Privateer (The Five Kingdoms #1) Read online

  Privateer

  Robin Roseau

  Table of Contents

  Map of the Five Kingdoms

  On War in the Five Kingdoms

  Raiding

  Parole

  Papers

  Calming Down

  Questions

  Disowned: Rani's Parents

  Warming Up

  Cursed

  Overboard

  Recovery

  Explanation

  Sorri's Capture

  Forgiveness

  Morning After

  Misplaced

  Accepted

  Landfall

  The Island

  Paid

  Despondent

  Credits

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Credits

  I would like to thank my beta readers, Donna, Jodie, Nancy and Stacy. You help me make my books better.

  Thank you to all my readers. You give meaning to my stories.

  The Five Kingdoms

  On War in the Five Kingdoms

  War in the Five Kingdoms was a civilized affair. The Grey Wizards saw to that. It hadn't always been like that; war in the Five Kingdoms used to be a bloody, horrible affair, one in which the civilians typically paid the heaviest price. Then the Great Wizard Marjorie put a stop to it, and wow! Did she put a stop to it.

  Killing her daughter, Venetia, during a peace parley hadn't been such a wise choice.

  Marjorie was from Pasorma, the southern-most country in the Five Kingdoms. Pasorma had been neutral in the dispute between Candora and Flarina, and thus Marjorie had seemed the perfect mediator for the peace talks. But in war, there are always those with a vested interest in continuing the conflict, and in the conflict between Candora and Flarina, those interests spoke with a Noridan accent.

  It was expected Marjorie would enter the war on the side of Candora, which had been losing the war with Flarina. Instead, she withdrew from the talks but declared that no wizards would be allowed to partake in future conflicts. Marjorie was a greater wizard than the next five greatest wizards of the Five Kingdoms combined, and when those five wizards stood shoulder to shoulder to her, they represented an unstoppable force.

  Marjorie declared the great island of Tenitia, deep in the Dentarian Sea, as belonging to the wizards. She summoned all wizards in the Five Kingdoms to Tenitia, killing any who opposed her; not many did. She made it illegal to teach magic anywhere other than Tenitia. And thus, magic fled the Five Kingdoms for a decade.

  When the world next saw Marjorie, she arrived with new rules of war, enforced by all the wizards of the Five Kingdoms. Over the centuries since, the wizards have, from time to time, implemented new rules.

  And thus, war in the Five Kingdoms was a civilized affair, enforced by the Grey Wizards.

  Raiding

  Captain Sorri Westmere

  I waited anxiously upon the deck of my ship, the Man O' War Fleetwind. The rest of my small fleet waited further offshore, protecting our retreat from the coastal waters of Norida. My landing party had taken the most dangerous, and presumably the longest of our missions ashore, but yet here we were, waiting for the final raiding party to return. They should have been back a half hour ago.

  We had time. I had led ten of my forces into the harbor, floating quietly from ship to ship, disabling their rudders. It might take a hour or three to repair the damage we had done, but certainly not more than that. With luck, several of the ships would set sail in pursuit of us before realizing what we had done, and in the crowded harbor, it was likely they would tangle with each other or run aground. But once warned, the rest would be prompt to check their own steering before lifting anchor, and repairs would begin equally as promptly.

  I had hoped to be away by now. I had hoped to be well out to sea by the time pursuit could begin.

  I paced upon the deck, resisting the urge to set back ashore and check on the delay for myself. The final raiding party was led by my first mate, a strong, capable woman named Radha Halfheart. Once upon a time, Radha and I had been lovers, briefly. Now she was my right hand, and I trusted her with my life. If there was a delay, Radha thought it was necessary, and I wouldn't jostle her elbow out of my own impatience. I wasn't worried something had gone terribly wrong; she would have left a string of runners to return to the ship in the case that had happened. We would have gotten word.

