Page 76 of A Pirate's Pleasure
“Yeah, he did.” Lief sighed, his expression pained. “But hanging him won’t bring Erolith back. If I learned anything today, it’s that I’m not keen on watching anyone hang, no matter what they might have done. It’s not like he’s going to have a peaceful life always being on the run. I know first-hand how stressful that is.” Lief grimaced. “Maybe I just want him to suffer more, rather than having it be over and done with in a matter of minutes.”
My hand crept to my neck as we watched Baravor disappear out of sight and did nothing to stop him. It was tender to the touch, the rope having burned a blazing trail during those few seconds that had felt like a lifetime. “I’m sure he’ll relive that moment in his dreams every night. I know I will.”
Lief’s face was a picture of concern as he swung round to face me, cool fingers going to my neck in an attempt to soothe. “I thought…” he said, his voice cracking.
“Yeah,” I said, saving him from having to finish his sentence. “Me too.”
“Some help over here if it’s not too much trouble,” a familiar voice shouted. Lief and I drew back from our intention to share a kiss of celebration for us both still being alive despite the best efforts of the authorities and Lucretius Morgan to change that.
We found Whitby at the edge of the square beneath a fallen statue, Lucretius apparently having taken exception to it during his assault on the citizens of Elderborough.
He scowled as we arrived at his side. “This damn thing is too heavy to lift on my own,” he said, demonstrating the point with arms braced beneath it and an attempt to do just that, the chunk of stone barely moving. Going by the sweat standing out on his brow, it wasn’t the first time he’d tried.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
I got a filthy look in return for my concern. “Not physically, but my pride is dented.”
Lief crouched next to him, his brow furrowed. “How did you get all the way over here?”
“Apparently, your harpy friend…” Opening my mouth to dispute his choice of words, earned me another sharp look, so I closed it again. Whitby was the one trapped, so he deserved a chance to vent. “As I was saying,” he said. “Your harpy friend can apparently spot a pirate from miles away. He must have recognized me from the deck of The Navarino. Bastard swooped down and picked me up with those monstrous talons of his. Lord knows what he was planning to do with me, but thankfully, someone chose that moment to throw things at his head. He dropped me and then crashed into this thing.” He waved a hand at the statue pinning him to the ground. “And the rest was less interesting, given I’ve been lying here ever since.”
Lief and I grasped hold of each end of the plinth and heaved. Even with two of us, three if you counted Whitby doing his bit to push from underneath, it took quite some effort to lift it high enough that he could wriggle out from under the stone.
He climbed to his feet gingerly, Lief and I wearing matching looks of concern as Whitby went through a series of checks to make sure he’d suffered only cuts and bruises, finally giving a satisfied nod. “Where is he?” he asked. “Don’t tell me the bastard flew off.”
“Dead,” Lief said with some satisfaction.
Whitby raised an eyebrow. “Really dead?” His gaze flitted to me as if he needed to hear it from more than one source before he could believe it. When I nodded, he allowed himself a small smile. He studied us both, taking in the finger mark bruises on Lief’s neck and the rope burns on mine. “His and his neck wounds,” he said drolly. “Interesting! But I think West and I will give that a miss.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Lief
With the servants retired to their own quarters for the day, the house had fallen silent. Too silent. It occurred to me as I set about locating Zephyr that Cooper Hall had far too many rooms. I found him in the dining room, Zeph liking the view the window afforded him of the grounds. “I can understand,” he said as he caught sight of my reflection, “Baravor’s obsession with getting his hands on this place.”
“Can you?” There was no hiding the shock in my voice. Three days had passed since the events in Elderborough’s marketplace and the subsequent death of Lucretius Morgan. During those three days, Zephyr’s feelings about Cooper Hall and all the accoutrements that came with it had been plain to see, from his avoidance of asking the servants to do even the simplest task, to grumbling under his breath about how long it took to get from one place to another. “I thought you hated it?”
Zephyr shrugged one muscular shoulder, his lips quirking up at the corners. “I’m not sure I could hate anything today.”
“Because you’ve been pardoned?” When no one had tried to stop us, we’d simply walked away from the village square, and back to where I’d left my horse. As the horse couldn’t carry three, we’d taken it in turns, the journey back to Cooper Hall slow. None of us had complained, though. Not when we’d all had a brush with death that day. One that none of us were likely to forget in a hurry.
The days after that were spent in nervous anticipation, Zephyr steadfastly refusing to return to the ship when Whitby had, but remaining vague, even when pushed, about his reasons for not doing so. So we’d remained in limbo. And then today, someone had knocked at the door and delivered a written message from the judicial officials of Elderborough. The message simply stated that they had issued a full pardon in return for Zephyr’s services in protecting the citizens of Elderborough from attack.
Zeph turned to face me, the look on his face solemn. “You know the real reason they’ve pardoned me, don’t you?”
I frowned. “Because you saved the lives of hundreds of people. We both know Lucretius wouldn’t have stopped, that he would have been happy to take his rage about you escaping out on innocent people. It’s only right that they should reward you for that.”
Zeph snorted. “Oh, come on, Lief. You can’t really believe it’s about that.”
“No? What then?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Because nobody wants to be the person sent to arrest me. Not after what I did, what multiple witnesses saw me do. Not even Reeve.”
Reeve was apparently alive and well, more’s the pity. I might have dropped any thoughts of raining retribution down on his head on account of Zeph not being dead, but that didn’t mean I felt any more kindly disposed toward him. I considered Zeph’s words for a moment. “You may have a point.”
“Last time, they used you to get me into custody, and to get those damn manacles on me before I could do anything about it.” Zeph rubbed his wrists in a way that said he could still feel the ghost of the iron. Which was hardly surprising given how much time he’d spent in them over the past couple of months. “Their only option this time would be to use brute force.” His mouth twisted. “I’m guessing they don’t fancy their chances of being able to best me if I decide I don’t want to be hung for a second time.”
I regarded him silently for a few seconds, weighing up the right words to say. “Good.”