Vance rejoined Captain Jansen, but he was immediately distracted by Hackett beside him. “You look worse for the wear, sailor,” Vance said, peering at the bruise on Hackett’s face. In the days since his brawl with Asa, it had settled into a purple half-moon. “How came you by that most colorful eye?”

Oh no.

Hackett’s scowl moved to Asa. He jerked his chin. “That pup there did it. He’s a Yankee privateer.”

Vance swiveled and strode back to Asa. “A rebel, are you?” He linked his hands behind his back. “Did you attack that man?”

There was no lilt of enjoyment in his voice anymore. Now it hummed like a quiet poison.

“Aye, sir. In my defense,” Asa replied.

“But you provoked him?”

Even from where I stood, I could see the bone in Asa’s neck bob as he swallowed. “Aye, sir. I did.”

Silence stretched out, loud and thick.

“And who was the victor?” asked Vance.

“Me,” Hackett said. “I won.”

Vance never looked away from Asa. “And you, lad? What say you?”

Asa glanced my way. Briefly, but I saw concern, apology, and so much more. “I say that I am still drawing breath,” he replied.

Vance threw his head back and laughed, a brittle cackle that filled the cloudless sky. “You colonials are spirited, that I’ll grant. Your name, lad. And your provenance.”

“Asa Lane. Marblehead.”

“Massachusetts? I ought to have known. Do you hate England so much, Mr. Lane, that you enjoy preying upon her ships?”

Please, Asa, I begged. Now was the time to shrink. To bend and cower and agree.

“Lieutenant Vance, if I may.” Captain Jansen came forward. “Mr. Lane has been pardoned for his actions.” He fumbled inside his coat. “Here are his release papers.”

The papers.

Lieutenant Vance glared at them for a moment, then snatched them up. “It says here you pleaded habeas corpus, Mr. Lane.” The sheets quivered as he read. “That you were pardoned because you were ‘denied the rights of a true Englishman to due legal process.’ ” He pushed the papers back at Captain Jansen. “If you are so determined to be treated as a ‘true Englishman,’ I believe I may be of assistance. Providence has brought you the perfect opportunity to make amends for your perfidiousness. A way to honor your beloved Britannia.”

I couldn’t stand by anymore. I stepped forward.

Something latched onto my wrist.

“Don’t move.” Hackett’s voice rumbled into my ear. “En’t no stopping this, so don’t try.”

“Will you volunteer for your king’s navy, Mr. Lane?” Vance asked.

Silence again, then Asa’s answer knifing through it. “Nay, sir. I will not. For I have no king.”

Murmurs of shock swept the deck.

“But you do, rebel,” Vance said. “You do. And we are happy to help you remember him.”