Open Wardrobes

2000 words today to a total of 26,000 - more than halfway there!




The Arrow's barrage dealt the Savage another blow on the keel and in return the Savage issued its first serious blow, doing damage to one of the Arrow's secondary masts. Red cursed their luck. It would hold for now, or at least so he hoped, and they could lash it together enough to reach port, but it would require more serious repair. Red could crew his crew on the deck below as they raced to reload and fire again. They had emptied all the cannon on the starboard side and were not like to have their port side open for a time. The Savage fired again and it slashed across the top of the forecastle, mere feet from where Red stood, and took most of the railings with it. The two ships remained locked in a tight circle, both now dependent on the speed of their respective crews to see who would be able to return fire first. If they could just turn more quickly for another shot from the reloaded bow cannon...
One shot issued from their starboard side, whoever had reloaded so swiftly would surely be rewarded, and it struck the Savage on its top deck. Red, however, paid not so much attention to where it hit as the jolt backwards the Arrow received in return. Red had an idea and swung down to the main deck to find Jat, leaving the helmsman to take charge of the helm. Quickly he explained his plan: to fire the fore cannons on the port side at the same moment as they made as hard a turn as they ship could manage. Red hoped that this would increase the speed of their turn enough to open up the bow cannon. Jat ran below deck to relay the firing orders as Red did the same for the crew who manned the sails. In the meantime each vessel unleashed another full volley and the damage on each ship mounted. The Arrow received its first blow serious enough to start taking on water, though the Savage received a couple more such strikes in return.
Once prepared Red returned to the helm and gave the signal. He forced the helm as hard to starboard as possible as the port guns fired and the sails shifted to add to their starboard momentum. The ship creaked, particularly the damaged mast, but slowly the bow moved to aim directly again at the Savage's starboard side. They would not have long before the Savage made some move to counter and so Red ordered the bow cannon to fire as soon as the shot was clear. At that instant, however, the damage mast snapped from the new strain and toppled. Red heard the cries of the crew as they sought safety and the mast slammed into the deck. But the change in sail the falling mast caused increased the speed of their turn and when the bow cannon fired it smashed into the forecastle of the Savage with such force that it began to collapse. Turning back to face their foes Red saw as planks and railing slid into the sea along with the one of its crew. Shouts issued from all over the Savage. The damage the Arrow had done clearly took all the enemy's thoughts away from battle for the moment. The partial loss of the forecastle had also damaged the helm and the Savage began to run straight ahead. The Arrow continued its turn and Red quickly brought the helm back so that they would run alongside, opening up their port cannons. They let these loose at once, doing some damage to the Savage's starboard firing deck, still working to reload.
Red ordered the ship to slow to half and waited to see what the Savage would do next. To Red's surprise it continued on and seemed to have lost its taste for battle. It was already listing to one side as it took on more water, and while Red would have rather finished the job as a captain himself he understood Drake's desire to bring his crew to safety once clearly beaten. The lookouts to aft reported that the other ships were no longer to be seen. They had chosen to chase Howl and the Sea Wolf and Red hoped he would be able to lead them into a trap of his own, if he could catch enough of the ships near Harbarrow. Red brought his spyglass to bear on the retreating Savage. The crew looked busy enough tending to its wounds, though Red saw no sign of Drake anywhere on deck. Tom Flint, the first mate, appeared to be giving all the orders and Red wondered if Drake had been wounded during the fight. The Savage continued to flee and Red ordered full stop while they saw to their own injuries.
Red left Jat to keep an eye on the Savage while he took stock of the damage done to the Black Arrow. His crew was already working to repair the hit below deck. They had not taken on much water as of yet and such a repair could easily be done when next in port. The rest of the damage was mostly superficial, or at least did not affect the running of the ship much, with the exception of the secondary mast. Their hard turn had brought it down and there was nothing that could be done now until they reached port for repairs. It was an unfortunate wound as it would cripple they speed noticeably. They could not so easily outrun any of the Ruined fleet now that made for their position. Red was about to have Jat set the ship back on a course to Montegal (it was still the closest port) when he heard a cry.
"Man overboard!"
Red ran to the port side where other of his crew had gathered. In the dark he could only just make out of the shape that splashed in the water. A rope was thrown down and the crew quickly hauled the castaway back up on deck. Red turned to look at the rescued man, soaked and disheveled, and gasped. It was Lemuel Drake.
"So, Captain Foxx," Drake said calmly, "it seems we meet again."

