Vengeance of the Pirate Queen(25)

“Dimella is with child.”

That wakes me up all the way. “No, she’s not.”

Roslyn grins. “Yes, she is. I saw the medicine she takes in her room.”

“That’s for seasickness.”

“It’s for morning sickness. She also doesn’t drink with the rest of the crew, and she rubs her belly when she thinks no one is looking.”

Obviously, I noticed those things. I just didn’t come to the same conclusion that Roslyn did. I have not been around any pregnant women. I don’t know what to look for. I thought maybe she liked to stay sharp like me and didn’t bother with drink. And that she really liked food.

But now that Roslyn’s pointed it out, it seems embarrassingly obvious.

“So what’s lesson number two?” she asks.

“Don’t wake your instructor in the middle of the night.”

She doesn’t look amused.

“What are you going to do with this secret you’ve learned?” I ask instead of answering.

“What would an assassin do with it?” she fires back.

“Dimella is not your target, nor is the information useful to you in any way. So what do you think?”

She pauses to think about it. “Dimella is my friend. If she wanted anyone to know about her condition, she’d tell them. It’s not my place to do anything with the information.”

She looks up cautiously, as though scared she’s given the wrong answer.

I nod once. “Lesson number two is always go for the throat. It serves two purposes: killing and silencing your opponents in one go. Problem is you can’t reach the throat easily unless your target is sleeping. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the best places to put your dagger to immobilize your targets.”

“Immobilize?” she asks.

“Stop them in their tracks.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just say that? Papa’s already been teaching me how to use a knife.”

Aye, but Wallov is likely teaching her tactics to give her time to run away for help, not how to deliver the more difficult wounds that people won’t recover from.

“It’s good to learn new tactics from new people.”

She shrugs. “You’re probably better at it anyway. Can we start now?”

“Good night,” I say as I hold the door open for her.

“Night, Captain.”





THE DAYS CONTINUE TO pass slowly, yet there’s no sign of the Wanderer yet. We haven’t seen any land save the few rocks jutting out of the ocean. There haven’t been any signs of ship debris or anything else to suggest someone passed this way, but we continue to follow Alosa’s map.

The temperature grows ever colder, making exploring the water by swimming impossible. We don our winter wear soon enough, Dimella loaning Roslyn an extra set.

“Don’t you tell anyone you got these from me,” she says to the little girl.

“They almost fit,” Roslyn says. “Even the boots.”

Dimella glares at her and walks away.

“What did I say?” Roslyn asks.

The winds grow harsher, moving the brigantine along faster. Floating bits of ice appear on the sea, growing larger and larger with each passing day. It’s like we’ve sailed into a whole new world. I’ve never seen anything like it. The waters are so dark, we can’t see anything below the surface.

One morning, a knock comes to my quarters. Expecting one of the kitchen girls with my breakfast, I call out, “Come in.”

But it’s Dimella.

“I’ve just done morning roll call, Captain. There’s a sailor missing.”

I stand after tying off my warmer pair of boots. “Who?”

“Cyara.”

One of the fortune tellers.

“I want to talk to whoever saw her last,” I say. “And to Unesta and Bayla. They have the closest bunks to hers.”

“I’ll be back,” Dimella says.

“Be discreet.”

“That’s the plan.”

As I shrug on my coat, I tack on, “Also, bring me Kearan.”

She nods as she leaves.

As much as I loathe talking to the man, he’s seen this before. It would be foolish not to include him in the happenings when he might prove knowledgeable about what’s going on.

Kearan arrives first. I imagine he was on duty at the helm, closest to my room. I let him in and shut the door. It’s freezing outside, the little stove in the room the only reason I’m able to sleep comfortably at night. I dread to think what would happen should we run out of wood and coal.

I forget how big he is until he’s filling up most of the room. His eyes land on the tricorne he gifted me. Still on the floor where I left it. There’s no time to give that a second thought.

“A girl’s gone missing,” I explain.

“Who? When?”

“Cyara. We’re going to find out more soon.”

We wait in stark silence until Dimella returns towing three girls with her, the two I asked for and Roslyn.

“You first, little one,” Dimella says.

“Dimella says you want to know about Cyara? I saw her late last night. She was up in the rigging chatting with me. We didn’t talk about anything important. She went to bed before I did. Didn’t see her again before I turned in. Am I in trouble, Captain?”