The Midnight Storm (A New Dawn #2)

Chapter 41 - Alex (Part 2)

When Ilona asked where she had been, Alex boasted of the street for the wealthy, not far from the market square. 

"I marked the houses," she told her Captain, "then followed another potential client, a rich-looking man. He ended up heading towards the Lord's manor up on the hill. I returned—he has two large dogs. We'd never get in, undetected."

"Regardless, we're not going to attack Burnfirth's Lord," Pan shouted from the back of the room. He had returned from the spice stall, all sold out.

"We're not," Ilona agreed with her son. "You did well, Alex. I have to admit I wasn't sure I was going to let you come tonight—too Greenie to do the hunt. Perhaps I should give you a chance, after all. Pan's well enough to stand watch by himself."

"I'm well enough to fight too," he protested.

"Can you fire an arrow without turning pale, your knees trembling?" Ilona asked.

"No, but I'd still hit the target."

She sighed. "Pan, it's no."

"Are you telling me this as my mother or as my captain?"

"Both!"

"That's too bad." Pan sniffed. "Mums can be ignored, Captains... not so much."

"Mothers always know best too," Alex said. "I learnt that the hard way."

"How so, Greenie?"

"They teach you which fights to pick, and which ones to leave to others."

"That makes sense." Pan grinned. "I fought for you at the Cove, Greenie. Now you fight for me."

She returned his smile. "Fine, I've always been a better huntress than a fighter."

"Make the spoils count."

In preparation for the Silent Hunt—the nickname of the raid—Captain Ilona called her crew into her quarters in groups of five or six. Alex stayed, on the Captain's orders, to hear the plan enough times her Greenie brain would be able to recite the steps in her sleep. Not that it was needed. There was nothing difficult about going to your assigned part of Burnfirth, silently break into the marked house, steal whatever seems valuable, then return to the Kraken's Kiss. 

Alex said nothing and listened. A few moons ago, she would have been offended. She had grown used to the prejudice, part jest and part reality. They would soon think of her as one of them. She was sure.

As though Captain Ilona was testing her, she assigned Alex to Ted's house by the shipyard. Nagi and Liene would assist her, or rather, she would assist them. The easiest robbery of them all, close to the ship, with the least potential loot. All they would find in the old man's home were the silver bracelet, his clothes, and the few coins he hadn't yet spent.

Should she have warned King Thomas about Ted? For a split second the thought crossed her mind, then she decided she didn't care what happened to those creatures that caused death and destruction. Even, naïve little Fox was better off freezing in an Ician mine where his magical flames could be of use than returning to The Greenlands; he wasn't welcome here.

She shuddered upon remembering the Jade Islandic man who had taken Fox from her. His dark eyes and bushy eyebrows etched into a permanent scowl. The rotten stench of his breath.

Oh, how she wished it would be her hands that killed him. The perfect revenge for Laneby?

Eager and thirsty for action, Alex and the rest of the crew waited below deck for Captain Ilona to signal the start of The Silent Hunt. Gone were the clean and trustworthy-looking merchants; they were pirates once more, belts, hooks, daggers, and all. Only the palm tears remained untouched, for the most part at least.