Immortal At Sea (The Immortal Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free

“Surely they will see that we pursue greater riches.  They may even join!”
    “Juan Pedro, do you trust my advice?” I asked him.
    “Of course, Giovanni.”
    “Trust your captain to make the best decision for his ship, and for you.”
    “But I hired the captain!”
    “You did, as you also hired me.  And I am advising you not to try and counter his command.  It will fail, and since we are looking to throw things overboard to lighten our load, the louder you protest the more you look like unnecessary ballast.”
    We did throw a few things overboard, but thankfully not the wine.  Any beverage that wasn’t salt water was welcome aboard a long sea voyage, and our survival of this long aquatic siege might hinge upon potable drink.  I did, however, curtail my impulse to start drinking all of it.
    It wasn’t actually all that long, as sieges go.  It felt much longer, because we could see the pirates constantly, and if one stared at their ship for long enough it was easy to become fooled into thinking they had slowed, or stopped, or were turning.  But we didn’t get close to that point where they would have been forced to turn around.  They reached hailing distance on the third day after our decision to turn east.  It happened when the ships were both slowed due to a failing wind, but unlike our vessel, the pirates had open oarlocks, and oars, and people to use them.  So for the final few hours we got to hear their drum pounding louder and louder, until it was silenced.
    “Hello, gold vessel,” shouted a man—in Spanish—from halfway up the rigging of the pirate ship.  “You can stop running now . ”
    The man was squat and portly, brown-skinned, tattooed and scarred.  When he spoke Spanish it was with a Moroccan accent. 
    “Let me talk to him,” Juan Pedro asked.
    “Be quiet,” I said.
    Captain Grillo faced the pirate ship and spoke to no one in particular.  “This ship is the sovereign property of Spain!  Keep your distance!”
    The man on the rigging laughed heartily at this.  None of the other men on his ship did, which either meant they were in a much more foul mood than their spokesperson’s demeanor suggested, or none of them spoke Spanish.
    “Captain Grillo,” I said.  “Do you speak Arabic?”
    “No.”
    “Then may I?”
    He looked surprised, but acquiesced.  I stepped up next to him.
    “ Allahu Akbar ,” I greeted.
    “ Allahu Akbar! ” the man answered.  He continued in Arabic.  “ You are Muslim? ”
    “ I am when it suits me. ”
    This elicited more laughter.  “ I thank you for your honesty, sir,” he said.
    “ Are you captain? ”
    “ I am.  Whose ship is this?”
    “No man of great import.”
    “What is he saying?” Grillo asked.
    “He wants to know whose ship it is.”
    Juan Pedro jumped up.  “He wishes to speak to the lord of this vessel?  I will talk with him!”
    “Let me speak for you my lord,” I said.  “This is why I’m here.”
    “Is that he?” The pirate captain asked.
    “It is.  I fear he is an idiot.”
    “We would have run you down sooner, sir, but for the sheer insanity of a gilded vessel on a pirated sea.  My first still expects the navy to appear, as surely this must be a trap.”
    “It is no trap,” I said.  “Alas, I am beholden to a patron who thinks it wise to cover his ship in precious metals and hire the one captain in Spain who doesn’t anticipate pirates.  My patron would make for an excellent ransom, and serves no other purpose in this world.  The rest of the crew is likely worth nothing except as slaves.”
    “What is he saying? ” Juan Pedro asked.
    “I’m negotiating your surrender.”
    “ My surrender?  I will fight these dogs to the death!”
    “I will let him know your feelings on this,” I told him.  To the pirate captain I said, “forgive me, he appears to have already forgotten you speak Spanish.”
    “He sounds stupid enough to be worth a great ransom indeed.  A man such as yourself no