In which drustina departs secretly from Carthage after pretending to be dead to avoid the Bishop hunting her down. She goes East to Egypt seeking wisdom up the Nile but meets again with Bishop Alviar.

The Angry Mermaid. 25

Or.

Y Morforwyn Dicllon. 25.

Mabina. The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin the twins grandfather.
Giana The twins grandmother
Caderyn The twins father.
Herenoie The twins wise and beautiful mother.
Morgaran The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe The twins oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara The twins second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun. Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin. Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina Child of a Demetae fisherman, (rescued by Aiofe, Drustan and Mabina.)
Penderol Dumnonii Minor chief.
Udris Young Dumnonii warrior.
Dryslwyn High chief of the whole Celtic nation. Dwells in Brithony.
Bronlwyn Dryslwyn’s wife (and queen.)
Magab The moor who taught numbers.
Eric Saxon galley slave rescued from Corsair pirates.
Carl Another Saxon galley slave rescued by Drustan.
Torvel Celtic galley slave rescued from the same captured corsair ship
Arton. Turdetani Chieftain Holder of Gibral Rock.
Carinia Arton’s wife.
Isobel. Arton’s adopted daughter.
Appotel King of the Turdetani Tribe. (Southern Iberia.)
Bramana Queen. (Wife of Appotel)
Pilus King of the Capetani.
Shaleen Pilus’s queen and sister to Bramana.
Pedoro Lord Marshal of the Southern border region.
Lady Shulaar Lord Pedoro’s wife.
Taan. The scullery maid.
Isaar. Pedoro’s oldest son.
Ferdie Pedoro’s 2nd son
Sular Pedoro’s 3rd son
Gontala Pedoro’s youngest son.
Shenoa Pedoro’s only daughter.
Portega. Tyrant King to the west.
Portua. Portega’s grandson.
Jubail. Old Fisherman.
Mutas Magab’s younger brother and usurper.
Walezia King of Malta.
Alviar Megalomaniacal bishop of Carthage. (Hates Drustina.)
Ethelia Female healer who treats Drustina during her pregnancy.
Seripatese Drustina’s faithful horse.

-000-

“WHAT! Dead!”

“I must presume so Your Majesty.”

“She jumped ... down the well!”

“It was the only way she could go unless she wanted to be cut to pieces. She was fighting like a lioness but the Templars were all armoured in their plate and mail. Her sword had no effect and she was striking them hip and thigh. We were trying to reach her but we were too few at first. There was a shout; something about jumping down the well and the next second she did. That’s the last anybody saw of her. We called down. Two of the men actually went down on ropes but the well is a sort of siphon trap at the bottom. Water wells up from a stream below the top of the water then it siphons away. The men could find no trace of her and they even swam in the water. There is a dangerous trap down there. Men can get sucked away and nobody knows where they end up.”

“So, no trace of her body then?”

“None that they could find Ma'am.”

Queen Aiofe let out a scream that brought her husband Magab and dozens of servants running.

“What’s wrong my dearest?” Magab begged.

“My brother! My sister! She’s dead!” Aiofe cried loudly.

Magab turned in shock to Torvel.

“Is this true?”

“We are pretty sure my lord. Whatever has happened we cannot reach her, she disappeared down the well.”

“How did this happen?”

Torvel described events chapter and verse as Magab fumed and raged. After Torvel’s account was finished, Magab sent for the Bishop. After questioning him, King Magab finally lost patience. In his kingdom, the realm where he had sworn to uphold peace, this butcher, the very man who was supposed to teach peace and love, as Magab read the book, was actually organising death and murder. He charged the Bishop, who immediately protested, with murder .

“My men did not kill her. She committed suicide and jumped. That’s a mortal sin!”

“She was driven to it Alviar and it was your men who did the driving. I might as well tell you now: I have already sent a missive to the Bishop of Rome requesting your removal. Until I receive a reply, I am imprisoning you. Then you can do no more damage.”

The Bishop cursed loudly but a simple nod from King Magab brought the guards and Alviar was dragged away kicking and screaming.
The whole of Carthage went into mourning when they heard of Drustina’s disappearance but none mourned more than Aiofe and Arina. Naturally Aiofe adopted her sister’s babies but it was small compensation for the loss of her beloved sister. Hardly a moment went by but Aiofe recalled some other incident, some event that brought more tearful memories and left her choking with despair. King Magab became worried.

