Read Online Chaos Descending by Toby Neighbors - Free Book Online Page B

others were quick to follow. Then it only took a successful raid and the spoils that followed to convince them that serving Lady Roleena of Shupor was a much more appealing offer than crewing a trade ship.
    “Sail!” came a shout from the lookout on the crow’s nest at the top of the tall main mast.
    Roleena didn’t bother looking. She knew she wouldn’t be able to see the ship, at least not in any detail, and besides, she had crew members who would do that for her.
    “Hewy, go and see what we’ve found,” she called down to a man on the main deck.
    The sailor didn’t salute or even call back that he had heard her command. He simply hurried toward a wide section of taut rigging and started climbing. Hewy was a young sailor with exceptional eyesight. Unlike the previous captain, Roleena knew her crew and had a firm grasp of their strongest skills. She had procured a very good spyglass for Hewy and given it to him. He was the only crew member aside from Roleena’s officers to have a spyglass, and he carried it like a badge of honor. He was also agile and fast up the rigging, looking almost like a spider dancing across its web as he scampered up the ropes that held the sails in place.
    A few moments later the sailor was hurrying down again. Slice had appeared on the command deck. It was a trait Roleena admired. Her devious first officer always seemed to know when something was afoot. He had a knack for understanding the pulse of the ship, much like Roleena herself. And while she didn’t trust Slice, she did appreciate his eagerness when it came to piracy.
    “Trade vessel, my lady,” Hewy said, panting a little as he spoke. “She’s flying Yelsian colors.”
    “How many masts?” Roleena asked.
    “Two.”
    Most of the trade ships still plying the waters around Yelsia were smaller vessels. Since the war, there was very little trade from the other kingdoms. Rumors of ships from Ortis had been circulating, but there was no confirmation that Ortis had even survived the war. Falxis and Osla were lost, which wasn’t to say there weren’t treasures to be found in those kingdoms, but they weren't actively trading. And a ship from Ortis would have to sail around the entire continent just to reach Yelsia. They wouldn’t see those ships for a while, Roleena guessed, and probably not so far north.
    Their position was just south of Tragoon Bay, which was the central harbor of the kingdom. Ships could sail up the Sheamook river to deliver goods to Orrock, the capital of Yelsia, so while most trade between kingdoms had disappeared, there were still plenty of ships sailing along the northern coast. But there weren’t many galleons with several decks and massive cargo capacity, which would be difficult for her crew to subdue and almost impossible to man—if they managed to take one. The brig they were chasing was smaller than Crest Dancer , which was considered a barque since she had three masts instead of two. She was wider and slower than a clipper ship, but more suited to the rough sea conditions around the points near Winsome and Skattle Point.
    “Hoist the Yelsian flag,” Roleena ordered. “Make sure it's upside down this time, Hewy!”
    “Aye, Captain,” the young man shouted.
    Roleena turned to Slice, “Get everyone you can down below and shift the ballast. I want her listing to starboard.”
    “That will give the grappling hook you built more range,” Slice said.
    “And the crew an easier target. We'll only get one shot at her, and I don't want to destroy the rigging.”
    “You have plans for the ship?”
    “I always have plans,” Roleena said. “Now move!”
    Orders were being shouted around the ship. Sails were dropped in a haphazard fashion. Down in the ship's main hold, large wooden carts were being shifted. Roleena had used their time in port wisely. She had devised a system of ballast weights that could be shifted in the hold to make Crest Dancer lean to one side, as if the ship were in distress. It