Lady Pirate(28)
Author: Lynsay Sands

Just asit was his job tobetray them.

But if she married him, something She had been resisting doing fromthe start, the men became hisresponsibility by English law.

He wouldhardly turnhimself in. Not that she waspleasedto be giving up control this way, but faced with that or seeing an innocentman, king’s spyor no, dead, well…

Sighing, she dropped intoherchair wearily.Mayhap she had been dreaming anyway to imagine that she could marry and retain her independence, even if she hadmarriedsomeone like Beecham. Legally he wouldhave beenlord over herand all she owned anyway, and the menmightvery well have accepted that.

Pirates they might be, buttheywere oddly traditional for all that. Hence the reason she had pretended tobe a male forthe past thirteen years. In truth, she mightbe gratefulforthe change as well. While therewas acertainamount of satisfaction ordering these men about, some of the responsibilityweighed heavily. Her decision today, for instance. Therewas nopleasure in ordering the death of a man. None whatsoever. She had done it twice before, butthose times themen hadbeen scurvy dogs deserving of their fate.Too, She had left the men tothe chore andretreated to her cabin. It was not that she lacked thecouragetowatch it, but simply that she had no desire to. She did not caretowatch garbagebeing tossedover the side of the shipeach dayeither.

As forDaniel, he hadbeen a different propositionentirely. His death, were she forced tosee to it, wasnot of his own making, or evenremotelyhis fault. The blamelaysolely on the shoulders of her men. That puther in aquandary.Shewouldhave to punish themfor that. Theyhad gone on their owninitiative and done somethingthey had known she wouldnot wish, and their actions had resulted in what could still mean the death ofa blameless man. That was why she had not been able to leave the deck during his execution. He didnot deserve todie, and she felt she hadto acknowledge thatby witnessingit.

But mayhap now he wouldnot have to die. Not if he wouldstill marry her. The tap at thedoor when it camedid not surprise her.

Nor was she surprisedwhen Henry entered. She had expected as much, desired himto followher, even. That was why she had glared at him hard beforecoming toher cabin. He had, as usual, understood.

Now he closed thedoorofher cabinandfaced her solemnly, waiting for her to speak.

"Hemay still have toswing, " she announced abruptly.

Henry grimaced. "It’s all my fault."

"Aye, it is, " sheagreed heavily.

The quarter mastersighed. "How many lashes? "

Valoree glanced awaywith a frown.Henryalreadyknew that he would be receiving punishment, or mayhaphe wasassuring her with hiswords that he understood she had to inflict it to maintaincontrol of theship. Also even thathe deserved it.

"It depends on whether he has to die or not, " she decidedat last.

Henry nodded solemnly.

She shifted impatiently and muttered, "I know little about maritallaw. Do you or any of themen? "

"If ye marry him, all that is yours is his, " he assured her eagerly.

Her mouth tightened. "I fail to see what makesyou so damn happy about allof this, " she said in a snail. "If I marry him everything is his.If I do not, everything goes tosomeone else.

Either way I lose everything – including control over my own destiny."

Henry blinked at that and frowned slightly. "Aye.Well, it isthe way of the world, girl… er…Captain." Expelling a breath, he took a step closer. "If ye wantmy opinion, yer future willbe brighter in the hands of DanielthanwithBeecham, and that’s afact."

"I don’t want your opinion, " Valoree snapped, her mouth twitching. Then she shook her head impatiently. "You do not understand at all. Thereisno threat that somedayyou shall be forced togive up allyour authority and respect to stand behind a woman!"

He blinked in surprise at that. "But I’ve already done that.

When I agreed towork feryou."

She frowned at him impatiently. "You are being deliberately obtuse, Henry. You know what I mean. You can leave my employifyou wish."

Sighing, he moved closer again. "You arelike a fish swimming against the stream. Do youtellme that youtruly do not grow weary from allthe responsibility? That you do not sometimes wish to lay downyour heavy load and allow someone else to carry it? You have shown spirit and courage by yourleading of the men so far, but I know it weariesye."

"I’ll not deny that. But to share it with someone would be preferable tobeing ruled by another."

"I’m suspecting Thurbornewillbeartheworst of the burden, butallow ye the freedom to be yourself."

