His explanation gave me some comfort, but there was an unexpected nagging disappointment in the back of my mind. Still, I offered him a smile. “I still feel like I should do something more for you, even if I am under your protection.”
His eyes flickered past me and to the door, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. “I did hear you had made a few pies. I wouldn’t mind having a whole one to myself.”
A stifled snort escaped me. “I think I can arrange that.”
“If that settles that, then we have one more issue to handle.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
His eye twinkled. “I don’t think the island will ever forgive us.”
I choked on a laugh. “I don’t think either of us will be heartbroken over that.”
A cry came from far above the deck. “Ship!”
Chapter 16
I jumped to my feet and looked around like a bewildered squirrel, while Torvus’ steady eye darted to the door. “That doesn’t sound good. Go see what that’s about.”
“You want me to tell you what’s wrong?” I guessed
He grinned. “I’ll know enough just by listening, but this’ll be a good time for you to see what this ship and crew can do. Now go on.”
I reluctantly moved to the door and peeked out. Crew members raced to and fro, while Fidel barked orders from the wheel deck above my head.
“Hoist the sails! Turn eighty degrees starboard side!”
“Aye, aye!” came the shouts as the men climbed the ropes and ladders up to where the sails were trimmed.
I looked over my shoulder at the pale figure on the bed. The candlelight did nothing to help his complexion. “They won’t give you an invitation,” he teased me. “Now get on out there.”
I took a deep breath and slipped out, though I kept close to the wall. My foot hit something soft, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream.
“Do you have something against my tail?!” Ramaro growled as he cradled his appendage in his front claws. Another kink had been added to the mess. “First, you sacrifice it to that creature and now this.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I looked around.
His tongue flicked out. “And why are you whispering?”
I pointed at the work in front of us. “I don’t want to distract them.”
He scoffed. “Distract these sailors? You’re pretty, as far as human females go, but you’re not that pretty. Besides, that’s an Admiralty ship out there. That means trouble.”
That word sounded familiar. “The Admiralty? The ones who put you in a cage?”
Ramaro rolled his eyes. “Who else? They’re only the most powerful fleet on all the seas. Even if you got together all the mercenaries, they’d still be dwarfed by all the ships the Admiralty controls.”
My pulse skipped a beat. “Can we outrun them without the captain’s magic?”
Ramaro grinned and winked at me. “The captain didn’t pick these men for nothing. Now just follow me and stay low.”
The agama scurried rightward toward the stairs. I ducked and followed, and together we climbed the steps. Ramaro stopped at the top and used his hand to indicate I needed to duck. I stayed low, but I still had a perfect view of the wheel platform along with the lower deck.
Fidel stood just behind the pilot with a telescope in his hands. He swung it in a full circle and then some before he stopped. “Ninety degrees further starboard!”
“Aye, aye! Ninety degrees starboard!” the pilot shouted back as he spun the wheel. The ship turned sharply, helped by the hoisting of the sails. The thick sheets flapped a short while before the wind filled them, pulling us along at a good clip.
One of the men on the deck stepped up to face the wheel platform. “What now, sir?”
