Tides of deception ✺ Outlander/Stephen Bonnet Fanfic

♤16. Bird 🌶

Before reading this I'd like you to know I made a change in the previous chapter (♤15. The green monster.) Giving more insight in the depth of Anita's feelings, her motives and plan. If you'd like to read this, read the part after the last "✺" in the previous chapter. Now let us continue!

As Anita's schemes quietly simmered through the circles of the elite, Stephen found himself increasingly cut off from his usual business ventures. Whispers of his violent tendencies, which were fabricated by Anita, had made investors cautious, and his ruby trade had taken a sharp decline. Maria, however, was not idle. She had noticed the strain on Stephen, the way he clenched his jaw more tightly with each failed deal, and the way his sharp wit had dulled under the weight of these setbacks.

But Maria had an idea-an idea from her time that could change everything for both of them.

One evening, as they sat in their private cabin, Maria brought up a memory from her childhood, recalling her grandfather's attic and the strange navigational instrument she had once seen-a sextant*. "It was one of his treasures," she told Stephen. "He showed me how it worked. I know it hadn't been invented yet in this time, but... what if we made it?"

Stephen raised an eyebrow, intrigued but skeptical. "A device to measure the stars, you say? And that's going to bring us back to the top?"

"It's more than that," Maria said, leaning forward, her eyes gleaming with the same determination that had captured Stephen's attention from the start. "It allows captains like you to navigate the seas more precisely, with much greater accuracy than the cross-staff. I know there's a man, John Bird, who will invent it in about a decade, but what if we find him? Convince him to co-create it with us?"

Stephen frowned, still unsure. "I'm a pirate, not an inventor. Why would someone like him even agree?"

Maria smiled. "Because I know what he'll need to create it. I remember my grandfather's detailed explanations. You've said it yourself-society is nothing without connections. Bird's work with the Royal Navy is just starting to gain notice. We can use that to our advantage. If we approach him as investors and collaborators, offering insights only someone from the future would know, he won't turn us away."

Stephen sat back, considering. "And if the Navy adopts this... sextant?"

"Then you'll have the Navy knocking on your door," Maria said, her voice soft but filled with confidence. "They'll want to do business with you. Not just any business-this will secure your place in society. It won't just be pirates and thieves at your beck and call; you'll have the support of the British Navy."

Stephen's gaze sharpened. This was more than he'd imagined. He had always known Maria was different, smarter than most women he'd ever met, but this-this was something else. It was a chance to not only regain his standing but to rise even higher. A sextant could revolutionize navigation, and if they could be the ones to bring it to life before its time, their fortunes would be limitless.

"You really think it'll work?" he asked, his voice low, but the excitement was clear.

Maria nodded. "It has to. Once we track down Bird and secure his cooperation, the rest will fall into place. You'll be almost untouchable."

With a slow grin, Stephen leaned closer, his earlier doubts replaced by something darker and more determined. "Then it's time we put this plan in motion, lass."

They decided to put the ruby business on hold, gathering their resources for the trip to London. Their plan was simple: find John Bird, form a partnership, and co-create the sextant ahead of its time. With Maria's knowledge of the future and Stephen's charisma, they would be unstoppable. And once the sextant took off, even the Royal Navy would come knocking on their door, offering not only wealth but protection from the very forces trying to tear them down.