"You suspect, " sherepeated tiredly. "But what if hedoes not? "

"Do you truly think ye would behappier with Beecham? "

"Aye, he – "

"Is aboy wanting seasoning. By mycalculations, he’ll grow to be very likeDaniel in time, if given the chance. You would not give him the chance. It mightwork outanyway, but most likely wouldnot. Besides, to be honest, I don’tthinkye’d enjoy bedding him like youwillDaniel. Lord Thurbornesees ye for what you are; there areno illusions. He’s smart andstrong. Ye respect him for that, and don’tbotherdenying it. And ye wanthim."

Whenshe stiffened at that, he shrugged. "It’s plain talk I’m giving ye but thereisno time for other. Ye wanthim.And he wants you. You respect him and I would imagineafter today he must return the sentiment, " he added. "It’s moreto start on than a lot ofpeople have."

"But willhe wish tomarry me after I almosthad him hanged? "

Henry grimaced. "Aye, well, that may be a problem. He’s probably none toopleased with any of usright now."

"Ifhe will not marry me, I will have to seehim dead."

"Aye, " Henry answered, "Mayhap we could give him some time for his temper tocool."

"How much time? " she askeddryly. "Wedo have a time limit."

"Aye, eight months to make a babe, " Henry murmured, thinking for a moment. "Let’sgive him a week or so. We’ll sail south a ways and givehim some time to relax andgetover today, then putit tohim realdiplomatic-like."

"How diplomatic canyou put ‘Marrymeorswing’? " she asked dryly. Henry smiled andshrugged.

"Just give him a week."

Sighing, Valoree leaned back in her chair and nodded. "A week. Maybe a couple days more. But then we will have to deal with him and return to collect Beecham."

"Aye-aye." Henry turnedto open thedoor. "I’lljust go have a chat with himand getthelay of the land."

"You do that, " Valoree said.

Stepping onto the deck, Henry glanced about, his eyes wideningas he saw Daniel seated ona barrelwith Bull, One-Eye, Jackson, and Skully gathered abouthim. He was untied. He was also gulping down rum asifthere wereno tomorrow.

"Henry." One-Eye smiled athimashe approached and passed overa mug. "Wewere feeling like a touch of rum after that.

Came mighty close, didn’t it? "

"Tooclose, " Danielmuttered into his mug before tipping it to hismouth again.

The men all noddedsolemnly.

"Thinkthecaptainwould mind? "

Henry shook his head.

"How many lashes are we tohave? "Bull asked at last.

"It depends."

"Lashes? "Daniel frowned from oneto the otheras he lowered the mug from his lips."What do you mean? "

"Well, we went against the captain in bringing ye here, "

One-Eye explained."It almostcost your life."

"It still might, " Henry muttered intohis drink.

Daniel glanced at him sharply. "What? "

"Nothing."

"How many lashes? " Bull repeated.

"It depends."

"On what? "

"On her mood.Pourme another mug."

Chapter Thirteen

One-Eye and No-Nose joined Henry at therail, one on either side, takingin his grim expression silentlyfor a momentbefore One-Eye said with a grunt, "What’s got you looking all prune-faced? "

"I’ve been thinking about the captain andThurborne."

"Aye, well, that’s enough tomake a grownman cry, "One-Eye groused. The last two weeks had been hell on board ship.

Thurborne had stormed around looking like thunder – refusing even to look at the captain, let alone speak to her – and the captain in turn was gettingcrankier and crankier with the crew.

Meg, the first morning after the near-hanging, hadtried tosmooth things over between the couple. She was chewed out by both Valoree and Thurborne for it, and had since taken to stayingin her room to avoid the unpleasant atmosphere.The menweren’t so lucky. They had work to do to keep the shipsailingsouthward, and they couldonly try to stay out of the way. Worst of all, it was looking likethe stupid man wouldhang after all ifsomething wasn’t done.

"They’re both too damn stubborn for theirown good, " Henry complained.

"Aye, "No-Noseagreed."ButI say it’s mostly his fault."When Henry and One-Eye peered at him questioningly, he shrugged.

"He’s letting his pride stand in the way. The captain’s a fine woman."

"Aye, sheis. Butshe’s notexactlythekindof woman he is used to, " One-Eye pointedout.

"Well, ifshe were, she wouldn’t bethecaptain, now, would she? Besides, like other women or not, she’s got herfinepoints –  which anyone could see if they bothered tolook. For instance, she’s smart."

One-Eyenodded. "Never meta smarter woman."

"She knows more cursesthan I knowwords, "Skully pointed out, drawing the threemen’s attention to thefact that he, Bull, andPetey had joined them.

