“I’m aware of that, Excellency, but there are… circumstances.”
He glanced along the line.
“Captain Orin, as you astutely noted, is no longer with us, having given his life for the cause. However, we were very fortunate to have, as a last-minute ally, master Culin of the Lassos council.”
“Culin?” the governor snapped. “The man is wanted on a hundred different charges! Piracy is merely somewhere on the list. This is hardly what I agreed to!”
The target of his bile stepped out from the line and bowed slightly to the governor.
“With respect, your Excellency, you will find upon investigation, that more than half of those charges are erroneous or at least inflated.”
As the governor glared at him, he cast a mischievous smile back.
“Indeed, if you give me a couple of days, I think you’ll find that my charge sheet is almost clear!”
“What?”
Culin grinned.
“Come now, governor. You must be aware of just how many people I have among your people. If I’d wished, I could have cleared my name years ago. But I would rather it were done in a legitimate manner.”
The governor glared at him and then turned the look on Samir.
“You could do far worse, governor. Master Culin truly is a master, of many things. I think you would find him a serious asset in the admiralty. Certainly I’d rather have him working for me than against me…”
The governor’s glare refused to shift and Samir sighed and withdrew a folded and worn sheet of parchment from his tunic.
“And this particular item was not part of our agreement, but I will proffer it as an extra incentive to accept the change in terms.”
The governor reached out and accepted the parchment, his scowl remaining deep as he unfolded it and read the neat script on the inner surface.
“What is this? A list of names? Who are these people?”
Samir’s grin became darkly mischievous.
“Those are all the people I slipped aboard your ships over the last few years. You may want to honourably discharge them all, since they’ve done you no harm and served as well as any other sailor.”
Next to him, Ghassan blinked.
“You really did have men on board their ships? I assumed that was a lie to goad the council into action?” he asked, his voice hovering somewhere between astonishment and anger. “Not sure I’d have gone along with this if I’d known that.”
Samir laughed quietly.
“I like to have a cushion to fall back on, Ghassan. You know that. There was always the possibility that the governor would not accept my offer, and I had to be prepared.”
Ghassan stared at his brother helplessly as Samir turned back to the governor.
“Straight deal time, governor. You accept the five of us with amnesty into your service and I give you a guaranteed end to the pirate island.”
The governor turned and whispered something into the ear of Marshal Tythias. The two men, along with Commodore Jaral retreated a few paces and then fell into a brief whispered discussion while the Pelasian admiral watched them, an unreadable expression on his face. After a long minute, the three officers turned and strode back across to them.
“Very well. The deal is this: Samir, Ghassan, Saja and Faerus will be pardoned entirely and accepted into the Imperial navy at the rank of Captain, with their own commands, as per your original request. Our offer with respect to master Culin is on different terms, however. We offer an amnesty for all his crimes to date, but without Imperial naval enlistment and on the understanding that he ‘disappears’ as far as we are concerned.”
Samir shook his head.
“That’s…”
He was cut off mid-sentence as the Pelasian admiral gestured at Culin.
“In that case, I would like to offer a position to this man. The Pelasian navy is more than aware of Culin’s accomplishments. I think we can use you?”
Culin shrugged.
“How’s the weather in Pelasia.”
“Hot” the man replied with a tight smile. “Always hot.”
Samir looked back and forth between the two until Culin gave a small nod.
“Looks like you have a deal, governor, though I think you’ve let a major asset slip your fingers there. Be very wary of the Pelasian navy now.”
The governor nodded.
“Then only one thing remains.”
His eyes rose to the mist on the horizon and the black rock of Lassos’ peak rising from the centre. Samir nodded and turned to his brother.
“Ghassan?”
Fishing in his tunic, the taller brother retrieved the bronze disk with its grizzly needle and displayed it openly to the men before them.
“And I have your word this is what you said it was?”
Samir nodded.
“The dead man’s compass. Since the Hart’s Heart took the other one to the bottom of the sea a few hours ago, this is the last. Moreover, I have taken extra steps to cutting off any future hope of navigating the reefs. You need have no more fear of the pirate island, governor. This is an end of it.”
He turned and nodded at Ghassan and the tall captain strode across to the rail nearby. With a curious smile, he changed his grip on the bronze compass and, nestling it in an underarm position, cast it with all his might out into the sea, where it hit the surface, skimmed three times and then disappeared with a plop, sinking to a watery grave.
The governor nodded as Ghassan returned to the group.
“Then our business is complete, captain Samir. Welcome to the Imperial navy. I believe Commodore Jaral has had rather a large cask of some corrosive liquid stored below deck in order to celebrate… I have it on authority that there are rites of passage to endure that defy official terms. I presume you are in no rush to return to your ships?”
Samir glanced back and forth between his friends and noted their grins.
“I think we can spare some time to carouse with our fellow officers, Excellency.”
Epilogue
The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon as Ghassan and Samir rested on the side rail of the Imperial flagship and stared out across the glittering sea. Ghassan had been careful with the drink below, aware at all times of the gaze of Commodore Jaral, and not entirely sure of where he now stood with his former captain, Still, he was back in a position of command and, even if Jaral still held misgivings, Ghassan would soon put them to one side and make his name a noble one again.
Life was suddenly a sea of possibilities. He smiled at the smaller captain by his side. Samir also had partaken only of a couple of drinks, the thumping of the blood in his wounded skull making him light-headed and fuzzy after only a few mouthfuls.
“You did it, Samir. You redeemed both of us.”
Samir nodded, wincing.
“More than that, Ghassan, I think, but it wasn’t just me. I may have been the central peg that held things together, but this was the work of several of us, including the governor and Culin and Saja… but most of all, I agree, it was the sons of Nadia.”
Smiling, he raised his cup to the darkening sky.
