B2 – Chapter 29: Plight of the privateer

A few hours after the initial attack all the pirates had been treated to some extent to prevent infection for the numerous burns that most had sustained. Obadai staggered towards his room as Tristan stood in front of the arrayed prisoners aboard their vessel. “I am Lord Tristan Winterbloom. Your fate is in my hands.” He looked at the arrayed group, with the Pathfinders surrounding them, weapons drawn. The Pathfinders had almost naturally responded to Tristan stepping up to a leadership position in this time of mutual need.

Tristan continued, “I do not know what drove you to piracy, but I want to learn why you chose this path. Be honest, and I will be just and fair. Be dishonest, and I will feed you to my pet dragon.”

On cue, Felicity became visible once more and had shapeshifted into a miniature version of a fire dragon. She opened her mouth and let out a roar. This earned curious looks from the Pathfinders – who had only seen Felicity in her fairy dragon form, and thus to their eyes, Tristan was sure it looked like he had just summoned a dragon whelp from nothingness. She was also the maximum size given her essence crucible, which meant that she was about the size of a dog – and struggling to maintain a perch on Tristan’s shoulder.

The Vantir captain, now stripped to his skivvies like the rest of the pirates, raised his hand. “Lord Tristan…I am responsible for our state. My name is Marcus. Marcus Bitters. I was the captain of this ship.”

Tristan waved Felicity off, and she flew up to the remnants of the top mast, staring down at several crew members who looked up at her with awe and fear. He descended the top deck down to be on the same level as Marcus. The man was tall – taller than Tristan was. He was gaunter, with his cheekbones visible against the pale skin. His red eyes were filled with fear, but also certainty. “Continue your tale,” Tristan ordered.

Marcus swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke softly in that nasal, almost ear-grating voice. “We were contracted out from Schlarz. Carrying cargo of salted fish and meat. We got to port on Maladonia, and we had our whole haul confiscated.”

Tristan looked at the Pathfinders, “Some of you were going to Maladonia, yes? What for?”

One of them, a burly middle-aged Wolfkin spoke up. “There’s a civil war going on. The king had two wives – one from the Flors family, and one from the Founts. Both got pregnant on the same night thanks to some alchemy and had sons at the same time. Both claimed the throne.”

“Thank you for the clarification,” Tristan replied as he looked back to Marcus. “Which faction took your goods?”

“The ones with the weird stone chalice on their tabards,” Marcus swiftly replied.

The Pathfinder added, “That would be the Founts.”

“And then what?” Tristan asked.

The Vantir looked at his fellow crew, “We did what we did to survive. Finding merchant ships and boarding. Myself and my brother on the ship you burned to a crisp.” He sighed, “We have families to feed back home on Schlarz, Lord Tristan. Surely you can see that we are but desperate men?”

Tristan tapped his foot on the planks, “I do understand your plight. But going pirate? Becoming a privateer? Why not sell a ship? You had two.”

“Family heirlooms,” Vantir muttered as he glanced at the still-burning wreck that was just bobbing on the surface – the remnants of the other vessel. “Our father had three boys, and he built three ships – one for each of us. My oldest brother went off to the Trimarchy to find his fortune…but I had to help them,” he said this last with a gesture to the crew behind him. “Schlarz does not have much opportunity for wealth. Just whaling, fishing, and exporting ice during the cold Seasons.”

Like so many others, Tristan thought, just trying to move up in the world. He cleared his throat, “Captain Yokain – what is the usual punishment for piracy?”

Yokain, who was standing on one of the boarding planks listening along with his crew, replied, “Hanging, or a quick throat slit then into the drink.”

“Is that a universal punishment?” Tristan asked. “Or are lesser acts of piracy dealt with differently?”

Yokain rubbed his chin, “Well, in the Trimarchy, you can press-gang them into service – but they use rowing ships thanks to the more shallow and less tumultuous waves.”

Tristan looked back to the Vantir. “I hereby press-gang you and your crew. You work for me now.”

This earned some looks of surprise from the Pathfinders, Captain Yokain, and the captured pirate crew. Tristan continued, “I am Lord Tristan Winterbloom, the ruler of the Fey Realm. And I believe in redemption.” He looked back to Captain Yokain, “How many men did we lose?”

“Three,” Yokain replied. “Lots of injuries, but those will mend. Three men died. Crewmates. Good lads.”

Tristan looked to Marcus, “And how many did you lose?”

“Twenty on this ship, the whole crew – sixty – on the other.”

“Large crews,” Captain Yokain observed. “Must have been tight quarters on those ships.”

“It was,” Marcus replied. “But we had so many people sign up to join – we couldn’t turn away people who were in need.”

In that moment, Tristan felt a sense of kinship with the man. He may have attacked us unprovoked, he thought, but this Vantir and his brother were just trying to take care of their own. It’s a vicious world out there…and in his position, I might have done the same. But he also felt a sense of righteous justification.

A burning ember in his chest demanded retribution for the loss of life due to an unprovoked attack. “Captain Yokain – choose three pirates here that you decide must forfeit their lives in exchange for the lives of our crew.” The pirates began bickering and squabbling amongst themselves, and Marcus tried to plead with Tristan, but he held up a hand. “Captain Yokain?”

The author’s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The man looked at Tristan, then at the pirate crew in front of him. “Lord Tristan…I leave it to your discretion. We took losses, and their families will need to be taken care of – but we have funds enough for that. I’ll handle the details when we return to Jewel’s Point in a few Seasons. We killed more than we lost.”

Tristan looked back to the Vantir captain, “Thank Captain Yokain for his mercy.”