The Storyteller: The Trial of the Pirate Lord

[annarti.livejournal.com]

Twenty-Eighth Birthday

Tu wouldn’t let them leave right away. She insisted on showing Sen around the islands properly. She would, after all, be ruling these islands in a year or so.

‘You’re not really going along with this, are you?’ Kaiji asked, desperate.

Sen shook her head. ‘Just let her keep believing and she’ll come, then we can get back onto Red Cacao, take Nak and Sula with us, and have our own life.’

Kaiji slid her arms around Sen’s waist. ‘We don’t have to take my parents with us, you know.’

And so for the next few days, then a few weeks, then a few months, they indulged Tu’s wishes. They met every resident, ate at every food house, drank at every bar, stayed a night at every inn and browsed every shop in Freetown. To everyone, Sen was introduced as Tu’s protégée, the one who would take over the ruling of the islands after she was gone. She always brushed away when that would be, though.

She showed them the seedier parts of the city, too. She took them through where the homeless lived, introduced them to the prisons and told of her plans to fix them all. When a deluge of rain hit, turning the streets to mud, she told them how the Kazinians countered this with slate or gravel or sheets of wood. She showed them her planned site for a real castle, on top of a low cliff overlooking the sea they could launch trebuchets from. She made sure they were around to see an attack from not one, but a fleet of four bounty hunters at once. Every ship in Freetown at the time sailed out to meet them, Orana included, but at least she didn’t force Sen to be a part of that.

‘This is brutal,’ Sula noted. They stood on the shore with dozens of locals, all hugging themselves and each other and hoping their friends and family would return. Sula looked around at them. ‘They’re not so different from the mainland, you know.’

‘Mama!’ Kaiji gasped. ‘These are the people who kidnapped you!’

Sula shrugged. ‘And they’re not so different from the rest of us,’ she maintained, then looked pointedly at Sen. ‘You may want to remember that when you find yourself their leader. They just want what the rest of us do: a safe, happy and profitable life.’

With the threat warded off, Tu showed them every island in the chain. She had them sail it in Red Cacao with half her own crew to show them how to navigate the waters. Around half the islands had a town or two of their own, each with its own ruler. In the time of the last pirate lord they had all squabbled amongst each other and never had anything to do with Freetown and its lord, but since Tu had taken control, they had mostly latched onto the idea of opening themselves up to the rest of the world. Even the pirates really only ever went to Freetown. Like every small town and village in mainland Tsayth, they just wanted custom.

‘You never built them any jetties,’ Sula accused, in a tone only she could.

Tu shrugged. ‘I was preoccupied,’ she replied, a little sour. ‘That was always the plan, though. Jetties and publicity and this place will thrive.’

‘You should draw Sen a map to that cave in the cliff on Tisadez,’ Sula suggested.

Tu cringed. ‘Not with the crew she has now,’ she said, looking apologetically at Sen. ‘I’ll draw it up, but promise me you won’t attempt it for at least ten, fifteen years. You’ll need a truly expert navigator. Don’t attempt it without the best around.’

Finally, when Tu was satisfied Sen had seen all the good and the bad of the Chain of Pearls, including three of the frequent dragon storms that gave the islands their strongest protection from the outside world, she announced she was ready to go back to Ryas.

Sen didn’t think she was. The reality of what she was about to do weighed so heavily that the six-month voyage back to Ryas seemed like no time at all. The Red Cacao’s crew was wary of her and her big first mate, but by evening on the first day Tu had them all charmed as Sen had known she would. Seeing how much they learned from such an experienced sailor and captain as Tu tore at her.

‘Stay,’ Sen begged on the eve of their arrival into Ryas. ‘Let this just be another story in the history of Captain Tu.’

But Tu shook her head. ‘Not anymore,’ she decided. ‘I’m not young anymore, and I have decades of reputation to go with that. It would be my reputation, not me, ruling the Chain of Pearls. It would always be the Pirate Isles. But with you, of legitimate birth and background, especially when you turn me in, maybe even the king and queen will allow it, as they would never do for me. This is my dream, Sen. It has been ever since I heard of the Pirate Isles. I have to die to make it happen, and you have to be the one to take me in. You’ll be respected by pirates and Tsaythis both.’

The next day, Sen felt hollow when she led Tu to the taxation office to collect her bounty. The pirate lord’s hands were tied with rope and she walked with her head down, playing the part with sullen, seething glances cast to any locals who came too close.

Sen couldn’t play her part half so well. She knew her eyes were red, and it was only Kaiji’s hand in hers that kept the tears from flowing again.

