The Legend of the Pirates of Britannia
In the yearof our Lord 854, a wee lad by the name of Arthur MacAlpin set out on an adventure that would turn the tides of his fortune, for what could be more exciting than being feared and showered with gold?
Arthur wanted to be king. A sovereign as great as King Arthur, who came hundreds of years before him. The legendary knight who was able to pull a magical sword from stone, met ladies in lakes, and vanquished evil with a vast following who worshipped him. But while that King Arthur brought to mind dreamlike images of a round table surrounded by chivalrous knights and the ladies they romanced, MacAlpin wanted to summon night terrors from every babe, woman, and man.
Aye, MacAlpin, king of the pirates of Britannia would be a name most feared. A name that crossed children’s lips when the candles were blown out at night. When a shadow passed over a wall, was it the pirate king? When a ship sailed into port in the dark hours of night, was it him?
As the fourth son of the conquering Pictish King Cináed, Arthur wanted to prove himself to his father. He wanted to make his father proud, and show him that he, too, could be a conqueror. King Cináed was praised widely for having run off the Vikings, for saving his people, for amassing a vast and strong army. No one would dare encroach on his conquered lands when they would have to face the end of his blade.
Arthur wanted that, too. He wanted to be feared. Awed. To hold his sword up and have devils come flying from the tip.
So, it was on a fateful summer night in 854 that, at the age of ten and nine, Arthur amassed a crew of young and roguish Picts and stealthily commandeered one of his father’s ships. They blackened the sails to hide them from those on watch and began an adventure that would last a lifetime and beyond.
The lads trolled the seas, boarding ships and sacking small coastal villages. In fact, they even sailed so far north as to raid a Viking village in the name of his father. By the time they returned to Oban, and the seat of King Cináed, all of Scotland was raging about Arthur’s atrocities. Confused, he tried to explain, but his father would not listen and would not allow him back into the castle.
King Cináed banished his youngest son from the land, condemned his acts as evil and told him he never wanted to see him again.
Enraged and experiencing an underlying layer of mortification, Arthur took to the seas, gathering men as he went, and building a family he could trust that would not shun him. They ravaged the sea as well as the land—using his clan’s name as a lasting insult to his father for turning him out.
The legendary Pirate King was rumored to be merciless, the type of vengeful pirate who would drown a babe in his mother’s own milk if she didn’t give him the pearls at her neck. But like most rumors, they were mostly steeped in falsehoods meant to intimidate. In fact, there may have been a wee boy or two he saved from an untimely fate. Whenever they came across a lad or lass in need, as Arthur himself had once been, they took them into the fold.
One ship became two. And then three, four, five, until a score of ships with blackened sails roamed the seas.
These were his warriors. A legion of men who adored him, respected him, followed him, and, together, they wreaked havoc on the blood ties that had sent him away. And generations upon generations, country upon country, they would spread far and wide until people feared them from horizon to horizon. Every pirate king to follow would be named MacAlpin, so his father’s banishment would never be forgotten.
Forever lords of the sea. A daring brotherhood, where honor among thieves reigns supreme, and crushing their enemies is a thrilling pastime.
These are the pirates of Britannia, and here are their stories….
Chapter One
Lunan Bay, Scotland
1490
The days weregetting longer. The crispness of the winter air was slowly being replaced with sunny, spring days, and though the temperature was still cool, the sun’s rays filtering through the clouds heated Seonag Ruane’s skin as she bathed in the warm light.
She stood at the shoreline, her long chestnut hair tied tight and hidden under the knit cap she wore. In her mind’s eye, she could see her father, Sean, standing at the helm of his ship,Hades Revenge, waving to her and her mother, Anice, as he set sail once more. Months would pass before she would see him again.
She missed her father so. She remembered each time Sean returned, the treasures he brought with him more than made up for their time apart. A pirate’s life was difficult. More so on the family left behind. Burdening them with the constant worry and anxiety that they may never see their loved one again.
Her father was strong. Seonag never feared that he wouldn’t return home. How stupid and naive she’d been when she was but a wee lass.
She would never forget the dayHades Revengereturned with a new captain at the helm. The waves gaining height as they made their way to shore, growing in frequency, pushed by the incoming tide.
Seanag remembered the crew telling her and her mother that they had been stalked and attacked by the French. A brutal lot they were. They’d killed her father. She stood there next to her mother, still as stone, while blood thundered in her ears. She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing. It couldn’t be. Praise God, not her da.
He was invincible. But his ship was here. And his crew. All the men he trusted with his life. Didn’t he? And yet, she couldn’t fathom how the ship survived the journey back home. It was a miracle in itself.
Oftentimes, they were either burned or confiscated for the plundering party to use in their own fleet. But here it was. Her da’s ship,Hades Revenge. A little worse for wear, but right in front of her.
Something didn’t feel right. Mayhap her da was below deck. He could be hurt, in need of help. The crew had to be wrong.
He couldn’t possibly be dead. She refused to let herself believe anything else.
The French were cruel and heathen-like. Seonag didn’t want to imagine what her da had suffered at their hands.
Seonag had many questions about what had transpired that fateful day. Did someone in her father’s crew betray him in the worst possible way? She feared it was true. The question was a crushing weight that had laid heavily on her mind these past months. The more time that passed, the more she was convinced her da had met his end at the hands of someone he trusted. That foul play was truly afoot.
