The Eighth Sea

Chapter 11

Wren

The royal navy was such a pain. They had no regard for basic manners, and they were stealing supplies from the Jolly Rancher! They managed to eat all of the oranges, which made Wren particularly angry—oranges were impossible to come by and he didn't want his crew to get scurvy.

To make matters even worse, the wind was practically dead. The pigeon that the navy had sent out was definitely taking its sweet time getting to Queen Aria. On the plus side, Hector kept peppering Wren with compliments since he had restrained himself from dying too often out of boredom. So sometimes, when he got a little too fed up with the navy, he would jump into the water, pretending as though he was drowning (just to annoy Hector), only to propel himself into the air with a little assistance from the current, scaring the navy.

However, by the time the fourth day came around, even Wren's little antics got really boring. All he wanted to do was go back out on the sea and travel. There were things to be done after all; he couldn't just sit around wasting time like that! That evening, he gathered his crew in his cabin, away from the navy's prying eyes, and began to plan an escape.

"So we have to get them drunk," Wren informed his crew. "Patricia, you'll still have some alcohol, don't worry."

"How?" Levi asked.

"Levi! Oh, you're perfect for this job. They know you as the queen's scribe! So they'd certainly trust you."

"I'm not doing this. No. I'm still loyal to Queen Aria."

"Oh come on, it's just a one-time thing," Wren whined.

"You know, there's probably a better way of handling this," Hector interrupted. "What you're tryna do is pretty risky. If we piss off the navy, the queen is definitely gonna rescind her agreement to let us sail."

Wren shrugged. "Hey, we're pirates. Breaking the law is what we do best."

Hector sighed. "Fine, if you think this is going to work, then I'll back you up. But we have to handle it with care."

"Please, Levi?" Wren asked. "I'll even force Pierre to leave you alone for the rest of the journey! And I'll give you all the oranges you want!"

"You had me at Pierre," Levi replied. "I'm gonna die anyway. Fine."

"Oi!" Pierre shouted angrily. "I did not agree to this!"

"And Levi didn't agree to being tormented with your midnight monologues."

Pierre went back to sulking in the corner while the rest of the crew huddled around the table and began planning out Levi's approach.

"Okay, Levi, you need to get closer to the navy for starters," Hector explained. "Gain their trust, just be engagin' in conversation. Maybe mention how annoying it is to deal with pirates."

"Hey!" Wren frowned. "We're not THAT annoying!"

"No, you really are," Hector retorted. Then, he turned back to Levi. "Maybe once you gain enough of their trust, invite them to your cabin for dinner or something. Then, you can just convince them to stay longer by offering drinks and dessert. Emphasis on the drinks."

"Sounds like a date night," Levi muttered.

"Any other ideas?" Hector asked the crew. Murmurs of "no" could be heard as Wren leaned back in his chair.

"No? Levi! Go seduce the navy!" Wren announced joyfully. "The rest of you, go find all of the strongest alcohol we have on this ship."

"We'd better get this done quickly, too," Hector remarked. "We want to set sail as soon as possible, so we're just wastin' time right now."

The crew murmured their assent, so Wren dismissed the meeting and they all went back on deck to alleviate any suspicion the navy might have. It did look a bit odd to have the entire crew disappear below deck for a few minutes, after all. Wren gave Levi a gentle shove in the direction of the nearest group of navy men, and gave him a quick thumbs up for good luck.

☆❊☆

Levi really was very efficient. By the next evening, the navy was sufficiently drunk on Patricia's favourite wine, and with the help of a few of the strongest crew members, they lugged the navy men into small boats and set them adrift.

"You know, you could make the current bring them back to their ship, right?" Levi asked as Wren watched the ships drift away.

"What's the fun in that?" Wren asked in return. "Don't worry, it's not like they're going to drown. They're in the navy, so they should know how to swim." He then turned to his crew and shouted, "Let's get outta here! Move as fast as possible."

With Wren controlling the current, Hector maintaining order, and Pierre staying out of everyone's way, the Jolly Rancher took off quickly, leaving the navy ship far behind as they continued on their journey. Wren couldn't help but feel a bit proud of himself for coming up with such a brilliant plan, so his ego was at an all-time high, making him a tiny bit insufferable to the rest of the crew, Hector and Levi in particular.

They travelled all day, since the weather was nice without a single cloud in the sky, and by the time evening came, they docked near a small fishing town for the night. Francis was on watch, and some crew members went out to the town for dinner and drinks and to celebrate getting away from the navy.

Just as they were all returning from the town and preparing to get some rest before the next day, Francis came rushing down from the crow's nest, yelling loudly.

"There's something on the horizon, and it's approaching us! Cap'n, you need to come take a look!"

"Right now?" Wren complained. He was more than ready for bed, and climbing up to the crow's nest was the last thing he wanted to be doing. "Can this wait until morning?"

"It's important!" Francis insisted, so Wren clambered up, grumbling the whole way. He squinted out at the horizon, scanning the ocean for whatever Francis had seen. At first, all he noticed were the deep blue waves, but then, something else caught his eye. Far out in the distance, but steadily approaching every minute were the unmistakable orange sails of Queen Aria's navy.