  I searched the shoreline through my spyglass. It was a dark night, but a small landing party stood out against the white sand of the beach. The landing party was led by Corporal Westmere, also known as my niece, Alonia. It was her first shore command. She had the six men and women of her command arranged competently, protecting the longboats that waited to return them to the Fleetwind. As I watched, she raised her own spyglass, first staring down the path leading to the manor home that had been Radha's target, then turning to gaze out in my direction. We stared at each other through spyglasses, although I doubted she could see me in the dim shadows and moonless night.

  I lowered my own spyglass and paced the deck of my ship.

  I had sent four raiding parties to shore this night, leading one myself. Radha had led the second, her target a manor home northeast from the inlet where we waited. The third raiding party had descended upon the governor's house, hoping to capture the governor's wife and children. The governor had been home; his wife and children had not been. That raid had been led by Sergeant Jordi Titan, taking with her two squads of marines. She'd taken the governor's purse and the contents of his desk, locking the governor, a meager three guards, and four members of the household in a secure storage room. They would be found eventually or break out of their confinement soon enough. We needed to be on our way.

  The fourth raiding party had more luck. Banks are typically a difficult target, but we had inside information, courtesy of a little unexpected pillow talk. Keeno Porana, one of my former cabin boys, had grown up, barely, and was a cute boy with a shy smile that appealed to a certain type of lady. In this particular case, that lady had been the second manager of the bank of Southgate, and she had engaged in boasting to Keeno. We hadn't sent him as a spy; indeed, he'd been on leave when hostilities between Alencia and Norida had broken out, and the lady's bragging had gone from Keeno's ears to mine. I sent two squads of marines to the bank, led by Lieutenant Darina Post. They had returned with the pay satchel for the Southgate garrison. She had left the remaining contents of the bank alone, of course; there are rules in war, after all.

  If Radha returned with her forces intact, and we successfully fled from the inevitable pursuit, we could consider this raid a partial success.

  Such are the hopes of a privateer.

  I paced the deck.

  It was another twenty minutes before I spied fresh movement upon the beach. Two dark forms, barely visible, appeared on the beach near the path Radha had used earlier. I immediately climbed the stairway onto the afterdeck and addressed Mara Nordon, my chief navigator and tonight's officer of the deck. "Quietly," I told her. "Prepare the ship."

  I didn't wait for acknowledgement but returned to the railing, raising my spyglass towards the beach. More dark figures appeared on the beach, and more, and then even more, far more than expected. My heart beat faster, expecting the worst, assuming that Radha's forces had been overwhelmed so rapidly they hadn't been able to get word back to us, and this was a counter-attack from the manor.

  I found the longboats in the spyglass, and Alonia's forces appeared to be calm. I searched for my niece, but it was impossible to make her out amongst the other dark figures on the beach.

  I watched as the forces emerging from the jungle approached the longboats. There was a pause, and then dark figures be
gan climbing into the boats. And then I saw the chests, each carried by two sailors. The raid must have been a success, but why were there so many people? There should have been at most four hostages, but I counted and decided there were ten or twelve; it was hard to be sure in the dark.

  I turned to Mara. "Have crews ready to accept the longboats," I ordered. "They'll be loaded to the gunwales."

  It took the better part of fifteen minutes before the longboats were all aboard. I knew right away Radha had taken command of the beach party, sending Alonia back in the first longboat. Well-seasoned sailors lifted the longboat with the ship's derrick, lowering it into a cradle on the deck, and I got a first look at the new hostages.

  From their finery, it was clear these were girls and women of importance, each with a hood pulled over her head and her hands bound behind her back. Alonia herself assisted each of the hostages from the longboat, and then the derrick hoisted the longboat and lowered it into the hold, freeing space for the next.

  I watched as my forces returned from shore. There were five chests but twelve hostages. We expected four at the most, but there were eight extra. Nine of the hostages, judging by their clothing, were women; three were boys. Finally Radha arrived, her longboat filled with marines and the final hostage. From the main deck, Radha looked up at me, and she was grinning broadly.

