Maxence leaned his head toward Pirate Flag Guy next to him, gesturing toward Sault, Rossi, and the third man he’d recognized. “There’s no way any one of these three could bribe such a large crew on apoliceman’ssalary.”
Shock waves rippled through the crowd.
Another man stepped toward Maxence and demanded, “Police? Is this guy secret police?”
“Oh, yes,” Maxence said. “All three of them are, and Dead Eyes is the chief of the Secret Service.”
The revelation that the three men were the equivalent of officers in the secret police caused a wave of revulsion through the onlookers.
Perfect.
The three guys detaining Sault shook him, and other crew members grabbed the other guy and Rossi.
One of the pirates restraining Sault said, “The secret police in my country murdered my grandmother.”
Another guy who was grappling with the lower-level Secret Service man said, “Police tased my brother until he had a heart attack and died.”
One of the guys holding Rossi’s arms behind his back said, “The secret police in my country disappeared my whole family. Do you do that?” He gave Rossi a little shake. “Do you?”
Rossi had murdered Max’s cousin Nico.
A guy sneered at Sault, “You didn’t tell us you were government secret police. How many people have you murdered,police man?”
The three guys yanked around Quentin Sault, the monster of Maxence’s nightmares.
Pirate Flag Guy said to Maxence, “I could tell Dead Eyes was police. I told the others that there was something about him, that he was too clean to be a kidnapper for ransom and not angry enough to be a revolutionary.”
Max said, “You’re very perceptive.”
Pirate Flag Guy puffed his chest and grinned. “It’s a gift. My father could look at a man and know everything about him.”
Maxence nodded. He stepped closer to the center of the crowd, raising his arms again. He asked the crowd, “What problems have you had with secret police in your countries?”
Everyone told their story all at once, disparaging the secret police in their home countries who had made their lives such living hell that they had gone to sea to escape.
One guy from the back of the crowd yelled, “If you’re the king, aren’t you in command of the secret police?”
Maxence called back to him, “I haven’t taken the throne yet. I don’t have the power to abolish the secret policeyet.There’s a confirmation meeting tonight I was supposed to be at, butDead Eyeswants someone else to be the king.”He looked straight into Quentin Sault’s pale eyes. “Once I am crowned, I will do away with the secret police who terrorize people. That’s why he wants someone else to be the king and why the secret police want me gone. The secret police don’t want a revolution.”
The crowd surged like a sea during a storm.
Quentin Sault’s thin lips drew back from his teeth, and he snarled. “You will never be the sovereign prince.”
Maxence turned back to the crowd. “Agoodruler doesn’t allow secret police to terrorize people.”
More people in the crowd nodded, watching him and listening.
One guy yelled, “But you said you were a priest.”
Max nodded at him. “I am going to be a priest, but first, I was going to make sure the new king would be a good person, not someone who needs the secret police to drag people out of their homes and murder them at night. Dead Eyes wants a dictator to be the king.”
The crowd roared with this, horrified.
Rossi’s eyes narrowed at Max.
Maxence added, “I don’t want to tax the people to death, and I won’t let the other people in the government take bribes. That’s why they’re trying to kill me.”
Understanding rippled through the crowd as they turned to one another, nodding. A common distaste for government officials who required bribes filled their eyes.
