11. Something Wondrous

11. Something Wondrous

They sailed right past Sixblades' tiny island the following day. Ramorran's skin itched as they came close enough to note the high walls – and the tiny figures of a pair of guards at the jetty. The wooden structure reached out into the sea. Everywhere else appeared to be rocks more likely to dash a boat to pieces than offer a safe harbour.

Ramorran shivered, glad to have avoided being taken by Sixblades to this … fortress island. He must be mad to deliberately choose to step onto it.

"Not very welcoming," Hakan observed cheerfully as he tacked the chebec to carry them around the top of the island and head to the mainland where they'd pick up more provisions and Hakan hoped to find word of his crewmates.

"How are you so calm?" Ramorran wanted to simultaneously run onto the island and run a hundred miles in the opposite direction. Hakan looked as though he were simply engaged on a pleasure cruise.

Hakan lifted a shoulder. "No point borrowing trouble. We'll work it out."

Once they got in touch with his old crewmates. If that was even possible. Ramorran let Hakan's calm sink beneath his skin. He wanted this over with, but Hakan was right – allies on the island would make their job much easier.

An hour later they tied up on the Gabalnuan coast at a tiny jetty with a path signposted to the local village. It was so small they were the only vessel there.

"You get water, while I see what I can find out about Ozzo and Loula," Hakan said as they started towards the village.

"I know the plan," Ramorran said. Perhaps Hakan wasn't as calm as he seemed if he was repeating information they were both well aware of. He hefted their empty freshwater barrel onto his shoulder and followed the pirate.

He was delighted to find the well in the middle of the village was free for any to use and focused on filling it while he watched Hakan wow the village with his brash, sociable self. And his very tall tales. They were both objects of curiosity, being newcomers, but while Ramorran seemed to attract children who simply stared in silence, Hakan was drawn into conversations with adults sitting outside their front doors.

Laughter shook the air and the group around Hakan grew bigger, what seemed like most of the village gathering to hear his stories and answer his questions. Even the children wandered away to join the group. Ramorran was left with the uncomfortable feeling of being on the outside looking in once more. He wished he could hear the story, and tried to hurry, filling the barrel as fast as he could raise and lower the bucket into the well.

When he finished filling the barrel, he sealed it and rolled it towards Hakan so he could hear the tail-end of the pirate's story about evading the grip of a fantastical sea monster.

Hakan saw him and begged off demands for another tale. "I must get back to my boat, now we've got what we needed." He gestured to Ramorran and the water. Ramorran hoped Hakan had found out what he needed, too.

~

"Everyone in the village wanted to tell me what they'd heard about Sixblades' menagerie." Hakan examined Ramorran's face in profile as he spoke. Darkness was gathering and the walk back to the boat offered peace and quiet, while the gloom invited confidences. He couldn't wait any longer to discover whether the idea itching inside his brain was true. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he knew, one way or the other. "The most outrageous story was that he has a pet mermaid imprisoned on his island."

Ramorran made a noise low in his throat. "A mermaid? They're a superstitious bunch."

Hakan barely blinked, watching for the smallest flicker of emotion. "They're sailors. They see things most people would find hard to believe." Ramorran's jaw flexed in the moonlight, but that gesture was so familiar it didn't indicate anything at all. "I don't think it's true," he added lightly.

There. It was tiny, but he saw a relaxation in Ramorran's stiff shoulders. "Tall tales," he said carefully, leaning forward to guide the barrel as it rumbled along the path in front of them.

Hakan hummed gently. "I didn't doubt the truth because they mentioned a mermaid." The air was very still. Ramorran appeared to have stopped breathing. "Where it strays from the truth, I think, is because I suspect the mermaid is no longer his prisoner. They escaped. Didn't they?"

Ramorran's mouth opened and closed. He swallowed. "How would I know?"

"You'd know because the stories refer to you, don't they?" he queried softly.

Ramorran's throat worked again. "I'm not a mermaid." He tried for a dismissive tone, but Hakan heard the shake in it.

"You're not a maid," Hakan agreed. "But I think you're not quite human – or perhaps you're something more than."

He watched Ramorran's jaw work as though he were chewing his words in hope of swallowing them rather than letting them go. The barrel rumbled to a halt. The rush of waves against the shore ahead undercut the silence.

He turned to face Ramorran, so close their sleeves brushed. He could feel the heat of the other man. Ramorran stared determinedly past him. He wanted to touch, but that would wait. "The tale's clearly been garbled, but they mean you, don't they?"

