“Eat,” he ordered her.“Omphile is quite a good cook.”
“I told you, Captain, I was not feeling well.”She gave him a tight smile.“Yet you insisted on my coming or, how shall I put it, I would suffer consequences too harsh for a lady to bear.”
Pell’s chuckle was silenced with one look from Cadan, while in between bites, Smity eyed her with disdain from across the table.
The port spread a comfortable haze through his thoughts.“And now I insist you eat.We can’t have any harm come to your child, can we?”
Arrows shot from her eyes and her breathing increased, but she accepted a platter of fish from Pell and eased a small piece of roasted squid onto her plate.
“Is that all you care about, Captain?Your revenge?What exactly did Allard do to you to warrant such ill treatment of an innocent babe?”
Both her sharp tone and the pointed question snapped an instant silence over the cabin as all eyes shifted to Cadan.
???
Gabrielle had eaten many a meal with pirates on her father’s ship.Never had she eaten with such begrimed, uncouth animals.Well, save for Pell and perhaps Soot, both of whom seemed to have retained a smidgen of manners from their youth.The captain drank his dinner, and despite his insistence on her eating, he barely touched his meal.
Now, at her question, his jaw tightened, his eyes darkened, and a scowl marred his lips.He stretched his fingers, then balled them into a fist, then stretched, then balled.Gabrielle’s stomach twisted into a similar knot.Surely, he would do her no harm in front of his men.
Finally, he leaned back in his chair.“Any child of Allard’s is naught but a spawn of hell.”
His sharp words cut her deeply, igniting her fear.She’d never seen such hatred in a man’s eyes.Tearing her gaze from his, she began fidgeting with her silverware, lining it up perfectly beside her plate, then easing her glass to the top right corner of her knife.’Twas the only thing she could think to do that would bring some comfort in this mayhem.
The crew started eating again, slapping their lips and tongues, as if their captain had not just threatened to kill an innocent babe.
“You’re frightening the lady.”Pell gave a look of censure to the captain.“Let us enjoy the meal and this rare female company.”
“Aye, aye,” Durwin added, smiling at her, as did Moses and Soot.All save Smity.Why the man still hated her, she couldn’t say.
Finally, the lines on the captain’s face faded, and he exhaled a deep breath as if ridding himself of whatever demon had taken him over.Demon, indeed.In truth, the entire crew seemed possessed.
Hoping to settle her own nerves, she turned to Mr.Pell.“You are the quartermaster?”Her gaze was immediately drawn to the wooden cross around his neck.Odd.
“I am, Miss.”Smiling, he bit into a piece of crusty bread.
“How long have you been sailing?”
Surprise lit his face, and he shook his head.“A few years with the captain.Off and on my whole life.”
“Don’t let ’im fool ye.He’s a preacher,” Durwin said, spitting out food in the process.
A preacher?
“Not anymore,” Pell said sharply.
“Well, ye act like one,” Smity added.“Steerin’ clear o’ wenches an’ drink whene’er we go ashore.”
Preacher or not, perhaps the man had a shred of honor left within him.“Noble pursuits,” Gabrielle interjected, “and no doubt you do not kidnap women with child either, Mr.Pell.”She cast a spiced look at the captain.
Laughter roared over the table.All save the captain, who sat back in his chair, hazel eyes smoldering.
She flattened her lips and faced Pell.“What changed your course in life, Mr.Pell?”
He shoveled in another bite of food, refusing to answer.
Soot fed Hellfire a handful of peas.“His wife an’ child died.”
“’Tis not for you to say!”Pell shot back.“Nor for any to mention.”The authority in his voice stilled them all.The man held some power here, even with the captain, ’twould seem, who allowed him some measure of freedom with his tongue.Short cropped light hair, he stood nearly as tall as Captain Hayes, yet had to be at least ten to fifteen years older.With his influence, he might be an ally of hers.
