Waterborne (Wanderlust 3)

Chapter Forty-Four

"They're the same ones who attacked you?"

Soren focused the spyglass. There were three ships head, sailing together. "Aye. I only recognize one of them, but aye, it's the same one." He turned to look at a dot further in the distance. It was a big ship, he could tell even though it was hard to make out details. "Navirian navy, you think?"

"Yes," the Navirian woman said. "Pirate hunters."

"Well." Soren lowered the spyglass. "Three pirate ships, three pirate hunters. That's appropriate. Kija, flag Elorie. Ivern," He turned around to look at his friends. They were all standing there. Jerios at the helm, Roan and Ivern waiting for orders, Ara anxiously hovering nearby. "Gather the men."

***

"The man I want will be on the Alvarian ship. The Exhun."

Captain Sylvaine dismissively waved at him. She was rushing around the ship, and Tanden was following her.

"It doesn't matter who you want," Sylvaine said. She paused to address one of her sailors in brisk Navirian, then continued in Teltish. "We need to take the largest ship first. The other two can wait." She stormed back onto the quarterdeck, and switched back to Navirian. "Report!"

"Two more ships on the horizon," the woman at the helm said. "We're not sure if they're hostile. Is he going to be a problem?"

Tanden interrupted in Navirian. "No, I won't. Let me see the new ships."

Sylvaine frowned at him and didn't bother speaking in Teltish. "When my people want to talk about you privately, what language should we use?"

"You'll have to create a new one." Tanden took the spyglass without waiting for permission and held it up to his eye. Farther South, past the trio of pirate ships, he could see two more. His fingers tightened and he nearly dropped the spyglass in frustration. "I recognize them. They're pirates."

"We can't take on five ships, Captain," the woman at the helm said.

Tanden roughly slid the spyglass back into its slot near the helm. "We don't have to. We just need to kill Toliver and Rico."

"She was talking to me," Sylvaine said sharply. "You need to get away from me. This is my ship, and I'll make the final decision. Where is your friend?" Switching back to Teltish, she yelled, "Jale! Get him away from me!"

"Just get me to—"

Jale appeared beside him and caught his arm. "Stop," she growled in Tallenese. "You're not helping."

***

It felt both incredibly right and incredibly wrong to step up onto the bulwark and face his crew.

It was what Tanden had always done. It felt right to honour him in this way, just as much as it felt wrong for anyone but Tanden to do it. But Soren liked how it meant his whole crew, small as they were, could see him. And he knew his voice would carry easily to Elorie's ship, drifting closely alongside.

"We found them," Soren said, and had to pause, because the crew was already shouting. He waved his free arm to silence them, which worked after a moment. "It has been a long trip, but our revenge is almost here. We will avenge the Wanderlust and every ship these pirates have destroyed. We will avenge Tanden, Jale, Starios, Folti, Povic, and every sailor these pirates have killed. We will make the ocean a safer place." He hesitated to allow time for more cheers. Shouts of agreement echoed from Elorie's ship a moment later, as she translated his words for her crew.

Soren took a deep breath. He tightened his left hand around the rope that was steadying him. "We are a crew of many beliefs. Teltan and Crelan, Deoran and Navirian, Tallenese and Alvarian. My people—" His eyes found Roan in the crowd. "We're people of the ocean, and we have a saying. We've got the blood of the Sailor King. It means we belong here, on the water. We're not all Crelan, but the Wanderlust made us a family. It doesn't matter what country we come from and what we believe, we're all people of the ocean. And something else that units all sailors is superstition. The pirates think we're ghosts, determined to get revenge. Let's prove them right."