“What’s happening?” he asked, of no one in particular.
Frowning and squinting into the distance, he watched the ships which, having begun to bank for positioning to blockade the Empress in, suddenly started jerking wildly around, two even colliding lightly as they continued on a roughly straight course, heading directly out to sea. There was a desperate commotion and the four ships were suddenly trying to sort themselves out and reverse their oars.
“What did you do?” he asked, turning to his temporary captain.
Ghassan smiled.
“Our four friends here have spent the last hour or two emulating what Asima did to my ship before you attacked us. These captains had no reason to bank until they reached the open sea, since they were facing the entrance while in dock. As soon as they got there ahead of us, they hauled on the rudders to turn and discovered that some villainous scoundrel has sawn most of the way through them. If you listened you could hear the cracks as they gave way and left them with no way to maneuvre.”
His smile widened.
“They’ll get back on track with steering oars, just like we did, but you’ll remember the disadvantage that put us at. And, of course, because they’re facing directly away from us, they can’t fire their artillery without taking out their own masts.
Ursa shook his head as he grinned.
“You’re a clever bastard, sir… a mad one, but a clever one!”
“I hope your oarsmen are as good as they think. You’ve only got a small space there to take us to port without colliding with those ships.”
Ursa squared his shoulders.
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem, sir.”
Ghassan nodded as the heavy man ran off to issue the orders. Brushing that stray lock of black curly hair out of his eyes, he watched the havoc aboard the four daram as they desperately tried to manoeuvre. The Empress would be a dot on the horizon before they even made it back to the dock for an emergency refit.
“Alright, Samir. I’ve done my bit. Now let’s see what you’ve been up to.”
In which a full reunion occurs
Samir nudged the teamster, who woke with a start.
“Smnff?”
“There’s a sail. I think it’s the Empress, but I want to be sure before I give the signal. What do you think?”
The man squinted off across the dark waves from their small and cold camp by the water’s edge. They had arrived at the village of Khediv around an hour ago and rode on along the beach until they were safely a quarter of a mile from civilisation. Even then, Samir had refused to allow them a fire for warmth or food, in case they were spotted by the wrong people. The carriage driver sat awake in his seat, guarding the vehicle and its slumbering occupant.
“It’s too big for a merchant ship and not flying military pennants, so if it’s not your ship, it’s another pirate.”
Samir nodded, satisfied, and finally retrieved his flint and steel, striking sparks on the dry straw, leaves and sticks until they caught and roared into life with an orange light that cast eerie shadows around the small camp.
Samir watched the ship out to sea as it gradually closed with the coast and nodded to himself once more as the Empress came to a stop just within safe depth and a lifeboat was lowered.
“Almost time to part ways, my friend.”
The teamster gave him a grin and raised an eyebrow. Samir looked down to see the man’s hand out open.
“Yes, I remember the arrangement. You’ll have to hang on until the others get here, though.”
As they waited, Samir strode over to the carriage and peered in through a crack in the curtains. He’d been doing so every ten minutes or so since they arrived, never entirely convinced that Asima would still be there the next time. He could have tied her, but would rather not have to. There she was, still slumped in the seat, fast asleep and believing herself on the way to Pelasia once again.
Samir smiled as he returned to the waterfront. The lifeboat was almost here now and Samir frowned as he realised there were six people in the vessel. Surely Ghassan hadn’t brought an honour guard from the ship or some such rubbish.
He heaved a sigh of relief as the six occupants came into clearer view: Ghassan and Ursa were accompanied by four of the more resourceful but less reputable people he employed from time to time in port. The boat arrived at the gravel beach with a crunch and Ghassan stepped out. Samir smiled at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You’ve been using my contacts?”
“I used your name in the ‘mermaid’, yes brother. I had a little job I needed doing before we could saunter off to meet you.”
One of the four, a short, dark and badly-shaven man flashed a dangerous look at Samir.
“Your friend here offered us forty corona apiece and I’d hate to find out I’ve been stiffed, Samir…”
Samir laughed lightly.
“Hardly, Grim.” He turned to Ursa.
“You brought my bag?”
With a nod, the big pirate retrieved a waterproof sack from the boat and handed it over. Samir dropped it to the floor with a crunch and delved within, removing a bag of coins. Opening it, he began to count out large, gold discs and proffered them to the man.
“I’m afraid I’m rather low on corona at the moment, but I do have these sols, minted in Germalla. I believe the general exchange rate is around eight corona to a sol, so if I give you, say six sol apiece, the extra should make up for the inconvenience of having to change the currency, yes?”
The man glared at Samir and the captain shrugged.
“Bearing in mind that I’m in M’Dahz semi-regularly and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to tell me if you have problems…”
“Seven apiece” the man said flatly.
“You drive a hard bargain, Grim. Still, you have me currently at a disadvantage. Seven it is, but I shall expect preferential rates the next time we do business.”
As the others reached out to collect their payment, Samir doled out the coins with a smile.
“I presume I can leave you all here to work out the details of the return journey to the town? You have carriage, cart and plenty of horses.”
As they nodded and examined their coins, biting the gold to test its authenticity, Samir grasped Ghassan by the shoulder and walked him away from the crowd toward the carriage. The driver nodded respectfully down at him and reached out to take the coins the pirate captain proffered. As the exchange took place quietly, Samir leaned closer to his brother conspiratorially and whispered.
“Have a quick look inside.”
Ghassan frowned and, leaning across to the wagon, pulled aside the drape a little to peer into the darkness within. He blinked and then checked again to be sure his eyes did not deceive him.
“What are you doing, Samir?”
There was a groan from within.
“Now you’ve gone and woken her, Ghassan. Still, it’s time she was up.”
Ghassan grasped Samir by the collar and pulled him close as the sounds of stirring came from within the coach.
“She cannot be trusted. She tried to kill me, Samir. She’s sold us out more than once. She values nothing but her own comfort and power, and we were about to be rid of her, probably for good.”
Samir nodded.
