encounter with an approaching vessel.
The boat tossed upon the waves like a leaf in a creek after a heavy rain shower and as they moved closer Nicolaus could tell something was amiss. Whoever captained the ship had not been at it very long. “Do you notice something, Xandros?”
His second-in-command squinted. “Ay, I see women, lots of them now.”
Tension knotted Nicolaus’s shoulders as needles pricked his nape. He leaned his palms against the railing. He hadn’t been able to make out man or woman, only shapes of bodies, bodies that seemed to be clinging to the rails. “What do you make of it?”
“A ruse?”
Thieves of the sea often consisted of ruthless women as well as children. Merchant ships, unless carrying slaves, did not.
Nicolaus drew his hand down his beard. “Could be. Tell the Haemon and Argos to stay on guard. It wouldn’t do to be caught by trickery.”
Patience was one thing his father had oft praised him for, but now was not one of those times as he waited for the confrontation to come. Were they friend or foe? Even though he was alert to the possible danger, instinct told him these people meant no harm. Given the way the women clung to the sides he was beginning to suspect they were a village in need of rescue. If so, what sort of danger had they encountered for them to be desperate enough to face the great unknown of the sea?
“Bring us to the right a little and toss the small anchor overboard to slow us down.”
“You cannot think... Nicolaus, we’ll head straight for them.”
“Aye, be ready to reel it back in.”
Xandros shouted his orders to one of the men. The helmsman shifted the steering oars and the ship turned just as Nicolaus had commanded. An order to anchor cried over the roaring of the storm and the vessel began to steady in place. As the single boat approached he could see the pale and sunken cheeks of her occupants. “They do not look well.”
Although the words were more for himself than Xandros, his second-in-command grunted. “Still a ruse?”
“I do not believe so, my friend. We’ll soon know the full of their adventure, and if not then we’ll know their mischief.” He rested his palms on the hilts of his daggers and hoped he would not have to use them. After the amount of torture he’d endured during his captivity, he didn’t relish causing anyone harm, but if these people posed a threat to his brother or to Ada he would. His only comfort was that she was safely hidden. As for Brison, he’d grown up beneath two brothers and knew how to hold his own in battle.
He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the window of the captain’s quarters just to ensure she’d done as he’d requested and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it empty. A small part of him was surprised, especially given her feisty nature when he’d brought her aboard.
“Toss another anchor to slow us even more.”
In a matter of moments, the other ship neared enough for them to yell over the crashing of the waves. The condition of the approaching ship was not all right. It was obvious Xandros knew this, as well.
“What is it you wish to do, Captain?”
Nicolaus drew in a slow breath. Instinct told him these people held no danger for him or his crew. Yet, fear tried to grip hold of him, tempting him to order the anchors pulled and his rowers to reverse course, leaving the broken vessel to the mercies of the sea. Given its battered condition, it would not take long for it to completely splinter. Could he allow his fear to leave these people to certain death?
“Prepare the planks.”
“You cannot think to bring them aboard.”
“What choice do we have, Xandros? There are not that many of them. We cannot leave them to the mercies of fate. They’ll die.”
“They are not your responsibility.”
“If not us, then whose? They are in need of rescue and we are able.”
“The ruse?”
“Even I can see these people are in desperate need of help.” Ada’s lyrical accent curled around something in his chest and lifted his lips into a smile. Xandros growled and stalked away to do as bid.
Nicolaus kept his gaze focused on an old man waving in a frantic manner. “I thought I asked you to stay hidden.”
She leaned against the rail, her hair blowing behind her like a sail in the wind. He could not recall seeing any woman as lovely as she, not even his sister and she had been a coveted prize among their neighbors as well as abroad. “I did hide, but...” She pressed her lips together, and he could only guess that she’d succumbed to another bout of sickness. “Besides, they look harmless.”
Ay, they did. But could he be for certain? Once the ships were close enough his crew began throwing ropes to the other boat and began laying planks between them. What he saw on the faces of the occupants of the other boat left bile rising in his throat.
Ada twisted her fingers together as Nicolaus’s crew maneuvered the boats close. The space between them decreased, and just when she thought they’d bump into each other, several of Nicolaus’s sailors attached laddering planks to the rails.
She bit the inside of her lip to keep from crying out when one sailor jumped onto a ladder and ran across to the other boat. She glanced at Nicolaus, who observed his men in silence. His body relaxed as they moved with swiftness and efficiency. Obviously he held great confidence in his men for he was not bellowing out commands as her father often did when overseeing his workers. “Is it not dangerous to tie the boats together in this storm?”
“There are always dangers, Ada. However, I must discern these peoples’ intentions, and then ensure their safety. Do you wish their boat, if you can call it as such, to break apart and be washed away by the waves?”
“Of course not.” She inspected the people, looking for signs of mischief. She’d never seen a thief up close, but she’d imagine that they would not look as if they’d been without food for weeks. “So, you have decided they are friends?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, never once looking at her. “Nay. My trust is not easily placed, especially in strangers who do not heed my warnings.”
No doubt he spoke about her decision to defy his command and come out on deck. “Ay, I suppose the lack of trust can be true for strangers who steal others from their family.”
He flinched, and she instantly stepped back. She knew her words were like a dagger. Knew if he hadn’t intervened with the burly bidder she would have been in a much worse position. That didn’t mean she liked her current situation.
“Remember this, Ada, I did not steal you and I did not sell you to be auctioned off like sheep. Correct me if I am wrong, but the women who looked much like you, perhaps your own sisters, did that to you. What I wonder is, why?” His last words were no more than a whisper above the wind and light rain, but she heard them as if he shouted them in the silence of a clear desert night. He tilted his chin and pierced her with his turbulent black eyes. “Why is it, Ada? Why did your
