DOGS. Legacy Saga II

35

In the rush to keep track of Marina, Morris had ordered to take a straight course after the brigantine. And some sharp eye at Campeche harbor recognized the Phantom, or got to read the name on its transom. Panic spread over the city, despite the pirate ship was sailing away from the coast, not toward it.

It was enough to set Lorenzo and his men in motion. They hurried back to the dock and their boats. Soon after, the Trinidad weighed anchor, made sail and got underway on the Phantom's wake.

The pirate ship was a good hour ahead, and Lorenzo knew it was such a runner that the distance would grow. He had no idea how it was even floating, if they'd left it to sink in the middle of a squall. But the simple fact that they couldn't even sight it only confirmed it was the Pearl of the Caribbean's ship. Which made sense, if the Pearl herself had been captured that very morning in Campeche. Along with Hernan Castillano, traitor by his crotch of all the possible reasons to break his vows. Lorenzo snorted, remembering how he'd exposed his own good name when he'd stood for the traitor in Maracaibo. He'd even saved Castillano from ending up in a dungeon at San Carlos castle. That was an affront he would never forgive. Well, maybe he would soon have a chance to take it back on Castillano. If that Segovia butcher had left anything useful of him.

But the wind changed. In the morning it'd blown strong and steady from the Yucatan shore, perfect for the Trinidad to set course northwest to Veracruz. Yet at noon it waned and shifted. Only a couple of hours later it blew in the opposite direction, forcing the frigate to turn a couple of points to the west, in order to keep some speed while sailing close-hauled.

It wasn't long until one of the lookouts spotted the three masts and the French colors sailing north of the Trinidad.

Lorenzo scoffed. There she was! Sailing southeast, like heading back to Campeche. He ordered to turn to the northeast and make more sails, not to lose sight of her again. Before long he was able to study her through his telescope. Of course it was the Phantom. The same he'd defeated a few months earlier. And apparently the dogs remembered it: as soon as the Trinidad veered to take an intersection course, they turned a point to the east. They'd rather go closer to the wind than risk another defeat.

He ordered his gunners to ready the larboard battery, the side the Phantom would be when they caught up, and kept his telescope on the pirate ship. When both vessels were about a mile away, he was able to see the dogs getting ready for the battle they had no way to prevent. And there she was, the insolent bitch, wearing only a petticoat and a sheath belt, so shameless, half-naked on her bridge.

Marina rested a hand on the hilt of Segovia's sword. Hers remained in the chest her mother had sent. Laventry had said that Wan Claup's blade had never dealt an unfair blow, and that day, the corsair's words felt like a burden Marina didn't want. Because she didn't know if what she was about to do was fair, and she didn't care either. So she'd kept Segovia's blade, which surely didn't mind about what was fair or right. The perfect sword for her in that circumstance.

It was the first time she stood on her bridge and led her crew ever since the battle against the Windward Fleet. What had come after had been but a long nightmare that had dragged her around every corner of hell. Castillano's affection had soothed the ghosts and given her an unexpected content. For a few short days. But his lack of trust had ended up souring any bond that could grow between them.

Now the nightmare was over. And she would never put herself through anything like that again. Ever.

By her side, Morris still observed her. The conversation between her and Alonso he'd witnessed had upset him more than what he was willing to admit.

Marina had ordered the four Spaniards to go down to the shallop, to keep them away from the battle.

"Hernan and the women can stay in your cabin, pearl," Alonso had said. "And I—"