X Marks The Spot (The Plundered Chronicles Book 6) Page 2

“That girl picks up languages like an anteater eats ants. She will be fluent in them in no time.” Kaylish turned to Quinn and took her hands. “Leave the children to me. You go see Bronwen and get your answers. Then come back to me as soon as you can.” She brought both hands to her lips and kissed Quinn’s knuckles. “You better come back to me, Quinn Callaghan. I’m not sending you to two former lovers without you looking into my eyes and promising me you’ll come home.”

  Quinn leaned in and kissed her softly. “Of course I’ll come home. Bronwen and Evan only see each other. They are madly in love. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Good. Then you do what you must. We will be here waiting for you upon your return.”

  They say and chatted more about the castle, the ship, some engagements Kaylish wished to attend, before Quinn headed to the barn for the horses.

  Once Quinn had saddled up, she waited for Fitz to adjust his before getting on.

  “I wish Tavish was here so he could go with ya. There’s plenty to get the ship ready. Then there’s those guards who—”

  “Fitz, stop your worrying. We haven’t had any issues since taking the castle over from Lord Moynihan. Not one sign of Robert. I told you, I’m pretty certain he drowned.”

  “Pretty certain is not certain.”

  Quinn nodded. She would have loved to have seen Robert’s drowned body, but she did not have time. The fact that almost half a year had gone by without a sign that he was still alive gave her some reassurance. If he were alive, wouldn’t he already have come after his daughter or the castle he thought he would inherit?

  She believed he would have.

  “You worry too much, my friend. Look, we have a home on the beautiful cliffs, a sturdy ship on the water, food and drink in our bellies, and, thanks to those emeralds we brought back from the New World, enough riches to keep us all happy for quite some time. Enjoy it.”

  Fitz leaned over in his saddle. “Oh, I am enjoyin’ the peace, Captain, but the real question here is…are you?”

  The question caught Quinn off guard. “Am I enjoying it? Why yes…uh…of course I am.”

  Fitz chuffed. “Just as I thought. Domestic life bores you, Callaghan. I can see it in yer eyes. Now that we’ve all healed from our wounds, filled our bellies and our purses, it’s time to get back out on the water. It’s time for the men to be back on the deck of the Edge.”

  “And do what, Fitz? Continue to plunder? Kill other pirates for the hell of it? There has to be more out there for us, don’t you think?”

  “More?”

  “A purpose. We need a sense of purpose, Fitz, otherwise we’re nothing but a ship full of bloodthirsty, gold-chewing pirates. I want more for us than that!” Quinn spurred her horse on.

  “That’s what you want, Callaghan. Has it ever occurred to ya to ask us what we want? This crew has helped out a monarch, a Moroccan pirate, and a purveyor of stolen loot. We’ve risked our lives sailin’ up the Thames to see Elizabeth, and suffered the wrath of the Spanish Inquisition. I’d say we’ve had our fair share of ‘purposeful adventures,’ wouldn’t ya?”

  Quinn slowed her horse to a trot. “Exactly what I am saying. So now, you think booty and swashbuckling will fulfill them? You think sailing the seas to plunder and risk their lives for booty will be enough?”

  “We are simple-minded creatures, Callaghan. We are not at all like you. You have deep thoughts. We do not. You care about others outside our family. We do not. You may need a sense of purpose, but I feel pretty confident we do not. Ale, wenches, and coin are enough to satisfy mosta us. That hasn’t changed just because you have.”

  “What about you, Fitz? Are you satisfied?”

  The horses trotted along as Fitz contemplated his reply.

  “I can think of no other crew I’d rather serve with, Callaghan. Truth be told, I don’t much care where we go or what we do, as long as we’re all together.”

  And there it was: the greatest truth about her crew. They ultimately did not care what they did so long as they did it together. Quinn counted on this. Into her second decade on the water, she wanted more…more for herself, more for Gallagher, and more for her crew.

  “Well, while I am gone, I want you to get the ship and the crew in fighting shape. I want everra one to be ready upon my return.”

  “Aye, Captain. Enna idea how long you’ll be gone?”

  “Could be a day, could be a week. It’s hard to tell with a Druid priestess.”

  “And it really never bothered ya that she sorta stole yer woman away?”

