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“I don’t know, Harrison. I’m not really in the market for an omega now.”
“You have to think of your legacy and your estate. If not now, then when, Brandon? You need to think this through. I only want you to be happy, you know. I think that once Chandler settles down, he’ll make a wonderful omega. A good spouse. Just do this for me, Brandon, and for yourself, and by this time next year, you could be expecting a son. Children would make everything in your life so much better.”
“I wonder why you haven’t had any yet then,” I asked and immediately regretted it. He’d been trying, but Rozamond had never gotten pregnant, and her physicians hadn’t been able to figure out why. I squeezed his arm when he looked at me, and I gave him a contrite look. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. It’s none of my business and it was unkind besides. I know you only have my best interests at heart, as I always have yours.”
Harrison was sincere, I knew. He really did want the best for me. But was the best really some omega that seemed like he might be quite a handful? On the other hand, Chandler had been faithful in his visits to me and had tried to help me with his little potions and treats he brought me. He seemed to be sincerely interested in seeing me regain my health. I certainly didn’t have anyone else in mind, so why not Chandler?
I gave in and agreed to the contract and Harrison had it drawn up right away. He said he’d tell his wife, Queen Rozamond, to begin making plans for a wedding that was sure to be quite the event. In the meantime, I should continue “taking the sea air” and regaining my strength in Sudfarma. Harrison said he would arrange everything. Out of guilt, I supposed, for getting me into this in the first place. Asher had stayed back at the lodge to take care of things at home, now that Lex was living in Igella, and Wyatt was still on his honeymoon with Darcy, his beautiful new omega.
Later, on the day of my examination by the priest Kellman, I went out walking on the beach again, trying to take his advice and strengthen my leg. The bright sky and blue sea were reminding me of the past again, and I was fighting the melancholy that sometimes threatened to swamp me, when I heard people coming down the beach toward me. I turned to see Harrison riding fast on his huge horse, a chestnut named Artemis, and letting him have his head to gallop toward me. Two of Harrison’s guards rode beside him, and his courtiers were dragging along behind him some fifty yards down the beach, plodding along at a much slower pace. They seemed to follow him everywhere he went these days, and I suspected it was due to his wife’s influence. Privately, I thought he longed for the lost days of his boyhood, when we cousins all used to ride together along the trails near the lodge.
He pulled up a few yards away and jumped down to come and greet me, tossing his reins to one of his guards and smiling broadly for a change as he greeted me. He was spending more and more time here in Sudafarma these days, since his father-in-law, the king of Sudfarma, was ailing and bedridden. I knew Harrison didn’t love spending so much time away from Morovia, but Queen Rozamond had probably insisted. Most people thought the old king wasn’t long for this world, and his son, Prince Chandler would then become king. I’d heard that Queen Rozamond had been named his Regent, since no omega could rule as king.
I wondered how that would work out. We all knew that Harrison was trapped in an unhappy marriage with his queen, and I suspected she was well aware of it too. She rarely let him out of her sight. It was good to see Harrison looking happy and well rested today as he drew closer. He jumped off his horse to embrace me and hold me out at arm’s length to look me over with a huge smile on his face.
“Brandon, it’s good to see you, cousin. You seem stronger today. How are you feeling?”
“Better. I’m anxious to get rid of this thing, though,” I said, brandishing the cane. “Makes me feel like an invalid. I’m ready to be busy again.”
“Well, if you really mean that, I may have a proposition for you. One of our ships, the Liberty, is leaving port this Friday, traveling down the coast to Anberra and then around Cape Lawrence to Cardmon to deliver a shipment of spices and take on a shipment of Cardmon silk and silver. I hope to use some of it to entice Crillia into establishing new trade routes with us—a conduit between our empire and the north. Sudfarma, Anberra and Cardmon are all on board with the idea, and only Igella and Crillia have been holding out. Lexington has never forgiven me for what happened to his omega. I’m afraid.”
“Forgive me, Harrison, but you can hardly blame him. What the queen did was...almost inconceivable.”
Harrison sighed. “I know. And I don’t mean to make light of it. I’ve told Lex over and over again how sorry I am. I was devastated about what happened.”
