Read Online Across the Long Sea by Sarah Remy - Free Book Online

corsair we drug beneath the keel.” Sebastian cupped his chin. “Mayhap you’d like to see?”
    Liam was near quivering with excitement and curiosity. Mal saw the reluctant denial on his furrowing brow and spoke first.
    â€œGo up, lad,” he said. “It’s fine. I’ll wait here.”
    â€œBut, my lord!” Liam looked horrified. “I don’t know—­”
    Sebastian interrupted, putting fingers to lips and splitting the air with a piercing whistle to match Mal’s earlier attempt. Immediately a man popped head and shoulders over the deck rail.
    â€œOi?” the man shouted over the wind. “Whatzit?”
    â€œVisitor, Fiennes!” Sebastian called. “Come and show him up.”
    â€œMy lord!” Liam tried again, but Mal cut him off with a wave of his hand.
    â€œHold tight to the ropes,” he said, watching as Fiennes shimmied his way to the deck. “And don’t touch the cutlasses. I’ll be here when you’ve looked your fill.”
    â€œHere to see the cutlasses, are you, lad?” Fiennes had even fewer teeth than Sebastian. “Well, don’t stand about with your tongue hanging. Come on, then.”
    Liam gave in. He plucked the rose crown from his brow, set it on the planks, and jumped after Fiennes without further protest, scurrying up the rope ladder with an unnatural ease that might have made a more observant man pause. Sebastian only shook his head, pinched a fresh twist of tobacco from a pouch at his belt, and popped it between his lips.
    â€œWhat happened?”
    Mal arched his brows. “I became vocent, Sebastian. It’s been a while; I assumed you’d hear.”
    â€œMost powerful man in the kingdom,” his cousin quoted, less than impressed. “I wiped your tears the day word of Rowan’s loss made Selkirk, or have you forgotten? No.” He swiveled and spat. “I meant the lad. What happened to his face and hands? More of your magic?”
    â€œNo.”
    Sebastian waited a beat, then shrugged. “Come to pass on the title, have you? You’ll not be wanting it, I imagine.”
    â€œYou imagine correctly,” Mal said. “It was never mine to begin with.”
    â€œNay, it was Rowan’s.” Seb pursed his lips in thought. “Your mam still believes he’d have done well by it, but I’m not so sure.”
    â€œOh?” Gulls were diving the pier, shrieking. Mal caught a glimpse of black wings, and winced.
    â€œNay. Rowan never shed a tear in his life. Even as the tide dragged him down, he didn’t so much as squeak. Loved him like a brother, I did, but nothing ever roused him to passion, do you understand?”
    Mal frowned.
    â€œMusic,” he said after a moment of thought. “Dancing. Good drink. Pretty lasses.”
    â€œYou remember differently than the rest of us.” Sebastian rolled his shoulders. The hem of his faded tunic flapped in the rising winds. “No matter. It’s been a long time, h’ain’t it? Come aboard?” It was a challenge.
    â€œNay,” Mal replied. “The pirates don’t look friendly.”
    Sebastian stiffened. “Pirates?” His bare, cracked feet scratched on the planks as he turned to stare up at his ship. “We haven’t any pirates aboard.”
    â€œYou’ve plenty of them,” Mal said, mildly, showing his teeth. “Or did you think the rogues wouldn’t haunt the ship drowned them beneath her keel? Your afterdeck’s cluttered with vengeful spirits, cousin.”
    Sebastian’s wrinkled face slackened. “Nay, not truly?” He shuddered. “Don’t you go spreading rumors, now, Mal. No good seaman will willingly sail a ghost-­ridden ship. Word gets out she’s haunted, The Laughing Queen ’s dead in the water.
    Mal fixed his smile in place as Liam popped over the rails.
    â€œI’ve no patience for rumors,” he said,