  I turned to Mara. "Get us out of here as discussed!" And then I descended the deck. As soon as I approached, Radha stood at attention facing me, still grinning wildly.

  I ignored her for a moment, studying the prisoners. They were lined up on deck, although Radha had kept one woman standing next to her. From her stature, I wondered for a moment if woman was the right word, as she was no larger than a young teenager. But her curves were unmistakable. I licked my lips before turning to my first mate and former lover.

  "My apologies for the delay, Captain," Radha said firmly. "We seem to have interrupted a party. It took some time to determine which were fair hostages, and some additional time to secure sufficient clothing for all of them." She glanced at the chests lined up along the deck; they would not be filled with plunder but instead would contain the necessities of our hostages.

  "You were not pursued?"

  "We left behind two legitimate hostages in exchange for an hour," Radha explained.

  I nodded. We wouldn't have had room for them, anyway, not if they all expected proper accommodations. As is, it was going to be crowded.

  All around us, sailors were seeing to their jobs. Topsails were set and the anchor pulled from the sea bottom. The ship began slowly moving forward. I left the details to Mara. She wouldn't be an officer aboard my ship if she weren't competent.

  "Who do we have, Commander Halfheart?" I asked her.

  Radha smiled. She stepped behind the prisoners and, one-by-one, gently removed their hoods. There was no reason to be rough; today's hostages could be tomorrow's allies, or even our own captors. I walked along, studying each prisoner as soon as his or her hood was removed. Each was gagged, and I knew the gags, like the bonds on their wrists, were magic. The prisoners could make noises, of course, but the gags could not be dislodged by anyone except the person who placed them or someone in that person's chain of command. I presumed Radha had gagged them herself, so only she and I could remove the gags. I left them in place, for now.

  Other than the number of hostages, there were no surprises, at least not initially. Two of the hostages were significantly older than my thirty-six years; most were much younger. The three males were boys, barely teenagers. The youngest stared up into my eyes defiantly, and if he were surprised to find himself facing a woman captain, he shouldn't have been. The other two boys stared at their feet, and from the streaks on their cheeks, I knew each had been crying.

  The two oldest prisoners looked weary and resigned to their fate. They had probably been through this experience before. If they gave parole and behaved, they would be treated well. Indeed, we have had hostages before who begged not to be ransomed; life as a prisoner aboard my ship could be more pleasant than life with an abusive husband or father.

  Of the younger women, several had been crying, and two were breathing noisily through their noses, snot running down their face. I wasn't impressed with them, but their emotional distress was not my concern.

  As we went down the line, Radha identified a few important people. One of the older women was identified as Glora Karden. Radha said the name with a smile.

  "The governor's wife?" I asked, staring into the woman's eyes. She nodded once.

  By the time we reached the end, I discovered we had the governor's two daughters, Lindora and Minori, and his son, Jorek. Jorek was the young boy who had stared into my eyes so defiantly.

  I examined the rest before coming to the last prisoner, the petite woman that had come in Radha's longboat. I eyed Radha, and she grinned at me. While I stood in front of her, Radha loosened the girl's hood but did not remove it.

  "And what have we here?" I asked. "Someone special?" It was difficult to believe we could have any prisoners more important than the governor's family, but perhaps someone important had been visiting.

  "Oh," Radha replied. "Not so special," she said. "Rani Karden, the governor's sister, was visiting."

  "She is perhaps married to someone important?" I asked.

  "She claims to be unmarried, and there is no ring."

  "And as I recall, the governor's father did not hold such a lofty position as his son."

  "Quite right," Radha said. But still she grinned. There was a puzzle here, but I didn't care to worry about it. I stepped forward myself and slowly removed the woman's hood.

  I found myself staring down into an arresting pair of bright green eyes, and I couldn't take my own eyes from hers.