  Quinn chuckled. “Bronwen is my oldest friend. She’d never ‘steal’ anything from me. Evan and I were over the moment those bastards brutalized her. The shame of it all was too much. She changed. So did I. It happens.”

  “Well, it’s good yer all still friends.”

  Quinn spurred her house harder. “Enough jabbering. Let’s get moving.”

  As they galloped through the verdant green countryside of her beloved Ireland, Quinn thought about how lucky she was to have Evan in her life even though she was now with Bronwen, one of her oldest and dearest friends.

  Quinn had always known of Bronwen’s lack of concern over gender. She’d had plenty of sexual encounters with both when they were younger. It was the way of the Druids to not care. Love was love to her friend the priestess, and Bronwen had run through her fair share of bedmates without ever committing to any of them.

  Then came Evan, and for the first time in her life, Bronwen chose a mate.

  Quinn was good with that. She’d never seen Bronwen happier.

  Except maybe for this moment, a couple hours’ ride later, when Quinn dismounted at the edge of the forest where Bronwen and Evan lived.

  “Thank you for accompanying me, Fitz. I can take it from here.”

  “I’ll be stayin’ at the tavern we passed a few miles from the road. Come get me when you are done here.”

  “I don’t think th—”

  “Yer missus gave me express orders not to leave ya alone fer the ride back, and as much as I fear yer sword, Callaghan, I fear her sharp tongue even more.”

  Quinn glanced up at him. “So you’d obey her over me?”

  Fitz chuckled as he turned his horse around. “Have ya seen her shoot that bow ya had made fer her? I’ve seen her angry, Callaghan, and, quite frankly, aye. I’m gonna do what she tells me.”

  Quinn chuckled. “Fair enough, my friend. Don’t gamble your life away.”

  “I only do that on one a yer voyages, Captain.” And with that, Fitz rode off, his laughter trailing behind him.”

  “You ought to heed your own advice,” came a voice from behind her.

  Turning, Quinn stepped into Bronwen’s embrace. “You saw.”

  “I did. I always see when you are not balanced. Even when I try to block it out, you are always there, my friend.” Bronwen pulled away, her green eyes locked onto Quinn’s. “It’s good to see you looking so healthy.”

  Quinn gazed into Bronwen’s clear eyes. She was one of three women Quinn had met who was actually taller than she. “Aye. You have never looked more beautiful yourself.”

  “I do not believe I have ever been happier. Evan is a warm, loving woman as you well know. She makes me laugh every day and is so vibrant and full of love.”

  “You healed her.”

  “Love healed her. Self love. Not mine. She is so looking forward to seeing you.” Bronwen took the reins of the horse and started into the forest. “You truly do look well.”

  “I’m rested. We eat well. Life is good.”

  Bronwen smiled. “If that were true, you’d not have come, but we can discuss this around the fire. Come. Tell me all about Gallagher as we walk.”

  Half an hour later, Quinn found herself embraced by the much smaller laoch cuidich, her former lover, Evan.

  “Cap!” Evan squeezed Quinn tightly. “So good to see you again. Bronwen said you’d be comin’. Evan stood back and looked Quinn over. “You look good, Cap. Really good. Come. Have
a seat. Are you hungry?”

  The familiar scent of Bronwen’s stew wafted through the air. “I am now.”

  Evan ladled stew into a bowl and handed it to Quinn.

  Their hands touched, but this time, there was no energy, no spark.

  They were more like sisters now, and Quinn was just fine with that.

  As Quinn ate, Bronwen and Evan sat across from her on logs cut and hewn for sitting.

  “I saw you riding in several days ago so I have had time to prepare for our time together, Would you prefer beginning this evening or the morning?”

  Quinn wiped her mouth and swallowed before replying. “The morning will be fine. I’d love to catch up with you both. When we saw each other last, you were preparing to discuss with the order the possibility of leaving Ireland. How is that coming?”

  Bronwen reached for Evan’s hand. “It goes well. We will meet at Samhain to decide where we ought to go.”

  “Have you considered the New World? It appears to be a place with a great deal of religious freedom.”

  Evan shook her head. “I think we can find someplace in Scotland to rest our heads The time fer runnin’ and fightin’ are aboot over, eh?”

