Troubled Waters (Black Flag Book 3) by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kaldrina sat on her bed, her shoulders slumped. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“You’re the Hierarch, aren’t you?”

She snorted, so derisively that I believed her. “It’s not that simple.”

Mags, though, did not. “Isn’t it?”

“Of course not. Look, I’m sorry, Captain. I wish we’d trusted you. I really do. But we had our reasons.”

It was Mags’ turn to snort. “Oh yes. Because we were ‘pirates’?”

“Yes. Exactly. We didn’t know who you were, and we didn’t know if you could be trusted.”

“So you lied to us, over and over? You blew up your own ship to force yourselves onto our mercy? Onto the mercy of ‘pirates’?”

“That wasn’t only to deceive you, Magdalene. We hoped – well, to deceive the Denari too.”

Maggie snorted again. “Something of a pattern with you people, I see.”

“They’re trying to kill us,” the hierarch shot back. “Or worse: capture us, to force our people to do their bidding. To enslave an entire planet, for their own gain.”

The two stared at each other for a long moment, and then Mags loosed a long, aggravated sigh. “So what were you hoping to accomplish by blowing up the ship?”

“We hoped the Denari would think we were lost. We wanted to buy ourselves some time.”

“It didn’t work.”

“Apparently not. Still, it was worth a try. And – I’m sorry about lying to you, Captain. But, if you’d remained, the Denari would have taken you by surprise. Your attention would have been on repairing my vessel. And now we’d all be dead, or worse.”

“Not if you told me the truth.”

Kaldrina considered, then nodded. “As I say: I am sorry.”

Mags passed a hand across her face. “Alright, is there anything else you’re not telling me, Kaldrina? Any other little surprises I should know about?”

The other woman hesitated, a split second too long. “No.”

I don’t think anyone, even Frank, believed her. “Kal,” he said, “you can trust the captain. She saved your life, twice already.”

“It’s not…it’s not that, Frank.”

“Then what?”

He reached out to take her hand, but she drew away. “I’ve told you what I can. I’ve told you what you need to know.” She shook her head and got to her feet. “I am, truly, sorry Magdalene. I am grateful for what you’ve done. I value your friendship.

“But I am Hierarch of Korinth. My first loyalty, my first duty, must be to Korinth. You understand, I am sure.”

An eyebrow crept slowly up Maggie’s forehead, but she nodded. “I do, Hierarch. And you should know: my first duty and my first loyalty is to this ship and her crew. Not Korinth, and not you. You’ve already endangered it once before by withholding information.

“If I find that you’ve done it again, I won’t be so forgiving. You understand, I am sure.”

She nodded, and her head came to rest at a proud angle with her nose tilted toward the ceiling and her chin set firmly. “I do. Now, if there is nothing else, I would ask that you leave my quarters.” With a softer gaze in Frank’s direction, she added, “All of you.

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