Chapter 10:
"Easy on d'wheel, little one," murmured Black Cass. The little girl's grip loosened just a hair. She was a little too short to be at the wheel, but she was growing fast. Her pale orange skin already had tongues wagging and eyes following her wherever she went, and Cass was preparing for the day she'd have to cut somebody's boin loins over her child.
Her little babe liked sailing. Every day she was home, Cass would be out here with her child, sailing 'round the island. She was going to be a good sailor and pirate, and Cass was looking forward to the day she was able to take her daughter on the Red Wind.
"A princess can't be a pirate," announced a familiar voice.
Cassiopeia Antoine snapped awake at the feel of Bill climbing out of the bed. Padding softly across the room towards the window, he might have been slipping out to go meet up with another girl. That was a new and very disturbing sign.
Rising, Cass followed the Ice Prince across the room to the window. Slipping up behind the big man, the pirate girl rested her head against his shoulder. "Mr. Thor be here t'morrow, big mon," Cassie murmured. "Come back to bed." "We can have s'more fun in d'morning," Cara yawned.
Cass had been a little worried about how the big man would react to learning that she'd acquired Kate's phone and contacted his people. She'd couched things as trying to get him help to find Kate. The troops that Thor was bringing down would give him the power to enforce his father's will and, more to the point, find out what had happened to Red Kate.
Bill had been delighted to learn that his brother in law was coming down with soldiers. The thing inside him? Not so much.
Cass and Cara had plied him with hot sex and liquor all evening, celebrating the news. He'd come to bed and lay down with them without much of a bobble. Worn out from worry, Cass had crashed herself. Now, as she stared down signs that the monstrous entity cohabiting the big man's body was gaining power over him, she forced herself to remain calm.
"D'is the last night we see you," Cassie whispered. Truth, she couldn't honestly help a little regret there. Even with madness consuming him, he had moments where she saw how all those girls got drawn in.
At the same time, pirates weren't princesses, just as he'd said in her dream. She was looking to get out of this with her skin intact. She wasn't sure what to tell the baby in her belly about the man that sired him or her, but that was a problem for a day when she wasn't in fear of her life.
Finally, the big man gave over. Taking his hand, Cass led him back to the bed. With little resistance, Bill slipped back under the sheets. Immediately, Cara wrapped herself around him, pressing that hot little body against his left side. Cass slipped in beside him, twining her thighs around his right leg, as she lay her head on his chest.
With the morning, a groggy Billy climbed to wakefulness to find Cass and Cara at the table near the window. With a groan, he swung his legs out from under the sheets and sat there a moment. "Morning, big mon," Cass rumbled. "Morning," Billy yawned. Shaking himself, he asked, "what time is it?" "Eight," Cara responded. Billy frowned. Thor would be here soon. He needed to get a move on.
Rising, he asked, "why didn't you wake me?" Cass responded, "figgered we had the time. Toni's gon' meet us with a skiff down the end o'the street." "Saving us the walk," Billy agreed. "Ok, I'll be right back..." Rising, Cass murmured, "we'll come along..." At his quirked eyebrow, the Master at Arms offered him a sweet smile and said, "last time we see you, big mon." Billy felt his face go warm. Nevertheless, with Thor possibly waiting on them, it was time to get moving. Besides, if two beautiful women wanted to wash with him, who was he to argue?
In the end, there was very little grab-assing in the shower. Even did Billy get frisky, the two girls were quick to cut him off, reminding him that they needed to scoot. Just a scant twenty minutes later, the trio were out on the street, moving through the crowds on their way to the nearest jetty.
Just as promised, the Bo'sun was there with a rented skiff. The little steam engine was already chuffing away and ready to go—a fact that delighted Billy. He'd been full of vim and vigor when he rose and got in the shower, but he was already feeling run down. The wooziness was coming up fast.
As the little boat chuffed its way through traffic, weaving in and out among fishing boats and the occasional large ship, Black Cass watched the big man out the corner of her eye, while she pondered her future. She had to get away from here. Even did this business work out—the temporary curative and the business with Red Kate—she had to escape this place.
