Disclaimer: I own nothing except a number of the characters.
Enjoy!
"Listen up you sea rats!"
The crew of the Misty Lady, including Lúcia who was assisting Josoa with his morning inspection, immediately turned towards McGregor who stood at the wheel. Apparently satisfied he had everybody's undivided attention he began to address the group.
"We make berth for Agadir and will arrive tomorrow at sundown! The Captain has business to attend to in the town and we are desperately in need of supplies. Those who will make for port are Josoa, Franco, Saraj and Lúcia whilst everyone who remains will be under my command as we… prepare. Now about your business!"
The crew cheered heartily and bustled back into action but Lúcia turned to Josoa and dubiously asked "prepare… prepare for what exactly?"
Josoa smiled wickedly "Well Lúcia, dis here is a pirate vessel. We be in de business of piracy you see and Agadir got a lot of trade dat we can… procure."
He winked at her, dropped backwards and swung himself back down to the deck. Lúcia grimaced to herself, annoyed that she hadn't anticipated this earlier.
What did you expect? You boarded a pirate vessel for heaven's sake! Pillaging and 'procuring' are all part of the trade!
She sighed in resignation.
At least I get to feel dry land under my feet again! Maybe I will be able to avoid any actual raiding as such… it's not like I'm a real member of the crew after all…
Realizing with mild horror that this thought made her feel rather melancholy she shook her head and climbed down to chase after Josoa.
Honestly! Upset that I'm not a 'real' pirate. I should be relieved!
Lúcia started at the market place in awe. Never had she seen such a sight! Lisbon was large, or so she had been told, but these stands and stalls seemed to go on endlessly. Or perhaps it was simply the sheer rowdiness of the place and the low hanging cloth that protected each stand from the evening Moroccan sun that gave it the illusion of vastness.
The group had rowed in silence a distance up the shore from where they had anchored the Misty Lady. Upon reaching land Teague had set off into the heart of the port without glancing behind, inexplicably his indifference to her was mildly infuriating but she had managed to shrug off the feeling as Josoa pressed some coin pieces into her hand and winked.
"Your earnings. Be back here by midnight or be left behind" and with that he lithely darted towards the harbour front with the other crew members. Lúcia had followed their direction at a slower pace before finding herself in the market. She slowly browsed around the stalls before settling upon her purchases. Naturally a hard, spicily scented soap was at the top of the list. The talkative merchant had also convinced her to buy some hair oils that he insisted were crucial for women undertaking long sea voyages as they stopped the hair splitting and drying out to death though she had managed to haggle the price down significantly. Finally she picked up some thick embroidery threads and wooden beads, Josoa seemed to have a penchant for bright things and she definitely owed him for the balm. Thankfully her muscles seemed to have conditioned to the hard work enough over the past week that she was stiff rather than sore.
She glanced up at the deep orange sun and noted that she had a little time left. A wash, she decided, was not so much an option as a complete necessity! She left the market and found what seemed to be a public house then, after some expressive gesturing and flashing of coin, managed to secure a room with a basin of water and a jug. She washed herself thoroughly before lathering the soap in her hands and working it into her hair then tipping the jug above her hair to rinse it through and roughly drying it with the cloth provided. She picked up the hair oil she had purchased and shrugged, it was worth a try! She tipped some into her hands and ran it smoothly into the lengths of her hair. Finally she washed her hands, dressed, put her purchases in her sash and made for the archway that opened onto the street. A figure passed through the opening and slipped down a narrow side passage. She frowned as she recognized it as Franco, the surly ship's carpenter who she had helped work the decks with alongside Josoa the other day.
Something made her hesitate before she called out to him. He looked… suspicious somehow; as though he was trying not to draw attention to himself by keeping to the shadows and watching his back. A chill swept through her body.
Stay away. Just stay away, you have absolutely NO reason to follow him just get back to the ship!
Conflicted, she sighed in frustration before following him. She rounded the corner just in time to see Franco flit sideways down a path. Panicking, she looked about before climbing up onto one of the low, flat roofs of the buildings and crept as fast as she could in the direction he had gone in. From the pattern of the buildings she realized that he must have hit a dead end; it looked like a small courtyard. She kept low and slowly lay at the edge of the roof, looking down. Immediately she saw Franco skulking in a corner thankfully paying attention to the doors of one of the buildings.
Lúcia held her breath and presently the door opened and a man in a dark coat exited and scanned the courtyard.
"Ah Mister Franco I believe."
Franco grunted in response.
"I will take that as an affirmative shall I?" He took a moment to adjust his dark gloves and coat collar as Lúcia marvelled at how he stood the heat in that attire.
