In the afternoon, a messenger for the Governor showed up at the Phantom and delivered a note from Lynch to Marina. She read it and handed it over to Morris, because she didn't want to laugh alone.
The clouds opened at sunset, and the wind promised a clear morning. Marina sent Maxó and De Neill to find the English privateers and agree on which tide they'd set sail if the weather held. That night, she allowed the whole crew to go ashore, but she warned them that they would need to be sober and in shape to sail by noon.
The next morning, while the pirates cleaned the ship and restocked their hold, they saw a shallop rowing from the fort, with military oarsmen.
"Are we waiting for somebody?" asked Maxó, pointing at it.
"There comes our passenger," Marina said, biting her apple.
"Do the honors, old wolf," said Morris.
Maxó looked again and frowned. "You want me to welcome the Governor?"
The two friends turned around, surprised, and saw the pirate was right. A few minutes later, Sir Thomas Lynch boarded the Phantom. Marina shook his hand with an embarrassed smile.
"Forgive my looks, Sir Thomas! I wasn't expecting you!"
"Never mind, my dear pearl. Your smile is the best garment," the Governor replied warmly. "Mister Van Dort, always a pleasure to see you."
"And you, Sir Thomas."
The three of them turned to the ladder Sir Dandleton climbed, wearing an impeccable uniform. Behind him, two soldiers struggled with his luggage chest.
"I'm leaving you in good hands, Robin," the Governor said. "The pearl and Mister Van Dort can answer all your questions before taking your new office." He sighed. "And you'll sail on one of the best ships in the whole Caribbean."
"You know you're welcome to join us whenever you want, Sir Thomas," Morris said.
"First I need to get a few days off. And then I'll teach you children to sail."
Marina and Morris chuckled with him, shook his hand again and remained by the gunwale, watching him leave. The young Englishman waited a few steps away, moving his curious eyes around. The pirates had paused their chores to watch him.
"Gentlemen?" said Marina, raising her voice only a little, and that only word was enough to set the pirates back to work. "Maxó, please, show Robin where he's sleeping."
Maxó waved the Englishman over, ignoring his offended frown when Marina called him by his given name.
"Bring your luggage, boy," the pirate said. "Here you are your own servant."
Robin managed to carry his chest without help and followed him, not hiding he was outraged at the treatment he was receiving.
"This is a complete disrespect," he grumbled. "I'm a knight and—"
Maxó cut him off roughly. "There's only one title here, boy, and that's Captain. The rest of us have a name and only one job: following her lead. That includes you for as long as you're onboard her ship. And if you don't like it, you can jump overboard and go whine to Sir Thomas." He pointed to a gap between two starboard cannons. "There. Tie your chest properly. If I find it loose, I'm throwing it to the sea. And take that uniform off. This is a French pirate ship, and you don't want to get Sir Thomas in trouble."
The Englishman clenched his teeth and swallowed his reply. He'd be back to Port Royal within a week, to take his new post. And then he'd find a way to get back at everybody who had disrespected him. Concealing his plans of revenge, he did as Maxó said. He secured his chest and took his coat off.
However, his resentment started to cool down as soon as he was back on deck. Marina invited him to the bridge with her and Morris. And even though she still treated him as if he were another pirate, she was nice and kind to him.
The girl was explaining the challenge to him when a light two-mast patache sailed by the Phantom toward open waters. The filibusters traded jokes and jabs with the Jamaicans onboard the patache. Ken stood on the gunwale, grabbing a shroud, and waved his hat to hail Marina, who waved her hand high at him.
"We'll meet you at Portland Point, pearl!" he shouted.
"I'll be right there!" Marina turned to her crew. "Take us out, gentlemen! Let's show those two what we Brethren of the Coast are made of!"
The pirates replied with their usual yelling, while Morris and Briand directed them to weigh anchor and get underway.
