Sorry for the long wait!

"You don't have to explain anything," Lucky said when Nicolas told him that they needed to nail the windows shut when he got back aboard. They started in Alastair's cabin while Dao was cleaning up, and then moved to the war room and even the bathroom. Nicolas lent a hand and pulled at the window fastenings as hard as he could to test the sturdiness of the nails. But Lucky was an expert. He had driven the nails deep into the wood and in such an impossible angle that no layman could pull them out, even with the right tools. Breaking the glass was of no use since all the windows had extremely thick crosses that would allow only a grown man's arm to pass through the framework. Alastair had no chance of falling out of one of those windows again.

Lucky kept quiet as he worked, but his furrowed brows and worried gaze said everything. Nicolas had noticed the looks the crew was giving their captain whenever he was on deck. Did Alastair know how much he meant to all of them?

As they worked on the final window, right above one of the bathtubs, Lucky broke his unusual silence. "I never told you how I joined this crew, right? I thought about it a lot during these past days."

"How come?" Nicolas passed Lucky another nail.

"You know how we all feel about our captain. By the Sea Goddess, I know how you feel about him." Lucky turned around and laughed as he saw Nicolas attempting to keep a straight face at this unexpected statement. "And Mistress Evangielle told me that you move in with him to protect him. I guess she didn't have to order you at all."

"You know all about me now," Nicolas conceded. "How about that story of yours?"

Lucky's grin faded as he turned back to his work. "I grew up as an orphan on the streets of Porshal, the capital of Shaldré."

Nicolas had never been there, but he knew it as the southernmost duchy of Jeraine, famous for its quarries and masonry work, but also very poor.

"One day, I decided to try my luck elsewhere and got aboard one of the trade ships in the harbor as a stowaway. I kept hidden for about a week before they found me. The captain gave me the charming choice of either walking the plank or signing a contract without payment. I should work off the food I had stolen during the week as a stowaway. I worked it off - for five years. But I got the chance to become the carpenter's apprentice."

Nicolas kept quiet. He knew that the Albian Navy wasn't much better in pressing people into service. 

"But all of it changed one day when my ship was captured by the Siren, as this ship was called back then, under Captain Heron. His crew ordered everyone on deck. We were given the choice of joining the pirates, like you had. I attempted to step forward, but two sailors grabbed me and beat me down. The pirates pushed them back, and a hand reached out to help me up. I was surprised to see this pretty boy with red hair, a few years younger than me. He was wearing an eye patch and was armed to the teeth like the other pirates." Lucky smiled at the memory. "This was how I met our future captain. Captain Heron grumbled that I looked too scrawny and wouldn't be much of an addition, but Alastair Blake insisted. I got the chance to tell them I was a carpenter, which changed Captain Heron's mind. That was my lucky day." He paused. "As I told you when you came aboard, most of us have similar stories. So when the captain told us of his plans for finding the unknown continent, none of us protested. We all know that this journey is without the Atoll Council's permission, but none of us cares. I follow Captain Blake, not Admiral Heron, because I know who gave me a chance back then."

There it was again, that undeniable devotion. Nicolas had seen fear and force as the main ruling powers all his life and had taken them for granted. But he had never liked it, so he had always tried a different approach in his own role as a superior officer. Every day in his life with the pirates now showed him that there was indeed another way.

But was there really? Nicolas felt the pressure of his mission weighing on his neck. He hadn't given it much thought at first, but Lucky had now confirmed it. Alastair's solo effort, although together with three other captains, had created a schism among the pirates. As long as the pirates didn't hold the mysterious and still dubious powers of the unknown continent in their hands, it weakened all of them. Nicolas knew from John's stories in the galley that Admiral Heron had always been somehow a father figure to Alastair. But no one could foresee how Heron and the other Atoll Council members would react once they learned of this. They might as well start to fight each other. Alastair, at least, had clearly proven that he didn't care any longer about his former mentor's orders.

"So, what do you think about this?" Lucky's question pulled Nicolas out of his thoughts.
"As you said, I follow my captain. But it's a dangerous journey. Maybe it would have been better to have reinforcements?"

Lucky drove the last of the nails into the wood and turned around. "Maybe. But the admiral got far too timid in the last years. He thinks that the Albians will leave us in peace when we stop attacking them. You were in the Albian navy. Do you think they'd stop?"

