Twin Soul Series Omnibus 1: Books 1-5 (Twin Soul Series Book Sets) by McCaffrey-Winner & Brit Winner & Brianna Winner & Todd McCaffrey & Winner Twins

Author:McCaffrey-Winner & Brit Winner & Brianna Winner & Todd McCaffrey & Winner Twins [Winner, Brit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howler Publications
Published: 2020-11-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven: The Bitter North

“I’m going to miss you so much!” Queen Arivik sobbed as her one and only child, her precious Crown Prince, ascended the gangplank leading to the airship Spite. She spied Captain Ford moving to grab the Prince’s hand and shouted, “You take good care of my son!”

“I shall do my best by King and country,” Ford called back. “You may depend upon it.”

“Mother always gets carried away,” Crown Prince Nestor said quietly to Ford. He glanced around the ship. “Is everything ready?”

Ford nodded. “It is.”

“Then, please, Sir Ford, let us depart before mother breaks down completely,” Nestor said, turning to wave back to his mother, calling, “I’ll be fine, mother!”

“Kill another wyvern for the kingdom!” Queen Arivik shouted back.

“Rest assured, mother!” Nestor called back. Under his breath, he said to Ford, “Please, let us leave.” He waved to his mother, adding to Ford, “I think she’s had a bit too much tea today.”

“Tea?”

“It’s not just tea, you see,” Nestor confessed. “Now, please, by all the gods, let us leave!”

“As your highness wishes,” Ford said, gesturing to Knox by the helm.

“All hands, all hands!” Knox called. “Prepare to raise ship.”

Hands move quickly to their places and Reedis assumed his position under the balloons. Ford gestured for the prince to precede him as they walked steadily toward the stern.

“The crew seems different,” Nestor remarked as he caught a scowl from one particularly repellent specimen.

“We’ve had some changes,” Ford agreed. “I replaced Lieutenant Havenam with my boatswain, Knox.”

“So I see,” Nestor said, nodding toward the newly-made first lieutenant. “But wasn’t your… Havenam… the one who fell to his death?”

“Hence the need for replacement,” Ford said.

“What about that one, there?” Nestor asked, pointing to Jens. “Wasn’t he a lieutenant?”

“He was,” Ford agreed, nodding toward the surly airman. “We had a bit of a falling out, as it were.”

“Whatever for?” Nestor asked just as they neared Lieutenant Knox.

“He ‘fell’ off the ship,” Knox explained sourly.

“What? He fell, too?” Nestor asked.

“From virtue only,” Knox said. The prince gave him a look of confusion, so Knox explained, “He jumped ship, your highness.”

“Jumped ship?” Nestor said, glancing to Ford. “From how high?”

“My lieutenant means that Jens mutinied and signed aboard another ship,” Ford said. Ford allowed himself a small smile. “We recovered him on our last flight.”

“Oh!” Nestor said, eyes going wide. “The prizes you took!”

“Exactly,” Ford said. “If it weren’t for Jens here, we would be a lot poorer.” The ex-lieutenant gave them a miserable look and returned to his duties, splicing lines.

“And yet you bring a known mutineer with you?” Nestor asked in surprise.

“We were short-handed and didn’t have much choice,” Knox said, “the jail left us five short.”

“The jail?” Nestor exclaimed, glancing around the deck to examine the various crew visible. “You mean they’re all convicts?”

“Ex-convicts,” Ford corrected easily. “And some guards, too.”

Nestor gestured for Ford to come closer and whispered, “I’m not too sure of the guards, Sir Ford.”

“I feel much the same way, your highness,” Ford replied. “However, ‘Needs must when the gods drive’, as they say.

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