My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 307

“Drop anchor!”

Ilona strode onto the deck of her ship and looked out across the ocean where it met the land.  It was too dark to see much but she could make out the beach and the high cliff above.  On the cliff, there was indeed a large, burning bonfire lighting up a lovely white manor behind it.  Lifting her golden-colored spyglass to her eye she studied the structure closer and a smile flitted across her lips.  Whoever owned this beautiful place had to be wealthy.

The ship was coming to a stop now and the men were scrambling to begin dropping their longboats over the side.

“Pierce,” she called to her off-putting quartermaster, “Lead the landing party.”

“Aye Captain!”

“And I want the men to try not to kill anyone unless they have to.  We’re close to home after all.”

“Aye Captain,” he called back but then hesitated, “But Captain don’t you think it might be better if we cut down any man we come upon?  I would think it would be better to leave no witnesses.”

Ilona inwardly cringed both because she knew he was right logically but also because she knew Pierce Vane would love nothing more than to be set loose upon this wealthy estate full of wealthy people where he would murder them all.  Likely brutally.

“No,” she shook her head, “No follow my orders.”

“Aye Captain,” the man said as he turned away and Ilona could’ve sworn she saw him smirking.  He barked out her orders to the men in the language of the pirates.

“Jennings!” she called down to the crowd as she climbed halfway up a flight of stairs.

A fat middle-aged man with stringy salt and pepper hair came hurrying forward to her.

“Go with the men to the shore,” she said quietly to her third mate, “See to it that Pierce follows my orders and no one is killed.”

“Aye Captain,” the man said with a nod, glancing nervously in the direction Pierce Vane had gone.

He paused for a moment before heading to do as he was told.  Ilona knew many of her men were afraid of Pierce.  He was vicious and had never seemed to care about anyone for as long as she’d known him.  Only himself.  He had always been a loyal member of her father’s crews however so she was working to trust him.

She climbed up to the quarterdeck to have a better view.  Her younger half-brother Nick, tall and lanky with curly brown hair, was at the helm as he should be.  Their even younger brother Jamie who looked almost identical was standing beside him as well, however.

“Jamie you’re a cabin boy,” Ilona frowned at him, “I can’t believe you don’t have work to do elsewhere.”

The younger boy frowned but hurried off to do as she said, stopping to help the other men with the boats.

Ilona’s brothers didn’t speak English so when she spoke to them it was in the language of the pirates.  There were many of her men who could speak both languages and she was always trying to push her brothers to learn.  Being wild young pirates though they just weren’t interested.

“The men are storming that beach?” Nick asked her, eyebrows raised, “Can I go?”

“No.  You’re needed here.”

“What am I needed for?” he complained, “The ship isn’t going anywhere.”

“You’re needed here to do anything I feel like making you do because I am the Captain.”

Ilona glared at him, the two of them standing on the moonlit deck while the breeze ruffled their clothes.  Nick glared at his sister as well until he gave in and looked away.  She turned her back to him then, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping to the rail of the ship.

Before, she wouldn’t have given a second thought to sending Nick, and even Jamie, to raid a target.  Not now though.  Now she could barely stand for them to be out of her sight.  She wouldn’t do anything that would put them in danger after what had happened to their other siblings.

After what she had let happen.

Ilona frowned as she watched four boats head quickly towards the shore, loaded with men.  Glancing down to the main deck she saw Jamie helping the other men move the fifth boat into position to drop into the water.

“Stop,” she called, “Four is enough for now.”

The men stopped, looking between each other to see if anyone would argue with her on this point.  When no one did, they pulled the boat back in.

Ilona leaned against the wide wooden rail, propping her elbows on it watching the progress of the landing party.  She looked up towards the bonfire to see if she saw any movement.  Anything that would show their approach had been noticed.  So far, things were still quiet.

Dropping her gaze, she watched the salty ocean water below splash against the side of the ship.  Her ship.  Hers until her father learned what she had done.

She had made mistakes and bad calls before but nothing like what she had done this time.  Nothing that had ever caused people to be lost, let alone losing her siblings. After this she knew in her heart he would never let her Captain her own ship again.