  “I think you’re right. We all put up a good fight, but I’m afraid it’s almost to an end.”

  “Aye, Cap. Elizabeth and her religion are comin’. She will not stop until she and her God completely destroy the old ways. We willna stand around watchin’ it happen.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “That is what we will find out on Samhain. Shortly after that night, we will be leavin’. No goodbyes. No plans to reconnect. Just fade into the night.”

  Quinn held her fork in midair. “Wait. What? You’re not telling me where you’re going?” A slight panic grabbed her chest. “That cannot…you don’t really mean…”

  The fire shimmered slightly.

  She’d felt this before. “Damn…you…both.”

  Staring down at the half-empty bowl Quinn glanced over and realized neither were eating.

  “We are starting this evening, aren’t we?” Her head felt light, her body seemed to float away from her head.

  Drugged.

  She had just consumed the drug Bronwen used to help people reach a higher state of being.

  Bronwen gently took the bowl from her. “Aye, dearest friend. I did not see only you. I saw someone else coming for you.”

  Quinn’s eyelids got heavier. “Some… one?”

  Evan and Bronwen carefully lowered Quinn to a blanket on the ground.

  “Yes, dearest one. Someone who will change your life.”

  Quinn felt herself standing in a mist. All around her hovered a haze which wove in and out of the tall trees as if it were alive.

  “Hello?” Quinn said into the silence.

  Nothing.

  As she took one step, then two, then three, she realized no sound came from the ground beneath her boots. The trees made no sound. There was utter stillness.

  Closing her eyes, she did what she had been doing on the deck of her ship ever since she first watched Grace O’Malley do it when she smelled the ocean air to help determine the weather.

  She inhaled slowly. Deliberately.

  There it was.

  The scent of smoke from a campfire just to her right.

  As if in response to her acknowledgement, the bushed parted, revealing the three foot tall fire.

  Sitting facing Quinn was Bronwen. She wore the green robe of a Druid Priestess with the hood up, indicating she was working.

  “This isn’t real, is it?” Quinn asked. “I remember seeing this mist when we were younger after my mother died. You called it to comfort me and show me she was no longer in pain.”

  Bronwen lowered her hood. “That was a long time ago.”

  “A lifetime ago.”

  “When you were still a noblewoman in dresses… before you became Kieran Callaghan.”

  Quinn sat opposite Bronwen. “I never truly felt like Quinn Gallagher. The moment I put on pants and boots, I… I became more of who I am.”

  Bronwen rose and moved next to Quinn. “And just who are you?”

  “I am Captain Quinn Callaghan of the Irish pirate ship the Edge.”

  Bronwen folded her hands in her lap. “I see. Then Quinn Gallagher is—”

  “No more. I’ll never force my body into a dress unless I have to. I will never be subservient to a man or bow to one’s wishes. I am the master of my own destiny from now to forever more.”

  A slight smile rose on Bronwen’s lips. “And just what destiny is that, my friend?”

  Quinn opened her mouth to reply, then closed it.

  “Is it such a hard question?” Bronwen waved her hand toward the fire.

  Staring into the glowing flames, Quinn saw herself when she first stepped on board Grace’s ship, the Malendroke. She watched herself meeting Mary Queen of Scots for the first time Her eyes teared up as she watched Fiona holding Gallagher for the first time Then the colors of the flame deepened and darkened and she watched as she drove a dagger into her best friend’s heart. She covered her mouth and blinked back tears as Evan was raped repeatedly. She let the tears run down her cheeks seeing Fiona take her last breath.

  The images, good and bad, were the tapestry which made her who she was.

  “I do not know what my destiny is any more, Bronwen. Plundering with Grace was… an adventure, to be sure, but I… I need more than that now. The world is changing. I am changing.”

  Bronwen nodded. “Indeed you are. No longer bound to Grace, Ireland, Mary, or your past, you are free to explore who you now wish to be. It can be as scary as it is freeing.”

  “Free,” Quinn murmured. “I’ve not been such since…” She looked up at the blanket up stars. “Ever.”

  “No?”

  “No. One who leads is never free. You are responsible to your men, to their safety, to their families. You are responsible for the ship, for the cargo, for the plunder.”

