The Traitress of Nessanti
Bromm IV
Emerald jungle met sapphire sea upon beaches of gold. Between two long, thin arms of jungle lay a shallow bay. Its waters were often plied by small fishing boats and sometimes the sleek, black, galleys of the Amazons. On this day, however, the boats had fled from the approach of a squadron of pirates. At the head of the squadron was the polacca
Quickblade¸
a fast warship of twenty-four guns. Her captain stood at the helm, but at her prow was a young sailor, recently turned pirate. He was tall and broad-chested, with a wiry black beard growing about his chin. He crowded into the forecastle with four companions, looking out into the open bay.
"Captain wants to go ashore right away," Imre, a lanky sailor in a red headscarf, said. He held the group's spyglass to his eye and scanned the shoreline, perhaps a mile off. "They've seen us for sure."
"They'll be raising the alarm," Tahavi said. The short, olive-skinned man kept a hand on the pistol thrust through his checkered green waistband. He pointed to a bare hilltop beyond the shoreline. "Five coppers says they've got a signal fire up there. Once they've lit it, every galley within twenty miles will be coming down on us."
"We can take them," Bromm replied confidently. His hand went to his own weapon, an ivory-hilted saber with two rubies in the hilt. "We've got three warships, sixty cannons, and four hundred men."
"Plus the captain," Imre added. They all looked to the helm, where Captain Gonnsar stood. He cut quite the figure, standing bare-chested and wearing only bright green silk trousers, a bandolier, and a pair of elephant-skin boots. His face was famously ugly, with a lumpy bald head and a craggy brow overhanging his beady eyes. He was barrel-chested, nearly six and a half feet tall, and broad-shouldered, with a reputation to strike fear in any ship or town from one shore of the Sea to the other.
"I expected more out of him, to tell the truth," the fourth member of their group said. Sahat was the oldest of them. Nearing thirty, he wore a shirt of white cotton underneath a black vest and kept his shaven head shaded under a broad-brimmed black hat. In expectation of imminent action, Sahat carried his two daggers and a long curved shamshir, along with a pistol he had taken from the armory. He adjusted his hat as he lowered his voice. "Ever since Buccaneer's Bay, these men have been telling me that he's the most fearsome pirate on the seas today. But now we're just sailing into the bay. No tricks, no scouts, nothing."
"We've got enough cannons, we don't need scouts," Tahavi said, puffing up his chest.
"It's that woman of his," Imre opined, "her hatred has got the better of him."
"She must have inside knowledge of this place," Bromm suggested. "If she knows where the vulnerable targets are, we wouldn't need to waste time scouting."
"She's been away how long?" Sahat inquired, "Two years? Three? Who knows how much has changed since then?" He shook his head. "I don't like it."
"It should be easy," Bromm cheered. "We'll go in, loot the town and be out again before they can gather enough ships to stop us. In no time at all, we'll be back in Buccaneer's Bay, drinking the house wines!"
"Guldrin says it's on to Sostrum after this," Imre interjected, "He says the captain says the rich men of the Empire want Amazon slaves."
"Sostrum is a long sail," Bromm groused.
"It's as I said," Imre replied, "That woman wants to see Sostrum, so the Captain says we go to Sostrum."
"That woman's revenge is going to get us all killed," Sahat grumbled.
The woman in question emerged from the captain's cabin. She was tall and powerfully muscled, her long black hair done up in braids that knotted behind her head. She wore a cuirass of bronze, sculpted like a woman's bare chest, over a tunic and soldier's cingulum. Tall black boots climbed her legs to the knees, while a silvered steel sword hung from her belt. She climbed the steps to the helm and stood at Gonnsar's side. They exchanged words, with her pointing to the shoreline and he consulting a notebook.
Gonnsar nodded and closed the book. He summoned his first mate, Uldrong, and the grumpy dwarf went stomping up to them at the helm.
"Hey, lads," said the young sailor Pyet, swinging down from the ratlines to join Bromm and the others, "When are we going ashore?" He smiled eagerly as he set foot on the deck again, settling his faded blue vest around his shoulders.
"Shouldn't be long," Tahavi replied. "Captain and the Amazon are making plans." He gestured to the helm.
"Sahat's grumbling again," Imre said, and Pyet laughed.
"Sahat is always grumbling. Cheer up, old man. We'll be ashore soon and swimming in Amazonian rubies."
"What can you see from the crow's nest?" Bromm asked.
"The whole bay. There's a narrow inlet on the far side, that must be where the town is because I don't see it anywhere else. There's plenty of little villages along the shore, though."
"Can you see the ruby mines?" Tahavi asked eagerly. Pyet shrugged.