Then, a couple of weeks after the terrible event, the reply to Magab’s letter arrived. The Bishop Alviar was to be removed forthwith and returned to Cypru. Magab read the letter with mixed feelings. If the damned Bishop of Rome had been quicker to respond, this whole blasted sorry business would have been avoided. The very morning that the new replacement bishop arrived from Rome, Alviar was forcibly placed aboard another unarmed merchant ship and despatched immediately to Cypru. It would not be a comfortable passage for the Bishop because the ship was a slow lumbering trader stopping off at Malta and Kriti.

The Bishop demanded to know why he was not being accorded an armed warship as befitted his station but Magab just cursed him and sent him bundling down to the harbour in chains.

As he watched the merchant ship with its confounded cargo slide clumsily away from the quay, Torvel could almost hear the collective sigh of relief emanate from the whole country.

That same afternoon, Torvel and Arina declared to King Magab that they wished to sail for Malta. Both of them declared to Magab that they were in despair at the loss of their erstwhile companion, and seeing the babies every day served only to remind them of their cruel loss. Passing the well every day also compounded the hurt. Torvel declared that he was agreeable to Aiofe rearing his babies and a sombre mood settled over the Palace.

That evening Torvel and Arina took The Angry Mermaid out of Carthage harbour and seemingly east to Valletta, whereas they headed for a secret rendezvous along the coast where a girl on a faithful little horse met them in a quiet secret cove. Carapha and Argentis had succeeded in smuggling Drustina to the coastal rendezvous. It was a struggle to get the brave little horse aboard the Mermaid but with the help of Carapha and Argentis they finally succeeded. Carapha and his sister bade them sad farewells and the Mermaid set sail eastwards into the darkening evening sky. Bitter tears filled Drustina’s motherly eyes as she mourned the loss of her children. A hard empty lump set in her heart and her breasts ached as they slowly dried up of milk. There could be no worse nor hurtful sign of her loss than the drying up of her breasts, the return to barren sterility. Drustina mourned long and hard for her children, there could be no greater loss!

Once clear of the rocky bay and as dawn broke, they set the sails in an unusual rig to disguise the Mermaid’s identity then set the course eastwards. The faithful craft sprang to life as the three steadfast friends remained wrapped in a desperate embrace of relief and sadness ... sadness that her babies could not be with their mother.

Dawn burst upon them to illuminate a fat lumbering merchant ship ploughing her leisurely course and Torvel recognised her immediately.

“That’s the ship carrying Alviar,” he growled angrily, anticipating some revenge. To his surprise, Drustina shrugged then smiled knowingly.

“Let him arrive in Malta then depart there. When the ship sails again we can avenge my abuse at sea between Malta and Kriti. Then Walezia can say honestly that the ship left Malta safely and it must have succumbed to storms or Pirates on passage between Malta and Kriti.”

“So you intend to punish him then?” Arina wondered.

Drustina gave her companion a look of disbelief then explained: “He’s cost me my babies Arina. Just you wait and see how that feels if you ever have children! He deserves something worse than a simple return to his homeland.”

“Will you kill him?” Torvel asked. “He’s caused a few to be burned at the stake while he was in Carthage and he condoned Mutas’s excesses.”

Drustina frowned thoughtfully.

“I don’t know what to do yet. What do you think?”

Torvel had no answer but, after some hesitation, Arina ventured an idea.

“I think I might have a solution,” she spoke nervously and softly.

Drustina and Torvel turned to her. Arina rarely spoke out of turn and she had never volunteered ideas much, unless called upon for her opinion or a vote.

“Go on,” Drustina and Torvel chorused in unison.

“Well, I was forced to go and watch one of those ghastly burnings. I suspect I was supposed to report back to you to relate the horror and frighten you into conversion to his faith. Some poor woman had been accused of being a witch. There was no proper trial and it was the last one before Magab put a stop to the whole ghastly business. Alviar was actually enjoying the woman’s horror and terror. I watched him ... you know ... playing with himself. I was forced to stand close to him, behind the pulpit he had erected to preach his evil ‘hellfire and damnation’ sermon before the pyre was lit. Why don’t you just geld him, then he’ll get no joy out of his murders.”