"No", Nicolas replied. "No, you're right. They will not stop. Ever."

But he had to. He had to stop lying to himself and the others and decide what he would do, once and for all.

+++

It was a strange feeling to go to the captain's cabin in the evening without any secrecy. Everyone aboard now knew where Nicolas would sleep from now on, and no one seemed to care. Even Alastair's threats about keeping their activities a secret were unnecessary now since Nicolas had an official reason for keeping him company at night. It would have been a neat little arrangement if it wasn't for the fact that Nicolas did have the very serious task of protecting Alastair from... what? The sirens? Or himself?

The bed was too small for two tall men to sleep in, and since Nicolas knew that Alastair didn't really like to sleep close to anyone, Nicolas had brought his hammock. There were lots of hooks attached to the ceiling, so he decided to place the hammock right in front of the door. If Alastair tried to get past him in the night, Nicolas would notice for sure.

Alastair was not amused when he saw it.

"Are you my nursemaid or my jailer now?" he asked as he stormed past Nicolas into the cabin and slammed the door behind him. He was wearing dark britches and had stuffed his hair under the collar of an unremarkable coat. With a tattered tricorn, some dirt on his face and a dirty bandage covering his blind eye and half his face he was just an inch away from invisible among the rugged crowd on the streets of Llanos. Nicolas knew he had been ashore to meet some informants.

"I'm just trying to protect you," Nicolas replied. Alastair had rarely been this agitated. There was something else afoot. He tried to change the subject. "Have you seen Dan Harrison ashore?"
"Yes. He's enjoying the sunset at the beach. Evangielle told me about the letter. I tried to get to it, but it's been collected already. The mailboat leaves every day for the main island. News travel fast from here and back again. That's one of the reasons why we have our outpost here." 

Nicolas now noticed that Alastair was clutching a crumpled letter. He waited.

Alastair pulled the old tricorn off and threw it onto the clothes rack. With a few steps, he reached the window and touched one of the new nails barely visible in the wood. Outside, the sky had become red and purple as the sun was quickly setting.

"My sister told you about our connection to Caera." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Yesterday after the storm." Nicolas wouldn't admit how much she had told him, however.
"I just got news from the capital. The governor is dead."

Nicolas hesitated before he took a step toward Alastair. "I'm sorry."

"I had planned to go to Caera first, either way, but now it's become urgent. We must reach the castle and get the artifact before the new governor arrives. The empress won't lose any time sending one of her loyal cronies over there."

"And what about... your brother?" Nicolas asked.

Alastair took a deep breath before he answered. "Ashland is far too young to become the next governor. I must use the general uproar in the household to sneak in. I don't want a fight in there. We could be back at sea to Albia in a day without anyone noticing."

"I'll come with you. I think that's why your sister told me. I won't let you go alone in there," Nicolas replied before he knew what he was saying.

Alastair threw the crumpled note into a corner of the room and pulled off his coat. "You haven't answered me yet. Are you my jailer or my nursemaid now?"

"Captain Blake, Sir, I'm your second mate, your cabin boy, and your bodyguard. Now please allow me to be your partner in crime as well." Nicolas straightened his back like a soldier being mustered.

Alastair let the coat fall onto the floor and pulled the bandage from his face. Nicolas felt the urge to run his hands through that slightly tousled hair and smooth it out again, like he had done it this morning in the bathroom.

Without turning around, Alastair said, "Hang up that damn hammock of yours wherever you want. But if Dao can't get in in the morning to clean up, you have to do it. And fetch me some hot water, first."

"Of course." Nicolas turned toward the door to follow the orders and get back as quickly as he could. Lucky had been right. Nicolas, like all the others, was hopeless when it came to their captain. 

As he looked back, Alastair was still standing in front of the window, staring out at sea. His black silhouette against the fading red light was still and sharp like a statue.

+++

It took only three days to finish the repairs on the Siren's Call and restock the supplies. On the last evening in Llanos, most of the crew came back aboard singing and swaying, completely drunk. But as usual, everyone was clear-headed and ready early the next morning when the Siren's Call was back on course to Caera. They were entering the Threelandsea now, which was known for its usually strong, but predictable winds. Nicolas remembered his fast journey on the little trade ship from Albia to Calez. Caera was a bit further up north, but since the Siren's Call was the fastest ship he had ever seen, he expected them to be there in practically no time. Captain Shian Fu and Captain Jaka didn't have such a long way toward their respective destinations, but they would probably arrive there at the same time. 