  “That must be quite a burden.”

  “It is also a joy. They are my family. The ship is my home.”

  Bronwen leaned forward. “And there are times in our lives when we must venture away from our families to grow as individuals…when we must go our own way and forge our own destiny.”

  Quinn nodded.

  “And now, you are not only Captain of your ship, you are the head of your household, heaping more responsibility on your already full shoulders. That cannot be an easy load to carry.”

  “Aye. I am weary.”

  Bronwen tossed a red powder into the fire, making it jump and crackle. “You need more.”

  Quinn turned away from the fire. “Not more. I need purpose. I need to be an agent of change in my world, not the recipient of it. I need to act instead of always reacting.”

  Bronwen cocked her head. “Well no, there you have it. An agent of change. This is ultimately how you see yourself in the world.”

  “But to what end?”

  Bronwen motioned to the fire, where a silhouette of a woman stood within the flames. “Perhaps she can tell you.”

  Quinn frowned as she squinted into the fire. “Who is she? She is too… thick to be Kaylish, and I love Kaylish. I am not—”

  “Interested. Of course not. Most of the women you have been willing to die for are powerful, strong women you may have loved, but were not… intimate with. Perhaps she will be that was well.”

  But who is she?”

  Bronwen shrugged. “Seeing is not my strong hand, as you know. I wish I could see her for you, but I do not. The figure keeps shifting. Some days looks like this. Other days, she is tall and thin.”

  “What does she want with me?”

  Bronwen leaned closer. “What they all want from you – your help.”

  “I do not know if I have it in me to ‘help’ anyone else, Bron. I am so very weary of all the fighting for no reason except it makes the crew happy. I need do to something more than just run around helping people.�
�

  This made Bronwen chuckle. “Of course you do, but it’s in your nature to help others… especially women.”

  “So I should assist her?”

  “That’s entirely up to you. If, however, you truly wish to find your purpose beyond pirating and plundering, I strongly suggest you hear her out when she comes to you.”

  “She’s coming?”

  “She is.”

  “Soon?”

  “I believe so.”

  Inhaling deeply, Quinn nodded. “Then I will hear her out.”

  “Good. And when you are done, keep in mind that you are searching for something greater than yourself to be a part of. Whoever this woman is…whoever they all are…they come to you for help.”

  Quinn nodded as the woman vanished before gazing up at Bronwen. “You seem so happy.”

  “I am. Evan fills my heart.”

  “Forever?”

  Taking Quinn’s hand, Bronwen kissed the back of it. “Forever is an awfully long time. I have no hold on her save what my heart feels. Should she choose to stay for the remainder of any life, I would be incredibly honored.”

  Quinn smiled softly. “Kaylish. Will she stay?”

  Bronwen’s gaze shifted to the fire, the silhouette fading completely away. “The better question, my friend, is will you?”

  Quinn woke up the next morning to the aroma of breakfast cooking. Evan stood near the fire, watching over the food as it cooked.

  “I apologize for the abrupt nature of your vision with Bronwen,” Evan said. “I wanted to tell you it was coming but she forbade it.”

  Raising up on her elbows, Quinn grinned. “It’s her way. She feels it reveals a greater truth.”

  Evan squatted on her haunches. “And did it?”

  “I’m not sure. I hope so.” Sitting up, Quinn rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “You look well, my friend. Bronwen and this quiet life agrees with you.”

  Evan ladled a mushy substance onto a plate. “Not being a killer enna more agrees with me. I was so lost, Cap. It was as if my soul had the Plague and was rotting from inside out. I couldna stop myself even if I tried.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I feel well. Healthy.”

  “Loved?”

  “A big grin spread across Evan’s face. “Oh, aye. She is a magical creature, to be sure. I am blessed to have her love me.” Evan’s eyes softened. “You need to forgive yerself for what happened to me, Cap. I would do it all over again if it meant we both ended up where we are. Kaylish loves you somethin’ powerful, and Gallagher, well hell, she might as well be yer own daughter, she’s so much like you. Yer verra lucky to have them both.” Evan poured herself some of the oats. “Forgive yerself. Nothin’ good can come from carryin’ yer shite around. We’re both alive and loved. What’s better than that?”