Synopsis: Differel and Pirates

Copyright (C) 2011 by Kevin L. O'Brien

On her third night in the Dreamlands, Sir Differel and Victor are sailing on the Bay of Propontis south of the islands of Diaplo and Chryse in a sailing dinghy with a seaman named Jacopo. Above them her Wakiya, Eleanor d'Aquitaine, keeps pace. Jacopo was a former pirate who had his tongue cut out and was marooned by his colleagues because they feared he would turn them in. Though they were wrong, Victor rescued him and he turned state's evidence against them anyways. He now acts as an informant, keeping Victor apprised of shadowy goings on in the Mark.

Ostensibly they are out on a tour of the Mark so Differel can get acquainted with it, but really they are acting as a stalking horse. There have been numerous disappearances of fishermen and pleasure craft over the course of several months. Commodore Acacallis Mwinu, commander of the Punicae naval citadel on Imia, believes it is the work of pirates funded by Leng Men, but her naval patrols have failed to captured them, or discover their base. Jacopo proposed a ruse by which Victor and Differel would pose as newlyweds on a honeymoon to draw the pirates out. If it fails, Cdre. Mwinu will not be blamed, but if it succeeds, she can claim the credit, so she agreed to have a squadron of a dromon and three cutters standing ready at Makri.

As they approach the island of Gyaros, they are jumped by a half-dozen skiffs. They try to make a run for it, but are cut off by a Leng black galley. When boarded, Differel and Victor surprise them with their firepower and fighting prowess, but Jacopo is wounded and lost overboard, and the attackers numerical superiority proves too much. They are taken in chains to a secret cave complex under Gyaros, where they meet the pirate queen, Grace Beltis, a one-time captain in the Punicae navy and a former lover of Victor. She recognizes him, and Victor lies that Differel is just an adventurer he hired to play his bride. Beltis orders Differel removed to where the rest of the captives are being held and has Victor taken to her bedchamber.

Differel overpowers the two guards escorting her, but neither have a key for her manacles. She proceeds to the holding area and finds the captives imprisoned in a stockade. She also overhears two guards discussing that the black galley will depart the next day with them as slaves, and they'll finally get their pay and be able to leave. As she ponders what to do, she is jumped from behind, but she subdues her attacker, only to discover it's Jacopo. His wound looks worse than it really is. He is dressed in a guard's uniform and has a key to her manacles. He provides her with two of her wheellock pistols and a distraction so she can claim a uniform and a cutlass. With a headscarf to disguise her hair, she and Jacopo make it past the guards to the outside, where she sends Eleanor off to bring back the squadron.

She leaves Jacopo to keep an eye on the captives and goes after Victor. She finds him tied to Beltis's bed as she rides him. She is so distracted Differel walks in and pulls her off onto the floor by her hair. She forces Beltis onto her knees with her hands on her head and threatens to blow her brains out unless she reveals who she's working for, but she refuses, and Differel finally knocks her unconscious. She then frees Victor, and as he dresses she gags and hogties Beltis. She rifles through her work table and finds a letter of marque signed by the Prince of Dylath-Leen. She stuffs it down her shirt and she and Victor leave as Beltis wakes up.

They make their way back to Jacopo and she sends him off to commandeer boats to take the captives off. As she distracts the guards, Victor opens the stockade and the fishermen, some of them former naval seamen, rush out and overpower the guards. They raid an armory for weapons, and as Victor leads the captives out of the cave onto the shore, Differel and two captives set fire to the pirates' supplies. She rejoins Victor and they proceed to the hidden harbor, but are pursued by the pirate force. Differel makes a stand at a spot between a cliff and a breaker while Victor gets the captives away. The pursuing pirates are lead by Beltis, who got free after Differel left her. Differel challenges her, and she accepts, sending her men off to take another route. They engage in a vicious duel, a sort of swashbuckling catfight, but finally Differel manages to wound Beltis and she falls into the breakers and disappears.

Differel makes it to the harbor, where Jacopo had seized a yacht that the pirates had captured. They cast off before the pirates catch up with them and make it out of the harbor, firebombing some of the skiffs to prevent pursuit. However, the pirates still manage to chase after them, and they close in on the yacht as the black galley maneuvers to cut them off again. This time, Eleanor appears and attacks the skiffs, capsizing them, and the dromon and cutter squadron comes around the island. The galley tries to escape, but Eleanor hovers like a kestrel and blasts it with an electrical discharge, disabling it. As the cutters round up the pirates in the water and the dromon claims the galley, Differel and Victor share a private moment in which she tells him they need to have a talk about his former paramours.