Ramorran's gaze flitted around. Hakan waited. Finally, it settled on him. "Yes. The story's about me."

Hakan exhaled. He'd expected that answer, but it was entirely different to have it confirmed, Ramorran watching him with wide eyes. "What are you?" he breathed.

Ramorran hunched in on himself.

"Forgive me. I – that wasn't supposed to be offensive. I just ... I mean, I've seen plenty of things in my life, but you ... it's a story come to life."

"I'm not a curiosity to be gawped at," Ramorran snapped.

Hakan's lips twitched. "I can't speak for others, but I'm not looking at you because you're a curiosity, but because you're beautiful."

Ramorran scoffed, but Hakan saw his tension ease a little more.

"You're wondrous," Hakan added just as softly.

The tension in Ramorran ebbed, then he tensed back up. "You'd call me a selkie," he almost whispered.

Hakan nodded slowly. He thought he could feel his brain stretching to accommodate a new reality, a fireside tale abruptly proven to be true. "What you want back from Sixblades is your skin, isn't it? Because you had to leave that behind when you escaped?"

Ramorran cleared his throat then nodded, looking down. Hakan did as he'd been wanting to do since the conversation started and brushed his fingers against the back of Ramorran's hand. Relief whooshed out of him when Ramorran shifted, lacing their fingers. "What do we do now?"

Hakan turned them both to continue along the path, keeping a tight hold on Ramorran's hand. "Now, we figure out how to deal with Sixblades. Exactly how did you manage to escape?"

He listened silently as Ramorran explained, swallowing down his doubts while his eyes grew wider and wider.

~

"We've got company." Ramorran froze when they turned the final corner, the waterside coming into sight, moonlight glinting off the restless waves. Free Breezes had been the only one moored when they left. Now, a much larger dhow bobbed beside it.

"I see it," Hakan murmured. His steps turned silent as he approached the new vessel.

Ramorran told himself there was nothing to be worried about. This was a public place. Anyone could use the small jetty. He just didn't like the idea that someone else had spontaneously decided to moor on the spot of land closest to Sixblades' island.

As they drew closer two people rose, looming out of the darkness on the deck of the dhow, illuminated to sharp shadows by the lantern they lifted overhead. Ramorran's heart thumped when he recognised them from his past. Loula, the woman who could scare dragons with a raised brow, while the man must be Ozzo. He was a few inches shorter than Ramorran and Hakan, but he looked every bit as solid as Ramorran remembered – a man with muscles on his muscles.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Hakan cried in delight, striding forward. He jumped onto the deck of the boat, clapping his old crewmates on their shoulders.

Ramorran pushed the barrel to Free Breezes to give himself something to do while Hakan and his old crew greeted each other enthusiastically. He considered finishing his chore and manhandling the barrel onto the deck then swimming to the island alone, since he couldn't look to Hakan for help any more.

All his plans had been swept out from under him. Hakan was reunited with the crewmates he'd planned to rescue from Sixblades. Which left Ramorran alone to secure his property. It's what he wanted. He'd argued that the pair of them would have a harder time sneaking onto the island than he would alone. Now, he could undertake his own plan exactly the way he wanted.

So why wasn't he happier? He'd been alone since he'd escaped Sixblades until Hakan had crashed into his life by stealing his boat. He neither wanted nor needed company.

The ache in his chest called out the lie.

"Ramorran!" Before he could act on that impulse, Hakan called out. He tried to school his face to something calm and genial, hiding his churning thoughts as he turned to the dhow. "Here!" Hakan leaned to grab his arm. "Come and meet Loula and Ozzo!"

"We've met."

Hakan's grip was remorseless. Ramorran stepped onto the dhow with him because it was easier than trying to fight his way free.

"You!" Ozzo cried out when Ramorran stepped into the circle of the lantern's light. Ramorran expected anger, but the younger man only sounded surprised. "Loula and I spent a week arguing how you could have escaped. You can tell us all your secrets now!"

Ramorran swallowed. He'd do no such thing, although … he was outnumbered. He glanced to the side and wondered if he could dive into the sea and escape that way.

Hakan's fingers on his arm tightened. "Don't scare him off!" he chided.

"I'm not scaring him. I'm intrigued," Ozzo replied.

Loula said nothing, her eyes glittering in the poor light as her gaze darted from Ramorran to Hakan and back. Ramorran had the uncomfortable feeling she knew all his secrets without him speaking a word.

Hakan nudged him. "Would you believe, we planned to free Loula and Ozzo, while they escaped and went to Johermuhait to secure me!"

