Page 23 of A Prince Among Pirates
“Ah, here it comes,” he says, moving around the desk to perch beside me on the corner.
“When was the last time you purchased new bedding for the crew?”
“Is that what you’re after? A new blanket? The men are in charge of their own bunks,” Captain Sharpe says. “They all know that.”
“Mmm, to be sure,” I say with a nod that tells him I haven’t heeded a word he’s said. “But wouldn’t it be nice if you, theircaptain, were to… surprise them all?”
“Surprise them? This isn’t a pleasure barge, Kitten,” Captain Sharpe reminds me, but he’s grinning, his sharp eyes narrowed in clear amusement. “What are you up to?”
“I just thought—”
“For fuck’s sake, spit it out.”
“The men confided in me that they want new blankets, but none of them are willing to be the first to purchase one.”
“The men confided inyou,” he repeats slowly.
“Ah, well… Trevor and Tristan mentioned that the men had spoken about such things…”
“Mm-hmm…”
I sigh and look up at him with my best puppy-dog eyes, for they have never failed me when I wanted something I ought not to have. He simply stares back, unmoved.
Peeved, I release a puff of air through my lips and cross my arms. “Come now, you clearly have the means for it. Look at the ledger!” I flip it open and motion to yesterday’s shipment. “If you can get your hands on such a large haul without it costing you much at all, you clearly have some pull. Trade a few casks of port—that’ll be plenty to cover new bedding.”
“What do you get out of this, Kitten?” Captain Sharpe asks. He sounds genuinely curious now, at least.
I bite my lip and close the ledger, strumming my fingertips against it. “Well… I wouldn’t mind credit for giving you the idea.”
“That so?”
I look up at him, pouting once more, but with much less gusto. “There are over two hundred men on this ship, and I’ve made friends with four. And I can name perhaps another three who don’t want to break my very unique and attractive nose. I would look positively dreadful with a broken nose, Captain.”
“Have you tried not being a little shit?” he asks, smirking down at me.
I wrinkle said attractive nose at the suggestion. “You might as well ask me to turn water into wine.”
He barks out a hearty laugh, and I know I’ve won. Even as he shakes his head and gets to his feet, I know. “You work out the maths on the bedding, Kitten, and handle the trade when we reach port, and you can have your new blankets.”
“Pillows, too?”
“Get the hell out of my chair.”
I smile up at him and get to my feet. “Aye, aye, Captain,” I say as I step out of his way. Then I snatch up my ledger and take my place on his settee.
“Two hundred and thirty-four,” he says a moment later, and I turn to look at him with an unspoken question written across my brow. “There are two hundred and thirty-four souls aboard this ship, myself included,” he replies.
I smile again and nod. “Thank you, Captain.”
And just like that, his attention is once more buried in his maps, and I am left to my scheming.
Nine
I spend the next fortnight carefully cultivating friendships with the crew. Though the men are largely still suspicious of me, for some reason they remain in high spirits as we make our way south to a place called the Fortunate Islands. It sounds a bit made up to me, and as I peruse the map on Captain Sharpe’s desk, noting where his compass lies, I deduce that we must be planning to make port on the Canaries of Spain.
My Spanish is passable, at least.
I have managed to convince Captain Sharpe to allow me to trade three of the fifteen casks of port when we arrive. I’m not sure whether it was my pretty green eyes or his morbid curiosity that convinced him, but I’m grateful all the same.