It also meant that Nicolas had to come to a decision. If he helped the pirates break into the governor's castle and steal a priceless treasure, there was no going back for him. But it already felt as if he couldn't go back either way. Nicolas remembered how he had dreamed of being out at sea as a child, and how happy he had been to on his first day on a ship. All of it had felt right in a way being on dry land had never been. But living aboard the Siren's Call was something else entirely. Here, he was not only respected and useful. He had also found true friends. He was free. And yet, some part of him had been caught and bound, as surely as the sirens were holding Alastair's soul in their clutches. 

Nicolas looked up toward the helm. Alastair was steering himself today, in his full ghost captain getup, eye steady at the horizon. The wind was strong and favorable, letting the Siren's Call all but fly over the waves. Evangielle was standing next to her brother, watching the horizon with a spyglass and checking the compass here and there. She rarely left his side when he was on deck, Nicolas had noticed. He didn't know if anyone else from the crew but Lucky knew of the danger Alastair was in. But if Evangielle was keeping watch during the day and Nicolas at night, he should be safe for the moment.

"A real beauty, right?"

Nicolas turned around to see Dan Harrison standing at the rail next to him. He hadn't heard him coming at all. As always, he was impeccably and modestly dressed in dark clothes, rather out of place among the pirates in their flashy, shabby getup.

"The ship? Of course she is," Nicolas replied.

Harrison grinned. "I didn't mean the ship. You're staring at our first mate. Can't be easy now to meet up with her at night while you're babysitting the captain."

"If the mistress hears you, she'll make true on her promise and throw you overboard. I won't stop her," Nicolas replied with a frown.

Harrison brushed a bit of invisible dust from his coat sleeve. "Master Ordano, Sir, and I have no idea why you're so impolite. I'm here on your very own captain's invitation. We have a common goal, right? And you'll need my help."

"This remains to be seen." Nicolas tried to stay calm. He felt like a cat getting its fur brushed the wrong way. There had been far less pleasant men in his life, like the insufferable Lieutenant Gatsby aboard the Valiance. Why did this man irk him so much?

Dan Harrison was still grinning. "It'll be quite an adventure getting back into Albian territory, right? We're both traitors, you and I. That's even worse than being a pirate by Albian standards, as you know. We have to tread lightly there."

"Thank you for the warning." Nicolas looked at Harrison, trying to find out what the man was telling him. If he was truly a spy for Albia, did he know the identities of other spies? Admiral Morton hadn't said anything about sending other agents, but Nicolas wasn't so naive to believe that he was the only one. If Harrison had been sent later, and by Morton as well, did Morton tell Harrison of Nicolas' mission?

There was no way of finding out without revealing his secret. And Nicolas would rather drop dead than trust the likes of Dan Harrison with the truth.

"Ship ahead!" The shout from above made both turn their heads towards the horizon. "Albian flag! A small war ship! They be heading toward us!"

That had to be expected since they had already reached Albian territory. Nicolas turned toward the helm.

"Get ready for a fight!" Alastair ordered in a sharp, carrying voice. "You know what to do! They won't stop us!"

The pirates gave a war cry as they scrambled to their posts, and soon, the familiar pirate shanty chorus was heard over the metal clanking of loading the cannons.

Nothing is certain
But glory, gold, and death.
We are free people -
Free till our last breath!

Evangielle came toward them. "Mr Harrison, you lock yourself in your cabin immediately," she ordered. "I'll get you when it's over. Dao will accompany you. Nico, you come with me."

Nicolas followed her toward the ship's front where small two swivel guns had been placed on either side of the bowsprit. Davis, the gunnery chief, was just finishing loading them. He was a gruff fellow with a scarred face who hadn't all but exchanged two words with Nicolas in all the time since he was almost deaf. According to the crew's stories, his knowledge about firearms of any kind was legendary.

Davis nodded at Evangielle and stepped back. She grabbed the handle to move the barrel. The Siren's Call had only eight cannons on each side, but also those two swivel guns at the front and two in the back which meant the crew could fire in any direction. Nicolas now knew that the stories of sneaking up from behind and disarming the enemy ship's helm with a well-placed shot was no yarn. Now that the other ship was coming right at them, Nicolas knew that Evangielle had something different in mind.