Ramorran nodded. His throat was thick. "I see. They're very loyal."

"Crew's family, eh, Cap?" Loula said. She seemed to be talking to Hakan, but her attention didn't waver from Ramorran.

"Ha, that's right."

Ramorran could barely speak, but he forced the words out. "You'll be glad you don't need to rescue them now."

Hakan nodded, chewing on his moustache. "We just need to secure your … property." Ramorran felt a jolt of surprise that the pirate didn't spill his secret to his friends. "And Loula and Ozzo can tell us how best to get into Sixblades' estate."

"You won't—" words failed him. "But … I can go alone."

Hakan scoffed. "I'm not abandoning you now. With all of us on the job we can't fail."

Something twisted in Ramorran's guts. Had he just been scooped into Hakan's crew? He wasn't sure how he felt about that. This was only temporary. Hakan had made that clear. Bedmates. Why would he stick with Ramorran now?

Loula shook her head. "This is madness." Ramorran's insides hollowed out. She swung to him. "You escaped once – why in the world would you go back?"

"Sixblades stole something I want back," Ramorran snapped. He wasn't about to let her tell him he was a fool. "And I've told you I can go alone," he said to Hakan.

"Like hell you will," he growled.

Ozzo chuckled. Loula continued to watch them in that stalkerish way of hers. "Well," Ozzo blew out a breath. "If it's madness, then it's a widespread problem because we're not going to let the two of you go alone, either."

~

"You can't get onto the island unseen." Ozzo folded his arms across his broad chest in a way that made familiarity ache in Hakan's chest. Coldhearted's navigator spoke matter-of-factly. "The jetty is watched all hours of the day and night."

"I can get on," Ramorran muttered.

Hakan shifted, talking over him. "There's no back way?"

Ozzo shook his head. "It's treacherous rocks all the way round, with only one small inlet that's safe to navigate. He chose well."

"How did you get off?"

Loula smirked. "Team effort. Made it worth each other's while. Jetty guard got us off the island, we got the slave collar off him." She gestured to the boat. "And the silver in our slave collars bought Emancipated."

"Best way to get on the island," Ozzo returned to the plan. "Is to use deceit. Walk straight on. Loula and I can't do it, but you could," he nodded to Hakan.

"What are you thinking?"

"Sixblades was furious to lose this one," Ozzo nodded at Ramorran. "If you tell him you're returning his lost property, you'll be able to walk straight through his gates."

"No. I'm not setting foot on that island as a prisoner," Ramorran snapped.

"It would get you face to face with Sixblades," Ozzo pointed out.

"The last thing I want is to be face to face with him. I'll sneak in, snatch what I want and sneak out."

It was Loula who shot that idea down. "If you'd been able to do that, you'd have taken your property when you left."

Ramorran's jaw worked.

"You'll need time to search," Loula continued. "We can grant you that, while you walk right in on Hakan's arm."

"It'll be a pretence." Hakan nudged him. "You can trust me." He leaned closer. "You trust me, don't you? After … everything."

Ramorran's jaw worked. His eyes gleamed as he inspected Hakan. Hakan tried not to be insulted. He was a pirate, after all; distrust came with the territory. "It's a stupid idea," he muttered.

"It's really not." Hakan's thumb stroked back and forth across the back of Ramorran's wrist as he made his case. "This way, we won't need to waste time and energy…" He glanced at Ozzo and Loula, who didn't yet know Ramorran's secrets, and perhaps never would. "… disabling all his guards on the way. We can get right in front of Sixblades before we strike."

"Strike?" Ramorran's eyes widened. "Are you planning to kill him?"

Behind them, Ozzo coughed. "He's hard to kill."

"Do you want me to?" Hakan asked. He didn't revel in murder, but he'd killed people before. He'd absolutely bring an end to Sixblades if Ramorran asked. He tried not to examine where that appetite for revenge had come from.

Ramorran's jaw clenched. He dropped Hakan's gaze and muttered, "No. Don't kill him."

"Very well, we'll just disable him temporarily. And then we'll take your property and leave."

Ramorran's arm was tense under his hand.

"It's a sound plan," Hakan reassured him. "You said yourself that I'm known for slaving. Sixblades won't suspect me of a double-cross until it's too late."

Ramorran's jaw worked, but he finally nodded.

Hakan turned to Ozzo and Loula. "And you'll create a distraction to help?"

They shared a smile that swept Hakan back to adventures years in the past. "It'll be our greatest pleasure to sow a little chaos," Ozzo promised.

Loula grinned like a shark and gave a nod of agreement.