The Captain's Apprentice

CHAPTER THREE

Tarren and Luc sat at a table with a woman on each of their laps. Luc had all but drowned himself on the drink in his hand, only giving a taste to the woman who sat upon his lap, and only if she asked in the most polite manner. Tarren gave all his drinks to the woman on his lap. He was more than content drinking the water served to him. Where he came from water was a luxury. There he could drink as much wine as he pleased, for there was never an alternative, but here clean water was plentiful. The two places were so different he always thought it surprising they were located in the same kingdom.

Ringland was the largest and wealthiest of the five kingdoms. The main port of Ringland was located in its largest city called Wainscot. Wainscot was where Tarren spent most of his days, for that was where the pirates held keep, and the Pirate Order could not function with out its King.

However, Tarren was not in Wainscot. He was in Ringland, the capital of the kingdom Ringland. It was a place where the rich get richer and shun the few who escape poverty and become rich. It was also the place where the Queen resided, and Tarren liked the Queen.

"Come on, lovely." Luc gave the woman a squeeze of encouragement. She slapped him gently, and then laid a sloppy wet kiss across his lips.

Tarren smiled. The people of Ringland love to pretend they are better than the rest of the world. In many cases they are, but give them a few drinks and the women turn into no less than the whores found in brothels, and the men no less than the homeless of Wainscot.

"You like that?" The woman on Tarren's lap said, looking at Luc and her friend. She pressed her lips against his.

Tarren had tried his best to keep the woman at bay throughout out their time together, but she became more and more aggressive as the night went on. "Stop."

"What's the problem? Have a wife back home do you?"

"I'm afraid I do."

The woman hopped off at once. "Well, I'm not going to play a married man's mistress." She pouted. "...Or his lady for the night?" She bit her lip.

Tarren grinned venomously through an almost bored expression. "Well, the way you rub me suggests you would." At that she slapped him hard across the face. She walked over to Luc and joined her friend in sucking his face, looking at Tarren all the while, as if that would teach him manners. He laughed.

Several men dressed in deep-blue button down overcoats with truncheons at their waist came into the tavern, letting the morning light spark hatred in all who found themselves too drunk the night before to leave. They were the Regulate, the law enforcement of Ringland. Being not only a pirate but also the Pirate King, Tarren should have fled the scene the moment they entered. But he was not worried. He had bought the Regulate sometime ago. It was his first act as King of the Order. The men surrounded Tarren and Luc and the women, "Tarren Cott, Luc Hailsent?"

"Yes, my good sir, what can I do for you?"

"By order of the Regulate and the Council of Ringland you are charged with piracy, theft—"

"Last time I came to Ringland piracy was legal." Tarren squinted his eyes at the man in blue.

"—And for the assassination of the Queen of Ringland."

"The Queen?" One of the women said with an excited gasp, "I hear she's beautiful. Are we going to see her?" She was too consumed with the thought of the Queen that she had missed the first half of the man's statement.

A wave of heat spread over Tarren's body. His jaw started to shake and his fingers began to twitch. Calm yourself, Tarren, he thought. He bit his lip and took a breath, "I believe you are mistaken. I have not killed anyone in sometime."