Blood - Penllyn Chronicles #2 PAPERBACK

I was hungry, but sucking the blood from a furry rat wasn’t what I wanted. Maria, you don’t want to swim from Francia to Britain, do you? 

My enemies were after me. That’s why I was on the ship. Running again. Europe was too dangerous. 

I’m getting ahead of my tale.

The sky was already stained blood red that first morning at sea. I knocked on his cabin a few moments before the sunrise. “Come,” he called. I made sure to leave the door open behind me. His sailors could watch what was about to happen. 

 He let his eyes drift over me, then glanced at his meagre bed, and back at me. He grinned.

“I have paid for the use of this chamber,” I said. “That does not include you, dear captain. You can spend the day on deck while I rest. The sun fatigues me and causes pains in my head.” He grumbled but moved towards the door. “Once night comes, I will head out on deck, and you may have your room again.”

 He patted the bed next to him, where he still sat in his night clothes. 

“The bed could be warmer,” he said.

“Out!” I grabbed his boots and tossed them through the open door. Followed by his trousers and tunic. I paused and held his sword belt. He looked at me and grinned, showing more teeth than holes in his smile.

I drew steel. Not bad for a blade. Almost no guard, but better than a single edged seax the sailors said the Saxons on Britannia used. 

“You’ll cut yourself, milady,” he grinned and smoothed the linens on his bed. I dropped into a ready stance, blade before me.

“Don’t hurt yerself,” he added.

I flicked the sword three times, fast. The first trimmed the hairs of his mustache without touching his lip. The second flick took a finger’s width off the length of his beard. The third left a trail of blood along his left cheek.

“Leave now, or I will take off an ear,” I said, my voice loud enough to carry out onto the now quiet deck. “After that, I’ll remove your manhood. OUT!”

His eyes were wide, and his hand pressed against his cheek. He held it out in front of him, disbelieving the blood that coated his finger. The little voice is my head started singing her hunger song. I ignored her. Finally he stood. He paused by the door.

“My blade,” he demanded, blocking the doorway should I attempt to flee. Silly man. 

“You may have this back once I’m on shore in Sussex,” I told him. “It seems I have a need to defend myself, not from your crew, but from the boat’s master.”

I gestured at the door. He stepped closer and grabbed my arms. 

A moment later, I shoved him out. He fell to the wooden deck, sucking in air. His hands clutched his groin as he writhed in pain. He did leave me alone the rest of the day. 

The fool didn’t learn. 

“Just a kiss,” he said that night when I opened the door and let him in. This time he grabbed my breast as he stepped past me. Instead of going for the blade on my hip, my hand darted in and grabbed his before his fingers had left my bosom. I only broke two of his fingers and left other body parts bruised. 

“The next time you touch me, Captain,” I said, my voice loud enough to carry out to his men, “I will indeed cut off your manhood.” I pushed him into the bed, but turned and headed out on deck to enjoy the sea air. I looked back when I pulled the door closed. He grasped his broken fingers to his chest and used his other hand to cup his groin, afraid I might apply my knee there. I slammed the door in his face. Snickers from his men drifted across the deck. 

He left me alone after that. My words and his swollen black eye were enough to caution the sailors to keep their distance. Even they wanted me off their ship. A collective sigh hissed into the night when I announced a fortnight later I was leaving them at a port in the South Saxon lands.

Once docked, I paid the captain to escort me into town that night. He attempted to steer me into several seedy dives along the way, looking away as I frowned at his suggestions. I wanted a guest house with fewer sailors and more merchants. behavior was less rowdy the farther from the harbor we moved. If we ventured too far I’d be the only traveller in the alehouse.

I located one I wanted to try. There was a distinct lack of boisterous singing from within. Only muted conversation, and some laughter drifted into the chill night air. The captain smiled an invitation to join him one last time. He half reached towards me.

“Do I need to break another of your fingers?” 

He jerked his arms back under his cloak.

“Your men will bring my chest?” I asked.

“Aye.”

I passed him a small purse with the rest of the coins I had promised. He bounced it in his hand to get a feel of the weight.

“You’ll have it once the cargo is unloaded.” He glanced down at my hip. His belt around my waist still held his blade. I had promised. A sigh escaped me, but I unbelted and passed it to him. I’d need time to learn if it were appropriate for women to go about armed with long blades here.

 He looked towards the harbor where the sailors had gone to drink and spend their pay.

“Don’t forget my belongings,” I said when he wandered away. A single grunt sounded from him. “Before you dip your flesh in a woman, not after.”

I didn’t bother to check to see if he went off to find a woman to spend my former coins on before returning to his ship.