There is nothing worse for a pirate than dying on dry land. Except, maybe, swinging two feet above it.
When their captain is imprisoned, facing the gallows, the men and women of the Lady Lesya's crew will try everything to break him out--even if it...
The sun appeared from behind the horizon, and the world's colors exploded. The once grey sea suddenly rolled deep blue, shining bright white. The cloudy grey sky turned rainy black, stormy purple. The grey harbor town revealed itself brick red and straw yellow.
Leaning on the forecastle rail, Jade held a cup of scalding-hot coffee in her hands to keep them warm. Her long, golden hair swaying in the cold breeze, she watched the sun emerge from the sea. It shone its red glory for a short but majestic while, before hiding again behind the massive, low clouds. The world turned grey again, just one shade lighter among the fifty known to man.* She knew that Earth had just made one more rotation, but she would never tire of the miracle and unique beauty of each sunrise.
The yawn caught her off-guard. She couldn't prevent her mouth from opening, slowly but widely, as the muscles in her neck contracted and her eyes closed. She didn't even try to muffle the sigh that escaped when her muscles relaxed, all at once. It felt good—even if it made her eyes teary, causing the sea to mingle with the sky in a blur. She set the steaming cup on the smooth, dark wooden rail and stretched for a long time. She extended all of her limbs, arched her back, and let out a sigh of pleasure. The crewmen would have made a fuss about it. But no one was there to comment on her bountifulbosom, her temptingteats, or even her attractive arse.
She wasn't expecting any of those poets to come back before noon. She had plenty of time to prepare to treat the inevitable cuts and bruises they would bring back. And as Alexandra was not with them, Jade suspected there would be many.
A dark thought crossed her mind. What if it was more serious this time? What if one of them didn't come back?
She shook her head to clear her mind. She should have slept more—fatigue was just pulling her spirit down. But how could she have slept when she had bought new books just the day before?
She had let the night pass her by, absorbed by an enormous and heavy volume about Chinese medical philosophy. She had been fascinated by the detailed illustrations of skinned anatomical figures, and how the vital flow ran through meridians. She had taken so many notes that her ink-stained right hand was sore and aching. Exotic names still danced in her mind, hundreds of plants and other strange ingredients she craved to study and test. Zingiber officinale would be easy enough, but would she be able to find Panax ginseng before long?
The short but powerful whistle of the look-out brought her back to the present. Someone was approaching the ship. Cap already? Jade turned her back to the sea and crossed the forecastle. The docks were waking up too, and many longshoremen were already at work, carrying heavy loads one way or another like huffing, two-legged ants. Making her staggering way among them, bumping here and there, Alexandra approached the gangway.
Jade's first reflex was to smile and wave to her, but her hand stopped mid-air. Why was she ashore? Her smile melted away when she noticed that Alexandra's white shirt had turned brown... from blood! She hurried down the stairs leading to the main deck, arriving just in time to catch Alexandra before she collapsed in her arms.
"Rough night?" Jade sighed.
"Nothing out the ordinary, why?"
Then Alexandra blacked out.
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* And women. Mostly by women, actually.
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