Vengeance of the Pirate Queen(36)

“Stop trying to flatter me!”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Just because I’m telling the truth doesn’t mean I have an angle. I’m not trying to get anything from you.”

Except he is.

Because men always are.

“Then stop talking. Because your words are purposeless.”

I see his mind turn as he tries to work an argument around that one, but a call interrupts us.

“Land ho!”

When I join Roslyn up in the crow’s nest, I think all she’s spotted is another iceberg at first. It’s much larger than the others, for sure. I can’t even see the edges on the sea, but as we draw closer, I begin to spot other things.

Green. There’s vegetation, and with vegetation comes life.

The little lass has eyes sharper than a hawk’s.

I put the spyglass to my eye, making out the shapes of trees and mountains and snow-covered terrain, but there’s not anything terribly exciting to see on land.

The water surrounding it, however, is another matter.

Dead ahead, I see a bowsprit jutting into the air. To its right, a hull rests at an angle, the structure tottering with the incoming tide. A sail billows atop a broken mast, an unfamiliar flag streaming in the wind. Shattered planks float on the waves, and downy white birds sit atop some of them. A coil of rope has become entwined with seaweed, the brown mass floating alongside a frozen body facedown in the water. Who knows how long he’s been dead? The cold keeps everything perfectly preserved.

The island is completely surrounded by ship wreckage. I can’t look in any direction without seeing it.

We’ve surely found where Alosa’s women went missing.

But right now I’m more concerned with what caused all of this.

I climb down the mast, where Dimella and the rest of the crew wait patiently.

“It’s a ship graveyard out there,” I say, forgetting to be tactful until after the words are out of my mouth.

Enwen clutches his beads to his chest, and my gun master climbs the mast without another word.

“Is the Wanderer among the wreckage?” Dimella asks.

“We’re too far to tell.”

“We’re going closer?” Enwen asks with alarm.

Kearan puts a hand on his shoulder to steady him. “Find your mettle, man.”

“We’re going to circle the island without getting too close,” I say. “We need proof that the Wanderer docked here before we go ashore.”

“A lot of ships permanently docked here, Captain,” Dimella says. “What do you think got ’em?”

“Cannons,” Philoria says when she returns to the deck. “Definitely cannon debris. I’d stake my life on it. Nothing else tears apart masts like that.”

“No more beasties, then?” Enwen asks.

“Not this time.”

“Someone doesn’t want anyone going ashore,” I deduce.

“For what purpose?” Dimella asks. “Not like it’s a prime vacation spot or anything.”

“There must be something valuable here,” Kearan says. “Gold or other precious metals.”

“Gold, you say?” Enwen perks up.

“Take us closer, Kearan,” I say. “I want a better look at that debris.”

He does so, but it’s not easy. For hours, he maneuvers us around blocks of ice and ship debris. But we eventually find what we’re looking for.

I see the letters Wan painted on the side of one of the wrecked ships. The rest of the letters disappear into the water. Alosa’s missing vessel is here. Just from what I can see in either direction, there is enough wreckage for at least nine full ships. And the destruction continues as far as the eye can see. Surely there’s even more surrounding the whole island.

“Dimella, I want to go ashore alone,” I say to my first mate. “Have the crew lower a rowboat for me.”

Dimella narrows her eyes. “Captain, I know you mean to put no one in danger but yourself, but if anything should happen to you, then you’ll leave the crew without their leadership. It isn’t wise for you to go anywhere alone. Please consider taking a scouting party with you if you intend to go exploring. Alosa has chosen some fine girls for this voyage.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kearan offers immediately.

“And me,” Enwen says.

We all stare at him.

“Kearan mentioned gold. Perhaps I could keep an eye out for it while we’re out and about.” He shrugs.

I think it over, weighing all my options, and ask myself for the hundredth time what Alosa would do.

“I’ll take half the crew ashore,” I decide. “Should anything happen to us, you’ll still have enough sailors to make the trip back home.”

“I’ll guard the ship with my life,” Dimella says.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say. “A ship is only a thing. You protect the rest of the crew.”

She grins. “Well, I’d at least try to save the ship. The crew was a given, Captain. Who will you take ashore?”

“These two,” I say, gesturing to the men beside me. “Taydyn, Philoria, Bayla, and Visylla.” I list a handful more names.

“What about me?” The small voice comes from somewhere nearby, yet it isn’t until Roslyn’s head pokes over the companionway that I realize she was spying.