golden doors were opened by Bob, who turned out to be a skeletally thin man wearing a badly fitting white wig. He had a brace of pistols stuck in a broad, worn belt over his coat. But Silence hardly noticed the doorkeeper.
The room within was magnificent.
The glorious colored marble floor continued inside the large square room, but the golden walls were replaced with walls of sparkling white marble. Silence looked closer and gasped. The white marble was inlaid with jewels. Above, the ceiling was gold and a multitude of crystal lights hung from it, shining as bright as morning sunshine. And every corner, every inch of the room was jammed with riches. Bolts of bright silks were stacked on marble-topped tables. Inlaid secretaries were shoved against carved mahogany sideboards. Crates spilled straw, revealing china dishes and thinly carved jade. Exotic spices in oriental chests perfumed the air, and graceful marble statues stared dispassionately on the scene. At the far end of the fabulous treasure room stood a dais with a huge, tall-backed chair. It was overstuffed with red velvet, the arms carved and gilded; really, it could only be called a throne.
Which would make the man who sat upon it a king—Pirate King.
He lounged, one leg thrown over a chair arm. His black hair was unclubbed, inky curls tumbling about his shoulders and brow. He wore a linen shirt, unbuttoned, fine lace framing the bare olive skin of his chest. His breeches were black velvet, and he finished his costume with polished jackboots that came to midthigh.
She might have laughed at such a ridiculously flamboyant figure, if it weren’t for the fact that the men about him obviously took him very seriously. To his right stood a thin little man, wigless, his bare head nearly bald, and wearing small, round spectacles. To his left were a half dozen or so rough men, lounging about, every one of them armed to the teeth. At his elbow was a small boy holding a silver tray of sweets. And directly in front of Charming Mickey, a hulking man kneeled before the throne, looking as if he feared for his life.
“I’m sorry!” The man clenched fists as big as hams on his thighs. “As God is my witness, I’m so sorry, sir!”
The thin little man to Charming Mickey’s right bent and whispered something in the river pirate’s ear.
He nodded and looked at the supplicant before him. “An’ you’ll be understanding me, Dick, if I don’t quite find your apology worth as much as a pile of dog shit.”
The big man, Dick, actually shivered.
Charming Mickey regarded him for a moment, his right elbow propped on the chair’s arm, lazily rubbing his thumb and middle finger together. Jeweled rings sparkled on his fingers.
Then he flicked his fingers at two of his men.
Immediately they came forward, even as the kneeling man began to howl.
“No! God, no! Please, I have children. My wife is expectin’ our third!”
The man screamed as he was dragged through a far door. The door closed and his scream was abruptly cut off. The sudden quiet echoed in the great hall.
Silence felt the breath she’d held escape her lungs. Dear God, what had she let herself in for?
Harry took her elbow and they began to walk to the throne. As they neared, he hissed out of the corner of his mouth, “Don’t show fear. ’E ’ates a coward.”
And then she stood in front of Charming Mickey O’Connor, in the exact same spot where the unfortunate Dick had kneeled just seconds before.
Charming Mickey gestured to the boy holding the tray of sweets. The boy brought it forward, offering him some. Charming Mickey’s ringed hand hovered over the tray as he made his selection—a pink iced bonbon.
He held the sweet up between his elegant, ringed fingers and examined it. “Who is she?”
Harry nodded his head, unperturbed by the abrupt question. “Lady who wants to talk to you.”
Charming Mickey’s eyes flicked up, and Silence saw that they were a brown so dark that they might as well be black. “That I can see, Harry, luv. What I’m a-askin’ is more along the lines of why she’s in me throne room.”
Silence glanced at Harry, who was looking uneasy for the first time, and decided to intervene for her champion. “I’m here about my husband, Captain William Hollingbrook, and the cargo you stole from his ship, the Finch.”
Beside her, Harry drew in his breath sharply. The boy holding the tray of sweetmeats flinched, and the thin man by Charming