"I'm glad, if somewhat, surprised to see you have shown your face this time. We were beginning to think that Teague was setting this up himself to draw us away from his revolting scent. If you will tell me please where you were born and your father's profession as a mark of good faith please?"
Franco glared a moment before answering.
"Santa Domingo, my Padre was a fisherman."
The man appraised him for a moment.
"Indeed. You didn't think we would work with you without confirmation of identity now did you?"
Franco narrowed his eyes.
"You know my terms. Safe passage to the Caribbean and…"
"And the money you have been promised yes I am quite aware. Both of which you will receive upon the completion of your task at which you have so far failed. By all accounts your plot in Lisbon was sloppy at best and as for London…"
"Teague is a clever man! He is difficult to trick and trusting of nobody" Franco spat.
"Be that as it may you will receive no compensation until he is dead."
Lúcia's heart skipped a beat. Franco was trying to murder Teague!
"He cannot know it was my doing! The crew will surely kill me if they find out."
"Yes this has been taken under consideration. As have your failures to succeed. As much as it galls me to cooperate with a pirate" his eyes hardened in distaste at the word "we need somebody who is able to get close to him." He pulled out a small vial from inside his coat. Franco stared at it warily.
"Poison, Mister Franco. Virtually undetectable and produces symptoms reminiscent of Jungle Fever."
Franco opened his mouth to protest but faltered under the man's steely glare.
"As Captain I would presume he eats alone?"
Franco nodded once.
"Good. Pour this into his beverage of choice. By that I mean his drink… and send word of your success when next you dock. Naturally we will need some kind of confirmation."
"The body will most likely be buried at sea. If Teague is dead then word will spread like a fire."
"Be that as it may a relic would be taken as a mark of good faith. His piece of eight maybe…"
Lúcia frowned, piece of eight?
Franco took the bottle carefully and stashed it in a pouch attached to his belt. The man eyed him stonily.
"Mister Franco do not fail this time otherwise we will consider alternate means and you will receive neither mercy nor compassion." With that final statement the man left the courtyard. Franco seemed to gather himself for a moment and glanced heavenward. Lúcia gasped and dropped flat to the roof. A few moments passed and she bravely peered back into the courtyard. Franco was gone. Relief turned to horror as she heard a noise behind her, somebody was climbing up to her roof.
Without a second thought Lúcia quickly lowered herself bodily into the courtyard, dropping the last few meters. She felt a jagged pain splice up her ankle and stifled a scream as she mustered all her fiber and threw herself into the cover of a doorway. Glancing up she noticed Franco scanning the courtyard from the exact position she had been in with his sword drawn. After what seemed like an age he grunted, sheathed his sword and left. Lúcia's heart pounded in her ears as she slumped to the ground with a small whimper. Her ankle was throbbing! She glanced at the moon and realized with horror that she had very little time to return to the boat otherwise she would be stranded in Agadir!
With a sharp grimace of pain she heaved herself up and, using the wall for support, made her way back out to the street. She leaned against the archway to catch her breath feeling hot tears in her eyes as she prepared to work her way down the dock and back up to where the boat was moored. Just as she was about to embark she was literally swept off her feet into a pair of arms. Lúcia yelped in protest as her assailant stormed into a nearby building and lowered her, surprisingly gently, onto a table then lit a candle which illuminated his features.
Teague. She should have known.
He placed the candle on the table and stared her impassively for a long moment. Unable to stand the tension she blurted out "Franco is trying to kill you! I saw the whole thing! In a courtyard, back there I can show you, he met with a man who gave him poison. POISON! I think he saw me up there, or at least realized someone was there, so I jumped off the roof and hid but he left. I was trying to get back to the boat to tell you but it's late so I was worried I had missed it!"
Realizing she was rambling she forced herself to silence and trembling tried to read Teague's expression. He moved his way round the table and gently placed his hand around her ankle. She flinched in pain and he glanced at her with burning eyes.
"You are injured."
"Yes I landed on it when I dropped from the roof. Listen though it was Franco in Lisbon too and he tried something in London!"
"I am well aware; I've been following him all night."
Lúcia stared at him. He chuckled dryly.
"I saw the whole thing Miss De Marques. The scoundrel, or the other scoundrel I should say, in the courtyard was Edmund Pointer, a representative of the East India Company who is disposed to kill me."His voice softened slightly "I saw you there too. You were commendably sneaky but may I ask what it was that brought you there exactly?"
"I saw him and he looked like he was up to no good."
"So you followed him?"
"Um… yes."
Teague fixed her with an exasperated, angry stare.
"You are completely incorrigible! Did you never stop to think it might be dangerous? Look at the state of your ankle! Pointer is ruthless; he would have killed you in a heartbeat if he had seen you!"