The fickle, female mind was playing tricks on her. She wanted nothing more to do with him and his, but she wanted the baby she feared was growing inside her. She hated the idea of being away from the sea. She'd get slower and clumsier, while she was on land. More to the point, she was faced with the choice of letting someone else take the Red Wind to sea. The crew had to eat, after all. Her little domain depended on the cash the ship brought in for survival.
Chessie can do it, she thought. Chessie was her cousin and unlikely to fuck her on the deal. They'd been through every kind of scrape together.
Her eyes flicked to Cara. The Master at Arms was facing much the same drama as Cass faced. She'd gotten both barrels close on a half-dozen times before Cassie walked into the room. It had been the best she'd ever gotten, but she was likely a goner too. But she ain't Captain, Cass thought. Cara didn't have to worry about feeding the folks ashore. She'd simply step down from the life for a bit—becoming one more mouth to feed.
It was an unpleasant dilemma—one fostered by an instant's bad luck. At the same time, did she look back on the business, she wasn't sure how she could have gone at it differently. The decisions all felt like the right ones.
It was important to learn what the nymphs were doing on their island. She'd seen firsthand in Tequila Kingdom how the nymphs' games could hurt the Brethren. The idea that they'd had their hands on a mushroom bomb and might have given it to a madman was an idea almost too terrifying to contemplate. It was just as Morgana had said. The world was shrinking, and the Brethren were in danger of getting squeezed from all sides.
Momentarily, though, the skies before her cleared of the clouds of fear and worry. Just as she'd prayed, there was indeed a flying ship waiting ashore on the farm she'd scoped out days ago. There were soldiers waiting, and they challenged the pirates the minute the boat touched the beach. "Brung d'prince," Cass called out! "Here f'er a man named Thor!"
Hand signals got exchanged. Moments later, a giant of a man, bigger than the one in her boat came out of the woods, carrying a lamp of all things. It was like the gaudy, ugly thing that Cass's grandmother kept in the corner of her parlor back home.
Big momma swore that someday they'd have electric on the beach again—like the old timers had it back before the bombs, and she kept it as her ancestors had kept it, in the hope of being able to plug it in and have light in the house someday.
"C'mon, big mon," Cara murmured, as she took hold of Billy's arm. The big fellow almost shrugged her off, raising alarm in Cass's heart. Still, with her helping, they were able to get him up out of the boat. The minute he was on the beach and standing in front of his brother-in-law, there was a momentary surge of something. Cass felt it through her hand as she gripped the big man's wrist.
With a shudder, Billy's ice-blue eyes snapped fully open, and it was as if a veil had been drawn from before his face. "Huh," he rumbled. Looking around him, he asked, "how the hell did I get here?" His eyes flicked to the hands on his wrists and shadowy memory coalesced into something much firmer. His face went red hot as he contemplated banging the pair on either side of him within an inch of their lives. He'd been hell and gone out of control these last few days.
"Look like d'is d'end o'the road," Cass murmured, as he turned to face her. Reaching out, the pirate girl stroked his face tenderly. Drawing Kate's phone out of the pocket of her sea-coat, the curvy woman handed it to the giant, declaring, "I won't call..." Billy's face went red hot.
"I...," he started to say, but Cass was already stepping back on the boat. Patting him on the ass, Cara chuckled, "mebbe I see you again, big mon... but maybe not..." The moment the curvy pirate was back aboard with her captain, the skiff backed away from the beach. The Bo'sun blew him a kiss as she turned the thing for the distant bulk of Stilt Town.
"Must be nice," Thor muttered under his breath. Billy flushed in embarrassment. His sister kept this man on a very short leash. It might have been fascinating to look at the various ways the Mertens siblings dealt with their various spouses. He purely didn't have the time to worry about his in-law's feelings.
