Blood of the Righteous

The Big Payday

"I can't believe it! Fifteen hundred gold profit!" Karinga was practically jumping in the street as the four men made their way back to the docks district. "David, any doubts I had are now gone! You truly are the best Yeoman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." The captain put his arm around the young Yeoman.

David shook his head. "Fourteen hundred eighty profit, Captain. She won't be paying for the two sample barrels."

"At least the one was only half full," said Fyke with a wry grin. "Damn that was good beer, right Edge?"

The large man nodded, keeping his trained eyes on the throngs of people crowding the dirt street.

"Plus," David said, "we barely broke even on the wine. Curse it! I should have known that anything coming out of a vineyard that far north would be fit for little more than gar."

Fyke looked taken aback. "Gar? That was high quality wine!"

Karinga slapped his first mate on the back. "I think ol' Corwyn spent too much time in the Ordures Blanches growing up! It done ruined his sniffer!" Karinga laughed raucously at his own joke. The other three couldn't help but join in. "David, after the deal you struck on the beer, I truly am not concerned about the wine. It was only twenty cases, and breaking even on such a small quantity is good enough."

A brown-haired, mustached figure stepped out of the crowd into the path of the joyful party. He wore a blue feathered hat with the left brim turned upward and a matching surcoat. A gold sash ran from his right shoulder to his waist, right above his ivory-handled rapier, telling of his high rank in the Sea Merchants' Guild. The man took his wooden pipe out of his mouth and blew the smoke through his nose. "Good day of trading, Captain Karinga?"

Karinga stopped dead in his tracks, his mood turning instantly sour. "Lads, are we near a privy trench or am I... Oh, bless my stars, it's Donegal!"

"Charming as always, Captain. And it's Commodore Donegal, if you please."

"Yes, yes, yes," Karinga said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Whatever you say. Now if you will excuse us, we have business to attend to."

Edge protectively stepped in front of Karinga. "Let me break 'is face, Cap'n! He been a burr up yer arse for far too long."

Donegal smiled patronizingly. "Now now, Stockmore. No need to resort to violence. I'm just here to offer Captain Karinga another chance at membership in the guild. Think about it Captain, no more pestering. And I think we can even overlook those three men of ours you killed in New Portsmouth."

David took a step back, hiding behind Fyke.

"Fine," Karinga said. "I'll pay your ten gold."

"Ten? No, no, captain." Donegal put his pipe in his mouth and took a deep drag. "You see, when you were a mere errand runner for the merchants and nobility, you were barely making enough to keep your ship crewed. Ten gold was all we can expect of a piss-boy contractor. But now, you are trading in commodities, encroaching on guild territory. If you want to stay in business, you must join us."

Karinga rolled his eyes. "Get to the bottom line, you bag of wind! How much?"

Donegal regarded each member of the party one by one. "Hearing as you made a good haul today, I think a thousand gold will be enough to keep you in business."

David instinctively took a step back. Fyke's jaw dropped, and Edge grabbed the hilt of his cutlass.

"A thousand gold?" said Karinga incredulously, his face turning red. "That's bloody high seas robbery!"

Donegal smirked, folding his arms. "A thousand per month! Those are guild dues, not robbery. I'll take the first payment now. And since it is the 12th of Pentecost, I suppose I will be generous and collect your next payment on the 12th of Summerlight, rather than on the first."

Karinga stepped within arm's reach of the guildsman. He quickly snatched the pipe out of Donegal's mouth. "Here's what I think of your bloody guild dues!" With that, he broke the pipe in two, threw it on the ground, and crushed it beneath his heel. "You can tell Gaeceric to take his guild dues and batten them down his ol' hatch! What do you have to say about that?"

With gloved hand, Donegal wiped each side of his waxed mustache. "You disappoint me, Captain Karinga, but you do not surprise me. Very well then. I shall take my leave." With a slight bow of his head, Commodore Donegal stepped backwards, disappearing into the crowd.

Karinga stood with his fists on his hips shaking his head. "Gah, the nerve of that man!"

"Aye," said Fyke. "He's probably on his way to tell Gaceric right now."

"Ye shoulda let me gut'im, Cap'n!"

Karinga chuckled. "Edge, if you had, the entire guild would be on us like stink on a brothel."

The four of them stood quietly contemplating what possibly was to come. Karinga knew they hadn't seen the last of Donegal, but with more and more ships refusing to pay guild dues, they might get lucky and continue to slip through the cracks.

David decided to break the silence. "So what are we going to do, Captain?"

Karinga looked to David and smiled. "Don't worry, Tanner. We'll keep doing what we have been. We'll buy and sell commodities, earn gold on errands, and maybe frequent guild-run ports a bit less.

"Come on, lads. Lets get back to the ship. The Lord only knows what Dunkirk will do if Malcoeur's men try to take that shipment of beer away."