"He would have killed you faster than that!"
"He would have tried." Teague sighed. "Tonight you slipped and hurt your ankle in the market. Much to my disapproval I was forced to assist you back to the boat due to my oath as a code abiding man to give you safe passage as far as Bombay." As she began to protest he looked at her meaningfully and raised his voice "I spent my time liberating the trading schedules to ascertain which vessels are worth our time to pillage and have found a number of impressive luxury goods and weapon shipments that we will attend to in the next few days."
"What about Franco?"
"I know men like Franco. It will take him a day to muster the courage but he will make his move tomorrow night by putting the poison in my wine."
"Will you kill him before he has a chance?"
"No. I will publicly shame him by making him drink the wine in front of the entire crew..."
"… and in doing so make it clear what happens to traitors."
The corner of Teague's mouth lifted.
"You are full of surprises Miss De Marques."
"It's Lúcia."
Teague nodded slowly "Okay. Lúcia If you would be so kind as to place your arm around my neck." Gingerly she did so. Once he was sure she was secure Teague swiftly lifted her up into his arms in one fluid movement and made his way almost effortlessly out of the building and back down the dock trying not to notice the sweet, spiced smell of her now silky curls or the contours of her curves. Her accented voice broke his reverie.
"How did you know to follow Franco?"
"I knew a member of my crew must be betraying me. The men who left the Misty lady today are the ones who I was suspicious of doing so."
She was quiet for a moment before asking "Josoa?"
He ignored the pang of jealousy in his gut and answered "No. Josoa is the boatswain and one of the greatest men I know. He always makes port if we need rope or materials. I followed the men who went with him and it was Franco who made an excuse of sending a letter to leave the group. He asked me for a larger share of our plunder as both doctor and carpenter some time ago which I put to a vote. He was rejected and since has had little respect for me."
"A vote?"
"Aye. Pirates are more democratic than we would like others to believe. Now I ask you to act like a simpering wench who is unable to withstand the pain in her ankle and pretend to be unconscious. We are nearing the boat."
Lúcia almost protested before slumping a little in his arms and closing her eyes. Presently she felt Teague stop.
"Damned wench slipped in the market. Help me get her in the boat."
A lot of jostling and swearing occurred then Lúcia felt the rhythmic movement of a boat being rowed.
"Why did you bring her back? Don't glare at me like that Josoa you of all of us should know she is a nuisance and a distraction! You should have left her there Captain!"
"You would defy the Code Franco? If so leave you may leave this vessel immediately!"
"It's not right!"
"And yet you are the only one protesting. Another word and I will leave you to the sharks!"
Silence remained for the rest of the journey. Further jostling commenced as a rope was tied to her and she was lifted to the deck where Teague immediately lifted her into his arms.
"Josoa take Franco and begin to reassemble the rigging with the new ropes! McGregor with me now!"
Teague strode up to his cabin where Lúcia felt herself lain onto a soft surface.
"The door McGregor."
The door shut with a bang. Lúcia opened her eyes and sat up to find McGregor eying her with a humorous expression.
"Slipped in the market? Womanly to be sure but does not quite fit with Josoa's accounts of your reflexes and balance eh Captain?"
Teague smirked then filled McGregor in on the evening's events. The first mate swore with gusto.
"I knew something was up! That miserable snake!"
"Indeed. We have a problem in that we are unsure as to whether he recognized Lúcia or not so I must ask that she not be left unattended to the mercy of Franco."
McGregor nodded "aye. Myself or Josoa will remain with her until he is dealt with."
"Publically. Tomorrow night. He will drink the wine in front of the crew as a deterrent of future actions."
McGregor smiled nastily. "That'll about do it to be sure."
The two men became aware of soft breathing from the bed. Lúcia had succumbed to sleep as an escape from the pain and exhaustion. McGregor smiled knowingly at the soft expression on the young captain's face.
"She did well tonight."
"That she did. McGregor she showed loyalty equal to any member of this crew."
"Aye? Maybe we will make a pirate of her yet."
Teague frowned "Her ankle may be broken. Don't let her play down the pain."
"You will have to let Franco look at it. He is the ship's doctor and it'd look suspicious otherwise. He would suspect."
The creases in Teague's forehead deepened "You're right. But you will stay whilst he does so."
"I'll keep an eye on him to be sure, starting now actually. He had a foul look on his face and I could tell Josoa was angry with him. Night Captain." McGregor left the room and Teague turned back to Lúcia's sleeping form. Unwilling to leave her alone despite keeping Franco occupied he settled into his chair and began to reflect on the night's events as he began his watch.
PHEW! This one literally came out of nowhere. I will update when I can but my real job gets in the way a little.