As Arina finished relating the story she cursed angrily and curled up in pain. Only then did Drustina get the first inkling of Arina’s previous moodiness over the last day. Even Torvel seemed to grasp the portent.
Drustina and Torvel looked at each other. Their companion Arina was growing up. If Arina understood about masturbation then carnal knowledge had obviously come to her in the years since leaving Iberia.

Drustina studied Arina through older eyes. The girl was now thirteen and well formed. Her growing into a young woman had come to her almost secretly and unnoticed by her older companion. Drustina caught Torvel’s eye and nodded significantly towards the tiller. Torvel ‘got the message’ and stepped aft as Drustina patted the spare sails to offer Arina a seat.
Once seated she spoke gently to the young woman: “We need a chat, girl.”

Arina sensed the import of Drustina’s words and settled more comfortably as she squeezed eagerly beside her. Drustina spoke softly.

“Has Damara visited you yet?”

“I ... I think so.”

“What d’you mean; you think so? It’s pretty hard to miss; cramps in your belly, blood in your female parts, bad moods, and sore breasts!”

Arina turned to look tearfully at Drustina and nodded uncomprehendingly.

“Yes. Yes, I’ve had all that. Is that Damara’s visit?”

“Yes! Yes of course it is. Have you spoken to nobody? Have you not spoken to Aiofe?”

“The first time it came, she and I were preoccupied with your death. It didn’t seem the right time. It was also my first time, I didn’t understand.”

Drustina sighed and hugged Arina.

“Oh my poor sweet little girl! My poor, poor girl. Aiofe and I have been very remiss, very selfish. What have I missed? What in all the name of Damara and womanhood, have I missed?”

Arina squeezed into Drustina’s embrace and sighed apologetically.

“You were gone and Queen Aiofe had been so busy. I didn’t want to bother anybody. I didn’t want to become a burden.”

A lump jammed in Drustina’s throat. Poor Arina had endured the whole interlude of menarche with no support, no information, no comfort ... no motherly love.

Drustina continued hugging the girl while Torvel looked away. Then Drustina took some cloth and medications from her travelling bag and assisted Arina in her first proper addressing of her condition. Arina filled up with grateful tears as the herbal medicine brought immediate relief to her cramps.

“Where did you get this infusion?”

“The healer gave it to me before I ‘died’. More importantly she showed me how to make it. I think she sensed I was either about to die or live a life of continual wanderings. She is a good woman.”

Arina nodded and smiled as her pains subsided and Drustina explained how to dress herself to absorb the blood. Once Arina felt comfortable she smiled shyly and Drustina took her to join Torvel and share some food at the tiller. Drustina warned Torvel.
“Arina is no longer a girl, Torvel; I give you the woman, the lady Arina.”

Torvel bowed without comedy and then extended his arms.

“So young lady, you join us at last as an adult. Welcome to responsibilities and worries but welcome also to equality and respect.”

“I’ve always had those.” Arina replied. “Drustina and Aiofe and Mabina always accorded me those.”

“Well yes; you have indeed but now you bring that extra dimension my lady, you come amongst us as an adult. Normally, in my tribe this was an important occasion for every young lady. She received gifts from family and friends in the tribe, but sadly I have little to offer you here aboard this faithful craft.”

“Save friendship, companionship and love.” Arina smiled.

Drustina’s eyes teared up and she gave Arina a squeeze around the shoulders as they stared out pensively over the waves searching for the familiar outline of Gozo and Malta.

As both girls peered ahead Torvel gave a surprised cry: “It’s there on the port beam! To the north, it’s Gozo.”

Drustina turned with surprise. Normally her navigation was a bit more accurate than that. She frowned: “We must have made more speed than we thought.”

“Obviously,” Torvel replied, “good job we didn’t arrive at night. That’s definitely Gozo.”

Drustina agreed and then remarked thoughtfully: “Do we have to go to Valletta? Why don’t we call in Gozo?”

“I thought you wanted to see King Walezia.”

“Not particularly,” Drustina mused, “I’ll get the same hassle from the priests there as I did from that arsehole Alviar. Especially when Alviar gets amongst them; he’s a mad-man!”

Torvel raised an eyebrow and Drustina nodded.

“We may as well make Gozo then. Seripatese can smell the land. She’ll start to fret soon.”

