Passion's Tide (10 page)

The stars glittered ominously as Amber passed through the doorway and walked down the stairs to the main deck, all too aware of Logan’s hand on the small of her back
.
At the bottom, she saw Lyle standing against the longboat with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face
.
Every so often his eyes would dart to the two men who stood on either side of him, hands resting on the butts of their pistols
.
The sixteen other sailors who had joined the pirate crew stood along the railing, waiting for their Captain
.

Logan instructed Amber to stand by Eli, and then took his place in front of his men
.
“You have been called here tonight to stand witness to the trial of your former first mate, Lyle
.
As an officer on the
Queen Charlotte
,
he was in command of your destiny. I can only hope that he was a fair leader,” he said, turning to each of the sailors, “because now the tables have turned and his fate rests in your hands.

“You will each have the chance to speak your mind, and when you are finished, Lyle may say something in his own defense
.
After that, we will hold a vote, and the verdict will determine whether he remains a member of my crew, or if he is to be marooned
.
Let’s begin.”

A sailor stepped forward
.
“Lyle was a lying, cheating, son of a bitch
.
Marooning him would be too generous.”

“Well, I don’t know…” another added uncomfortably
.
“He wasn’t too bad when he was sober.”

The first man laughed
.
“Yeah, on the
very
rare occasion when he wasn’t drunk he could be a regular angel.”

A third man chimed in
.
“Remember two weeks ago, when we were sailing back to the colonies? Have you forgotten what he did to Anton?” The rest of the crew nodded
.

“David’s lying
.
I didn’t do nothing that the bastard didn’t deserve,” spat Lyle
.

Logan glared at him, his eyes cold and vehement
.
“It’s not your turn to speak. David?”

David pushed forward a large black sailor that Amber assumed was Anton
.
“Show them,” he ordered
.

Anton hesitated, then unbuttoned his cotton waistcoat and pulled off his shirt
.
Amber gasped
.
His whole back was covered in angry red cuts that could have only come from a whip
.
Logan stepped forward and inspected the wounds.

“These are infected,” he said, calling over Piers and pointing to a nasty cut in particular that had started to green
.
The doctor pushed his glasses farther onto his nose and leaned in to better see in the dim lantern light, as Anton hung his head and clutched his shirt to his broad chest.

Piers straightened
.
“I would like to examine the boy more closely, and treat these lesions, if I may.”

“If it were my choice I would agree,” said Logan, “but I believe Anton should have a say
.
Would you like to go below deck right now and have the doctor take care of your back, or would you rather stay and watch the rest of the trial?

Anton tugged his shirt over his head, wincing as the rough linen chaffed his back
.
“I’d like to stay.”

Logan nodded
.
“I don’t blame you. Tomorrow I’ll set you up in the kitchen helping Abe.”

“Now, I don’t want to be shirking my duties,” An
ton said, straightening to his full height.

Logan grinned
.
“Don’t worry lad, I’ll still work you hard, but those wounds need to heal. You’re no good to me dead.” He sobered
.
“Anyone else have anything to say?”

Amber watched as one by one the sailors ste
pped forward to state their grievances towards their former first mate
.
Almost no one had anything kind to say about him, and Lyle’s grimace only became more pronounced as he listened to them.
Amber’s attention was torn between watching him, listening to the sailors, and observing Logan from the corner of her eye
.
From what she’d seen he appeared to be a natural leader, a mix between compassion and severity
,
ensuring
that
his ship ran smoothly and without complications
.
His men seemed to respect him and honor him, all while silently fearing him
.

So intent was she in studying him she didn’t notice he was speak
ing
to her until Eli nudged her in the side
.
Her head shot up and she blushed
.
“I’m sorry
.
Did you say something?”

“I asked if
you would like to add anything to the men’s accounts.”

“I was only on the ship for a day, but I can tel
l you what I saw, if you think it would help.” Logan nodded, and Amber continued, careful to avoid meeting Lyle’s threatening gaze
.
“The second I stepped on deck I felt like he was watching me, and it made me uncomfortable
.
I had a feeling he didn’t want me there, and although I knew many of the men were hesitant to have me on board,” many of the sailors looked guilty at this point, “only he gave me the impression that he was angry about it.”

“You’re very observant
.
Anything else?”

She thought for a moment
.
“Oh, I remember he yelled at Matthew, said he was incompetent
.
I’m not sure what he did though.”

He nodded, and then looked into the group of men
.
“Is one of you Matthew?”

“No Captain, he died defending the
Charlotte
,
”
said one sailor.

“You ran him through with your cutlass,” another added, and then, rather embarrassed that he had spoken so quickly, dropped his head
.

Beside her, Eli snickered
.
Logan shot him an angry glare, and then turned back to the sailors
.
“I apologize again for the friends you may have lost earlier today
.
In my defense however, the man came at me with his own blade, and believe it or not, I prefer not to be skewered as I board a ship.” A few of the men laughed
.
“But back to the matter at hand
.
I believe if everyone has had a chance to speak, the accused may now say a few words in his own defense.”

Lyle took one step forward and spit at Logan’s feet, then muttered a few
incomprehensible
curse words as the men next to him roughly grabbed his arms and shoved him against the longboat
.

Logan lifted his foot and shook it, sending saliva flying from the top of his boot
.
“I believe that settles that
.
Now, you’ve heard the arguments of your fellow shipmates, listened to the observations of Lady Amber, and have witnessed his own
testimony
. You must now decide whether to give him another chance, or to maroon him. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, as this man’s life is in your hands and will l
ie
heavy on your conscience should you choose incorrectly
.
I will give you a few minutes to think it over, then I will call for a vote.”

As the men brooded
about
their choice, Logan approached Amber and Elijah
.
“What do you think so far?” he asked, reaching over to pull off Eli’s cravat and wipe his boot
.
Seeing his friend’s incredulous expression, he shoved the piece of soggy silk back into his hand with a shrug
.
“You’re on a ship, Eli, why the hell do you need a cravat anyway?”

Amber hid a
smile
.
“I’m impressed, actually
.
About the trial, not Eli
jah
’s fashion sense, though it is impeccable if I may say so.”

The quartermaster made a show of
brushing
an invisible piece of lint from his striped waistcoat
.
“Thank you, my dea
r, not all of us find pleasure in looking like mongrel
s
.
”

Logan
cleared his throat
.
“I could think of nothing I would enjoy more than to listen to you two compliment each other on your clothes, none of which,” he added as he eyed Amber’s gown, “are appropriate for a pirate ship, as flattering as they may be
.
Unfortunately, I have to get back to business.” He stormed away.

“Why is he so angry?” A
mber whispered to Eli, watching as Logan shared a few words with the men who were
restraining
Lyle.

“I believe that is jealousy,” he replied, and Amber balked
.

“Why on earth would he be jealous?”

He
laughed
.
“Because you were flirting with me.” She was about to protest that it was none of Logan’s business with whom she flirted, but Logan took that moment to speak again.

“All those who believe Lyle was a fair leader and are in favor of allowing him to stay with us, albeit stripped of his command, say aye.” The only sound was the waves lapping against the side of the ship
.
“Those in favor of marooning him?”

There was a steady chorus of  “aye” from the sailors, and Amber noticed that Lyle showed, for the first time, an expression other than distaste or anger
.
He looked frightened
.

“So be it.” Logan said
.
“Lock him in the brig, where he’ll stay until we sail past an island.” The men beside Lyle seized his arms and dragged him towards the hatch
.
“Oh, and Creed?”