Harrison’s queen, Rozamond had tried to execute Lex’s omega, Rory, because of her prejudiced and backward religious beliefs. Rory would surely have perished if not for both supernatural and magical intervention. It was a long, involved story, but suffice to say, Lexington had never forgiven her and only his closeness to his brother, Harrison, had prevented him for killing her in retaliation. He’d asked Harrison to put her aside, but so far, the king had been resistant. Not because of any great love for her—we all suspected it was strictly a political marriage—but because it might cause a war with Sudfarma. I understood his predicament and his need to do the greater good, but Rory, not to mention Lex’s unborn child, had very nearly died. The incident had ruined his relationship with Harrison and the brothers now had at best an uneasy truce.
“How do you feel about going along on the voyage?” Harrison was asking. “Cardmon officials will be sending payment, which is quite substantial, so I need a man I can trust. Someone like you.”
“But I’m no sailor, Harrison.”
“Of course not. You don’t have to be. You’ll be assigned a cabin as a passenger and my agent and dine with the captain each evening. The ship will hug the coastline as it travels, so I think you’ll be quite comfortable. It will only take about two weeks, and then you’ll be back again. Chandler and my wife are busy with wedding preparations anyway. What do you think? Can I persuade you to do this for me?”
It was hard to turn down a king, even if the one in question was my cousin and one of my best friends since we were boys. This journey seemed pretty straightforward, with little threat of danger since we’d be keeping close to the coast, and to be honest, I had very little else to do.
“Why not?” I said and allowed myself to be quickly embraced and held out at arm’s length again.
“I really do, Brandon. I think this journey could be good for you. Who knows? You might even discover that you love the sea and make more trips like this for me. This could be just the beginning.”
Chapter One
Only a few weeks later, I found myself standing at the railing on deck of a ship called the Liberty, gazing up at the moon and the stars. The moon was only a sliver and far from full that evening, but the stars were brilliant overhead. The vast emptiness of the sky over the ocean made me feel a bit lonely. I couldn’t help wishing Asher or Wyatt were there with me to share this adventure. But Wyatt was happily engaged with his new omega, and Asher had claimed he had too much work to do to be taking sea voyages. I was a little at a loss. I’d be happy to get back home and find some work of my own to do, and I was tired of being coddled and treated like an invalid.
Still, this voyage did make a change of sorts. It wouldn’t be long before I was back home in Morovia at the lodge, and this time with a new omega to keep me company. I was due to be married only a few days after I returned. I left the rail to take a few turns around the deck, but it was growing later in the evening, and I decided I was getting too cold. I decided to go below, where it was much warmer and more pleasant out of the wind. My cabin was cozy, and someone had lit the hanging lantern in my room. I undressed quickly and climbed into my hammock. The easy sway of the ship soon put me to sleep, despite the discomfort of my leg, and the sound of the water on the sides of the ship was soothing.
I came suddenly awake a short time later, the breath jolted out of my body, and the commotion around me not only felt but heard. There didn’t seem to be any unusual wind and no heavy swell of the waves, so I couldn’t figure out what was happening at first. I flung on my shirt, jammed my legs into my trousers and remembered to grab my pistol before I rushed out on deck, still with bare feet. It was freezing on deck, and a loud crash came from not too far away. I saw with horror that it had been a cannon ball crashing through the mainsail. We were under attack.
Sailors were running everywhere with frantic haste, slinging buckets of water to try and put out various small fires and wet down the deck. One of the topsails had a bloom of orange, but a sailor flung himself courageously onto the yard with a dripping wet shirt to smother and beat at the flames.
“Sail ho!” the lookout cried out from above, and I knew that meant the ship shooting cannonballs at us had been spotted close by. Then he cried, “Watch out for boarders!” and I rushed to the side to see what I could. Boarders could mean only one thing in these waters—pirates.
The shouting and the confusion onboard got even worse after that as the sailors realized what was happening. The captain was at the great wheel of the ship trying to put the ship about and bring her broadside to bear. Men were already hurrying to man the guns, but I saw with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that they wouldn’t be in time.
“Stand by to repel boarders!” came the loud shout again from the bosun, and I saw the first sign of the pirates who were attacking us. Their ship, which was painted solid black with blood red sails, had drawn up close to ours, so they could use their grappling hooks. Men were swarming over the sides.
I heard a voice from the other ship calling, “Fire as she bears!”
The guns from the pirate ship roared, and fire and smoke filled the air around me. I heard the sounds of men yelling and wood splitting, and I was knocked to the deck. I banged my head hard against it and fought off the waves of blackness threatening to swamp me. Sitting up, I pulled out the pistol I’d stuck in my waistband before I’d run up on deck. I was so groggy and dizzy from the blow to my head that I was seeing double, but I was prepared to shoot the first pirate who came anywhere near me.