Torvel leant hard on the tiller and The Angry Mermaid swung sharply round as she heeled over. Seripatese gave a nervous whinny and Drustina held her head as Arina reset the sails. Soon The Angry Mermaid was slipping between the harbour moles and Seripatese stared expectantly at the land. The little mare was not disappointed and as soon as Torvel had docked the ship, Drustina led the mare ashore. Arina found some fodder for the mare while Drustina spoke to the harbour authorities and Torvel guarded the ship, mainly by sleeping on the dropped mainsail. While Arina exercised Seripatese, Drustina organised fresh victuals. The next morning they were gone again and speeding eastwards past Valletta bound for Kriti.

As their ship passed south of Malta, Drustina observed: "King Walezia will be annoyed when he learns we stopped at Gozo and snubbed him in Valletta.”

Torvel hazarded a guess: “I can’t think of anything we needed in Valletta that we didn’t get cheaper and quicker in Gozo.”

Drustina countered: “And we left messages with the Harbour Master. They’ll be winging their way to the King as we speak. Besides I can’t face any more censorious, bigoted priests right now even though Walezia has them in check. They’ve already been cause for the loss of my babies.”

“So where are we bound?” Torvel asked.

“I can’t think. Somewhere that church’s writ does not run. I’m told the Copts of Egypt are a much more tolerant branch. They claim to be the earliest of this weird ‘three god’ thing. The earliest missionaries travelled up the great River. Magab told me all about it. His grandmother was a Nubian, that’s why he was so dark skinned.”

“It’s a long haul to Egypt,” Arina added. “Which way d’you intend to go?”

Drustina took out a chart that none of them had much studied. It covered a large section of open sea from Malta to the Island of Kriti. The three of them pored over the chart and concluded that a passage direct to the westernmost tip would best suit.

“It’s a long haul,” Torvel mused.

“We’ve done longer ... much longer.” Arina declared proudly. “The passage from Brithony to Gibral was over seven days and we never saw land either.”

Torvel looked at her then to Drustina: “Is that true?”

Drustina nodded and added: “Yes but we didn’t have a horse with us. We had to stand off into the great ocean. We had no idea how far north the Barbary Corsairs were raiding that year. It was Mabina’s navigation that brought us safely to port.”

“Yes.” Torvel nodded thoughtfully. “I remember her seamanship when we rendezvoused off Cadeez before the battle with Ibn Bin Saar. She had a flair for navigation and figures.”

Drustina was about to object to Torvel’s remark for she considered her figures at least to be every bit as good as her twin sister’s but she let Torvel’s remark pass. It was immaterial anyway. She was unlikely ever to meet her twin sister again. A sad melancholy overtook her and she fell to hugging Seripatese’s neck whilst staring pensively towards the west as the Mermaid raced east. Arina brought her back to reality.

“So what’s it to be Dru’? South east and then follow the northern coast of the Libeye or due east to Kriti?”
Drustina returned to the chart and consulted the notes inscribed on the parchments.

“It talks of Maistros winds in the Ionian sea and then stronger Meltemi winds in the Aegean. The Sirocco blows up from the south in winter so being as it’s summer now there’s a fair chance we’ll run into the first two winds.”

“So we pass south of Kriti then sail south east to Egypt,” Torvel surmised. “Will we be stopping by in Kriti to replenish?”

“I think we’ll have to. Seripatese eats hay like a machine and we can’t carry that much. Have you ever been to Kriti?” Drustina asked him.

“Only once when we crossed the Aegean sea and that Meltemi wind set us unexpectedly south. It was before I was captured by the corsairs.”

“How did you get this far east Torvel? I mean, you’re a Celt. You couldn’t have come across those great marshes Eric and Carl spoke of.”

“I crossed Gaul as a trader-venturer, then I joined a ship on the great Rhonus River and we traded quite extensively until we were caught by the corsairs. I’ve got a lot to thank you for darling, another few months in that Galley and I would have died along with Eric and Carl. All the sweeps-men died eventually.”

Torvel pulled Drustina close to him, hugged her tight and gave her a passionate kiss. Drustina almost melted in his arms and her heart thumped with passion for long moments before she recovered her wits.

“What was that for lover?” she asked, stepping back and grinning as she struggled to recover her breath.

“Just to say thank you again ... and because it’s nice.”