She fronted up to the tax office clerk with her back straight. The clerk all but ignored her in favour of her quarry. He stood with eyes as wide as his gaping mouth.

‘Captain Sen, daughter of Jin and Uti, captain of Red Cacao,’ Sen introduced herself. ‘I’ve brought Pir—’

‘Yes, yes, I can see,’ the clerk stammered, not taking his eyes from Tu. ‘How did you manage it?’

I bribed her with a lie. ‘That’s not for you to know. Just give me my bounty and take her. Captain Sen of Red Cacao,’ she repeated, a little louder so others might hear her name. Reputation and the rumours that went with it were everything.

‘Yes. Yes, absolutely. Wait here.’

Prison guards arrived first, five of them, big and burly so Tu wouldn’t try to escape. Sen’s heart tightened. She couldn’t watch as they grabbed Tu to take her away.

‘Wait, wait,’ Tu tried. ‘Before you take me, can I just ask what my bounty is now? How much am I worth?’

The clerk returned just then, two more guards behind him each carrying a small chest between them. ‘Five hundred and seventy gold pieces,’ he answered.

Tu whistled, impressed. ‘And Orana,’ she pointed out. ‘Happy birthday, kiddo. I wouldn’t see it under anyone else’s command.’

‘You won’t,’ the clerk reminded her. ‘Take her.’

Sen tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it only made her feel more sick. ‘Fuck,’ she whispered instead as Tu was led away.

‘I know,’ Kaiji whispered back, her own voice quavering.

The clerk cleared his throat. ‘Your bounty?’

Sen nodded, hardly caring, though that single bounty was enough to pay her crew for a decade or more. ‘Take it back to Red Cacao. Can I ask, when will the execution be?’

The clerk shrugged. ‘There’ll be a trial first, such as it is, then if there’s to be an execution the king and queen will announce it. The whole process usually takes a week or two.’

‘We don’t have to stay,’ Kaiji offered, rubbing the back of Sen’s hand with her palm.

‘We do,’ Sen answered. ‘I owe her that.’

The clerk was right, there wasn’t much of a trial. Tu had already been on trial for most of her crimes after she had been captured at the end of the pirate war. The only reason she hadn’t been executed then, she had said, was because she had convinced the king and queen of what she had already told Sen, that others were acting on her behalf without her knowledge. In light of her extensive career as a bounty hunter, they had sentenced her to a life in prison instead of death. Since her escape, though, she had openly declared her support of piracy. Nothing would save her now.

Within the week, the announcement was made in the castle plaza and quickly filtered through the city: Pirate Lord Tu would be executed by hanging that afternoon.

Public executions hadn’t been commonplace in Tsayth for decades, but for Tu they made an exception. She had ‘died’ twice that Sen knew of—when Horizons had wrecked in the sea dragon storm, and again at the end of the pirate war—and the people wouldn’t believe her death this time around unless they saw it with their own eyes.

The plaza quickly began to fill, crowding around the stone platform beside the castle walls. The wooden framework, bleached silver by salt and sun, held a brand new rope that hung over a trapdoor in the platform.

Sen stood at the front with Kaiji by her side, Sula and Nak behind her. Kes hid back on Red Cacao. She wasn’t quite so altruistic as Tu, and had tried everything to break Tu’s resolve on the voyage, but Tu wouldn’t be swayed.

By late afternoon, the plaza seemed filled beyond capacity. Even the buildings around were crawling with people hoping to catch a glimpse, to say they were there when the pirate lord fell. The general murmur that had been present throughout the day began to build and swell to a crescendo, until all Ryas’ residents and any sailors in port were baying for Tu’s blood.

Sen found herself twisted in knots. She wanted this to all be over, wanted to leave the plaza and its bloodthirsty citizens behind. But when it was over, Tu would be dead. She wanted her friend to have as much time as possible, but this was the wrong sort of time. She should be out on the ocean, should be swinging from ropes or telling another flamboyant story. Tu was invincible. She had cheated death countless times. Surely this time, too, something would happen to save her.

A door to the castle opened behind the stage that was the hangman’s noose. From it emerged the king and queen of Tsayth, regal and calm. They were both dressed in the same roughspun clothing as the rest of their people, but wore a circle of steel around their temples to designate their higher status.

Behind them, ringed by four guards and led by a fifth, Tu looked focused, calm. Ready. Fear didn’t register until she saw the noose, then she sagged visibly. The two guards at her side caught her before she fell, but Tu’s eyes didn’t leave the noose. Sen wondered if Tu had even seen her in the crowd.

