Mardon (Pirate Lords #2) - Elizabeth Rose
Chapter 1
Pirates weren’t even supposed to have grandmothers, were they? Even so, the old woman named Nairnie was still aboard the ship, and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.
Mardon Fisher manned the helm as he sailed the Falcon away from the port of Ravenscar where his older brother, Tristan, now resided with his new wife, Gavina. It didn’t feel right to leave their captain behind, but it had been Tristan’s choice to leave piracy forever. Mardon and his younger brother, Aaron, hadn’t even tried to talk him out of it since they saw the way he’d fallen hard for the girl. Every man turns vulnerable at one time or another at the feet of a beautiful woman, Mardon supposed. But not him. All the women that Mardon had ever been with were the ones to fall at his feet instead.
Nay, getting trapped into marriage was something that would never happen to him! He’d be a fool to ever actually marry any of the women he’d taken to his bed. Then again, most of them had been whores and weren’t interested in marriage, so it wouldn’t be a problem. His life of a pirate gave him the freedom as well as the riches he wanted. That was good enough for him.
“Tristan is a fool,” spat Aaron, the youngest of the three brothers, jumping down with bare feet from the rigging, landing at Mardon’s side. “He never should have gotten married.” He pulled an apple out of his pocket and shined it on the sleeve of his shirt.
“I agree,” grumbled Mardon, feeling that their brother’s decision had been bittersweet, and a bit traitorous to them as well. Since Tristan’s departure, Mardon claimed the title of captain of the Falcon, but still he missed his brother dearly. “Tristan also broke our promise of always staying together.”
“Well, now that you’re captain, Mardon, how does it feel?” Aaron took a big bite of the apple, filling the air with a loud crunch. He looked up at Mardon with curious ochre-colored eyes. A strand of his long, blond hair covered half his face.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even had a chance to think about it yet,” answered Mardon, curiously eyeing up some kind of commotion on the main deck. “Little brother, now that Tristan is gone, I’ll need you to step up into my old role as quartermaster.”
“Stop with the little brother crap, because I didn’t like it when Tristan said it, and I don’t like hearing it from you, either,” mumbled Aaron, taking another bite of apple and chewing as he spoke. “And I don’t know if I want to be quartermaster. After all, I’m used to being the ship’s bosun.” Aaron was not one for confrontation, which is something the quartermaster dealt with on a daily basis regarding the crew.
“Then stay on as bosun but be quartermaster as well,” Mardon suggested. “Or at least for now until we get things figured out.”
Aaron swallowed the bite of apple. His tongue shot out to quickly lick his lips. It seemed as if he were considering the idea. “I want double the share of any treasure if I do. After all, that’s what you always got as quartermaster when Tristan was captain,” he pointed out.
“Yes, you will. That’s the deal. Captain and quartermaster both get a double share of any booty.”
“I see.” Aaron looked down, finishing off the apple. “Plus, I’ll still maintain my share-and-a-half for the position of being bosun, too. Right?”
Mardon bit his tongue, not wanting to admit aloud that Aaron wasn’t worth all that. True, he was great at keeping the ship clean and in shape, and even getting the crew to work together when it came to sailing or swabbing the deck. The crew liked Aaron. However, once he had to start breaking up fights or handing out punishments, Mardon honestly didn’t know if Aaron had it in him to do it. Because of Tristan, they were in a jam right now. Mardon had to do whatever it took to have a functioning ship and crew.
“For now,” he hesitantly agreed. “We’ll take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”
“Great!” Aaron smiled and stood up straighter, chuckling to himself. “I’ll get almost twice what you get and you’re captain.”
“Aye, you will. Well done, little brother. You always were skilled at being a thief, and robbing me blind has just proven it.”
“You’ll call me ‘Quartermaster’ now, not little brother,” said Aaron, throwing the core of the apple over the side