“Elizabeth?” Pane strode forward and caught the woman in his arms as the longboat came ashore. “They took my clothes!”
“We’ll get you some new ones, darling,” she assured him, and smirked at Hawk. “A little fish told me you were in a spot of trouble, but you can thank me later. Now, let’s get your ship repaired and take this gold back to Port Royal.”
16
Family Drama
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“...when a storm was coming on, and they anticipated that a ship might sink, they swam before it, and sang most sweetly of the delight to be found beneath the water, begging the seafarers not to be afraid of coming down below.”
? Hans Christian Andersen
IT WAS DIFFICULT to storm into a place when you were operating minus one lower appendage. They didn’t call the humans “bipeds” for nothing: it impliedtwo, didn’t it? Nevertheless, Silverfin puffed out his chest, girded his somewhat newly acquired loins, and pushed open the brothel door with as much bravado as he could muster.
“I wish to speak to my sister!” he pronounced to the first whore who approached him.
“Hey there, Finn the Cannon,” the girl winked. He had recognized her from before. Bright blue eyes, heaving bosoms, shiny mane of black hair that would not have looked out of place on a mermaid.
“Fetch Mara for me,please.”
“Sure thing, handsome.” Her finger stroked alongside his chin and then she ascended the staircase, walking like all eyes were on her.
Silverfin took a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm his nerves. He had been surly the entire way back to Port Royal, his favorite sibling’s betrayal stinging him to the core more than he could express. Hawk had fussed over him, but Silverfin found himself unable to eloquently convey what precisely was bothering him, so he figured it was easier to let Hawk think it was having to split their share with theRose of the Sea.
At last, Mara’s distinctive head of curls appeared at the top of the landing and she swooped down to meet him, eyes aglow and a smile curled in the corner of her mouth.
“Maraxilla!”
“Silverfin?”
“Let’s talk in there!” He motioned with his head towards a private room, which Mara unlocked with one of her many keys.
“Is this any way to greet your sister who has now saved you from death by starvation?”
“You know very well that I would not have starved out on that beach! How could you do it? You knew I had intended that treasure for Samuel... Captain Hawk, I mean!”
“You ungrateful shit!” she veered on him. “Does your selfish, curly, poodle head only think about yourself and your own needs? If we hadn’t gone out there, eventually your beloved Captain Hawk and his crew would have perished. And besides,” she continued mercilessly, “this was never about treasure for you! You used it as an excuse to get close to Hawk and now you have him wrapped around your fin...finger! What aboutmeand my needs, huh? Have you ever stopped to think about the life Ican build for myself with a small portion of that money? I can finally be my own woman!”
“You are already your own woman!” he insisted.
“You’re a fool, Silverfin. You can return to the waters whenever you get tired of playing pirate in Port Royal. I am stuck here, like this,” she pointed to where her dress doubtless hid the bumpy knee-things, “forever!”
“I would have shared my gold with you, Mara! That was always my plan. It was meant as much for you as for Hawk!”
“Oh.”
For a moment, the siblings looked agape at each other without either one of them speaking, before simultaneously exclaiming, “I’m sorry!”
“No, I’m sorry,” Silverfin cut in. “Mara, I should have just told you.”
“I should have told you my plan as well!”
“But you’re right: it did work out in the end for the best,” Silverfin admitted.
“Only because you somehow convinced the sharks to eat Henry Pane’s entire crew,” Mara pointed out with a hint of a grateful smile.
“It was merely a suggestion,” Silverfin blushed. “But why do you say you cannot ever return to the waters, sister? I thought you and that red-headed vixen were all but weaving pearl crowns for each other.”