The king held his hands up to silence the crowd, and Sen only realised with its waning how loud it had grown. Behind him, Tu was led to stand over the trapdoor while her head was threaded through the noose. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, taking on the same air she had borne when Sen had confronted her a year ago in Freetown.

‘Before you stands the convicted,’ the king boomed in a voice trained for such a large occasion. ‘Captain Tu of the Orana and self-proclaimed lord of the Chain of Pearls.’

Tu gave a small nod and a smile to that. He hadn’t called them the Pirate Isles; that made their new name official. She opened her eyes, looking out at the crowd for the first time but not seeming daunted. She saw Sen now, and Sen could see the silent words on her lips, I’m sorry. She took another breath and opened her mouth to speak

‘The crimes I stand convicted of are as follows,’ she cried. ‘The kidnapping of Sula, daughter of Ki from the village of Jita. The kidnapping of Nak, also from the village of Ki.’

Sen’s heart was already in her mouth, remembering when she had asked after the Orana at the tax office two years ago. They had remembered that and even held that against Tu, now.

‘Proclaiming myself lord of the Chain of Pearls, a Tsaythi dominion. Advocating for piracy in association with the Chain of Pearls. Associating with pirates. Threatening the king and queen of Tsayth. Bribing the king and queen of Tsayth.’ She took another breath, shaky.

‘Silence!’ the king boomed over the rising vitriol of the crowd.

Tu nodded her thanks and raised her voice. ‘Commanding a fleet which, under my command, captured twenty-three law-abiding Tsaythi ships. Converting law-abiding Tsaythis to piracy. Participating in the pirate war and inciting its beginnings.’ Here she frowned and pursed her lips at the king. ‘Killing two Tsaythi envoys and slaughtering their crew,’ she said, bitterly. Only one of the envoys had died, and she hadn’t ordered that. ‘The murder of Captain Tsiri of the Tranquilo, and all its crew.’ She glared to one side, then back out over the crowd. ‘That’s the one that matters to you, lot, isn’t it?’

‘That’s enough,’ the king interrupted, in a voice meant only for her but still booming enough to carry to Sen in the front row. He cleared his throat and turned back to the crowd. ‘In Captain Tu’s defence,’ he cried, ‘is her work and deeds carried out on Shōbōsho as a monster hunter, making our oceans safer by taking down two megalodons, five giant squid and a kraken, before its demise under a leviathan. Subsequently, her work and deeds on the Ruby took down this leviathan and three others, two icthyos, eighteen megalodons, six giant squid and five kraken. As captain of the Horizons, she brought down a total of fifty-eight notorious pirate ships, their captains and crews, including the Lune, Malt and Juniper, Alma, Cardone and Mosley.’

An almost thoughtful rumble permeated the mob. When laid out like that, it seemed silly that she be called a pirate. Sen almost dared to allow herself hope, but no. The announcement had been death by hanging. Nothing could sway them now.

‘She has revealed the location of the former Pirate Isles to the rest of the world, including detailed charts on their navigation. She has removed the former lord of the Pirate Isles, and begun work to turn the islands to a legitimate trading port.’

Sen clasped Kaiji’s hand tightly between both of hers and held it to her chin, pleading that something might happen.

‘In light of these graces,’ the king cried into the crowd, ‘and in light of those crimes which she has admitted freely to you now, the crowns see fit to have Captain Tu executed by hanging. Is there any who would dispute this?’

The crowd roared.

Tu was looking straight at Sen with a slow, definite shake of her head.

The king stood back with his wife to look on their convicted pirate. The guard closest to Tu tied a blindfold around her eyes and stood back himself.

The king nodded. The trapdoor fell open.

Sen buried her face in Kaiji’s shoulder, but she could still hear that click, like cracking her wrists and all her knuckles at once.

Tu’s story was ended.

STUFF

o NOOOOOO TUUUUUU DD: I didn't realise when I wrote the outline how PAINFUL this would be to write.

o I was going to have Sen stand up on the blocks afterwards and try to convince the crowd that she was a good dude, but the thing's already 700 words overlength.

o Lune is a café in Brighton I've never been to, Malt and Juniper is an awesome whiskey and (more importantly) gin bar in the city which I imagine were booze runners in Kazin, the Alma is a pub in Norwood, idk what Cardone is but it's in Glenelg and I was running out of names, and the Mosley is a pub also in Glenelg.

o One chapter to go and it's only 6:30. HMMMMMM.