"How many men did you bring," he asked? "I'm supposed to transport you to King's Island," Thor replied. "On who's orders," Billy retorted. He knew he was playing a very dangerous game. The monster inside him was getting stronger. It was dangerous to use his powers just now. At the same time, did Thor have enough soldiers, he wouldn't need to.
With a frown, Thor responded, "Princess Ragnhild sent the orders..." Billy relaxed. Ragnhild wasn't a Hand. If the orders had come from Nieve or Lollipop, he might have had a problem. In the now, he had room to maneuver.
"This is important," Billy responded. "The Lady of the Lake has been deposed, possibly by subterfuge. There's a usurper on her throne." Thor's grimace told that he well knew how important this city was to the King's plans. The giant rumbled, "you'll stay with me. We'll let the soldiers do the heavy lifting." Billy grinned. He wouldn't have it any other way.
The giant grimaced. "I've never been here before," he said. "How do we get to town?" Billy nodded in the direction where the great bridge of the lake reached shore. "We're not going straight in," he said. "We'll want to talk to the Captain of the Guard first. His shipyards are that way... We should be able to walk it." "Ok," muttered Thor. "Lead on..."
The way through the forest was rough going, with little more than a break in the trees and underbrush marking the trail. Of course, the folk of Stilt Town weren't on good terms with the people on dry land. Slavers had frequently harvested the deer-folk tribes nearby, and the buffalo peeps were perennially hostile. The end of the great bridge was protected by a modest fort, built of stone and timbers and heavily guarded, while Captain Wilson's men patrolled the lake itself, making it difficult to assail the town across the water.
Something else for us to do here, Billy thought, as he watched his brother-in-law out the corner of his eye. He'd managed to forge a three-way peace between Tequila Princess, Morgana, and the Lady of the Lake, making Stilt-Town into neutral ground. Kate had no longer needed to fear invasion from over the sea. She'd only had to deal with the people on dry land and Whiskey Pete's pirates.
"One thing at a time," the big man murmured. "Come again," Thor rumbled? Billy flushed, as he realized he'd spoken aloud. Glancing up, he said, "what's with the lamp?" His brother-in-law had brought it along, slinging it over his shoulder like a weapon." "I just like to hold it," Thor responded. Billy rolled his eyes. It wasn't enough that he was losing his marbles. With Star stuck in the Candy Kingdom, Thor had apparently gone 'round the bend!
Worrying about that wasn't getting them anywhere, though. Billy moved on. "When we get there," he said, "let me do the talking. Cara told me that Justin Wilson was looking for me earlier in the week. He went up to the Lady's Bower and threatened to come find me."
"What's the play," Thor asked? "The play is to do the minimal damage to the town and its people," Billy responded. "With Captain Wilson on our side, Cameron's options are very limited. Plus, his guys can help us get your troops into the city without a fight at the causeway."
Thor nodded. It was the typical misdirection play the Mertens clan was famous for. More to the point, it would avoid a fight that might see the Ice Prince go berserk. He was growing a little more comfortable with the situation. He did have some leeway, and he knew that this place was critical to supporting the rocket-base in Coca Kingdom.
It was well past noon, when the duo reached the gates of Captain Wilson's shipyard. The fact that there wasn't so much as a bobble when Billy announced himself told that the Ice Prince's words were true. Stilt-Town's captain of the guard was looking for him. Indeed, the pirate shipwright looked scarcely surprised to see Billy come through his door, when they reached the shipyard's main office. "Was wond'rin when ya'd stop by," Justin Wilson chuckled.
With a nod at Thor, Billy responded, "I had to get some backup. It took a bit." "Well, y'er here now," the shipwright chuckled. "Whatcha' wanna' do?" "Need a little information," Billy declared, as he took the seat before the captain's desk. "How long has Cameron been running things?"
The old man paused a moment, then responded, "couple weeks, maybe. Been three total since I last seen Kate." Billy's heart sank. That was a lot of time. At the same time, if he couldn't save her, he could avenge her. The thing was, he needed information. To get it, he would have to beard the lioness in her den.
