you.”
“It ain’t?” Rosh asked, surprised. He covered quickly, but too late to avoid an exasperated look on Jenna’s face. “Of course it ain’t. Must be your fault. Thought you was supposed to be their new queen or something?”
“Mind a post and keep your tongue to yourself,” she snapped at him. Grumbling, he moved off and helped the even more confused Xander to get the rigging and the sails set up in case they needed to set sail. The Constable led the villagers onto the dock and approached the ship. He did a double take when he saw Jenna standing atop the gangplank, a hand on the sword at her side, the same sword that had been stained with her lover’s blood.
“My Lady, why are you not at the tower?”
“I’m not your Lady,” she said. “You’ve no Lord, he’s dead.”
There were gasps amongst the mob. “How did he die?”
“He tried to take control of me — to take over my body and soul. He died with a sword through his chest,” she said. “You are free of his sadistic rule.”
“If what you say is true…”
“It is,” she said, interrupting.
“I… I must think on this. It seems as though a veil has been lifted, and I am confused. I trust we cannot keep you here without great loss of life. Will you wait and tell me more after I see the tower myself?”
Jenna thought on it for a long minute then nodded. “Aye, we will wait.”
“Where is your Captain?”
“He is resting, the fight with the wizard was difficult,” she said, not wanting to admit that she had been the one to run him through.
Several men waited at the dock, keeping an eye on the Voidhawk and crew. The others went with the constable, heading up to the tower and seeing with their own eyes what had happened. When they returned an hour later, the constable brought with them Dexter’s sword.
“It is as you say,” he admitted. “With every passing moment I see things more clearly. I am an old man now, but in my youth why would I wish to stay in a small place such as this? It is not the paradise I had dreamed it to be.”
“This is your Captain’s sword, I believe. It is a fine weapon and I remember seeing it upon his hip,” he said, walking up the gangplank.
“I admit I do not know what to do now. We have always had the protection and governance of our Lord. I do not hold you at fault. Indeed, I feel gratitude for you opening our eyes. Many of our people came from the stars, and have stayed against their will without even knowing it.”
Rosh nodded from where he watched nearby. He had been willing to stay as well. He looked to Willa and she met his gaze. She had similar thoughts.
“You’ve been ruling them for a while now.”
Everybody turned, surprised to hear the words coming from behind them. Dexter stood, leaning heavily against the stairway railing. He walked across the deck, his face pale. “Constable, your Lord stayed in his tower minding his business and left you to run Deepingdale. He used you like cattle, stealing a body when he needed one so he could cheat death.”
“Now you can live for yourself. Look about, the town needs fixing with the magic gone. You’ve a fine port, and this is a fine place for trading. We’ll spread the word of your location on the charts if you’re of a mind for us to do it.”
He glanced at the other ships in the harbor. “Some fine ships here too, sell them off or make a navy to protect yourself. There’s plenty of them that’d be too happy to turn this into their private base…”
The constable followed Dexter’s gaze, eyeing the ships thoughtfully. He nodded as the ideas meshed with his own and he put a spin on them. “Captain, I think you’ve done a great deed for Deepingdale today. Are you sure you’d not like to be the Lord instead? Free of magic, that is.”
Dexter smiled weakly and shook his head. “Dreams only constable. The Voidhawk is enough for me. I’ve a fine ship and the best crew to be had. I got no right wanting anything more — that’d just be greedy.”
He nodded, smiling in appreciation. “There are better ships here too, can I at least offer you one of them instead of the Voidhawk?”
Without turning or even thinking about it, Dexter shook his head. He swayed a little on his feet, and Jenna went to him to hold him steady. She put herself under his arm to look as though she was simply embracing him rather than keeping him from passing out.
“There’s no ship better than the Voidhawk,” she answered for him. He smiled at her, then searched the faces of his crew. Even Rosh, grudgingly, nodded his head in agreement.
“Then stay as long as you wish, at least,” Lorren said. “We owe you a debt that will be hard to repay.”
Dexter nodded and thanked him, then let Jenna escort him back to his quarters. The bandages they had placed on him showed fresh bleeding and she changed them to be certain he had not re-injured himself. Nonetheless, Jenna proceeded to let him know what she thought of his antics.
“Hush,” he told her. “Somebody had to deal with them — leaving you and Rosh to run things, there’s no telling what would have happened! We’d probably end up in some lousy tub running for our life.”
Jenna’s scowl made him laugh, which in turn made him grimace in pain. “Go away, women, I need some rest.”
She nodded. “Stay in bed this time,” she admonished him. “That way I can punish you properly when you get better!”