That knowledge was part of the reason she was now allowing her men to raid an estate so close to their home.  At this point she didn’t have anything else to lose.  Her father was already going to be furious with her so this could be just something else to add to the list.  He was always furious with her anymore anyway.

Still, she found herself second guessing her decision.  Maybe it would’ve been better if she had gotten her mother’s opinion before giving the order that the men could attack an estate.  The hesitation would have made her look weak though and the crew would never respect a weak Captain.  They barely respected her as it was and that was mostly due to the fact they respected her mother.

Ilona had been Captain of  The Black Tide for over a year now and it still felt like she was a pretender.  She was a little girl again, dancing around on her parent’s ships giving orders to the crew who smiled down at her and followed them only to appease her childish wants and keep in the good graces of her mother and father.

She wasn’t a real Captain.  Not yet.  But she had been trying her hardest to be one and be a good one.  Now though it looked like she had lost her chance.  She had been tested and failed and that was the end.

Ilona ran her hands over her face, exhausted.  This wasn’t fair.  None of it.  She was an excellent sailor.  She knew every inch of this ship.  She knew what it could handle and how far she could push it before it would break.  There wasn’t a single job she hadn’t done in her life growing up on ships.  She could read the winds and climb the rigging faster than the fastest man aboard.  She should have made for a great Captain.

But she hadn’t.  There was clearly something she just didn’t have.  An instinct many of her brothers had inherited and she just hadn’t.  She had hoped it might be something she could learn but after all this time and after her latest, greatest, mistake, it was obvious that wasn’t going to be the case.

“Captain,” a man called, “Captain?”

Ilona jerked upright, realizing she’d been leaning against the rail with her face in her hands and nearly dozed off.  She looked around to see who’d been calling for her and inwardly cringed again when she saw the majority of her crew was on deck now and many were watching her.

“Yes Thatch, what is it?” she asked her bosun’s mate, seeing it was him who’d spoken.  Out of all of her crew, Sam Thatch was one of the only men she felt was truly loyal to her.  That loyalty however, came as much from his adoration of her younger sister as it did his lifelong friendship with Ilona.

“Captain there seems to be some trouble ashore,” the lanky, strawberry blonde man answered, pointing in that direction.

Ilona looked and saw her men with their lanterns had come to a stop about two thirds of the way up the cliffside stairs.  Snatching her spyglass up again, she pressed it to her eye and looked to try to see what was going on.

“They’re in some kind of fight Captain,” Thatch spoke, his own glass to his eye now, “I can’t see how many of them there are but that’s what has stopped them.”

Ilona looked and could see he was right.  The men towards the top of the stairs were having some kind of struggle.  Her heart caught in her throat as she watched one fall over the side of the stairs and tumble downward.  Luckily for him however he landed in the soft sand below, barely missing a rock.

Whoever had been causing the problem had apparently been subdued because now the pirates continued on towards the manor.  Ilona wondered if Pierce had killed them or if he’d followed her orders.

“The people at the manor know they’ve come,” Thatch said, directing her attention towards the bonfire that was burning low now, “You can see people running about.”

Ilona saw he was right and felt her stomach knot.  Lowering her spyglass she hoped this had been the right call.  It was too late now to change it though, especially if Pierce or one of the other men had killed someone.  Her anxiety was slowly building inside her.

“Look Captain they’ve stopped again!”

Ilona jerked the glass back to her eye and looked towards the top of the cliff stairs where her men had come to a stop once more.  This time she could see clearly that they were facing a large group of men.

“Who are those men Thatch?  Surely they’re not just servants.  Servants wouldn’t risk their lives like that for their masters.”

“No Captain I don’t think they’re servants either.  I think they’re some kind of guards.  Maybe soldiers even.”

“Soldiers?” Ilona felt her heartbeat begin to speed up and her stomach knot tighter.

Guards weren’t good but soldiers were even worse.  Soldiers would mean that whoever’s estate they had tried to raid was a royal or at least a close relation.  She prayed they were only guards but even then, only the most wealthy of people could afford to keep guards and especially as many as her men were now facing.

Her men!  Ilona realized suddenly that she had sent her men in to raid and collect treasure, not fight guards or possibly soldiers.  They wouldn’t be prepared for that.

“Get the rest of the longboats in the water!”