Victor Bloodstone, courtier to the Queen, nephew of Elizabeth’s chief counsel, would be running out from behind the island with all guns blazing.” He paused and tossed the considerable contents of the cup down his throat. “He ran, all right. Bearing due north and east the last glimpse we had of him, with every square inch of canvas warped into the wind. He ran and just left us there, one against six, knowing full well that this time
we
were the fresh, bleeding meat, and the Spaniards were the stalking wolves.”
Dante’s throat was beginning to roughen from the spirits, but the blazing blue eyes remained fixed and burning on the pewter cup. “My brave, brave
Virago”
he whispered.
“She took them. Sank four and sent the other two limp pricks off, dragging their sails behind them. There were sixty of us left at the end of the day … sixty out of one hundred and thirty men, fighting on decks that ran red with their own blood. When we returned to the island to lick our wounds, everything was gone. All of it: the gold, the silver, even the barrels of food and water. And what they could not load on board the
Talon
, they smashed and threw into the sea. The wounded,” Dante finished on a savage hiss of fury, “did not stand a chance.”
He fell silent and Pitt took up the remainder of the story. “We patched the
Virago
as best we could and rigged enough sail to catch the prevailing winds, not knowing whether or not the two zabras managed to limp into a nearby port to relay our identity and position. The ship was too badly damaged and the crew too weak to have held off another attack … which might explain, although not excuse, our extreme caution and lack of manners this morning when we saw you sliding out of the mist.”
Spence nodded pensively. He was dumbfounded, and more than a little outraged himself at the treachery perpetrated on the crew of the
Virago.
There were unwritten laws, codes of honor among seafarers as sacred and unbreakable as the laws of God. First among others was never to abandon a sister ship in distress, and De Tourville, though half French himself, had sailed the
Virago
under English colors with a mostly English crew. He was a privateer and an adventurer. To be sure, some even called him an opportunist and a pirate, but he was also a respected member of the elite group of sea hawks whose skill and daring on the high seas was the only thing standing in the way of Spain’s complete dominance of the oceans as well as the New World.
While publicly commiserating with the King of Spainover the losses suffered at the hands of the sea hawks, behind closed doors Elizabeth not only encouraged her privateers to plunder and raid the rich treasure ships that sailed between Panama and Lisbon, she was the largest single investor in many of their planned expeditions. There had been rumors flooding England for over a year now that King Philip was at the end of his patience over Elizabeth’s feigned innocence. Her fledgling navy of merchant marauders was costing Spain staggering losses in shipping and prestige, and there were stories of an enormous fleet of galleons being amassed in Spanish harbors, a great armada of warships being built to carry an army of conquest across the English Channel.
It was no time to hear of open treachery and cowardice among the English ranks. Elizabeth would need all her best captains, her fastest and deadliest ships, to counter any threat Spain might present.
This was not to say all the sea hawks were friends. Most were bitter rivals who would no sooner reveal their plans and destinations to a fellow privateer than they would voluntarily report the full value of their plunder to the Crown. Even Jonas Spence had his secret compartments and false walls, though both were sadly empty at the moment. Nor was he above a little larceny or piracy if the acts were warranted. But to abandon a sister ship? Or to tuck his tail and run for safety while someone else fought to the death?
we
were the fresh, bleeding meat, and the Spaniards were the stalking wolves.”
Dante’s throat was beginning to roughen from the spirits, but the blazing blue eyes remained fixed and burning on the pewter cup. “My brave, brave
Virago”
he whispered.
“She took them. Sank four and sent the other two limp pricks off, dragging their sails behind them. There were sixty of us left at the end of the day … sixty out of one hundred and thirty men, fighting on decks that ran red with their own blood. When we returned to the island to lick our wounds, everything was gone. All of it: the gold, the silver, even the barrels of food and water. And what they could not load on board the
Talon
, they smashed and threw into the sea. The wounded,” Dante finished on a savage hiss of fury, “did not stand a chance.”
He fell silent and Pitt took up the remainder of the story. “We patched the
Virago
as best we could and rigged enough sail to catch the prevailing winds, not knowing whether or not the two zabras managed to limp into a nearby port to relay our identity and position. The ship was too badly damaged and the crew too weak to have held off another attack … which might explain, although not excuse, our extreme caution and lack of manners this morning when we saw you sliding out of the mist.”
Spence nodded pensively. He was dumbfounded, and more than a little outraged himself at the treachery perpetrated on the crew of the
Virago.
There were unwritten laws, codes of honor among seafarers as sacred and unbreakable as the laws of God. First among others was never to abandon a sister ship in distress, and De Tourville, though half French himself, had sailed the
Virago
under English colors with a mostly English crew. He was a privateer and an adventurer. To be sure, some even called him an opportunist and a pirate, but he was also a respected member of the elite group of sea hawks whose skill and daring on the high seas was the only thing standing in the way of Spain’s complete dominance of the oceans as well as the New World.
While publicly commiserating with the King of Spainover the losses suffered at the hands of the sea hawks, behind closed doors Elizabeth not only encouraged her privateers to plunder and raid the rich treasure ships that sailed between Panama and Lisbon, she was the largest single investor in many of their planned expeditions. There had been rumors flooding England for over a year now that King Philip was at the end of his patience over Elizabeth’s feigned innocence. Her fledgling navy of merchant marauders was costing Spain staggering losses in shipping and prestige, and there were stories of an enormous fleet of galleons being amassed in Spanish harbors, a great armada of warships being built to carry an army of conquest across the English Channel.
It was no time to hear of open treachery and cowardice among the English ranks. Elizabeth would need all her best captains, her fastest and deadliest ships, to counter any threat Spain might present.
This was not to say all the sea hawks were friends. Most were bitter rivals who would no sooner reveal their plans and destinations to a fellow privateer than they would voluntarily report the full value of their plunder to the Crown. Even Jonas Spence had his secret compartments and false walls, though both were sadly empty at the moment. Nor was he above a little larceny or piracy if the acts were warranted. But to abandon a sister ship? Or to tuck his tail and run for safety while someone else fought to the death?
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