"Aye, and she never loses at poker, " One-Eye said as he, No-Nose, andHenry turnedtoface them. He added, "Much to my dismay."

"She holds her drink well, "Henry pointedout, andNo-Nose nodded in agreement. "Drinkslike afish andstill manages to sail astraight course."

"Never gets themal de mer, "Peteymurmured; then they all began throwing in various merits.

"Bornto the water."

"Nota touch squeamish."

"Never ever liketo faint, "

"Cut off Jeb’sleg without a grimacewhen he got the gangrene."

"Notafraid ofhard work."

"Pulls rigs andropes with the rest of us."

"Climbs the rigging like amonkey."

"A finefigure."

"Fills her pants well." They all nodded solemnly as they watched her crossing the deck in hertight black breeches.

"But is that what alordwants? " Petey askedquietlyafter a moment of silence.The other men looked athim as if he were mad.

Then Skully muttered, "He’s right. Just look at them noble ladies.Yenever see onebut she’sall trussed up in one of those gownsthey near to spill out of. They wear those silly wigs and they faint if they drop their hankies – "

"Nay, I’m thinking they drop their hankies cause they’re fainting, not the other way around, "One-Eyecorrected.

"Thepoint is thatif that is what theaveragenoble likes, our lady is…" He twisteduncomfortably, unwilling tostate even in his own mind that she was inadequate in anyway. Hedidn’t have to finish hissentence, however; the othermenhad caught his point.

One-Eye got angry at the slur to their captain. He turned on Skully furiously, but Henry stopped himwitha touch.

"Nay. Hehas a point."

"A point!" One-Eye glared at him.

"Aye.It’swhat I was pondering over when youandNo-Nose came tojoinme, " headmitted, thengrimacedasthe man glared at him. "Justthink on it, One-Eye.Why would the women all rush about hampered by such heavy skirts and acting so frail shouldthemen notlike it? "

One-Eye frowned. "Well, what sort of fool would want a weak-willed, stupid, helplesscreature for wife? "

"A nobleman, " Petey answered grimly.One-Eyefrowned.

"Truly? Yetruly think Thurborne’s being so stubborn ’cause …"

He paused suddenly and shook his head."He was panting after herlike a randy bull in London."

The other men began to nodinagreement.

"She was wearing a dress in London, " Henry pointed out quietly. They allwent still. "And she was alsoacting ladylike, at least as ladylike as she can."

Realization and alarmmingling ontheir expressions, the men were silent foramoment. Then One-Eye snapped, "Well, what the devilarewe to do about it? "

"Well, I’ve been thinking on that, and I have an idea, " Henry announced eagerly, eliciting a groan from the restof the men.

"We stilldon’t knowhow much hide your lastideais going to costus, Henry."

"Aye, but I didn’tknow all the facts then. She didn’t tell me about whatBeechamhad toldher. This one isa good idea."

"Oh, let himtalk, " One-Eyesaid. "We’ll at least hear him, then decide."

"What? " Valoree turned to peer at Henry and One-Eye in amazement. They had approached her above deck a moment beforeand said theyneededto speakwith her. Nodding, she had led them down tothe captain’s cabin. She had expected it would beaboutDaniel. She had given themantwo weeks tocalm down fromhis anger over almost being hanged, but he hadn’tsoftened onewhitas far as she could tell.It waslooking as though she was about tohaveto make ahard decision, but She had kept putting it off and putting it off.The men, it hadseemedto her whenthey had saidthey wished to speak, had decided they had all waited long enough.But then they had begun to speak, and she hadbeen so shocked by what they saidthatshe wasn’t sure shecouldhave possibly heard them right.

Henry cleared his throat, thenrepeated himself. "I saidthe men have allvotedand decided ye shouldwear a dress from nowon."

Valoree stared at him blankly. "They want me to wear a dress? On board aship? "

One-Eyeand Henry bothnodded.

"You expect me, your captain, to order you all aboutwearing a dress? "

"We voted onit."

"You voted." She stared athimblankly; thenher temper flew.

"Now see here, Henry!"

"We also voted that if ye won’twear a dress, ye’re tostep down as captain, " Henry finished, wincingevenas he said the words.

Valoree droppedintoher seat, herface expressionless, but her eyes fullof pain. Henry sighed. "We’re doing this foryer own good, Captain, girl. Thurborne’s not losingany of his temper, and we’re thinking if ye just wear a dress like ye did in London, maybe he’d remember he cared for ye. Then …" He sighed.