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“YOU REALLY CAN SEE everything from here!” Aurora exclaimed.
“Yes, I know. The view goes on for miles and miles, doesn’t it? It’s a nice place to take a lady when you’ve got a sunset... not that I’ve ever done that before.” Richard leaned against the crow’s nest, nonchalantly reclining on one elbow. “It’s a shame we don’t have a sunset right now.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Aurora peeked over the side of the crow’s next, groaning at the sight of the distant deck. “Whoa...”
“Don’t look down.”
“I’m never coming up to the crow’s nest again,” she informed him. “I’m surprised you got me to come up here in the first place. I’m usually afraid of heights.”
“Well, as I was saying, the secret is to not look down.” Blackbeard wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Here, I’ve got something for you.”
“What?”
“A spyglass.” He flicked it open and held it out to her. “If you think the view is nice now, wait until you see it with this.”
Aurora peered through the wrong end of the spyglass. Chuckling, Richard took it from her and turned it around. “You look at it this way.”
“Oh.” Frowning, she held the spyglass to her eye. “I’ve never seen one of these before.”
“You haven’t?”
“No. And I don’t see any land.”
“I’m not surprised. We’re pretty far out to sea.”
The frown on her lips fell further. Her chances at getting back home didn’t exactly sound promising. “I don’t really see anything. Just a lot of water.”
“No ships, no birds, no nothing?”
“No.”
“No storm clouds, I should hope?”
“No.” Her stomach churned at the thought of braving another storm on the sea.
“No sea monsters?”
“No!” Laughing at his question, Aurora handed the spyglass back to him.
“Well, then, I guess it was wrong of me to say you could see everything up here, wasn’t it? Oh... look there!” Richard pointed to the deck below. “I know I told you not to look down, but you might be interested to see what your little friend is up to.”
“My little friend?”
“That Lyric fellow. He’s swabbing the deck.”
When Aurora leaned over the side of the crow’s nest, the captain kept his arm around her. “He’s down there? I can hardly make it out...”
“Trust me, I’ve got him swabbing the deck.”
The image of the emperor with a mop and bucket made her wince. She was glad she wasn’t around him at the moment. She could only imagine how much he’d be whining—not that she blamed him. “Poor Lyric.”
“Oh, rubbish! I’m not going to pity that lout. I’m a pretty good judge of character, and I say he deserves to be pushed around a bit!”
“Maybe...”
Richard’s arm finally fell from Aurora’s shoulders. He didn’t want to get too cozy too soon. As he stepped away from her, his eyes dove toward her cleavage. He couldn’t help himself.
“So, what’s on your pirate agenda?” Aurora asked.
“My pirate agenda? What do you mean by that?”
“You know... what exactly do you do?” she went on. “I know you rob from the rich and give to yourself, but what do you have planned for today? I’m not going to be on the ship when you pillage someone, am I?”
“My pirate agenda is nothing, at the moment,” he confessed. “But I do plan to pillage whatever ship might wander into my path. And I have a treasure map, actually. But right now...” A wrinkle of worry creased Richard’s forehead.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
Richard took a deep breath. “Well, I know I’ve been joking about sea monsters, but... I guess you could say... my agenda is to make it through these waters with my crew intact. We’re in a very dangerous place right now.”
“We are?”
“Yes. There’s a very dangerous creature lurking out there.” He lowered his eyes. “A very dangerous creature indeed.”
“What? What is it?”
Richard’s overconfidence was utterly destroyed by the mention of it. “I, um... I can’t say. To utter its name would be to invite calamity on us.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yes, it’s that bad. And worse.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, let’s not stand around blathering about potential disasters. There’s something else I’d like to show you.”
“Oh.” She’d already spent the better part of the day with Blackbeard—she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend the rest of the day with him as well. But she was in no position to protest. She knew it would be wise to stay on his good side until she tried the wayspinner again.
“So, time to leave the crow’s nest,” he said. “Ladies first.”
