Fortune of Emerald and Salt by Monroe Wildrose

Author:Monroe Wildrose [andrews, wednesday]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teapots and Stolen Souls Publishing

Chapter Fourteen

Mercy

I am not sure why I received so much pleasure by surprising them. Perhaps it was because I thought the two pirate captains needed a bit of knocking down. They were much too sure of themselves and what they knew to be true. Perhaps it was the way Elias smiled a bit under his astonishment. To my horror, I found myself preening under his approval. I wanted him to be amazed. And he was, they all were.

It took me a few minutes to get used to the delicate cutlass that Jones had given me. It was broader on the end than a fencing sword and a great deal lighter than the dull practice swords I used at home. I found I quite liked the feel of it. If I swung it properly, it sang through the air like a bird.

Luckily, the first round of sparring was with Jamie, the youngest surgeon I had ever encountered. To his credit, he held his sword with determination, but there was no denying that it was the first swordfight he had ever been in. Though when I overtook him, and he admitted defeat, he looked almost relieved. I assured him that I would be of absolutely no use if someone came to me with a life-threatening wound, and he gave me a small smile.

I think the crew wrote off my first win as some sort of fluke or blamed Jamie's inexperience. Though after they paired me with several more crew members, and I beat them with almost as much ease, the tone shifted. While Elias and Georgette looked on with approval, the crew became tense and irritated. They were being beaten by a woman and a woman who seemed to have no pirate-like qualities at that. I was also pleased by their vexation.

I knew my good humor showed as I was sparring with more flare than necessary. Most of them had little to no formal training, and their moves were crude and shortsighted. We took many breaks in between for water and food and at the end of the first day, I collapsed onto my bed without dinner and fully clothed. I was sore from head to toe, but I went to bed smiling. I wasn't sure when the last time I had done that had been.

The second day I was set to spar against Jones. Absalom would be paired with Bram as they were the two best swordmen on the ship, aside from the captains. The matches wouldn't be until later in the day to give us a little more of a rest. I was glad for it. My shoulder ached, though I did my best not to show it.

I was eating a midday meal with Absalom, who had brought out something he purchased at Liven's market to share with me. We talked about wedding ceremonies and the differences in our country’s traditions. I took a tough bit of ginger candy and chewed it thoughtfully as we looked out over the water.

Georgette had been right about the ocean.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.