"They must be in the hills. That's where mines usually are. But I can't see anything that looks like a mine. The fields are cut through the jungle here and there, but I can't tell what they grow."
"Cassava, cotton, and coffee," Sahat replied. "That's what our crew would buy whenever I came here as a sailor."
"I didn't come here for the crops," Bromm said, "I want to know where they keep their rubies."
"Guldrin says Tissarna says the town will have plenty in the matriarch's vaults," said Imre. "We'll blast our way into town and plunder the richest houses first."
"Amazons have cannons, too," Sahat objected.
"Tissarna has thought of that," Imre replied, "She knows their defenses. She'll find a way in for us."
"Looks like she has," Pyet said, indicating Tissarna and Gonnsar at the helm. They had stowed their charts and spyglasses, while Uldrong was leaning over the rail with a bullhorn in his hand.
"Listen up, sea rats!" Uldrong barked from the rail. "Gather round and shut your faces, the captain's got something to tell ya!" Bromm and his companions hurried to obey their first mate. The dwarf motioned to gather everyone in front of the helm, waving his arms as if he was scooping them altogether in a heap. When they were satisfactorily present and quiet, he turned to Gonnsar.
"All yours, captain," said the dwarf.
"Alright," Gonnsar replied as he stepped forward to lean on the rail. "We're coming up on the town of Nessanti, and we're not going to be stopping for a view. We're going in hard and fast, before they can muster a defense."
His Amazonian lover stepped up beside him, a heavy, forward curving sword in her hand. Bromm noticed that her cuirass was even decorated with nipples and a navel. She pointed her sword at the hilltop that Tahavi had been observing earlier.
"Their smoke signal is late," she declared in her foreign, liquid accent. "The warriors are still unaware of our approach."
"They are experienced at defeating raids," Gonnsar continued, "so they will respond quickly. We must be quick about this. Now, when we are in sight of the harbor, we will turn the squadron broadside and drop anchor to get our guns in position.
"
Quickblade
and
Furious
will bombard their bastion to keep them busy. Meanwhile, those not on the guns will load into the longboats and row to the base of the wall. Tissarna will lead them, for she knows where to land. Once she is ashore, the ships will cease firing and the landing party will scale the walls with ropes and grapnels. This will be close work, so bring any armor and pistols that you can. These Amazons are bold warriors, so the fight will not be easy. But you are pirates, the most fearsome on the seas! Put your war faces on and cry havoc like you are Tarnilaen Himself! They will not withstand our assault for long.
"Once we've taken the bastion, turn their guns on anyone in town who still holds out. Tissarna will lead a group to assault the town square. In the event of an attack, they will muster the militia at the square, so it must be taken quickly. Once it is, they will have nowhere to rally, and the town will be ours."
"And then the looting can begin," Tissarna said, and the crew broke into cheers.
"Quick, brave, and bloody," Gonnsar reminded them. "Everyone stick together, stay to the plan, and we'll be at sea again before nightfall, richer and fatter and drunker than when we left port."
"Go and make ready," Tissarna told them, and the crew began to disperse. Uldrong turned to the stern of the ship and, leaning over the aft rail, began shouting commands through the bullhorn at the ships behind them, relaying the plan Gonnsar had just outlined to his own crew.
Trailing a hundred yards behind them was the brig
Furious
, commanded by Gonnsar's lieutenant Japhet. She was an old vessel of eighteen guns, but still quick on the helm. Behind her was the sloop
Silly Lad¸
captained by the pirate Yagin. Yagin was a freesailing captain who had signed on with Gonnsar in Buccaneer's Bay. He and his crew had signed out for plunder alone and cared nothing for the success of survival of Gonnsar's crew if it did not impact their own fortunes. For this reason, Gonnsar left them out of most of his planning.
Finally, the rear of the squadron was brought up by the lumbering fluyt
Scarlet Sturgeon
. Captained by Gonnsar's lieutenant Lyekk, it had been bought in Buccaneer's Bay to hold their plundered cargo. In particular, Gonnsar had had it fitted to transport the slaves he expected to take in his raids.
Bromm and his companions armed themselves from the armory. Bromm took a pistol and a matchlock musket, while Tahavi fitted himself with a second pistol and an iron cuirass. Imre and Pyet each took a boarding axe and a matchlock musket. Once armed, they went up on deck as
Quickblade
drew into sight of the town of Nessanti.
A five-sided stone bastion jutted out into the harbor, blocking their direct approach to the piers with the threat of cannonfire. Its walls were sloped to deflect shot, but the stonework was rough and Bromm spied several footholds that would make climbing easier. Through Tahavi's spyglass, Bromm could see the garrison scrambling to the parapet. The black tips of cannons protruded from the stonework.
