Pirates of the Sorcerean II

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Zillah downed a large measure of rum and collected a plate of food, watching Percival for her chance to approach him all the while. The cook seemed competent enough with a galley full of fresh supplies, but it would be interesting to see what he could produce after several months at sea. When Percival turned away from the sailor he was chatting with to claim seconds, Zillah followed. She gulped more rum before speaking.

"Mr. McSween, d'ye 'have a minute? I'd like t' talk t' ye private-like. There's summat ye ought t' know."

 

William stood beside Old Jack, Anthony and Charles in the small cozy captains cabin. The table in the middle had a lot of maps strewn out all over that William with a gentle hand packed away into a chest behind his chair. Making a gesture for Anthony to close, the Black bearded pirate did so, standing guard so none would interfere.
"The informant said that they would be in there, right Jack?" William asked Old Jack with a voice of near reverence.

"Yes, she said that the way to find Anne-Maria would be aboard the Charlaine."

"Open it."

Old Jack moved the box towards Charles, being younger and stronger than the old pirate. Charles smiled and with a few well-aimed strokes of his cutlass, the lock was broken in too. Sheathing his cutlass, he slowly moved his hands to the small box opening it gently. Nothing happening, he turned it towards William.
"Nothing to fear, cap'n. It's all yours." he said and took a step backwards.

Inside the box was a bunch of folded documents, a leather pouch, and a jewellery box. Knowing what to search for, William took the leather pouch and threw them to Old Jack who cought them and inspected the contents.
"A lil mixture of gems, cap'n."

William nodded and took the jewellery box into his hands, making all able to see. Taking off the lid, the contents inside sparkled in the lantern's light. A gasp could be heard throughout the room.
"So the rumours were true, it does exist. The prison ship was just a cover for the real treasure.. The eyes of the dragon.." William said with a low voice.

In the box in his hand were two egg sized diamonds, sparkling all their worth. William grinned and started speaking a pirate's chant of old;

The dragon steals and the dragon hoards,
The greatest treasure of them all,
Find it you can, but nay alone,
A map and a crew, and eyes to see,
The path that will you lead deep beneath,
To the place where the dragon sleeps,
Upon the hoard of hoards, grandest of all.

Looking at Old Jack, William put the box on the table and closed it again, "Neither of you will mention anything besides documents and jewels." nodding at the jewels, "And make sure everyone gets a fair share of the loot, as for the captives, find out who's sea-worthy and willing to turn pirate, the rest we sell as slaves."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Anthony and Charles shouted, leaving the cabin. On their way out William shouted after them, "And turn the ship towards the Black Wind! We need to negotiate slaves."
they nodded and closed the door.

 

As Percival finished talking to Cutthroat bill, he made for the rum. Just then, he was interrupted by Matty. Asking if there was somewhere they could talk, he took him away from the party. Leading him toward his quarters, he stopped in an unused cabin.

"What's on yer mind Matty? Ye seem a little.... nervous."

 

How to start this? I certainly can't tell him that I'm revealing my secret because I don't trust that he won't try to use me against Captain LeVarde.

"I appreciate what you did for that woman," she said slowly, all traces of Matty's uneducated tones gone from her voice, "probably because I'm a little closer to it than any of the rest of the crew. You see, 'Matty Groves' is just an identity my father had me assume so that I could sail with him unharmed. I've kept it up after he died, mostly out of habit."

 

Percival sat back intrigued. "I thought I noticed something about ye on board the Dagger. And yer voice, it's not like most boys I've met. Who are ye really?"

 

"My name is Zillah, and I've been sailing since I was about eight years old. My father died almost three years ago, and I simply kept up the act. Few captains are willing to look too closely at a decent musician who's also willing to haul a line when the need arises."

 

"Yer a lass!" Percival exclaimed.

Sitting forward he looked into Zillah's eyes. "I couldt see it before, but now I do."

Thinking on the new situation, he was unsure how to proceed.

why is she telling me this? I'm not the kindest pirate she could meet

 

The Crimson Dagger slowly cleaved the sea, coming up on the side of the Black Wind. Attaching the two ships with grappling hooks, William and his most trusted guards entered the Black Wind to talk with the captain, after all there was a matter of slaves to be settled.

William strode towards a random pirate, not knowing a single of the men on this ship.
"I'm looking fer ya captain! Bring him forward!"

 

Kale, a big, dark-skinned fellow, was quick to inform Pierre that he had visitors. Pierre strode over to William.
"Ah, the Jackal." he said, smiling slightly, not quite sure what to think. "What is it that you need?"