Drustina blushed and glanced self consciously at Arina who had an ear-splitting grin spread across her face. Drustina changed the subject to hide her embarrassment.

“So, I asked you, partner! Will we be able to re-victual there?”

“I should think so. We did before and I don’t know of any wars between Kriti and ... and wherever.” Torvel frowned as he gathered his thoughts then expressed them. “So who shall we say we are? Are we Maltese, Carthaginian or Iberian?”

“Or Celts,” Arina offered. “Kriti can’t possibly be at war with Britannia can they?”
Drustina sucked her cheek in thoughtfully.

“They wouldn’t know who I am if we say we’re Celts, recently passed through the newly opened straits of Gibral.”
“Seems like a good strategy,” Torvel agreed. “We could say we are exploring possible trade routes. After all we are heading for Egypt.”

A consensus was reached and they decided to head for the westernmost tip of Kriti before deciding when and where to turn south east for Egypt and the fabled River Nile. Once the course was agreed, Arina took the first watch while Torvel and Drustina spooned together under the newly fashioned little cuddy that also served as a wave-breaker up forward. Two days later, with the Maistros wind blowing due south out of the Ionian Sea, The Angry Mermaid made excellent speed as a broad reach pushed her along. It was easy pleasant sailing to Kastellt, a port Torvel had last seen as a free man before setting off back to the west and falling foul of the corsairs. As the Mermaid sailed sedately around Cape Vouxa to avoid attracting attention and then south into the shelter of the Kassamou bay, Torvel felt a shudder as he remembered the events that had followed his last passing of that cape. This time however, he was heading for safety and a friendly country. In the middle of the afternoon Torvel brought the ship alongside and several pairs of curious eyes fell to studying the strange ship as the fair skinned foreign crew made her fast. Then a smallish horse stepped obediently ashore to be exercised. An official came down from the town and Torvel made pretence of being the captain as he completed the formalities of landing.

The officials asked what news he had but he declared that they had come straight from Cartagena in Iberia and they had little news to dispense. They slept aboard overnight to deter thieves from stealing from the ship then in the morning they used old Roman coinage to pay for the new victuals. The coins were gold and therefore still viable currency in any country. By noon, the Mermaid was revictualled and they were on their way again. Early afternoon found them approaching Cape Krios before deciding whether to go east under the shelter of Kriti or to steer straight for the River Nile. As they were approaching the cape, they spotted another sail appear from around the cape, beating northwards into the increasing northerly Meltemi wind. Drustina watched the ship yawing and pitching awkwardly as she tacked clumsily in the increasingly heavy seaway.

“She’s giving herself a beating isn’t she?” Drustina observed casually. “You’d think she’d wait for the wind to change. She’s not built for close hauled work with that rig.”

Drustina turned to attend to her own ship as the wind increased around the headland when Torvel turned and remarked.

“She’s got company; look there’s two more ships a mile or so astern of her.”

Three ships together could easily pose a threat and everybody on The Mermaid knew it. Six eyes turned to watch the flotilla as the Mermaid altered to starboard and sped south to pass west of them. Drustina felt that despite her speed, it was safer for the Mermaid not to get trapped between three ships and the rocky shore.

As they watched Arina spoke softly: “I don’t think those two smaller ships are friendly to the bigger one. Look how they’re closing in ... and are those archers with bows drawn, I can see on the nearest carrack?”
They watched with increasing curiosity until Torvel spoke suddenly.

“Shit! Isn’t that the ship that sailed from Carthage with the bloody Bishop? I thought he was staying in Malta for a while.”
Drustan and Arina stared a bit longer before concluding Torvel might be right. The ship did look familiar. As they watched, they saw one of the smaller carracks cut in right under the stern of the merchant ship and fire a salvo of arrows.

“That wasn’t friendly,” Torvel observed. “They look like pirates or men-of-war or something. Whatever they are, that was not friendly.”

“Well if that’s the Bishop Alviar aboard the merchantman then I say good riddance if they capture the ship. It’ll be a fitting end if they capture him and ransom him or better still kill him.”

Torvel’s eyes widened with censure.

“Tut, tut, Dru - strong words. D’you still hate him?”

“Fuck me Torvel, what do you think? He stole my children from me - well, he caused us to be separated and that’s the same thing!”