  From behind the woman, I distantly heard Radha laughing.

  She knew my type.

  * * * *

  Rani Karden

  I stood straight and proud as I looked up with anger into the face of my captor. I deeply wanted to voice my displeasure with her, but I could not. My mouth was filled with the taste of magic-infused leather. The gag's spell not only prevented me from shedding the gag myself, but it also numbed my tongue and forced my lips to close down over the leather. This was intentional, as it trigged my mouth to produce saliva, and the gag's magic prevented anything from entering or leaving my mouth: no air, no sound, and no saliva. This meant my only choice was to swallow reflexively, but the saliva became infused with the spells magic, and the numbness slowly spread down my throat. Even though I thus far had avoided swallowing down the wrong pipe, I could already feel my vocal chords also growing numb.

  I hated the feeling.

  I equally hated the bonds on my wrists. They weren't cruel, but they weren't compromising, either. I had never been bound like this before, and I didn't remotely care for it, not at all.

  Of course, everything done to us had been done with great care, great care to keep us safe, for we were valuable of course, but also because mistreating prisoners of war carried a heavy penalty.

  But there was also great care, because what had been done was designed to make us feel helpless and vulnerable. It didn't matter that we were helpless and vulnerable, it mattered that we felt that way. Complacent prisoners were much easier to manage, after all.

  I had never been a hostage before, and if the gag were removed, and my tongue began to work again, someone was going to find out exactly how I felt about it.

  But for now, all I could do was stare defiantly into the face of my captor. I think perhaps she expected me to avert my gaze, to turn meek like my sister-in-law had, or perhaps to cry like some of the others had. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

  And so we studied each other. She was taller than I was, but then most were. She had strong features and broad shoulders. Her blond hair was pulled behind her head, and I couldn't tell if it was long or short. Her eyes were a piercing blue.

  In another setting, I might have found her looks intrigui
ng.

  From behind me I heard the voice of the woman who had led the raiding party. "Captain Sorri Westmere," she said. "May I present Rani Karden?"

  The woman in front of me, presumably Captain Westmere, began to smile broadly. "I am very pleased to meet you, Ms. Karden," she said.

  She spoke with a Flarinan accent. Norida and Flarina were not currently at war, and my eyes immediately moved to the masthead, hoping to make out the ship's colors in the dark.

  "Ah," said the captain. "Welcome aboard the Fleetwind," the captain said. "It is perhaps too dark to see, but we are flying the flag of Alencia today. Six months ago, it was the flag of Candora. Prior to that , it was your own flag of Norida. Who knows, six months from now, perhaps we shall again fly the Noridan flag."

  So she was a privateer, little better than a paid bounty hunter, with no loyalty to queen and country, but instead placing her loyalty only temporarily wherever it would do her the most good. Another reason to hate her.

  Oh, I had no doubt she was operating legally according to our complicated rules of war. No one dared operate otherwise, after all. The Grey Wizards saw to that, and the fact they had any magic available to them was telling as well.

  The captain looked past me for a moment, staring over my shoulder. I turned to follow her gaze, but all I saw was inky night and the vague shape of land some distance off.

  "Have the prisoners offered their parole?" the captain asked.

  "Not yet," our original captor replied. "We ran short on time."

  "Well then," said the captain, looking straight into my eyes. "My apologies, but we must wait a time or three until we are safely to sea. We will give you opportunity to pledge parole soon." She looked past me and continued. "Secure them below." Then she looked at me. "Bring this one to my cabin and watch her personally, Commander Halfheart."

  "Aye-aye, Captain."

  I felt hands clasp my arms, but then the captain said, "Wait." She stepped closer and reached for me. I looked up into her face from inches away. She reached for the back of my head, and her fingers fumbled with the pins holding my hair in place. She removed them slowly and deliberately, one by one, and after a moment my red hair tumbled free. The captain ran her fingers through it, arranging it about my shoulders.