With a nod for Thor, Billy, declared, "I have soldiers standing by..." "I brought a thousand men," Thor announced. The old pirate whistled, "Kate said y'all had d'power. Figger she was right. How you wan' do this? March right in?"
Shaking his head, Billy responded, "marching in gets a lot of Kate's people killed, Captain. Pirates they may be, but a lot of them are innocent of any wrongdoing here. I aim to bring Thor's men across the lake on boats. Get right up on the Lady's Bower, and strike before Cameron can react." Nodding thoughtfully, Justin Wilson whistled, "we can do that. Take that bitch by surprise, I garonetee!"
As Billy discussed his plan with Stilt-Town's captain of the guard, in the heart of the city, their hidden foe stepped out of a bath, feeling refreshed. The water had come dear at the cost of several gold coins, but it was much better than the fetid lake-water the locals typically bathed in. After weeks in this place, Cenobia was considering the risk of returning home to her beloved island.
She's probably still in a snit, thought the nymph. Margarida was a boor and a dunce. While Cenobia had been foolish in trusting that damned pirate to follow orders, the whole business had gone mostly to plan. They'd earned a massive trove of gold from the glass folk—money that would carry Cenobia through a long stretch of years if she played things right.
"Did Gru get anything from Artemesia," she asked? The maid who was helping to dry her long, dark hair responded, "no, my lady. Miss Artemesia hasn't sent any further messages." Cenobia frowned. Her grand-niece knew much better than to keep Cenobia hanging. Rumblings of that damned princeling snooping on Port Rochelle were troublesome, to say the least.
If it wasn't that it was ugly confirmation of Margarida's nebulous fears of retaliation, there was the greater risk that their insipid overlord would screw the pooch on this and earn that retaliation she so feared. The wench was absolutely awful at telling a lie, which was a pretty poor spot for a woman in her position. Cenobia had been somewhat on pins and needles almost since she'd gotten the news of William's visit, wondering if Margarida would throw her under the carriage at some point.
"Anything from Catalina," she asked? "Gru received a message," the maid responded. "Matters are proceeding. Astartes has been gifted a castle for her and her child." "Any news on a meeting with Finn," Cenobia demanded? "Finn has accepted the child as his," the maid responded, "but matters are strained. He's in the far east again, dealing with Mr. Gumbald..."
Cenobia snorted. She'd played the fool there. The weapons that bastard had delivered had failed them on the first try. It was frustrating that these foreigners were now playing in the Confederation's backyard.
Done drying off, the curvy woman sauntered out of the bath in her birthday suit, much as she'd done in her palace at home. It was only natural, and the sunlight was much healthier than artificial light. Settling in the enormous, stuffed leather chair the room was furnished with, Cenobia settled in for a long stint of looking at the books. She'd be looking at culling her herd of slaves in the spring, selling old stock and buying newer models with more years on them. Trading up in the current climate would be expensive, but she'd always driven a hard bargain at the market.
That activity occupied her for much of the evening until the sound of the town crier in his distant tower announced that it was time for bed. Rising with a yawn, Cenobia stretched for a moment before slipping off to the suite's little bedroom. There she found the maid had the sheets turned down and the brazier stoked up. As the lithe woman slid between the sheets, her mind on slipping over to her ally's domain where her ship lay in wait, a disturbance in the outer room brought her fully awake once more.
"My lady," shouted Nireta! Arsenia's insipid lieutenant wore an expression of panic on her face as she came through the door. "What the bloody hell," demanded Cenobia? She didn't really like Nireta, and she decided that if this weren't important, the wench would end her days in the clutches of Whiskey Pete.
"My lady," Nireta announced! "An army's entered the town!" Well, that's important, isn't it, Cenobia thought, as she sat bolt upright? The older woman's eyes flicked to the clock next to the brazier. What the hell was an army doing in the town? The gates should be closed! A cold chill went down her spine as she remembered the dangerous element that had shown up days ago.