"That's one of your privateers, Robin," she said in a grave tone despite her smile. "We'll soon meet him and his partner, Marshall Owen. Their pataches are light, which makes them swift, but small. That means they can only carry twenty-five men, and ten guns tops. They can't go a-hunting by themselves, because nowadays any ordinary merchantman carries at least six guns and can send them down. So they team up, and even so they have a hard time scavenging anything worthy." She turned around and signaled Robin to do the same. "Now look at my Phantom. Only two guns less than your Victory and a hundred souls. It's a large ship by Tortuga's standards, but our average brigantines carry up to twenty guns and about sixty men. Two of your privateers on their rafts won't earn you half of what any of us earns Louis in a bad year. That's why Sir Thomas wants to set those requirements to renew due letters of marque and grant new ones."
Robin nodded, trying to hide he felt mortified because a girl lectured him.
She chuckled softly. "You wonder why you're here, if Sir Thomas could've told you all this over lunch. But he agrees with me: you need to see it firsthand. And he's sending you with me to keep you safe, because the Phantom is much safer than any of 'your' ships."
"And the lesson includes me being treated like a spoiled brat," he grumbled.
"Here we're treated as we behave. If you want respect, you must earn it."
"Did you? Or they respect you only because you own a twenty-eight-gun warrior?"
Marina laughed at the jibe. She liked the outraged English boy. And she liked the spark in his dark eyes when they met hers. "Maybe you're lucky and you get to find out."
The Phantom left Port Royal and caught up with the Jamaican pataches halfway to Portland Point. They decided to circle the coral reefs and head north, to the Cayman Islands and beyond, to sail back to Jamaica through Cuban waters. That course should gave them chances of coming across merchantmen on route between Cuba and Trujillo or Yucatan.
De Neill left Philip at the helm, lit his pipe and signaled Morris to walk down from the bridge with him. Then he pointed at Marina and Robin, who strolled down the gangway, chattering. The attention his host paid to him seemed to have smoothed out the Englishman's ill mood. And she'd changed her loose shirt for a women's blouse, tighter and with some laces.
"Have you seen that?" De Neill whispered. "She's dressed up for him!"
Morris nodded, smiling. "I hate the fool's guts, but if she likes him, it's fine for me."
"Doña Dolores turned you into a damned match-maker," the pirate reproached him.
"Dream on! But it's about time somebody makes her forget Castillano."
"Why are you calling on the blockhead?" asked Maxó, joining them.
"Morris says the pearl still thinks of him."
Maxó frowned in disbelief. "Come! It's been over a year since they last saw each other."
"And why do you think she doesn't mention him even by mistake?" Morris replied.
The two pirates turned to study the girl.
"I don't know which blockhead is worse," Maxó grumbled.
"The only right blockhead is the one who makes her happy, old wolf," Morris said.
"And so far, this one at least makes her smile," said De Neill, thoughtful.
By dinnertime, Robin's bleeding pride seemed restored, as much as it could be without having his social status acknowledged, and without servants around to take care of him like a prince.
After half a day onboard the Phantom, even his inexperience had noticed the weird mix of military discipline and pirate laziness that ruled on the ship. It looked clean and tidy like his frigate had only been the day she'd been launched in London. However, the filibusters had spent the afternoon hanging out all over the ship, vulgar and carefree like a hundred sea dogs.
They had shorten sail so the Jamaican pataches could keep up, and at sunset the three ships dropped light anchors near each other to spend the night.
Ken and Marshall boarded the Phantom for dinner, and Marina and Morris had to hold back their laughter at the shameless way they sweetened Robin's ear, knowing their letters would depend on him. Meanwhile, Robin enjoyed every time 'his' privateers called him 'Sir Dandleton'.
After the desserts they left the cabin. On deck, the usual round of pirates sang and danced to Bones' violin. But as soon as they saw Marina, the surgeon and Oliver played a quick, merry tune she liked.
The girl giggled and took Robin's hand, dragging him to the mainmast. The pirates circled them, singing and clapping while they danced until they were out of breath.
Seeing their smiles, and the spark in the dark eyes when they met, Morris traded a glance with Maxó and De Neill. By them, the Jamaicans frowned.
"The sir is courting her?" asked Ken, about to take offense.
"Oh, because you would refuse if the pearl takes your hand," Marshall replied mockingly. "Even to take you to hell."
"But she hardly knows him!"
"Don't lose hope, brother."
At midnight, when only the night shift remained on deck, Marina and Robin still lingered talking and admiring the starry sky.