Aurora held her breath as she descended the ladder to the deck below. In her mind’s eye, she kept seeing herself fall to her death. When her foot touched the ground, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.
When he had five rungs to go, the captain leapt from the ladder and landed on his feet. He grinned at Aurora, as if expecting her to be impressed by his agility. “So... are you ready to go?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Richard took her by the arm and led her below deck. He stopped in front of a narrow doorway, turned to her and said, “I think I should warn you before we go in there...”
“Warn me?” He sounded so severe, she could only imagine what he was going to show her. Her overactive imagination conjured all sorts of scenarios.
“Yes. I should warn you about what’s behind this door. You’re not the swoony type, are you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t faint at the sight of blood?”
“Well, uh... no.”
“Alright, then.” He pushed open the door and welcomed her inside with a wave of his hand. “Feel free to browse.”
It didn’t take her long to determine the room’s purpose; it housed the captain’s weapon collection. Fascinated and frightened, Aurora stepped inside and tried to soak it in. The room was cluttered with all manner of armaments. There were cannons, cannonballs, guns, swords with serrated edges, swords with curved blades, rapiers, maces, scabbards, balls and chains and several blunt objects that might have been used to smash someone’s head in. There were swords that were covered in blood, left unpolished as if to pay tribute to the lives they took. There were suits of armor, bows and arrows, and shirts of chain mail. They all came together in a dizzying display of death and danger.
“So, what do you think?”
“Uh... wow.”
“Do you like it? I’ve collected these from all over the world.”
Aurora stared at a suit of armor so small, it must have been made for a child. “That’s, um... certainly very... interesting.”
“You don’t like it.” It sounded more like an observation than a question.
“Sure I do! It’s, uh... interesting.” Her eyes were drawn to the furthest corner of the room, where various torture devices were on display. “Do you still use those?”
“Occasionally. But not often.”
Her stomach was temporarily twisted in a knot.
“You can choose a weapon of your own, if you’d like. I’ve got several to spare.”
Aurora forced a smile. “I’ll, um... I’ll pass on that, thanks.”
Richard frowned. “I’ve scared you, haven’t I?”
“What? No!”
“No, look at your face! You look terrified!” His shoulders seemed to sink as the realization hit him. “I shouldn’t have taken you in here.”
“No, no! It’s fine!”
“I guess not every woman has an appreciation for good weaponry.”
“I don’t think many women do.”
“Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re right.” Richard stared at a weapon on the wall for several seconds, almost longingly. “But there was one woman...”
“Oh?”
“Yes. She was one tough lady.” He reached out and stroked the handle of the mace he was staring at. “She was the only woman I met who shared my appreciation for weapons.”
“Did she give you that?”
“Oh, this?” He pointed to the mace. “Yes... yes she did, actually.”
“And she was... a lover?”
“She was.” Richard turned away so she wouldn’t see the tear in his eye. “The only woman I ever loved.”
Aurora decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to pry any further. Either his lover was dead, or there was some other painful reason why they couldn’t be together. Whatever the case, she decided it wasn’t any of her business.
When he regained his composure, the captain turned toward her. “What about you? Have you ever been fortunate enough to find true love?”
“Well... no. Not really.”
“You sound disappointed. Well, don’t rush it. You’re still young. I’m sure you’ll find it eventually. And there’s still time for me, isn’t there? I’m not exactly an old man yet, am I?” When she didn’t agree, his lips dove into a frown. “Or maybe I am...”
Aurora didn’t even hear him. Her mind was preoccupied by the fact that she was discussing matters of the heart with a pirate captain on a ship called the Hell’s Chariot. A lot of strange things had happened in the last few days, but this was possibly the strangest.
“Well, I should get going. I have some orders to give, some documents to tend to...” Richard headed for the door. “Feel free to explore the boat at your leisure. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask anyone.”
“Thanks.” All things considered, he really did seem like a gentleman.
“Will you join me for dinner again tonight?”