William was here.
Finn's son had sailed in on a pirate ship. She'd told her dog to deal with the problem, but clearly Cameron had failed. The question was: what to do now? If he'd entered the town with an army, that meant that Cameron's few guards would be unable to defeat him. More to the point, he had the terrifying power inside him that Margarida so feared. The city abounded with stories of how he'd slaughtered shiploads of pirates single-handedly.
You can't fight him, the nymph decided. She wasn't a warrior, and she didn't want to throw away her few loyal guards trying. There was a far better option. "Gather my things," she commanded, as she climbed out of bed.
Moving to the closet, she gathered on her clothing and a wrap against the chill. While she dressed herself, her servants gathered up her personnel effects, packing them swiftly and carefully. She'd been toying with the idea of moving her things here from Whiskey Pete's town. In spite of the risk of incurring his wrath, pirates had twice swum out to her yacht to try their hand at burglary—ending their days on the end of a lance. The folk of Stilt-Town were poorer but far more circumspect. The only thing that stopped her was the nagging fear that her operation here was on borrowed time. Now, apparently that time had run out.
Miles away, the problem announced itself to the would-be Lady of the Lake with the sound of marching feet on the metal decking outside the Lady's Bower. The sound of feet on the decking was a constant for Stilt-Town. During the day, the city streets rang almost continuously with the sound of wooden shoes or the heavy leather soles of the pirates' working boots on the uneven bits of scrap that passed for walkways.
Nights were a different story. Most folk were indoors at this hour. Between the risk of a fall into the murky waters or the ever-present footpads prowling the streets, no-one truly wanted to be out between the hours of ten at night and six the following morning.
The sounds of marching feet sent many folk scurrying to the windows to see what was going on. It sent just as many to the hiding places and bolt-holes most citizens kept in their hovels. Nothing good was coming of so many armed men in the streets, and it was clearly a problem for people with more power than the poor fisher-folk that called the town home.
Walking in the van, Billy felt mixed emotions. He was finally moving forward—dealing with the betrayal of someone he cared for. At the same time, he was dreading what he'd find inside the Lady's Bower. Having been a police man, working for his father in a not-so-distant life, he'd seen his share of death. While the candy-peeps were mostly alright, he'd seen a lot of ugly amongst the various visitors to Bonnie's capitol.
And, of course, his brother-in-law had decided to go weird on him. The lamp the older man was carrying was giving Billy the willies. He was never without it. Every time Billy glanced behind him, Thor was there cradling the lamp like it was his best friend. It made the young prince fear that maybe they were all losing their marbles.
The men on guard at the Lady's Bower watched the mass of heavily armed men coming up the street with trepidation. One or two had been in Cameron the nymph's pocket for years. Others had come on recently. Some were men who'd run afoul of the pirate captains and found themselves unable to go to sea. Others had fallen on hard times and needed an infusion of cash to get their lives in order once more. None could say they'd signed on to fight Cameron's battles for her.
As the mass of armed men reached the gates, those who were a little more sober—or who could at least think a little faster—departed in precipitous haste. The rest stood there a few moments, facing down certain death. Then the first of them stood aside, announcing, "I surrender. I surrender in exchange for safe passage."
Much as Billy wanted to toss this shitbag over the side, he was pretty far down the list of problems right now. "Get out of town," the big man declared. In short order, the entire gaggle out front of the Lady's Bower was headed for the nearest ramp down to the docks. As for Billy, he was headed up.
Thor's soldiers took the lead, as they made entry to Kate's home. They did the job just as the Banana Guard's Heavy Boys had been taught to do it—room by room, searching under every piece of furniture, looking in every closet, and pieing every corner before moving on to the next floor.
Shockingly, nothing jumped out at them, suggesting that Cameron had been no better at winning the guards' loyalty than she had been at winning Captain Wilson's. Nobody likes a troublemaker, Bill, the prince thought, as they approached the living quarters.
