Page 49 of A Prince Among Pirates
Captain Sharpe lifts a brow as he sets his teacup down. “Not to sound like a brute, Kitten… but there was never a question of you doing it. You obey my orders. I’m still your captain, even if youarea mouthy little brat.”
“I take offense to that.”
“You’re meant to.”
Touché.
I resist the urge both to laugh and to roll my eyes. “And when am I to do this?”
“When we arrive at Port Royal. That’s where the bastard disappeared, so that’s likely where he still is.”
“Not at the Republic of Pirates?”
Captain Sharpe hesitates, then smiles as if I’ve said something amusing. “And risk being seen by me and my men? No, we frequent Nassau too often for him to be hiding there. Jamaica has more opportunities for him.”
Just as well. I don’t love the idea of wandering around in a place called the Republic of Pirates by myself, dressed in finery. Even doing so in Port Royal sounds absurdly unwise, but I knowthere’s gentry on Jamaica, so I should be somewhat less likely to be singled out and molested.
Somewhat.
“I don’t suppose we might find plantains on one of these islands?”
“Plantains? What do you want plantains for?”
“Billy has been requesting them for weeks,” I explain.
“It’s bad luck to have bananas on board. The men won’t like it,” Sharpe says.
“They aren’t bananas,” I say firmly. “They’re plantains. And the men will have very little to complain about once they eat them, or so Billy says.”
Sharpe chuckles and sits back at his desk. “Well… Billy is a smart man. If he doesn’t think it’ll cause a ruckus among the men, then by all means. And yes, you’ll find them at the market on Nassau. Take Tydes with you.”
“Why?” I ask.
Sharpe gives me another one of thoselooksthat mean he expects me to read his mind. I don’t take the bait this time. I cross my arms and wait.
He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “After seeing your skill with a pistol, I don’t trust you to be on your own anywhere there are other men.”
“I beg your finest pardon?” I ask, feigning offense, when in reality his assessment of me is, once more, absolutely correct.
He pulls the pistol from his belt and holds it up. “You’re meant to hold it from this end, Kitten.”
My cheeks heat and I narrow my eyes at him. “I am very well aware of how to hold a pistol.”
“Are you?”
“I may not know how to shoot one, but I know how to hold one,” I insist, lifting my chin. “My aim was to strike him over the head. The barrel isn’t heavy enough to knock a man out.”
Sharpe smiles and sets the pistol down on the desk. “I suppose that’s true. In any case, take Tydes with you for protection.”
“The twins—”
“Are too small to protect you if someone tries to start something with the pretty dandy asking forbananas.”
“Plantains,” I correct.
“Take Tydes.”
“Wait—pretty?”
