Various other pirates had come for the moot, and it was something of an event as we gathered in the largest of the underground caverns for the meeting two days after our arrival. Lanny was somewhat of a byword amongst the "good" pirates, and his reputation had preceded him.
Our party was given places of honour at the massive redstone table, which was carved with an exquisitely detailed bas-relief map of the island itself. Even Peyton was allowed a spot, much to the derisive amusement of some of the arrivals - until he opened his mouth and out-snarked even the snarkiest captains, all of whom shut up and showed him the same rough courtesy they gave to the rest of us.
They were a rough bunch indeed, and their language could be as filthy as Lanny's. But underneath their coarse manners and their shockingly direct manner, they were good-hearted, and they had a unique moral code which enabled them to band together in times of trouble, while permitting them the liberty to rob each other blind in times of peace.
There were quite a few notorious names, all the same, and I wasn't alone in my wariness when some of the assembled pirates were introduced, in particular Makepeace 'One Leg' Harley, Dawson 'Lost Soul' Reeve, Lucretia 'The Siren' Clapham, Vala 'Ruthless' Branson, and Kenton 'The Unseen' Crompton. These five were the most savage of all, but they were on the side of deceny because Arundel was too savage and bloodthirsty, even for them, which spoke of just how depraved the Gunner was.
"Right!" Lanny bellowed, cutting the small talk. "We've got one item of business to discuss! Byford and Early have rather shockingly displayed they've got more than one functioning brain cell between them, and we've agreed to pool our resources together so we can finally gut that whoreson Arundel and show him who the real fucking king of the sea is!"
"Not you, you bastard," Dawson called back. "That title belongs to me."
"Ah, go fuck yourself," Lanny snapped. "The door's over there if you want to leave. Just don't let it hit your arse on the way out, you yellow-bellied waste of sperm."
Dawson glowered, but stayed where he was, and Lanny snorted as he resumed. "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, we've only the one item of business to discuss. Arundel is too dangerous. And he's got the likes of Walcott Perry, Wetherby Nate, and that vicious bitch Mala Kelsey on side now. If he lures them in, we're fucked. And not in a good way."
"You're saying we band together?" Dawson spat on the floor. "Not on your life. I would be sailing with Arundel if he wasn't an even bigger arsehole than you, you misbegotten turd who should've been aborted before you clawed your way out of your mother's--"
"That's enough!" Kenton cut in. "Dawson, shut the hell up before I run you through for good this time. Lanny, you're fucked in the head if you think we'll join up with you. Byford and Early might be arsehole lickers, but let's face it. They haven't a whole set of bollocks between them, and they have even less brain cells. The rest of us are smarter. If we're to band together, we're not having you as our king."
Lanny rolled his eyes. "I didn't say I wanted to be your king, you stupid bastard," he said. "I'm saying we join together, and we all have a say in how we squash that useless turd on legs. I don't want to rule over you aresholes any more than you want me over you, so let's either find someone we can all agree on, or choose a council who'll make the decisions. Fuck me. I've got enough problems running my own crews. I'll be fucked before I let myself get a fucking crown slapped on my head."
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For two days, the debate raged, until finally, at dawn on the third day, it was decided Dawson, Kenton, Byford and Early would form a council, from which all further orders would be delivered. Lanny himself had refused to be a part of it, and it was likely Dawson would have run him through had he even hinted at such.
Once the council was formed, inventory was taken, and the councillors agreed that each captain should put a tenth of their plunder into a community bank of sorts. From there, funds would be drawn to outfit and repair the ships which needed it the most, whilst future plunder would likewise be tithed to make sure the bank didn't run dry. This earned a fair bit of grumbling, as did the embargo on raids and counter-raids. Everyone was part of the alliance, and trust had to be established to make sure the final raid to take Arundel down was definitive and cohesive enough to make sure he stayed down.
I was awed at the progress as we prepared to leave a week after our arrival. Lanny had agreed to transport us back to Farminster, and as we packed, I expressed my amazement to Ailsa. "How does Ashton do it?" I said.
She smiled. "Let's just say he's good at diplomacy," she said. "He guides people to the right decision, but let's them decide if they're going to take that first step. He generally doesn't stick around, but Lanny's a good friend of his, and he wanted to make sure things were progressing well enough before he left."
"What do we do now?" I asked.
Ailsa slung her pack on her shoulder, her face grim. "We go back to Farminster," she said. "Ashton won't say, but I've a feeling a confrontation with his family is imminent. They never liked it when he broke away from them after he found himself disagreeing with their ways, and I think the time for reckoning is due. Ashton doesn't want to leave them at his back, so I suspect he's going to deal with the problem once and for all before it becomes too big to handle."
I found myself sombre as I slung my own pack onto my shoulders. "What is the end goal?"
"The end goal?" Ailsa tilted her head to the side. "Ashton wants all the peoples united," she said at last. "To what end, he won't say. But there's someone out there he wants to put an end to, someone he's trained his whole life to face. I don't know who that is, and Ashton has confided a great many things in me that he's never told anyone else." She sighed. "I've been his lover for five years, and this is the first time he's held something back from me. But I don't blame him for it. He'll tell me - and the rest of us - when he's ready." She touched my arm lightly. "Don't let it fret you, Fionn. You'll play your part just as well as the rest of us when that time comes."
I was slightly reassured, but as I followed her out of the common room, I felt a twist of unease deep in my gut. There was only one foe Ashton would dedicate his life to ending - the one foe he'd spend all his energy defeating.
And I wasn't sure what I'd do when that time came.
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