“I dunna know. What else is there?”
“The pin for the tiller,” Maude said. “I took it. It secures the tiller tae the rudder. Without it, the ships canna be steered. Did ye truly think I’d leave those ships ready tae take tae sea?”
Francis looked relieved as Payne grinned. His mother was a brilliant woman even if she was a source of constant surprise. He left his mother and youngest brother in conversation about Declan and his intentions, heading back to Blackchurch to inform St. Denis of the latest developments. Truth be told, he wasn’t as unconcerned about his brother running amok in the Devon countryside as his mother was. Declan, with dozens of men at his side, could be a dangerous thing.
Especially if he didn’t know where his brother was going.
Blackchurch was back on high alert within the hour.
PART TWO
THE SEA GOD
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Three Days Later
She’d taken thebloody pin from the tiller assembly.
Sitting in an old tavern on the river’s edge in the sleepy village of Combwich, Declan knew for a fact that his mother had taken the small piece of iron so the ships couldn’t be steered. Not only that, but the men left shipboard to guard the vessels were loyal to his mother and wouldn’t let him on board without her permission. Declan had been planning on overwhelming them when he realized the missing pin situation on an exterior perusal of the ships. Now, those left on board were keeping everyone off with crossbows and his entire plan to confiscate the two San Miguel vessels was in ruins.
Damnation!
Now he sat in this dirty tavern, with dirty women and dirty people, as his own men wandered around the town, probably stealing and God only knew what else. Declan wasn’t one to supervise them or even keep them in line. He was only worried about himself, and that had always been the case. Today, in particular, he was only thinking about himself and, in fact, was sulking as he steadily consumed the cheap ale that had been cut with water right out of a swamp. It tasted horrible. But it wasenough to make him tipsy and, strangely, that helped him think straight.
He was going to leave his mother.
More precisely, he was going to leave her command and start his own. Those ships moored in the river were going to be his as soon as he could find a smithy to make the pin that his mother had so thoughtfully taken. She always seemed to be one step ahead of him, which was thoroughly annoying, but that was going to end.
He was going to strike out on his own.
At some point, he’d gather the men who came with him and they would devise a plan to remove the guards from the vessels. There were about twenty-five of them between both ships and Declan only had eighteen men with him, but those eighteen were the toughest of the tough. Men who didn’t want to serve under a woman any longer. They wanted the prestige of serving under a man who would let them do as they pleased. Declan already had a name for his group.
The Fomorians.
He grinned as he thought of that, naming his band of pirates after the most horrifying creatures of Celtic legend. He wanted to live up to the name, to become legendary in both deed and destruction. Malevolence was his middle name.
Finally, he was going to be able to live the way he wanted to live.
As he sat there and pondered his future, he had a clear view of the vessels on the river. He also had a clear view of the river itself, and he saw, very clearly, when a large, well-appointed cog came down the waterway and stopped behind his mother’s ships. The ship dropped anchor in the river, right in the middle of it, blocking any traffic that might be coming up, or down, the river.
That was when things began to get interesting.
As Declan watched, he could see men coming over the rail of the boat and shouting to the men who were guarding the two Medusa vessels. There was a lot of shouting going on, and when the men from the river boat tried to board, the crossbows came out and a battle ensued.
By this time, everyone in the tavern was looking from the windows, watching the battle. There were a great many men from the big ship trying to board the two other vessels, but the Medusa men were determined to prevent them. Fascinated, as well as concerned, Declan stood up from his table and went to the window with the others, watching the scene unfold.
And what a scene it was.
A full-scale battle was happening on the river’s edge of sleepy Combwich. Amazingly, the men from the larger ship were ultimately unable to board the two Medusa vessels, and when one did manage to get on board, he was stabbed through the belly and thrown into the river. As this was going on, two cannons from the larger ship were being lined up and two explosions rang out, one after the other.
The cannons shot off the rudders of both Medusa vessels.
Everyone in the tavern jumped back, away from the windows, but Declan remained, shocked at what he’d just seen. Clearly, the men from the larger vessel couldn’t board the two smaller cogs and had made sure the ships couldn’t leave. As he watched, the men from the large vessel began to move toward the shore, swarming on the river’s edge before moving into the village.
They were heading toward the tavern.
The terrified tavernkeep rushed to the front door and threw the bolt to stop them from entering, but Declan called out to the man.
