Treasure

A few days later, Vice stood at the stern of The Morrigan, watching the nameless island shrink on the horizon. Frowning at the green smear of rainforest, she broke pieces off a banana and threw them into her mouth as Barnacle rubbed up against her ankles.

Knigh stepped into her peripheral vision and leant on the rail. The cat broke off and graced him with the same attention. “That’s a deep frown.”

She scoffed and waved the remaining banana towards the island. “A deep frown for a wasted trip.”

Eyebrows raised, he glanced fore and up into the shrouds where hands worked on lines and sails. “I’d say the rest of the crew don’t share your sentiment—they’re well-fed, rested, and the hold is stocked with fresh food.”

“Yes, but we got no treasure from the detour—even that chest we went back for was just full of old clothes, ruined by the sea.” She sighed at the wake frothing up behind them, rippling out into ever-smaller waves.

If she was going to become a captain, she needed to satisfy FitzRoy’s desire for gold and this trip had done nothing towards that. She checked he wasn’t nearby, then leant towards Knigh. “The food will spoil or get eaten, the water will get drunk. In a couple of weeks, it’ll be like this trip never happened.” She finished the last of her banana and tossed the peel into the water. “You were right, we should have gone straight after that treasure ship. This whole thing was a waste of time.”

His fingertips tapped on the rail, and he smiled into the distance, perhaps at the last glimpse of the island, now just a dark spot. “Even if we didn’t find any treasure or the key to Drake’s fabled hoard”—he snorted, but a soft smile lurked at the corner of his mouth—“you seemed to enjoy yourself and—well, I know I did.” Drawing a long breath, he turned to her, folding his arms across his chest. The tight gesture looked like an attempt to protect himself, to block others off, but it only served to emphasise the lines of his muscles under his shirt.

Vice blinked and raised her eyebrows, leaning one hand on the rail and resting the other on her hip—as open as he was closed. “You enjoyed yourself? On an island full of pirates?”

He lifted his chin. “I had the chance to swim around that incredible reef, to see that whale shark”—he sighed, shaking his head—“those are things I’m going to carry with me forever.” His grey eyes glinted, almost blue under the clear sky.

He had to be playing with her. His face was poker-straight, though.

She frowned and shook her head, then gave him a playful shove, laughing.