[Tides #1] Air and Ash by Alex Lidell

Author:Alex Lidell
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Young Adult, Girls & Women, Pirates, Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Magic
ISBN: 9780998760407
Publisher: Danger Bearing Press
Published: 2017-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

I stand outside Captain Rima’s cabin, the muffled voices of Domenic and Rima escaping from the closed door. I’m fatigued to the bone. The morning air-calling practice in my cabin is as distant as the horizon. Disappointment soaks through me, a heavy layer beneath ripped clothes matted with grime and dried blood. We’ve failed. The Tirik have taken not one but two of our charges as prizes.

“The boarding party was never intended to take the Aurora,” Domenic’s low voice explains behind the door. “It was a diversion to occupy us while the Devron cut out the merchants.”

“Dishonorable cowards.” Rima spits the words. “Attacking civilian vessels while shying from our guns.”

I roll my eyes. Does Rima ever get tired of his own rhetoric? If the Tirik captain had had an inkling of our incompetence, he would have taken the Aurora first, despite our heavier armament. And then he’d have two frigates with which to lasso our charges.

Rima sighs. “You are certain it was the Siren and the Maiden that were taken?” The relief is sickening. The Eflian merchant is safe. That is what matters to him. “Very well, bring in the girl.”

I straighten, not wanting to be caught slouching against the bulkhead when Domenic opens the door. My stomach knots at the approaching footsteps. I’m little savoring explaining how I came to learn how to command a gun battery and understand Tirik.

Domenic sticks his head into the passageway and motions for me to come inside. As I cross the threshold, he gives me a hard look, warning me to behave.

As if I need to draw any more attention to myself than I already have.

“You wished to see me, sir?” I bow formally as I take in Captain Rima’s living quarters. The cabin spans the width of the ship and is filled with rich carved wood furnishings, good china, and medals. A window shows the ocean and the two ships left in the Aurora’s wake. My gaze stops at a painting hanging beside Rima’s worktable. It’s a portrait of a woman. She wears a gaudy purple dress I’m certain I’ve seen before. On second glance, the pointed nose and dark eyes are also familiar.

I sift my memory for her name. Lady Madeline. Yes, Lady Madeline from Eflia North, who spends her days lavishly prancing between courts to inspire people to charitable deeds—preferably ones that bolster her prestige without the inconvenience of work. She also owns the Lyron Herald, a news press with all the integrity of a hungry hyena. When Thad threw her out of Ashing, the Faithful took her back to an Eflian port. The carpenter was obliged to remove one of the bulkheads to accommodate her luggage. Last I heard, she had gone to Felielle and made herself comfortable at court, befriending Felielle’s Queen Leanna in the process.

Rima follows my gaze. “My wife,” he says. For the first time, I hear genuine adoration in the captain’s voice. “Lady Madeline Rima.”

Lady Madeline Rima? I hope the captain reads my surprise as awe.

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