*****

Red closed the door to his cabin. The arrival of the captain of the enemy fleet on board the Arrow had created more than a small stir. Lemuel Drake had fallen overboard when the Arrow had damaged the Savage's forecastle. Ironic, Red thought, since their shot had only struck there due to the damage done to their own mast. Lemuel sat in a chair next to Red's desk. He had been given dry clothes to wear, but he sat chained both hand and foot. Red turned from the door to study him. Something in Lemuel's demeanor puzzled Red greatly. Ever since Lemuel had been dragged onto the deck, uniform torn and dirty, he had not acted the way in which Red would have expected of a prisoner. He was not defiant, nor did he make any demands as to his treatment or to be returned to his ship. No, he was merely quiet, as if somehow he had expected this turn of events. He did not even inquire as to what had happened to his ship. Even now he uttered not a word or even pay much attention to Red. He stared ahead, barely aware of his surroundings, looking not at Red or anything else in the cabin.
"It seems it mattered little whether I gave you your liberty or not," Red finally said. Lemuel did not reply. "Where was your ship heading?" Red asked. More silence, and then,
"You do not have wear beards."
Red stopped. He had not expected these to be his captive's first words. "Nor do you," Red returned.
Lemuel turned to look at Red. "None of you, I mean, your crew. I have never seen so many pirates who do not wear beards."
"This is all you have to say?"
"You want to know if I know the location of Lord Ward Brawn."
"That would do for a start," Red admitted.
"I do not," Lemuel said and turned to look back out the window.
"But you know where to being," Red insisted.
"I can think of many places such a man might hide, yes," Lemuel said.
"Montegal?"
"No, though as you no doubt guessed I had previously laid a trap in this direction, should I find you."
"There where will your ship be heading next?" Red demanded.
"Flint will not take the ship now where we had planned," Lemuel told the Captain. "There is little I can tell you."
"You may being with any hiding places you can think of."
"You will have no way of knowing if such information would be at all truthful," Lemuel pointed out. "The Coral Seas are a large place to hide, as you should know yourself."
"If you do not prove yourself useful I can think of many worthy fates."
"You would not be a pirate if you couldn't, I suppose," Lemuel mused.
Red withdrew his saber and slammed it on the desk in front of Lemuel. Lemuel did not so much as flinch. He merely looked up at Red, by all appearances completely unconcerned.
"Why do you want the Heart so badly?" he asked Red.
"It is an heirloom of great value," Red answered. "Why else do you think your king sought to steal it?"
"In all these years I have not been able to comprehend the obsession he felt for it," Lemuel confessed.
"You may believe it is well worth the finding," Red told him. "But I am not surprised your king never could decipher its secrets. I need not ask you why you are now searching for the Heart."
"No, for you were spying at the door," Lemuel retorted, the first emotion Red had seen in him since his capture.
"I am entitled to know all that does in my realm," Red said proudly. "And certainly it remains within my rights to do what I must to protect that realm."
"As I must do for mine."
Red's lip curled upwards. "I was not aware you had one."
Lemuel jumped to his feet with a clang of chains. He would have had one around Red's neck if the chain hadn't anchored him to the cabin wall. Red smiled grimly, glad to have found Lemuel's singular weakness. Lemuel say back down.
"It is not enough we have lost our home that you must hunt us to ends of the sea?"
"If you did not hunt us, perhaps we did not return the favor."
"Of that I have my doubts," Lemuel said. "And we only seek retribution for what you have done to us."
Red laughed. "You may inspire your crew by breathing such lies, but you need not bother here."
"Do you seek to taunt me further?"
Red looked at him carefully. "This is something you yourself believe."
"I saw the destruction with my own eyes. I saw your father's standard, in the distance, watching, as it occurred."
"It was nothing of our doing," Red said sternly.
"And if not yours, then of whom did it come?" Lemuel demanded.
"I do not know."
Lemuel laughed mockingly. "You may spare me the lies."
"It is the truth. We have always believed it was nothing more than a divine retribution for your sacrilege against the Heart."
"Pirate folklore," Lemuel scoffed, "and the more fool are you to believe it. Clearly your father did not tell you everything."
"You truly do not know what the Heart of Destiny truly is," Red said. "It is because of the Heart that my father knew to be on hand when disaster befell you. I believe he hoped to help who of you he could."
"If you had but seen..." Lemuel began heatedly.
"I do remember," Red said suddenly, but not to Lemuel. "A wall of water that fell over everything, ships crushed. I was on a ship..."