“Sure. I’d like that.”
“Great.” When he opened the door for her, she quickly darted through. “I’m looking forward to it.”
For the first time in several hours, Aurora parted ways with the captain. Even though her stomach was racked with an occasional pang of seasickness, she resisted the temptation to go to her room and lie down. She was too concerned with how Lyric was faring after everything he’d been through, so she went up to the deck to find him.
When she approached him from behind, she saw that his back was covered in sweat. “Lyric?”
He squeezed the mop, twisting the handle as though it was a substitute for wringing her neck. “What? What do you want?”
“You don’t have to be rude!”
“No, I don’t have to be rude. I want to be rude!”
“Oh, right. Silly me for thinking you might actually be decent for a change.” She continued to stare at the back of his shirt. “Are you going to turn around?”
“No.” He dipped the mop into a sudsy bucket, lifted it, and slapped it against the deck. “I’m busy.”
“You don’t have to be mean to me, you know. I’m not the one who’s making you do all this.”
“Oh, yeah?” Lyric finally turned around, if only to scowl at her. “But you seem pretty tight with the captain. If you wanted to, you could request that he cease tormenting the emperor.”
“Tormenting? Tormenting? What has he done that’s so bad?”
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve had to cut onions, serve meals, shine shoes and swab decks!” Lyric drew a sharp breath, as if in pain. “To a man of my stature, this treatment is... well, it’s insulting!”
“But it could be worse! It’s not like he put you in one of the torture machines he’s got downstairs!”
Lyric blinked a few times. “He’s got torture machines?”
“Yes!”
“Oh... well... STILL!” Pouting, Lyric ineffectually dragged the wet mop across the deck. “You could have asked him to be nicer to me!”
“What makes you think my own situation with the captain isn’t precarious? If I said something to upset him, who knows what he’d do!”
“Oh, he wouldn’t do anything to you!” Lyric flicked the mop in her direction. “He practically foams at the mouth whenever he sees you.”
“He does not!”
“Oh, sure he does. I’m a man. I notice these things.”
“You can say whatever you’d like, but he’s not foaming at the mouth when he sees me. That‘s ridiculous! He doesn’t need a reason to be nice to me.”
“Right. He’s so nice that he decided to put you in low-cut dress to better display your, uh... charms.”
Aurora laid a hand over her cleavage, blocking it from view. “He just hasn’t been around a woman in a while! Who knows how long they’ve been out at sea?”
“Right. What a sob story. The poor fellow’s been alone for so long, who can blame him for dressing you like a... a...” Lyric took one look at Aurora’s infuriated face and decided not to finish his sentence. “Anyway, you’ve spent the entire day with the man! Whether he’s smitten or not, I’m sure you’ve wheedled your way into his good graces a little bit. At some point, you could have said you would appreciate it if he didn’t make an ass out of your good friend Lyric.”
“My good friend Lyric?!” Aurora repeated with a roll of her eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Well... you like me a little bit, don’t you?”
Aurora opened her mouth to protest, but she stopped. She didn’t exactly like him, but she didn’t exactly hate him either. She couldn’t deny that she had bonded with him out of necessity. “Are you jealous, Your Highness?”
Lyric laid a hand on his hip. “Jealous? Jealous of what?!”
“Jealous of the captain! Jealous of all the time I’ve spent with him!”
“I am not!”
She grinned. She enjoyed giving him a taste of his own medicine. “You are! I think you’re jealous. Aww. I didn’t realize you liked me so much!”
Lyric answered her accusation with a shrug of his shoulders. “Go ahead and believe whatever you want to believe, if it makes you feel special.”
Before she could come up with a witty retort, the ship suddenly lurched to one side. Aurora had to grab on to Lyric’s elbow to keep from falling over. He laid a hand against her back to hold her steady. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah. What in the world was that?”
Her question was answered by a shout in the distance.
“SHE’S HERE! THE DEVIL OF THE SEA... SHE’S HERE!”