A/N: I apologise for taking so long in updating. Me muse is fickle! I apologise also for the short chapter length. I intend to lengthen them from now on.
I hope this is an improvement on the last chapter.
-AoR
Chapter Five
The next morning, Cap and I set sail aboard Swanwhite, leaving Wilkins and Duke Rand to train the levees and prepare Galma's sailors to hunt down the pirate's fleet. I was up in the crow's nest, my eyes straining to see the sight I dreaded to see: black sails upon the horizon. Thankfully, I saw nothing but clear blue sky, and clear blue ocean to match. As I stepped off the rigging and onto the deck, Cap walked up.
"So, why exactly are we sailing away from Galma, Sir Martin? You promised me an explanation last night, and I'd like to hear it."
I strode towards my cabin, careful not to step on the crewmen scrubbing the deck.
"It's quite simple really. We are on a scouting mission. The farther away the pirates are from the green recruits and lightly defended villages on Galma, the better. In fact, I'm not sure why they haven't made their move already. Whatever the reason, the longer they can be delayed South of Terebinthia, the longer King Edmund, Duke Rand, and Lord Maturin have to effect a rendezvous. It's all a matter of timing, I'm afraid, and at the moment, the hourglass is not exactly in our favour.
If the pirates strike either Terebinthia or Galma before they're ready, the could wipe them out completely. Even if the islanders are ready, Edmund will need a stable base from which to resupply. All in all, we're in a cat and mouse game, and Swanwhite is the decoy. Now we must wait on the other mice to arrive."
We entered the cabin, and I handed Cap a goblet of Narnian wine, saving the awful Telmarine stuff for myself.
"So it's a suicide mission then?"
"You could call it that."
Three days later, Swanwhite was roughly ten leagues South of Terebinthia, hot in pursuit of the pirate ship Retribution. She was a fast vessel, again a galley, with captives manning her oars. Fortunately, Swanwhite was faster, and by the next morning, we'd almost caught her. Unfortunately, a dismal fog had caught us both.
"I say Cap, this is rum luck. Another hour and we'd have had her. Now..."
"Now she could sneak up on us at any moment sir."
"Exactly."
I paced the quarter-deck anxiously, awaiting word from the crow's nest. One hoarse cry, and we could be plunged into a deadly battle while blind. An hour passed. The fog had grown thicker. I could hardlysee my hand before my face. Two. Still, the fog continued, and still, I waited for the word. Then, with a terrible, rending crash, Swanwhite capsized.