The dwarf, who also served as the tavern’s barmaid, led the one-eyed pirate to a table as the nagine glided along behind, the action snapping the wedding back into motion. Erindil’s lute player started strumming again, while Rosie resumed slidingglasses of brandy across the wooden bar. Korl and Val followed Sass and the pirates, taking seats across from them as the dwarf hurried off with the promise of pastries on her return.
Even though Cali hadn’t been tasked with taking the hellkins to Eldu, she sidled up behind Val to listen in on the conversation.
“Apologies again for dropping in on your wedding.” The pirate took a sip from her tankard of ale as another was handed to her master-at-arms. “But we’re grateful for the drinks. We’ve been riding hard to reach Wayside.”
Val leaned forward, a few tendrils slipping from the guardswoman’s blonde bun. “Through the snowstorm?”
The pirate swallowed and swiped the back of her hand across her foam-speckled mouth. “It couldn’t wait. We needed to find the folks who’d brought us the hellkin cargo.”
Vaskel materialized at Cali’s side, the hellkin’s usual scent of brimstone and sandalwood preceding him by a breath. “What happened? What did they do?”
The woman raised her head, her one blue eye lingering on Cali before she turned her attention to the hellkin bartender. “They escaped and stole my jolly boat.”
“Jolly boat?” Val asked.
“A row boat,” Cali said, without thinking. She knew the term well enough from all the pirate romances she’d read.
Val nodded as Vaskel muttered some hellkin curses Cali recognized from their crewing days, his crimson hands tightening into fists.
“How did they escape?” Val rapped her fingers on the table. “When we dropped them off, they were unconscious and bound.”
The pirate didn’t seem offended as she slid her steady gaze to Val, but her words were measured. “They did not stay that way.”
Thrain ambled up to Vaskel’s side. “I thought Marina had lost her powers.”
“She did,” Vaskel’s voice barely danced above a growl. “But she didn’t lose her cunning or her considerable experience with manipulation. That’s as natural to her as breathing.”
The dwarf grunted his agreement to that and ran a hand down his dark beard. “Aye, she’s a slippery one.”
“If you’re suggesting she manipulated our crew into helping her escape, I can assure you that didn’t happen.”
Everyone turned to the nagine, whose neck had flared wider. The one-eyed pirate, who was clearly her superior, put a hand on her arm. “Seraphina is right. No one in my crew was involved in the escape.”
Sass made her way back to the table and dropped a tray of pastries in the middle. “The hellkins escaped on their own and made off with your jolly boat. Is that why the pair of you traveled through a storm? To tell us?”
The nagine’s eyes became slits. “We’re here because we need to know more about these hellkins so we can better track them. It is harder to hunt prey you do not know.”
A chill went through Cali at the low hiss of the nagine’s voice. “You’re going after them?” She crossed her arms over her chest.“For taking a jolly boat? Wouldn’t that be more trouble than it’s worth?”
The nagine’s slitted nostrils flared, but the other pirate met Cali’s gaze and held it. The pantheri forgot to breathe as she lost herself in the blue eye, startled that this stranger had such an effect on her. Sure, she had a thing for pirate romance, but she’d also crewed all over the Known Lands. She wasn’t some maiden easily swayed by a pretty face. Then again, she’d never encountered an actual female pirate.
“They took nothing but my jolly boat.” The pirate interlaced her fingers in front of her, her voice edged with steel. “But no one steals from Bonnie One-Eye.”
Two
Well,that explained the eye patch.
There was a sharp inhalation of breath behind her, but when Cali turned she saw only Erindil fussing with Glen, who was edging closer and closer to the glasses of Rosie’s apple brandy on the bar.
“Bonnie One-Eye?” Sass almost dropped the buttermilk tartlet she’d snagged from the tray. “You’re Bonnie One-Eye?” She then flicked a gaze at the black eye patch and shook her head. “Forget I asked that.”
Bonnie’s mouth twitched. “You’ve heard of me?”
“Aye.” Sass moved closer to Val, her hip bumping the seated guardswoman’s shoulder. “I spent some time in Eldu before coming to Wayside. You can’t go near the docks without hearing about Bonnie One-Eye and the crew of The Cruel Mistress.”
Bonnie rested her chin on her steepled fingers, but the twitch of her lips showed amusement. “Don’t believe all the rumors.”
Sass spun on one heel and left in a flounce of burgundy skirt, leaving Cali to wonder exactly which rumors made the dwarf, who was usually so fearless, turn tail.
