Page 130 of Tempest

“So be it,” she answered, her free hand tearing off her hat, a spill of chestnut curls flowing over her shoulder. “Remember you did this, Fell. Remember I gave you a chance.”

At his side, the pistol gleamed, his hand hovering at the grip, ready to draw. “Don’t—”

“Men and women of the pirate republic.”

Her voice rang out across the tavern floor, so loud Cat wondered if Ahuala’s ghost might hear it. She shouted down the din of a rowdy afternoon, turning heads throughout the room. As varied as the faces were, in their clothes and colorings, Cat saw the same threads weaving through them all. The wildness all pirates carried, as if their souls had wings.

One of them caught her eye, a head taller than the rest, his ochre face a beacon. The tattoo of an eagle swooped over his ear, wings wrapping from his temple around the back of his shaved head.

“Widow Rose,” Captain Garedo murmured, a speckle of gray in his black eyebrows.

Cat did not reply, her focus still on the room, where every eye now looked to her. Some were puzzled, confused by the disturbance. A handful squinted at her with some recognition, trying to place the woman shouting so loudly while the sun was still high. A few might think her drunk, but she didn’t care.

“Free sailors of the Lyrian Sea,” she bellowed, speaking the words so many knew. It wiped clean any confusion, the pirates of the tavern drawing up tall and stern. “Loyal to no crown, subject to no king, bound to no flag.”

They answered in unison, a few clanging their cups on the bar or tabletops.

“No flag but the black!”

“No flag but the black,” Cat repeated, spitting venom. Power coursed through her, the kind she had not felt in months. She turned her eyes on Fell and his still-bruising grasp. “We have a Meridian dog in our midst.”

Before he could stop her, she wrenched up the sleeve of the arm that held her, baring the mark of the Meridian navy to every eye. In this place, it was as good as a brand. Fell’s face went white as the Lion roared up at the room.

Many voices erupted at once and a few glasses were thrown, ale spilling across the floor.

“Spy!” “Traitor!” “Keel him in the harbor!”

More than a few pirates lunged for Fell, snatching him clean off his feet. Cat twisted, yanking her arm away before she could be carried off too.

While they jeered curses and threats, Fell clung to what dignity he had. “I am an officer of His Majesty’s navy! Unhand me.”

Cat had to shake her head and laugh. It was her death warrant in Fell’s possession, but the captain seemed determined to sign his own.

“Bring him to Captain Vex,” she barked, meeting Fell’s glare over a pirate’s shoulder. He all but snarled at her, eyes mad as a wild horse. “He will know what to do with fleet scum.”

To her relief, Garedo stepped into the fray. The older captain commanded respect amongst the younger pirates, and the bloodthirsty captors froze, Fell still bound up in their grasp.

“Aye, Vex will hold him until the other captains can decide what to do with this imperial wretch,” Garedo said, gesturing for them to move.

Fell kicked out to no avail, his limbs firmly held. Even so, he looked far from surrender, teeth bared. “You’ll regret this, Cat.”

“I promise you, I will not,” she said, watching as he was dragged out. His shouts echoed long after he was gone, carried off into the labyrinth of the city.

To Vex and the other captains, she thought, considering Garedo’s order. Other captains. An electric chill raced over her skin, as if a thunderstorm gathered overhead. But Garedo moved to stand over her, tall as she remembered, and her thoughts scattered.

“Captain Garedo, you are a sight for sore eyes,” she said brightly, embracing him with one arm. “I am glad to see you alive.”

It was the truth, but a treacherous one. Cat watched him for any tell, any twitch of his face that might indicate ill-will. She had not forgotten Ana, who sniffed out Cat’s shifting allegiances immediately. Garedo earned his own command years ago and no longer sailed for the Covenant, but Cat did not know her reputation amongst pirates anymore. And she did not want to linger long enough to find out.

Garedo returned the hug warmly, without hesitation. But though he smiled, sorrow shadowed his dark eyes.

“I was in the Hook when Morovant sailed against the fleet,” he said, as if it were an apology. “Too far to answer the call.”

“Then you were lucky,” Cat replied, perhaps too quickly.

His brow arched, a look of pain on his face. “Am I?”

Cat could only sigh. These men, so eager to die in vain.