Pathfinder Tales--Pirate's Honor by Chris A. Jackson

Author:Chris A. Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2015-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Honor Among Thieves

Gods, I hate the Chelish Navy.” Torius scanned the Ostenso waterfront, crowded with warships bearing the red-and-black flags of Cheliax. He’d had more than one run-in with the Corentyn armada and had endeavored to stay well away from their warships—and from Cheliax—ever since. He felt confident that their disguises would hold up under casual scrutiny from the Chelish Navy, but there were a few Corentyn captains who knew him personally.

Let’s just pray that there aren’t any Corentyn ships stationed here, he thought.

“You hate all navies, Captain!” Snick chirped. “And I’m sure that pirates aren’t at the top of their favorite-people list. All’s fair in love and war, you know!”

“Thank Gozreh we’re not at war with that,” Torius countered, gesturing to a line of huge war galleons, their lofty sterncastles bristling with siege engines. “Sometimes I wonder why the devils don’t rule the whole Inner Sea.”

“Just be happy the notion hasn’t crossed their narrow little minds yet,” Snick said.

Torius squinted at the confusion of piers, docks, and buildings perched on pilings over the murky harbor water. It formed a maze even a rat would get lost in.

“Think we can find him?”

Snick sighed. “What have I been telling you during our entire crossing from Sothis, Captain?”

“Piece of cake.”

“Yup!” she agreed. “Piece of cake.”

“Watch yourself in there,” he said gravely. “You know how they feel about slips around here.”

“Slips are halflings, Captain,” she scoffed. “I’m a gnome. The hair’s a dead giveaway.” She waggled her fluorescent blue head under his nose.

“These people worship Asmodeus, Snick. Do you think your hair will stop them from making a slave out of you?”

The gnome’s smirk fell. “I get your point.” They watched in silence for the few moments it took Snick to regain her sense of humor. “Hell of a place for a slip thief to make a living,” she said, chuckling at her own joke.

“There’s an adel coming out to greet us, Captain,” Thillion said as he mounted the steps to the quarterdeck. He pointed to the Chelish flag fluttering from the forepost of the approaching barge. “Looks official.”

“Heave to, Thillion,” Torius ordered, straightening his fez and rehearsing his lines in his mind. “Boarding ladder on the port side.”

“Aye, sir! Heave to! Helm to windward!”

Stargazer—Torius had difficulty thinking of his beloved vessel as Sea Serpent—turned slowly into the wind, jibs and staysails cross-sheeted so the ship balanced between wind and water, as still as a stone. At least it’s the harbormaster’s barge, and not the navy, he thought.

“Time to turn on the charm,” Torius muttered as the adel came alongside and the rowers shipped their oars. The woman standing in the bow had coloring akin to Vreva’s, typically Chelish with dark hair and a pale complexion, but that was where any similarity to the courtesan ended. She looked to be as tall as Torius, but with broader shoulders, and she wore a bastard sword at her hip that he doubted he could wield. Her hard features were set in a look of authoritative conviction.

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