Page 121 of Tempest

Cat mirrored Ana, scurrying back into her cabin and latching the door behind her. She went to the windows first, hoping for some clue as to what was going on. But the view had not changed, the rain still hissing over the gentle waves in the shallows. Frustrated, she managed to shoulder open the smallest window on the starboard side of the gallery and poked her head out.

Rain spattered her face, but she barely felt it, too numb to move.

There was another ship drawn up alongside the Covenant. Bigger, grander, more ferocious in every way. Painted golden script, painstakingly maintained, read Seadragon below the ornate taffrail, itself carved in the image of a ferocious beast with gilded jaws. The black flag hung heavy from the stern staff, the ensign big as a sail, unmistakable. The white skull leered on jet black, a smiling mouth with a red arrow in its teeth.

Cat narrowed her eyes against the rain, her breath catching in her throat.

I’ve seen this ship before.

“Morovant,” she murmured.

* * *

WHEN FIRST SHE made her crossing, Cat knew little of piracy, and only then what gossip and books could tell her. After six months on Rosby, she knew barely anything more. After one night on the Covenant, she ventured she had a stronger grasp at the very least.

Captain Morovant commanded the Seadragon, a vessel even larger than the Covenant, big enough to challenge even the men-o’-war of the fleet. And Valerian Kane was his lieutenant, or first mate until very recently. It was no wonder he was still sailing in tandem with his mentor, especially if this was his first hunt. This rendezvous was certainly agreed upon already, to divide the spoils of the Venerable.

Or what was left of them.

Pressed up against the door, Cat waited tentatively for the first muffled sounds of conversation. Minutes passed, marked by a clock ticking valiantly in the corner. It was nearly broken, the seconds too long, but Cat tried to find comfort in it. It was either that or smash the thing for good.

Perhaps this is all a trick and Ana shoved me back in here as a joke, she thought. Certainly, they would meet on the grander ship. Certainly, Morovant would not come down to Valerian, but make Valerian come to him—

Beyond her cabin, a door hinge squeaked, and Cat inhaled sharply, holding her breath. As if whoever arrived might hear her across the room on the other side of the door. Both were men, muttering to each other in low voices. And there was no mistaking either, despite the long months since Cat last heard Captain Morovant’s triumphant laughter.

Their footsteps echoed as they entered, Valerian’s light prowl soft in contrast to Morovant’s heavy tread.

Quietly, Cat sent a burst of gratitude towards Ana, wherever she was on the ship.

Morovant’s voice had a melody to it, audible even behind the door. There would be no mistaking his lilt for Valerian’s rougher tone.

“I suppose we’ll get the worst out of the way,” the older captain said, a clap resounding through the council chamber. “I see no prize anchored alongside the Covenant.”

“Let no one say Harry Morovant is unobservant,” Valerian muttered, sounding amused. He laughed alongside his mentor; the two sounded more like father and son than two pirate captains.

But for their sharply differing appearances, Cat might have assumed they were.

Steps continued thumping, the voices growing closer as they rounded the table. There was a creak as someone sat down in a chair, followed quickly by a thunk—like a boot on the tabletop.

Cat guessed that was Valerian, meaning Morovant still paced.

“Did you sink it?” the older captain said, his jovial tone dissipating.

Valerian drew a heavy breath. “Not intentionally.”

Someone’s hand slapped the table with the sharp ring of metal. Morovant’s jewelry.

“I told you, running up on another vessel at the edge of a storm—it’s dangerous, unpredictable. For you and the prize!” Morovant scolded, his adornments jingling. Cat imagined him shaking a finger in Valerian’s face. “No matter how keen a sailor you claim to be.”

“It was barely a thunderstorm—”

“Valerian.”

The melody was gone, Morovant’s voice turning lethal.

“If you worry about my ability to read the sea, you should not have made me captain of this ship,” Valerian answered tightly.

“It is not you I worry for! If it were you alone against a hurricane, it’s you I’d bet on. I may not believe in the same things you do, but I believe in you, my boy.” The floor creaked as Morovant resumed pacing, circling closer to Cat’s door. “Alas it is not you alone on this ship. You have a solid crew, but we are all men. And men make mistakes.”