As the Turks charged forward, I shot one and Eudocia hit another. Gil left the helm and ran to join us, sword drawn.
He and I went as close to the Turkish ship as we could. We had to slow them down, and we could best do that at the narrow point where the ships met. A handful of Ignatios’s sailors joined us, and we crossed blades with the Turks. Some battles were a series of duels. This one was a melee. Slash, block, stab. The pirates wielded their swords, but with only minimal skill. That was a mercy—we were outnumbered, but the men we fought were rabble.
Unfortunately, our allies were sailors, not warriors. They fell to the Turks as often as the Turks fell to them, but Gil and I were so busy with the pirates that we couldn’t do much to protect the sailors. Occasionally, a crossbow bolt plowed into one of the enemy. Aban’s work, I presumed.
A rope pulled taut and knocked several pirates off their feet. Ignatios’s men finished them off. Another heated skirmish and a second rope tripped a pair of them. I assumed that was Eudocia’s work, but I didn’t see her, just the cabin boy.
One of the Turks lunged at me with his blade at about the height of my neck. I blocked his strike, then pushed him back into the pirate behind him. We were killing and wounding far more of them than they were of us, but they outnumbered us three to one. They pushed us farther from the point where our ships held their deadly embrace, and that allowed more and more of them to pour onto our deck, and the speed of their attacks was overwhelming. I was winning the individual duels I fought, but it seemed inevitable that we would lose the battle. At least I would die with friends.
Captain Ignatios fought one of the Turks and seemed in danger of losing. The pirate’s blade locked against his, and Ignatios leaned back, on the losing end of the bind. I took a knife from my belt and threw it into the Turk’s back.
I turned just in time to block the swing of a tall, lanky pirate. I sliced my sword along his side, hard enough to cut through his leather cuirass. As he fell, three more came at me. One dropped suddenly with an arrow in his back, leaving me with only two to deal with. I blocked a swing from the first and stepped back to give myself more room to maneuver. We crossed blades thrice before I got in a slash that sent him to his knees. Another pirate stepped forward to press the attack. My arms burned, as did my leg. I could fight through the exhaustion, through the pain, but my skills were no longer crisp and sharp.
The battle hadn’t been waged in silence, and now it grew louder still. Wounded men groaned and winced as they tried to crawl to safety. And something else too—more men, coming from behind the Turks and attacking them. Some had bows and arrows; others had spears or swords. They wore rags, their hair was stringy and unkempt, and their backs were bent. The slaves from the corsair.
Not all of them were great fighters, but some were, and that made the match a little more even. Hunger may have made them weak, but anger and muscles honed with rowing made up for it. The battle went on a little longer, but soon, the first Turk surrendered to Gil, then one surrendered to me, and three surrendered to the captain. None surrendered to their former slaves—they wouldn’t have received mercy from them.
When the Turks were all disarmed, Eudocia climbed from the Turkish corsair back onto Ignatios’s tarida.
“I suppose you had something to do with this.” I gestured to the former slaves. Some of the sailors had distributed biscuits to them. Others tied up the remaining Turks.
She gave me a quick nod and gave her husband an apologetic smile.
“I think I understand now why the Catalans wanted to abduct her.” Aban sat, winded, with shaking hands.
“How did you do that?” Gil asked. “And why? You could have been killed.”
“I could have been killed had I stayed with you.” She planted her feet on the deck. “All the Turks were coming to this ship, so I went to their corsair instead. They’d only left one guard behind.”
“One guard who could have killed you.” Gil put a hand on his hip.
“I took a crossbow. And once he was dead . . .” Her voice wavered, and she looked down. “After that, I took the keys from his belt and unlocked the galley slaves. They understood what to do, and there were plenty of weapons lying around from all the Turks we hit with crossbows before the ships collided.”
Gil’s expression softened, and he put a hand on her arm. “I didn’t even realize you’d left. You could have disappeared forever.”
“And if I’d stayed, we could have all been slain together. I was only trying to save your life.”
I motioned for Aban to follow me, and we left the two of them to settle their worry without an audience.
Captain Ignatios called out orders. One sailor was assigned to help the wounded, another to prepare the dead. A trio of them were sent to scour the Turkish ship and make sure nothing dangerous lurked there. “And bring back the chains for the prisoners,” he added as they started toward the corsair.
He gave me a nod of approval. “I should have believed the rumors and stayed at Vostitza today. I didn’t, but thanks to you, I’m still alive.” He glanced at a pair of bodies being laid out, and a deep frown etched its way across his face. “And so are some of my men, though this loss . . .” He cleared his throat and blinked away tears.
I didn’t have words to comfort him. Maybe words weren’t adequate when half his crew lay dead or wounded and his ship had significant damage. My friends and I had been lucky. Gil had a cut on his forearm, and sharp pain shot up and down my leg, but we were alive.
Aban glanced at the Turkish prisoners. “Maybe we should ask them if they know anything about the Sea Maiden.”
One of the prisoners looked up as Aban mentioned the name of the ship, then the man quickly looked away.
“You speak Arabic?” I asked the man.
He set his jaw and avoided my gaze. I gave the bottom of his shoe a kick. He frowned and nodded.
“I think you had better tell me what you know.”