Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
My brother has been a tough nut to crack. He’s taken to drinking, as we all do when times get rough out here. It’s the pirate life, after all. But tomorrow we set sail, heading back north to Acapulco where we hope to raid a galleon before heading back across the Pacific to Manila, and I’ve decided to drop in on Thane at the local tavern before he gets carried away.
The tavern is located just a stone’s throw from the beach where we’ve purposely stranded the ship, setting the beast on the sand so that the locals we’ve hired can do repairs to the hull, scrape away the barnacles, and add more tar to waterproof it. It’s also part of the inn where Maren and I have been renting the top floor, while Thane and others have rooms below.
I find Thane sitting outside at a table, drinking his rum and staring off into the night sky, the waves gently lapping the shore.
“Brother,” I say, sitting down across from him.
He just grunts at me in response and slams back his drink.
“Look here,” I say to him. “I know the toll these last few months have taken on you and you deserve every bit of escape that you can get from the cards that life has dealt you. But tomorrow we set sail for Acapulco and after that we don’t know the next time we’ll be on land again. Might be months.”
“What’s your point?” he says gruffly.
“The point is that we are a family. We are the Brethren. And when we come together on that ship there, on the Nightwind, we need to act as a unit. You know I’ve turned a blind eye when it comes to Crazy Eye’s drinking habits, or Lothar’s mood swings, but for the sake of us all, because you’re the quartermaster, the one with all the real power, you need to be at your best.”
He lets out a derisive snort and gazes at me sharply. His amber eyes are bloodshot.
“My best? I don’t have a best anymore, Ramsay.”
“You do. And you know you do because you put on your best for your son. For Lucas. He’s lost as much as you, maybe more, and he’s young. He’s just a boy, Thane, he’s mature and he’s seen a lot, God Almighty has he ever, but he’s still just a boy. And he needs you to be his father, just as much as the crew needs you to be their quartermaster. And try as you might, you won’t be able to be those things when you’ve got this much drink in you.”
Thane eyes me with sorrow, his brow crinkling. “Do you think your words will make my grief go away? Do you wish to fix me? Does it make you uncomfortable that I’m feeling this way?”
I reach out and put my hand on his, giving it a squeeze.
“Nothing will make it go away,” I tell him bluntly. “No words. Not even time. I’m just here to remind you that you still have duties more important than your grief.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment, his attention going back to the Nightwind and the crabs that scuttle nearby, their shells gleaming in the moonlight. Then he nods. “Aye. Lucas.”
I sigh inwardly with relief. It’s not in Thane’s character to lose control for so long. He’s always had such a handle on his emotions.
Silence falls over us. Crickets chirp from the jungle.
“I know Sam initially wanted you, brother,” he says, his voice so low it’s barely audible.
I frown. “Pardon me?”
“You heard me,” he goes on. “I know she wanted you.”
“We joked about that all the time,” I remind him. “It was comical.”
“Was never comical to me, though,” he says. “The fact that I was second best. I’m always second best to you, Captain.”
I balk at him in surprise because that has never been the case between us. “Second best? What the devil are you talking about? Are you a bloody idiot? I suppose you are. You were the sacred child growing up. The oldest. Mum’s favorite. Pa’s too. It should have been you leading the Nightwind from the start, not me.”
“Because I didn’t want the job,” he says. “You were always better at being a captain. You unite people.”
“And you get those people to listen to you. They respect you a hell of a lot more than they respect me.”
He shrugs. “All I’m saying is that Sam wanted you. She settled for me. And I’m afraid I was never truly able to give her what she wanted in the end.” He fixes me with an impassioned gaze. “I loved her, I did, I was never able to give her the love she needed, the love that she originally wanted from you.”
I swallow, wishing I had stopped by the tavern’s wench to get a drink myself. I wish I knew all the right things to say to him.