suppose you could tag along with us, right boys?” Bonifast said to his crew.
“Aye, Captain!” they shouted.
“Of course you’ll have to pull your own weight,” he said. “As the Word says, A man who doesn’t work, doesn’t eat, and the same goes on this ship.”
Ethan and Gideon looked at one another. “We’d be happy to serve in any way we can, Captain Bonifast,” Gideon said.
“Very good. Anthony…Brass?”
“Yes, Captain?” they answered.
“I want you to take these lads below and get them something to eat in the mess. Then get them some clothes, if they have need, and bring them back up on deck within the hour. Show them what needs doing and how to do it.”
“Aye, Captain,” they said. Ethan followed Gideon, hurrying below deck with Bonifast’s men. Once again, divine providence had guided them in the way they should go. Soon they would arrive at Emmanuel, and Ethan wondered if he would find his sister. And if he did, would she be dead or alive?
THE SLAVER
The four o’clock bell sounded. Exactly twenty-one minutes later, the alarm went out from the crows nest. A ship had been spotted off the port bow. The weather had been fair up until one hour ago. A storm lay ahead of them now, and the wind had been picking up steadily, allowing the Maelstrom to gain a great deal of speed.
Ethan and Gideon were engaged in a lesson on how to furl and unfurl the sails. They climbed up the rigging with Brass. Ethan had exchanged his clothing for some brown slacks and a white pullover shirt while Gideon had refused to change from his priestly garments, choosing instead to wash them in a bucket with a washboard.
Captain Bonifast ordered more sail to catch the increasing wind. Brass explained how Captain Bonifast enjoyed finding the edge of storm systems, riding the good wind to propel them like a slingshot. “The Maelstrom gets its name for this reason, and no seabird can ride them out better,” Brass said.
“Spyglass!” Bonifast called. Anthony, who happened to be the first mate, handed the captain a brass telescope. Bonifast drew it to its full length, setting it toward the ship on the horizon. It appeared to be coming on course for Emmanuel as well. The ship was flying Mordred’s colors, a black flag with a single red circle and black pupil, like a red eye watching in the dark.
Bonifast murmured to himself. “Wait, what’s she doing?”
As he watched the ship, he saw every scrap of sail unfurl. They shifted their course, taking them directly toward the storm system looming on the horizon.
“She’s spotted us, boys!” he cried. “Break out every scrap of cloth we’ve got, Anthony, and strike the colors!”
Anthony shouted the captain’s orders to the crew. The command repeated across the deck. The men flew up the rigging like spiders crossing their webs. Bonifast turned to Anthony saying, “If they want to ride the storm, then we’ll show them why this old girl is called the Maelstrom, eh lad?”
“Aye, Captain.”
Ethan and Gideon climbed the netting alongside Brass, bringing them to the middle of the mizzenmast in order to help tie down the sail into proper position. “I don’t understand!” Ethan shouted over the wind.
“We’re going after that ship,” Gideon said.
“Yes, but why? Who are they?”
“Slaver ship!” Brass shouted.
The sails caught the wind and the ship surged forward faster.
“What’s a slaver ship?” Ethan asked.
“Mordred’s army has been making raids on the villages and towns at random,” Brass said. “They take prisoners to sell them as slaves outside Nodian borders. Some of them go to Emmanuel to work at the palace and take other jobs within the city for Mordred. He mostly has the women taken though. Mordred doesn’t want to risk a rebellion under his own nose. They burn out the villages and usually kill everyone else in the process.”
This reminded Ethan of what had taken place in Grandee. Had this been all there was to it, just supplying a slave trade? He couldn’t believe it was that simple. There had been a demon there in the council meeting. It had controlled the outcome, manipulating the men on the council in order to stop Grandee from joining the rebellion under King Stephen of Wayland.
Then another thought occurred to him. If this ship was a slaver, perhaps Elspeth might be onboard. He might be on the verge of finding and rescuing her before she could ever reach Mordred. This glimmer of hope comforted Ethan a little. He watched the ship running from Bonifast. Before Ethan could rejoice, Bonifast had to catch it.
From where Ethan stood, the slaver ship looked so far away. “Can we catch it?” he asked Brass. “My sister was taken by Mordred’s men.”
“It’s going to give us a run for sure,” Brass said. “They’re trying to hide in that storm, but Bonifast’s nickname is the Storm Rider for good reason. That man can navigate the swells like no one I’ve ever seen. I’ve not seen a slaver get away from him yet. He hates them. You lads had better hold tight and secure your lifelines. When we reach that storm it’s going to be a bumpy ride for all of us.”
It took over an hour to get close. In the meantime, the guns were prepped and Brass shared a little about what the Maelstrom could do in a real battle. The old girl carried sixty cannons, separated into two levels on both sides of the ship. Brass explained how the upper levels carried twenty-pounders while the lower levels, like the one they were standing inside now, housed the thirty-pounders. One of the secrets of Bonifast’s longstanding victories were his custom castings. “You see,” Brass said, holding up a twenty-pound ball. “These babies work very well. But, depending upon the enemy vessel’s strength, they may not have much penetrating power to the hull, where it really counts.”
Brass handed the ball to Gideon and walked over to one of the ammo crates behind the cannon crew. He removed a shell unlike anything they had ever seen before. Rather than the traditional round cannonball, this weapon was cylindrical with a very sharp cone tip at one end.
“Now this, lads, has got penetrating power,” Brass bragged. “When traditional ammunition can’t get the job done, we pull out these beauties. Then it’s all over. The captain had them specially designed. We can sink a galleon hundreds of yards away, while staying out of reach of its guns.”
Ethan noticed some of the lower deck guns were nearly twice the length of the others. “Does the added length allow you to shoot further?” Ethan asked.
“Well, it’s more about the powder charge on distance, but the barrel length gives us the kind of accuracy these guns really need. Our men are some of the best gunners sailing the Azure,” Brass said.
“He’s not exaggerating,” Bonifast added.
The captain had managed to sneak up on them. The ship pitched wildly, causing Ethan and Gideon to reach for the overhead beams in order to support themselves.
“It takes getting used to,” Bonifast said, “but you’ll both get your sea legs soon enough. Anyway, you might want to come up on deck. The weather is about to come down on us hard.”
“How close are we, Captain?” Ethan asked.
Bonifast looked at them, smiling with a ravenous gleam in his eyes like a wild man. “Soon, lads, and load up the specials for this one!”
There was a shout of “Aye” from the entire gunnery crew on that level. Then the captain led Ethan, Gideon, and Brass up on deck. The sight of the Azure Sea set into a frenzy, the way it was now, inspired awe and terror all at once. Gideon and Ethan looked at one another, amazed. To say that the beautiful Azure Sea looked angry would have been an understatement. What Ethan had seen before, as a calm sapphire jewel extending beyond his sight, had now become a vicious predator ready to devour the two ships at any moment. Roiling waves extended as far as Ethan could see terminating in ominous purple and gray thunderclouds at the horizon, in every direction.
