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)
Then tragedy struck, as it often seems to do on the Nightwind. Maybe it’s the nature of the game, of this life we chose, the way our service to the devil can cut our lives very short. But we were in the process of looting a merchant ship when one of the officers captured Elizabeth and sliced her head clean off. It was an act of ferocious violence, even to our eyes, though perhaps our reputation of us being hard to kill led the officer to take such gruesome measures.
It worked. Elizabeth died, her head held high like a prize, then all of us swarmed the officer and made sure the same was done to him. Henry came under the care of the ship and I’ve taken an affection to the boy. In so many ways he reminds me of my Hilla, sweet and thoughtful but with a mischievous quality. He keeps me on my toes and his presence, along with Lucas, and the other pages, eighteen-year old twins John and Bart, give the ship a boost of youthfulness—much-needed since the Brethren can get tired and stuck in their ways.
I’ve even taken to helping both Henry and Lucas with their reading and writing skills when I can, my library of books turning into a study a couple of times a week. Sam and Thane teach them things like math and history the rest of the time. Growing up on a ship is no excuse for not having an education.
Speak of the devil.
“Ramsay,” Thane calls out, heading up the stairs to my deck. As usual, my brother is dressed in all black, from his shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his biceps, unbuttoned to show off the layers of necklaces over his chest, to his wide black petticoat breeches. On any other man, the outfit would give him the appearance of being halved and stocky but my brother and I share the same genes that give us height and width to our shoulders. I dare say Thane might be able to pull off anything, especially with his hair cut neat and short under his hat, unlike mine which is unruly and falls to my shoulder, often pulled back with a black band.
I tip up my hat and bite into my apple. “Yes, Quartermaster?” I say, my way of reminding him that he didn’t address me as captain.
He frowns at me as I eat the apple. “You seem awfully cavalier, considering all that’s about.”
“It’s the apple, brother. Anyone eating an apple looks like they’ve got nothing better to do.” I observe him for a moment, the set of his jaw and the hawkish look in his eyes. “Have you ever considered dabbling in levity every now and then? Might lead you on the road to having a sense of humor.”
He makes a gruff sound in response. “If I dabbled in levity, as you suggest, we’d probably run aground.” He clears his throat. “Look now, we may have a problem on our hands.”
“When don’t we?”
“Ramsay,” he says sharply. “I’ve gotten word that the navy might be in these waters.”
I get up and saunter over to the rail, chucking the eaten apple overboard and gazing about for any sign of ships. “You’ve gotten word you say? From whom?” I ask, though there’s only one way to have word travel when you’re under sail. We’ve tried passenger pigeons but Skip, the ship’s cat, ate them more times than not.
“You know who,” he says, an edge to his tone.
“From your crystal ball? You know, the sooner you admit that magic exists, the sooner we can just come out with it.”
“I obviously know it—look here, it doesn’t matter. Yes. I used the ball.”
“And?”
“And I asked if there was any danger ahead and that’s when I saw the navy ship.”
I think about that for a moment. The ball isn’t always accurate. Yes, it can show you the future, but the images are often hazy with no time or space attached to them. Thane might have seen a navy ship, but to know when in our future we’ll come across it is harder to pin down.
The crystal ball itself was a gift from my wife Venla to him when she first married into the family. She was a witch, and she knew that my brother and my parents would be hard to win over. Indeed, it took me a very long time for them to even agree to meet her. Witches aren’t the most liked creatures in my family, or really anywhere else for that matter.
So Venla gave Thane a large crystal ball, a translucent quartz that turned an opaque shade of purple and pink when you used it with your own energy. Venla told Thane he could use it for manifesting what he wants, or that he could ask it to show him the future.