to stop the Duke from returning with his pet Imperial fleet and taking our loved ones again?” Captain Rayleen asked.
“The Duke will be busy trying to take the throne for himself. The Empress isn’t well and her last surviving grandson, while not my first choice, is going to rise to the throne. The Duke tried to kill him once, and he will try again, all to take the Crystal Throne for himself. He won’t be able to divert attention to the fact that you’re no longer raiding the coast under his orders.”
Captain Wheldon leaned over the podium and pointed at her. “You don’t act like you care much for the surviving grandson. Won’t he be just as bad as the Duke? I’ve heard he’s likely to bankrupt the Empire.”
“If you have a better option, I’m all ears,” Cari said. “My friends on shore say because he is the only one to survive, he is the only one who can hold the Empire together after the Empress dies. A war of succession would splinter every province from the central government and create dozens of individual principalities. That is why we must defy the Duke’s wishes. This isn’t just good for the Empire. It is also good for the people of these islands, for your people. Peaceful trade would be the first thing to fail in the face of a war that spread across the whole of the Empire.”
Captain Wheldon started to say something but stopped himself, shaking his head. Maybe he forgot what he was going to say.
Cari didn’t wait for him to remember. She continued leaning hard on her charm bonus in an effort to reach every captain in the room.
“Let me leave here in safety, and I will stop attacking raider ships. I will, instead, attack those Imperial Navy vessels working for the Duke and keep them from returning here to retake your families.”
Charm Bonus Successful
“Well, captains?” Captain Wheldon said, looking to either side at his fellow council members. “Will we grant this woman the right to leave in peace and cease our raiding of the coast and the Imperial merchant vessels in the Western Sea? Those who are in favor, say Aye.”
A large number of “Aye’s” were shouted out from the group. As far as Cari could tell, it was mostly those who’d had their families returned. The other raider captains either hadn’t lost anyone to the hostages or they were just raiding the coast because it was profitable. She had no idea how they’d vote.
Captain Wheldon banged the butt of his pistol down on the podium and called out again. “All those opposed, say Nay.”
Another round of voices sounded. Cari was unsure whether she’d won the vote or not. She didn’t know the captains well enough to count the voices heard.
Captain Wheldon nodded and rapped the pistol down again until the voices and discussion died down again. “I count nine ‘ayes’ and eight ‘nays.’ The ayes have it. Captain Dix will be granted safe passage to leave, and we will cease our raiding campaign against the mainland.”
“Crandall Wheldon!” A tall blonde captain called out. “I want a recount. I think you are siding with the lass because she’s a pretty face. We can live like kings if we continue raiding the coast, especially if the Empire is too distracted to come after us.”
“Are you calling me a liar, Day Ivarson? I was raiding this coast before you were even a glint in your father’s eye. I remember those days. We were hated and feared by everyone. There was no port but this one where we were welcome.”
The old captain stared around the room at the other captains. “If we had storm damage, we couldn’t seek help anywhere. We either limped home to refit here, or we were lost at sea. It was the Empress who extended her hand in peace to us and I believe we’ve been deceived and betrayed so we might work against her interests. For that, I’m truly regretful.”
“I say we go back to being peaceful traders and seafarers. I say we mend the rift that has grown between us and the towns and cities of the western coast and unless you want to challenge my right to lead this council, you’ll go along with me, all of you.”
Captain Ivarson grumbled something under his breath but nodded and sat down. As soon as he did, the others who seemed inclined to disagree sat down as well.
Captain Wheldon turned to Cari. “Captain Dix. You have my leave to return to your ship and continue on your journey. Is there anything you need before you return to sea?”
“I have made several repairs to my ship after our crossing through the Maelstrom Shoals. I would like to take a few days and complete repairs here in your harbor.”
“The Maelstrom Shoals? Is this true?”
“It is,” Captain Hitchcock replied. “My wife saw it with her own eyes.”
Captain Wheldon laughed. “I thought I was the only captain crazy enough to attempt that passage. I must hear this story. You and your crew may remain while repairs are completed on the condition that you and your two companions join me for dinner. I would hear more of how you made the passage safely.”
“I would be happy to join you for dinner, Captain,” Cari said. “I’m not sure there’s much to say about the passage, though. We barely made it through with our lives. As I just said, our ship was damaged in the passage. I will tell you what I can, though, in exchange for the tale of how you did it, too.”
Captain Wheldon smiled. “Deal.”
Quest completed — convince the council to adopt peace
12,000 experience
Level Up!