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She had pondered his words for some time. "That is not how he feels about it when he thinks of it," she answered. She had not elaborated on that topic further, for she herself was not completely certain of what Ke
"Of course not!" he had retorted and from there, she had steered the conversation into cha
It was only today that she had finally put a name to the emotional undercurrent in Ke
AS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE VIVACIA AND THE LITTLE TWO-MASTED Crosspatch closed, Wintrow felt a queasy anticipation build inside him. Repeatedly, he had warned Ke
The crew of the Crosspatch was aloft, working the sails desperately. If the Marietta alone had pursued her, the Crosspatch might have escaped. The liveship was not only fleeter than the two-master, but in a position to crowd her over in the cha
Her crew gave up their efforts to flee and fell to the tasks of defense. They were well prepared. Firepots were launched, to shatter and splatter flames on the Marietta's hull and deck. Men do
Aboard the Vivacia, men lined the railing enviously. They catcalled and whooped advice to their pirate brethren. Archers ascended the Vivacia's rigging, and a random rain of arrows began to fall on the crew and deck of the Crosspatch. That was the extent of their participation in the battle, but it was a deadly one. The fighters trying to defend the Crosspatch had to remember there was a second enemy at their backs. Hissing arrows skewered those who forgot. Ke
The figurehead nodded to his words, while her eyes drank in the scene. Her fists were clenched at her chest, her lips parted with excitement. When Wintrow reached to her, he felt her confused enthusiasm. The emotions of the men aboard, a mixture of lust, envy and excitement, beat against her like a rising tide. A separate strand of emotion was Ke
Wintrow gave Ke
Wintrow cleared his throat. "Men are dying over there," he pointed out. "Lives are ending in pain and terror."
Vivacia quickly glanced at him, then back to the battle. Ke
"People are dying," Wintrow repeated stubbornly. He tried to put conviction in his words, but found his certainty fading before the pirate's persuasive words.
"People are always dying," the pirate agreed smoothly. "As you and I stand here on this deck, we are fading already, withering with the briefness of summer flowers. Vivacia will outlive us all, Wintrow. Death is not bad. She absorbed several deaths, did she not, to allow her to quicken? Think of it this way, Wintrow. Is it our lives she witnesses each passing day, or our deaths? You can as easily say one as the other. Yes, there is pain and violence. They are a part of all creatures, and of themselves are not evil. The violence of a flood tears a tree from the riverbank, but the nurturing soil and water the flood brings more than compensate. We are warriors for right, my lady and I. If we must sweep away evil, let us do it swiftly, even if it involves pain."