Zach sat there for the longest time watching her.
He'd walked the deck for hours, restless. And then there was the regret at what he'd put her through.
Sitting there now, watching over her, somewhere between the last of the night and daybreak, the regret was sharp, almost painful.
He refused to think about what would actually happen when he and Barrington finally met. He knew what the outcome must be.
She was his wife by that ceremony at the church. His wife!
Even now he didn't understand what had made him do it. It would have been simple enough to abduct her. That would have been enough to send Barrington after him. But he'd wanted more...he wanted her. For reasons he didn't begin to understand. That one night in London?
It was there, he wanted more.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, then noticed the color that had come up at his other eye.
"What happened to your eye?"
"In answer to the first, I heard you call out. In answer to the second, a minor disagreement," he replied.
Elyse slowly smiled. She had heard a bit of that 'disagreement' earlier.
"I wanted you to know that I'll be going ashore to take care of some business in Lisbon."
She moved to the edge of the bed, wearing the shirt she'd worn earlier. "Must I stay aboard?"
He'd treated her badly, he knew that and could well understand that she wanted to go ashore. But there was more to it. She was intelligent and stubborn. She might well try to escape and approach the authorities in Lisbon. He couldn't risk that. For her sake, or his.
"You'll be safe enough here," he said, not unkindly, but his decision was final.
* * *
Hours later, Elyse watched from the railing as the small boat carried Zach and those who were going ashore, the Port of Lisbon in the distance. She joined Tobias, who had chosen to remain aboard.
"I've seen it all before," he told her, his pipe clenched in his teeth as theRevengerolled gently at anchor.
"It's the same in every port, and I need to be clear-headed when the crew returns. There's always a few bumps and scrapes to attend."
"I was surprised to find the guard gone from my door this morning," she commented without adding that Zach had been there, strangely just watching over her.
"Aye, Zach let him go ashore, since there's little danger of you bein' swept overboard and drowned while we're in port. "
"Free to come and go, so long as it's not ashore," she commented.
"He's got his faults, God knows he does," Tobias replied. "And I don't agree with his methods, but he's got his reasons. I trust that, and he's a good man."
"He obviously had his reasons for not wanting me to go ashore."
Tobias nodded. "That he did. And that is the reason." He gestured over her shoulder.
He pointed to a large ship that road high in the water, with a half-dozen cannons positioned along the deck.
"Her name isSultana,and her captain is Juan de la Vasquez Vimeiro, more commonly known as El Barracuda."
Elyse shaded her gaze as she took a long look at theSultana.The rigging was intact, but the hull was badly scarred, several efforts at repair overlapping each other. It had apparently encountered a good number of confrontations and though it seemed to ride in the water surely enough, it was obvious that no great care had been given the ship. In contrast, theRevengegleamed like a polished black pearl in the morning sun.
The sleek schooner's hull was freshly painted, and the wood deck was spotless. The tall masts, also painted black reached into the blue Mediterranean sky. The sails had all been lowered and neatly secured, the lines tied. Every bit of brass, and wood gleamed, and high above, at the center mast, the Portuguese flag fluttered in the breeze. The ship reminded Elyse of a gleaming black bird, hovering over the water, ready to take flight. And like the man who captained her, she was lean, strong, and beautiful to look at.
"Who is El Barracuda?" she asked, retreating from those thoughts.
