The Rookie Pirates (Parts 1-6)

31. King Mordred

"Drake." He called forth his Sea Dog. "Be rid of this insolent fool!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sir Francis Drake, known to the world as the King's Sea Dog, appeared out of thin air, immediately followed by the sound of flesh being torn apart.

Everyone fell silent and watched in horror as the navy captain fell to his knees, a gaping hole in his chest where his heart once was. The sailors dared not move as the Sea Dog threw the bloodied heart up and down in his hand like a baseball and kicked the lifeless captain over.

Nobody ever dared to look Drake in the eye, and nobody knew what he looked like or where he had come from. He always wore a navy blue cloak, and all that could be seen from the shadow of his hood were the white teeth of his haunting smile. He had only worked for King for the past year, but already the king favoured him over any other naval officer.

"Would anyone else like to disrespect their king?" asked the Sea Dog.

Everyone shook their timid heads.

"Good." He pointed a bloodied white-gloved finger at a shaking sailor. "You there, clean this mess up!"

"Yes, sir!" He saluted him.

"Bring forth the prisoner!" Drake ordered to another.

Without further ado, the sailors brought forth Madame Cheng. Her sea-crystal infused shackles clanged against each other as they dragged her across the deck. The once-Pirate Lord looked defeated, her black hanfu torn to nothing but rags, her body was bloodied and bruised, and her head was hung over, lacking the energy to lift it any more.

"You used to be the Pirate King's left hand man. Look at how pathetic you have become." The king hooked a finger under the woman's chin and lifted her head and laughed at what had become of the Pirate Lord.

Madame Cheng growled back at him, her teeth sharp and her lips flaring like a rabid dog.

"The Pirate King dismissed you, but instead of taking your anger out on him, you took it out on Mad Man Levon. Why them?"

The prisoner shook her head and spat at the king. "I'm taking this one to the grave."

The king laughed at her loyalty, loyalty which could easily be bought.

"Let's make a deal. Work for me and tell me why you went after Captain Levon and his crew-"

"I became a pirate to free myself from the likes of your corrupt government. Blackbeard may have stripped me of my title, but I will never rat on him!" Madame Cheng interrupted and coughed up blood at the king.

Drake stepped forward, ready to punish the prisoner for insulting the king, but Mordred stopped him with the wave of his hand. The king reached into his pocket and took out a small white handkerchief and wiped his face of bloody spit.

"Then I guess we will have to make sure you endure a fate far worse than hell." The king's features turned sinister and sharp. "The Underground."

"No!" A fearful look shone in the pirate's dull eyes, and she started to shake her head, traumatised by such an idea. "Anywhere but there. Please, I beg of you, Your Majesty."

The king smirked. He always got his way in the end. "Then work for me and tell me, Madame Cheng, who is Captain Levon to you?"

Madame Cheng sighed in defeat. What other choice did she have?

"Blackbeard didn't just dismiss me as his Lord, he also wants me dead. I started to distrust him, so I snooped around, and I overheard him talking to some barmaid with black hair. I found out something extremely dangerous about the rookie pirate, Mad Man Levon." Madame Cheng gulped, licked her parched lips, and bowed her head in defeat. "I don't know how it's possible, but Levon, he is-"

A wave crashed against the hull, blocking out the sound of her voice from the listening sailors, but not without the King hearing. He tensed in fear.

"That's not possible!" The King clutched tightly onto the pirate's throat, slowly strangling her to death with his formidable strength. "He should be dead!"

Mordred shot his gaze over towards his Sea Dog, a dark, sinister aura shrouding him as he did so. "I want him dead. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Sea Dog bowed. "Should I continue chasing after the Nomad as well?"

"Logan, the Pirate Lord that sneaked onto Meridian Island and stole from my vault. Find the Nomad first then kill the Mad Man," the king ordered darkly, and Drake nodded in response.

"I'm still on Logan's trail, and from what information I have gathered, the Nomad is heading towards Halfway Point."

"Logan is a sneaky bastard. You'll never catch him," Madame Cheng coughed through the King's iron-tight grasp.

Mordred turned his attention back to the ex-Pirate Lord and released her. The woman slumped to the floor, breathing in heavily. "Now that you work for me, you can tell me all about the Nomad and how he works."

Madame Cheng grimaced, remembering that she had made a deal with the devil.

"First, tell me why Logan is heading towards Halfway Point."

Fear once again shone through Madame Cheng's eyes; she couldn't reveal such information. She would rather die, but the king knew that and would send her to the Underground, a fate far worse than death.

"Blackbeard has gathered a meeting of the brethren court to be held on the summer solstice."

A meeting of the brethren court meant the Pirate King's right hand man, Pirate Lord Zachary Flint, would be there. King Mordred growled as he trailed his finger down a very unpleasant scar on his right cheek. Ten years later and it still stung.

"Kill her crew."

Madame Cheng cried in anguish as she watched her crew, the family she had known since her teens, be slaughtered before her very eyes.

"Take her to the Underground!" the King ordered.

"No!" Madame Cheng screeched. "We had a deal! Anywhere but there!"

"I don't make deals with scum!" Mordred spat.

The sailors took the prisoner back down to the brig, and the King looked towards his Sea Dog.

"Change of course. We're now heading towards Halfway Point."

"But what of your Red Flower?" the Sea Dog questioned, though he did not know the importance or background of this girl to the King.

The King thought to himself. The Spy was doing a good enough job looking for his Red Flower; he might as well complete his. The King was good friends with the Spy and trusted him more than anyone to get the job done; nobody knew who he was or what he looked like, not even Drake. The only way to message him was through secret messages sent through the newspapers.

"I'll send word to my spy to keep an eye on my Red Flower and direct her if possible to Halfway Point."

The Sea Dog nodded in approval and vanished before the King. Mordred hissed at the use of Drake's cursed soul but did not complain; his ability came in handy.

He looked out across the ocean as he sat back down on his golden throne, thinking of his Red Flower.

"I will find you, Azalea!"

PLEASE READ THE SERIES CROWN OF GODS FOR FREE