"They'll try to get next to us as quickly as possible to fire a broad side at us, but we won't give them the chance. As soon as they're in range, we'll shoot their mast off. These guns are loaded with chained cannonballs." Evangielle pointed at a wooden crate next to the guns. "Those are rather heavy. I'll fire both guns. You'll help me reload them immediately. If I miss, we'll have to try again. If the foremast is hit as planned, we'll shoot the main mast off as soon as we get the chance. That ship is bigger and better armed, so we have to cut their wings off to have a chance. The masts will fall towards us, so there's always a chance of them hitting our ship. If we time it right, they won't damage our rigging and can even serve as planks to enter the ship."

Nicolas pulled at one of the chains and managed to lift both cannonballs. They were rather small, not much bigger than his own fist, but he know how devastating their impact could be. He hadn't yet seen Evangielle's marksmanship, but according to John's stories, "she could shoot a fly off me nose and not leave a scratch in me face". He hoped that she really was as good, because a swift crippling of the Albian ship would shorten the fight. The worse the Albians' situation was, the quicker they would surrender. He didn't want any casualties on either side. 

Evangielle gave him a appreciative grin at the demonstration of his strength. "Good. Now we have to wait."

They waited, watching the Albian ship draw closer and closer. The crew was still singing while they armed themselves and fastened the few loose items on and below deck. Nicolas had seen them effective and organized during a storm, but this routine was something else entirely. On an Albian ship, there was grim silence and determination, only broken by harsh orders from the officers. Here, the men and women seemed to look forward to the fight. There was no fear, only excitement.

Nicolas felt his own heart beat a bit faster.

The Albian ship was close enough now to see the pale faces of the Albian marines on deck. Just as the ship turned to get alongside the starboard side of the Siren's Call and almost stopped due to the hasty adjusting of the sails, Evangielle bent down behind the left swivel gun. She held the slow match wick to the opening to spark the gunpowder. A second later, the gun shot the chained balls right at the Albian ship. Nicolas could only watch in faint disbelief as the chain cut through the foremast like it was a just thin reed. He could hear the Albian crew cry out in alarm. Slowly, the foremast fell to the ship's starboard side, effectively blocking half of their cannons. The Albian ship fired nevertheless, but all they managed was to destroy the fallen foremast completely. 

Evangielle took no time to rejoice. "Reload!" she ordered and turned the other swivel gun to fire at the main mast.

This time, it didn't hit as perfectly, but the chained balls destroyed a lot of the rigging. Sails started to flap in the wind uselessly. 

Nicolas has just finished reloading the first swivel gun when Evangielle switched positions again and placed a third, this time dooming shot. The ship's main mast broke in half, stopping the vessel's movement almost immediately. The Albians were completely unable to maneuver anymore.

"Fire!" 

A broadside shattered the Albian ship's rail and a few of the cannons on deck, along with a dozen crewmen. 

Nicolas forced himself to watch. Those were his comrades, and he helped killing them.
The Siren's Call was now right next to the Albian ship. 

"Enter!" Alastair ordered. 

The pirates grabbed the wooden planks ready of this purpose and brought them in position. A few other took ropes to swing over to the enemy ship. 

"Protect him!" Evangielle ordered and pulled the pistol from her belt to fire another perfect shot at a terrified face that was by all means much too far away to be hit by a pistol.

Nicolas pulled his saber and looked for Alastair. He was just leaving the helm to M'Bato and pulled his own weapon. The grim determination in his good eye let Nicolas shudder. He quickly made his way across the deck to stay at his captain's side as ordered.

The Albian marines had recovered from their shock and now put up a good fight. Nicolas saw how some of them were pushing the pirates back over the planks. Just as Alastair reached the rail to cross over to the Albian ship, an young officer fought his way over toward him. 

"Let's see if a ghost can bleed!" the young man shouted in an all too familiar, accented voice. His hair, almost as red as Alastair's, became visible as his tricorn fell off.

"Finnis?" Nicolas didn't notice he had said it aloud.

But there was no mistake. This was Finnis Donal, fellow officer from the Valiance and his best friend from another life.