Justin had complained of how Cameron was threatening what had been a fairly nice arrangement. He'd been delighted to have the number of bar brawls and fights in his town drop so drastically, and the shipyards had never been more prosperous. There was plenty of money to be had, if you didn't get greedy—a lesson the nymph had failed to heed.
Emerging into the space where Kate customarily met visitors, Billy was a little surprised to find the little redhead sitting there in front of Kate's map-table, her expression unreadable. I expected her to be gone, he realized. Nymphs were opportunists, with little loyalty to anyone or anything. Rare was the nymph who would have risked her skin fighting over something, when she could move on down the road to the next swindle.
When the big man might have gone striding forward, Thor stopped him by the simple expedient of shoving that lamp into his hands. Billy felt a shock of something, suggesting the lamp had a charge on it. Is this thing cursed, he thought?
Momentarily, that was the last thing on his mind, as the big man snatched the little woman out of her chair by her hair. "Where is Lady Katherine," snarled Thor?! Almost contemptuously, he dropped the little bitch on the floor. The look of abject terror on the nymph's face aroused a moment's pity. "You have a few minutes to decide what to say," Billy rumbled. "The penalty for harming a member of the Royal Family is pretty bad, sugar-snatch..." Glancing at Thor, he asked, "what's popular these days?" With a shrug, Thor responded, "I hear Drawing and Quartering's making a comeback."
"I didn't do anything," she sobbed! Gathering herself to her knees, she insisted, "it wasn't me!" Coldly, Billy responded, "I'm waiting. I'm waiting on you to try and explain this." "If I talk," she sobbed. "If I talk, they'll hurt me..." Thumbing his belt-buckle, Thor mildly remarked, "drawing and quartering usually starts with a hanging... just long enough for the criminal to black out..."
"Th-they tortured me," the nymph howled. "Th-they put a curse on me... If I talk..." Those implacable eyes suggested that neither of those men cared. Indeed, one of the soldiers drew his belt off, suggesting, "here, Lord. Use this one..."
Staring at the ground, Cameron rumbled, "it was Lady Cenobia of the Confederation. She's here in Stilt-Town..." The soldier frowned. Indeed, Billy now gripped the lamp tightly, his expression gone strange. "She came and said that if I didn't help her take Kate, I'd be killed," the nymph declared.
Glancing up, the little woman sobbed, "she had them beat me and rape me, and then she dragged me over to Whiskey Pete's town..." Before Billy could react, the little woman turned and tore the bodice off her back, revealing a livid grey-purple mark that seemed to throb in time with her terrified heartbeat.
Thor glanced to his boss/brother-in-law. With a grimace, Billy announced, "it's going to kill you." He'd seen the like before. His stepmother had brutally killed the wizard responsible. Emeraude had been... a mess afterward. His father and mother had sent the kids to live with their grandfather for a bit, while they got her sorted out.
"She's there...," Cameron sobbed. "Whiskey Pete keeps her for a trophy..." "Where's Cenobia," Thor growled? "She lives in the St. Louis," Cameron responded, "in my old flat." When Billy turned to go, the nymph announced, "she's gone by now. She keeps her goons in the bottom levels, and she had a skiff waiting to take her back to Whiskey Pete's town."
"Damn," Billy muttered. He was going to have to do just what his family didn't want him doing. His eyes flicked to Thor. The giant's eyes suggested there might be a fight right here, right now, if he was planning to go up against this Whiskey Pete. "We need a plan," Thor rumbled. He's not saying 'no', Billy thought. Nodding, the giant reminded him, "you said it, yourself. Lady Katherine's a Royal. It's part of my job to ensure her safety." "Right," Bill agreed. "We'll hit the St. Louis tonight and look at what we can do tomorrow. I have somebody I can maybe call to help us."
Well, Billy is back with his family, more or less. Kate may be alive (maybe), and there is a showdown with Whiskey Pete, the Undead Pirate King in the offing. Wonder who Bill's going to call.