Where Loyalties Lie

Chapter 43 - Starry Dawn

Elaina wanted to get drunk. She wanted the sweet bliss of intoxication to dull the pain. The only problem was she didn’t feel like drinking. After ordering one mug of what passed for ale, it now sat untouched on the table, both tempting and repulsing her.

It was a lively place, the Righteous Indignation. Men and women drank, sang, danced, and drank some more. Her own crew mingled with those from Mary’s Virtue, North Gale, and The Phoenix, and with the townsfolk as well, and it was both merry and rowdy.

Some men and women paired up and slipped out, while others stayed to keep the money flowing in the direction of the tavern owner. A number of competitions started up, tests of strength or durability and even a brief wrestling match. Pirates and sailors alike spent most of their lives aboard a ship with only brief interludes ashore where they could truly unwind, and unwind they did. Elaina didn’t join them. While most of the tavern was loud, lively, and filled with song or laughter, Elaina’s corner was a void of merriment. She sat alone, her boots up on the table, scowling at everything and everyone. No one dared approach, not even the serving boy, and those that glanced her way quickly moved their eyes elsewhere. All but the giant of a man she remembered from Fango. Khan, she seemed to remember his name was, and he wasn’t subtle about his interest in Elaina – though even he didn’t dare to come near.

Elaina didn’t want to be there. Not in the tavern, not in New Sev’relain, not even in the isles. Right now she wanted to be anywhere but, yet there she was and there she would stay. If Starry Dawn sailed out now, it would look like she was running away, and that wasn’t something she could live with. She’d already run away from her father and from Fango, and she couldn’t run away from Keelin and this shit hole as well.

Why he’d choose that little slip of a girl still didn’t make any sense to her. Elaina had known Keelin since they were children. He’d walked onto The Black Death at just thirteen years old and demanded a spot on the crew. Tanner wasn’t the type of man to take demands, especially aboard his own ship, so he’d had Keelin beaten to a bloody mess. But Tanner had seen something in the boy, something that made him stop short of killing Keelin, and he’d given the lad what he wanted. Elaina was eleven at the time, and she’d seen something in Keelin too, though it was likely a very different something.

For years Elaina and Keelin had been inseparable whether on the ship or off, and it hadn’t been long before they were far more than just friends. Elaina’s father had known what they were doing, but Tanner didn’t care who she fucked and he’d liked Keelin, treated him almost as another son. Elaina even got pregnant once, but long before she’d told Keelin and before she’d even decided whether to keep it or not, she lost the wretched thing.

Then came The Phoenix. Tanner captured the galleon, and a true prize she was, even more beautiful than The Black Death. Blu already had his ship and Elaina was just old enough to take her own command, so Tanner gave her the boat and let her pick a few crew members to go with her. Of course she’d taken Keelin, though her father had almost refused that request. It was no secret he wanted Keelin to have a ship of his own under Tanner’s command.

Elaina still didn’t know how Keelin had managed it, but the bastard turned a few of the crew, and before Elaina even had a chance to sail her new ship, Keelin and Yanic stole the damned thing and ran.

Tanner had been furious, threatening death and worse as soon as he caught Stillwater, but Elaina hadn’t been angry in the slightest; if anything it only made her want Keelin more.

It wasn’t like they were promised. They’d never made any commitments to each other, and they both knew they’d fucked others, but Elaina had always thought they had a connection. No matter what happened in-between, every time they ended up at the same port, the sparks flew and left them both feeling sore. Every time one sailed away from the other, Elaina found it harder and harder.

Elaina’s mother had once told her that some people were born to be together and that fate would guide them to each other again and again until they fulfilled their destiny. Elaina had thought it a tale full of shit. Deep down, though, she’d honestly believed she and Keelin were being pushed together by fate. Never had she chosen another man over him and, until now, he’d never chosen another woman. It was maddening, and Elaina knew full well that madness ran in her family.

As her mood spiralled darker and darker, Elaina finally decided it was time to stop before she did something stupid. She downed half the mug of ale in one go and was just thinking about vacating her lone table and joining the festivities when the tavern door opened and Keelin walked through, followed closely by the little girl he’d chosen.

Elaina relaxed back into her seat, all thoughts of enjoying her evening forgotten, and sent an icy glare towards Keelin and his new lover. The girl was the first to notice, perhaps sensing hostile eyes following her, and whispered into Keelin’s ear. Elaina felt her rage surge as the woman clearly laid claim to her captain.

Keelin pointed towards a group of men from his crew, and the girl reluctantly left his side. Elaina watched as he approached her table.

“Mind if I sit, Elaina?”

She considered kicking the spare chair into his legs. It would be a petty thing to do and would never cause any real damage, so she refrained. She nodded just once by way of reply.

Keelin pulled out the chair and sat slowly, never taking his eyes from Elaina. “About earlier…”

“You work for Morrass now?” Elaina said. An idea had popped into her head, a way to punish Keelin and a way to get back into her father’s graces all at once.

“I… We work together,” Keelin said awkwardly. “He has a plan for the isles, Elaina. I think it might be a good thing.”

“Aye?” Elaina glanced towards the girl, to find her staring right back. Elaina let slip an ugly grin and turned her attention back to Keelin.

“He wants to unify the folk of the isles. All of us. He wants us to stand up against the other kingdoms, not just hide from them.”

“Can’t unify shit without my da on his side.”

“We know.”

“What if I can do that?”

Keelin looked confused. “You really think you can get Tanner to talk to Drake?”

Elaina smiled and held Keelin’s eyes until he looked away. “My da knows we’re in the shit as well as you do. Bastards are burning our towns, killing us. Best way to stop that is together. He knows it. Just don’t wanna be the one to make the first move. Now, if we were to say that Drake asked for a parley – well, that’d look like Drake was coming to my da, not the other way round.”

“Drake isn’t here,” Keelin pointed out as if Elaina didn’t already know.

“But he will be soon?”

“Any time now.” Keelin sounded far less than certain.

“Seventy days from now,” Elaina said. “On Ash.”

Ash was a small island far away from both New Sev’relain and Fango, and it could be considered neutral ground. The island was too small to be habitable; it was little more than rock and sand with a few overgrown weeds daring to call themselves trees, but it was a good place to spring a trap. If she could convince Keelin to drag Drake to his own execution, her father would have no choice but to accept Elaina back into his good books. She might even be able to ask for Corin’s release.

The thought of Corin tugged open the wound in Elaina’s chest, and at that moment she wanted nothing so much as to tell Keelin about it. He would understand her pain; he’d always understood her.

Keelin appeared to be mulling it over in his head, but eventually he nodded. “Seventy days from now on Ash.” He hesitated. “Elaina, about earlier. Aimi…”

Elaina pulled her feet off the table and leaned forwards to give the bastard a good view of her cleavage. She barked out a savage laugh. “I don’t care who you fuck, Captain Stillwater.”

Before Keelin could say anything else, Elaina stood and walked away. She crossed the room to where Captain Khan was sitting, and with two words whispered in his ear he followed her back to Starry Dawn.