Torvel quickly realised just how hurt Drustina was by the loss of her babies and he extended his arms yet again as more tears started to flow. It seemed the once-boy warrior would never recover from the seeming theft of her twin babies. That loss was the worst possible harm a woman could endure, and she was now a woman. He squeezed her to him as Arina watched and tears also came to her eyes. Arina missed the babies as well. It was obviously a mother - baby - woman thing and as a man, a father even, Torvel would never be able to plumb those same emotional depths. He felt the sobs coming in deep heaving breaths as Drustina yet again relived the loss.

Arina gently inveigled herself between Drustina and the tiller as she nodded to Torvel to take Drustina and lay her down in the little forward cuddy. Torvel understood and soon Drustina was crying piteously as she lay on the small bed that they had made up from spare sails. After Torvel had comforted her, Drustina quickly fell into a light sleep. Torvel returned to the tiller to talk to Arina and study the three approaching ships. Even as they watched, the fat merchant-man hauled around and struggled to make easting to close with the Mermaid.

“What’s he doing?” Arina whispered so as not to disturb Drustina.

“It looks as though he’s trying to close with us. Look that was another salvo of arrows. Those carracks mean business. I think he’s looking for company and protection.”

“What shall we do?”

“Well we’d better wake Dru again.”

“Shit! She’s only just got to sleep.”

“It’s a danger situation. We’ll have to, besides there’s still only three of us. We’ll need all hands if those carracks try to close with us.”

Reluctantly, Torvel went forward and gently dragged Drustina to wakefulness. Drustina mumbled resentfully: “Leave me alone.”

“Sorry darling, we’ve got trouble out here and you’re still the captain.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s that damned merchant ship. She’s trying to close with us for protection.”

As Torvel finished speaking Arina called from the tiller.

“They’re trying to signal us.”

“Which one?” Torvel asked.

“The merchant ship. They’re waving to us.”

Drustina growled irritably and rose from her makeshift bed. She joined Arina at the tiller and stared hard at the shouting men.

“What do you think?” she asked the other two.

“It is Alviar’s ship,” Arina observed.

“Well let him rot then. It’ll do him good to know what being treated like a criminal is. I hope they capture him and torture him and burn him just like he did to those poor women.”

“He’s not the only person on the ship Dru,” Torvel warned. “There are other honest seamen like us. They don’t deserve to be captured.”

Arina nodded agreement and Drustina was outvoted. Reluctantly she brought the Mermaid about and closed rapidly with the harassed merchant ship. The pursuing carracks were determined not to lose their prize now it was almost in their grasp and they fired a salvo of arrows at the Mermaid to try and deter her interference.

Most arrows fell short but a couple strayed far enough to strike harmlessly against the Mermaid’s high bow.

“Cheeky bastards!” Drustina cursed as she went forward to dig out her battle bow.

Within seconds the carrack realised they had found an infinitely more formidable enemy as a long arrow slammed deep into an officer’s chest and took him overboard with its force. He had been standing high in the bow of the carrack urging his piratical cronies forward. His armour took him swiftly down and out of sight beneath the waves. A second arrow killed the man at the steering oar and the pirate ship swiftly turned tail. His partner ship immediately realised they had bitten off more than they could chew and took the same course of action. For good measure, Drustina loosed a few arrows over the merchantman and into the crew of the second ship. She didn’t think she had hit anybody but the force of the arrows convinced the second pirate ship that discretion was the better part of valour.

As the carracks turned and fled the mood aboard the merchant ship calmed and suddenly Drustina recognised the individual who had emerged from the cabin now the danger was passed.

It was the detestable Bishop Alviar!

The opportunity was just too good to miss and it would never present itself again. They were fighting two pirate ships and Drustina was still firing arrows at the second carrack.

‘Surely she could misfire occasionally’ she thought and the temptation was just too much. She called to Arina to turn to pursue the pirates and Arina responded immediately. The Mermaid heeled over and Drustina seemingly lost her footing just as she loosed her arrow. The deadly missile appeared to fly awry. The arrow sped low across the waves and ‘unfortunately’ whistled through into the men gathered on the merchantman’s deck. The Bishop slammed backwards like a pole-axed steer. The arrow had unfortunately slashed him straight across the throat before speeding on its flight and slamming into the mast.