 

"I'm hoping you'll help me keep this secret, Mr. McSween," she said, not smiling. "It's not generally safe for a woman to sail alone, even if I had money to pay passage. Since I don't, I have to work to get where I want to go. It's much easier to do so as Matty, even with a fiddle under my chin."

 

"We need to share the spoils, sir, We've found a chest holding a thousand pounds, and then there's the slaves. We currently have 30 on our ship."
William looked at Pierre, waiting to hear the loot of the Black Wind.

 

"Keeping yer identity a secret is probably a good thing. The last thing we need aboard ship is fer people to get distracted. We nearly had an incident with Lindy."

Percival sighs. "If the cap'n hadnt jumped in, I could have handled it without the sailor's death. But he committed mutiny and had to die. A pity"

"My next question is why are ye here? Yer a talented musician, and ye could do better than a ship load of cut-throats."

 

"We have slaves of about the same amount, and gems too." Pierre said. "Some weapons, too, muskets and so on. What is this about the chest?"

 

"Thank you. Settling into a tavern isn't for me, not just yet, except as a way to find my next ship. I need to keep sailing right now, to follow in my father's footsteps. Apparently in our earlier travels he left me bits of a small legacy scattered wherever we happened to touch land. There's no map, just some puzzling clues. Whenever I think I know where the next piece can be found, I get a berth on a ship headed in the right direction. I had a feeling that Captain LeVarde would be a good man to follow - I don't think that even he realized what the Jackal was getting him into. But that's not for me to speculate about." She stood to leave but paused with her hand on the door. "He knows, by the way. Captain LeVarde knows my real name, and what I'm trying to do."

 

"Just the captains chest, holding the soldiers pay and directions of the fort they were sailing too. How much do you suppose the gems are worth? 200? 500? 1000?"
William looks questioningly at Pierre.

 

Standing up, Percival placed a restraing hand on Zillah's shoulder. "Wait.... please"

Turning her around Percival looked her in the eyes. Looking older than his years he warned her, "Levarde knows? Be careful. Trust isnt something to be given out. You cant trust me too far, I've been a pirate fer too long. It does things to ye, and means ye shouldnt trust us too far. Also, dont trust LeVarde. A man that can kill his former crew isnt to be trusted either. If ye need someone in a tight spot, find Eldon. He's still got good in him, and hasn't been corrupted by the pirate life too much. Ye can trust him. I'm sure of it."

Taking a few careful thoughts, he made a surprising, to him, admission. "In a short while I'll be talking to Eldon. I think ye should join us. I have some documents off the Wave Crest, and I think they could be interesting. Ye can help us with them, and in return, we might be able to help ye with yer clues."

With that he let Zillah go. Sitting down, he pondered the new developments.

 

"About seven hundred. You can get more at certain places." glancing at William, Pierre followed up with "Would you like to join in a small feast we're having, and discuss this over a good cup of wine? I have a fellow here who has an interesting preposition for me."

 

Walking down to the crew berths, Percival walked over to Eldon. Gently waking him, he asked him to meet him by his cabin.

Percival then went up on deck and got some rum, water, and some food. Carrying these he went back to his cabin. He entered quitly, hoping not to wake Lamira. Seeing she was resting, he placed the food and drink by the bed side. Then quietly removing a loose floorboard, he pulled out the documents he took off the Wave Crest.

Whispering to Eldon he said, "Lets take these over to the spare cabin. I think it's about time we learn what we can from these. Ye might find that messenger's name. Also, we might find some information we can profit from, either as selling, or from some thievery."

With a grin, Percival quietly closed the door, after throwing one last look back at the sleeping lass.

 

William grins, "Why a glass of wine upon our fine victory sounds like just the thing, lead the way Pierre."
Seeming glad to have something to drink, William and his little escort follows Pierre to the feast where they help themselves to some well-earned food and drink.

 

As Zillah played and sang (fortunately, she was an alto low enough to fool a bunch of rum-soaked pirates; normally, she sang only enough to get the rest of the crew to join in) for the party, she considered Percival's words about trust, and his subsequent offer. Yah, haven't I learned well enough that trust is not something to be given freely, but also that never trusting anyone makes life a lonely place? Men show their hearts so much easier than women do - I'm sure I can trust Captain LeVarde, no matter what his history. It's that history that makes him trustworthy.

As for Percival, and Eldon...I don't yet. But trust is a two-way street, and I suppose there's no better way to see who's on the path with you than to start walking.

Begging off with a dry throat, she packed up her fiddle and vanished below decks to the spare cabin. She knocked gently on the closed door.