Pirate Hunter Legends: The Pirate Hunter Chronicles, #5

By Sarah Rodecker and Helena George

A princess's coming-of-age party is ruined.

An assassin chooses to save a life.

A duath searches for the perfect cup of tea.

And more!

 

Join your favorite pirate hunter crew in these tales of longing, searching, and ultimately finding a place where they can call their own in this collection of short stories.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Order of the Pen Press L.L.C
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215571859

Book preview

The Pirate Hunter Chronicles

Ships, Secrets, and Survivors

Sins, Sons, and Siren Songs

Rumors, Reunions, and Revenge

Rogues, Royals, and Raiding Roc

Reading Order

While this collection is best enjoyed after reading the entire Pirate Hunter Chronicles, if you’d like to read it in conjunction to reading the rest of the series, this is the best order in which to read them in order to prevent spoilers!

Prior to book 1:

The Fall of Ravin

Sweet Sixteen

Fearless

A Good Man

Poison

Between 1 and 2:

Kindred

Mistakes

Distraction

Between 2 and 3:

A Siren Song

Echoes

Brotherly Love

The First Bit of Kindness

Tea Time

Between 3 and 4:

Escape

The High Storm

Coward

Just a Stupid Game

A Ship Does Not a Good Babysitter Make

Branded

After book 4:

By My Honor

The Weight of the Crown

More to Learn

Monster

Jay’s Letter

The Final Story

To all who are searching for a family

All of your own:

Welcome home.

Glossary

Adima Radi Kashinda del Mankayl (Adi): Princess of Antovan, captain of the High Dragon, wife of Ravin.

Alesson del Malkin: King of Arrothray two hundred years ago.

Alharden: Country outside of the Alliance.

Allidean: Coastal town in Belfarren.

Allirayn: Country outside of the Alliance.

Andolin: County in the Alliance of Kingdoms.

Antovan: Head of the Alliance of Kingdoms, and houses the yearly Scaera Dumeda for the testing of new Alliance Ambassadors.

Arrothray: Ravin’s homeland. Part of the Alliance of Kingdoms.

Arrow: An orphan with no family, last name, or papers. Sailor.

Artos del Mankayl: Young assassin.

Ash: Former thief, now an Alliance Ambassador

Bataraval del Mankayl: One-eyed assassin. Younger brother of Treynair, uncle to Ravin and Jaco.

Belfarren: Country in the Alliance of Kingdoms.

Belhallen: Coastal town in Hifen.

Bonnie Clearwater: A noble girl and Adi’s cousin. The Pirate Queen

Colline de Rochers: Island off of Antovan, where Ravin, Adi, and the Pirate Hunters live.

Colyn: Pirate captain, presumed mad. Frequently goes by the name Rev Martin (no relation).

Count and Countess of Mousnang: Antovanian nobles.

Covin del Mankayl: Assassin.

Elias: Adi’s mentor.

Farren: A healer with the Pirate Hunters.

Flannigan: Country in the Alliance of Kingdoms.

Garrenad del Mankayl: Assassin.

Genady: Coastal town in Antovan, where the royal family lives.

Gerrard del Mankayl: Ravin’s six-year-old son.

Halfa ‘sad: Coastal town in Allirayn.

Hawthorn Ballard: An army general’s son. Bookworm. Now an Alliance Ambassador.

Heather Hill: Widow of Jay Hill, healer, mother of Jamie.

Hifen: Country outside of the Alliance of Kingdoms.

High Dragon: Ex-pirate ship, now a living pirate hunter ship.

Iraj: The leader of Roc One. Shade’s nephew.

Jack Holl: Two Ambassadors, both the same name (though not related). Traitors to the Alliance. Both are decreased.

Jaco del Mankayl (Arzhur Jacovan del Mankayl): Assassin. Treynair’s second son, and Ravin’s younger brother.

Jannah: Antovanian coastal town, near Rosemary Manor.

Jay Hill (James Renwick Martin Hill): Deceased captain of the Red Wind, son of Rev Martin and

Josiah Wornstaff: Son of a violin-maker, sailor.

Justin Case: Ex-pirate, tea enthusiast, duath (a siren-born copy of Jay Hill), captain of the Red Wind.

Kaileen del Mankayl: Assassin.

Kazem: A member of Roc One.

Kelsy: A siren, and good friend of Justin’s.

King Alexi: The king of Flannigan.

King Sohrab: The king of Hifen.

Kovah: An ex-Greymane assassin. An Alliance Ambassador.

Leanne Hill: Mother of Jay Hill. Deceased.

Lirio del Marren: Gerrard’s Grandmother.

Liz Telveda: Scaera Dumeda contestant. Deceased.

Loretta del Marren: Mother of Gerrard. Deceased.

Mahdieh: A member of Roc One.

Malachy Aladale: Deceased assassin.

Marius Blackstone: A son of a mobster, now aiding the Pirate Queen.

Marte del Marren: Gerrard’s Grandfather.

Maxence Kashinda: King of Antovan. Adi’s father.

Merrida Hill: Jay’s aunt, noblewoman by marriage. Mother of Nissa.

Nissa Hill: Jay’s cousin, noblewoman.

Noêmdra: A Graymane assassin.

Ocean’s Mist: Merchant ship, captured by pirates, and made a live ship by Jay Hill.

Palliada: Ex-Kalivandean assassin from Andolin. Now an Alliance Ambassador.

Port de Catru: Coastal town in Viccily.

Port Royal: The only town in Arrothray.

Radi Kashinda: Queen of Antovan. Adi’s mother.

Radian del Mankayl: Assassin a hundred years ago, he sent the clan to destroy all books with Arrothraen history.

Ralivaen (Rah-lee-VAY-un) del Mankayl (Ravin): Son of Treynair del Mankayl, trained to be an assassin. Married to Adi, and father of Gerrard.

Red Wind: The fastest ship to ever sail the seas, a live ship.

Rev Martin: One of the most feared pirates to ever sail the seas, deceased.

Revenge: Shade’s boat. Woken by Justin.

Rillian: Country outside of the Alliance.

Riyar: Country in the Alliance of Kingdoms.

Rosemary Manor: The Hill family home.

Rykinsvik: Coastal town in Belfarren.

Salty Crest: Antovanian naval ship that Adi commands during a battle in Genady harbor.

Sandaline Ferense: Orphaned sailor. Deceased.

Shadeen Alif (Shade): Bad-tempered sailor, banished from Hifen.

Theobald (Theo) (tay-OH): Prince of Antovan. Adi’s brother.

Tillum: Used to be a Belhallen town, now a small self-proclaimed country.

Treynair del Mankayl: Known as the Blooddrinker. Deceased.

Viccily: Country outside of the Alliance.

A Siren Song

By

Helena George

The loaf of bread stared mockingly out of the blankets, not in the least ashamed of the cruel trick it had helped play. One of the two raisin eyes tumbled loose and dropped onto the deck of the Dark Wood Lady, bouncing twice before Captain Rev Martin stepped on it.

What is this?

It’s the boy... Reddie scratched his head, still not seeing the problem.

Captain Martin shook the blankets, ripped off a handful of the bread, and stuffed it into his mouth for emphasis. One of the pirates behind him gasped.

This isn’t a baby, Captain Martin roared, tossing the remainder onto the deck. It’s bread! You fools couldn’t tell the difference between a living, breathing child and a stale loaf of bread!

Reddie flinched and knelt to study the object he’d stolen from Rosemary Manor. I wondered why the child was so quiet, he said, finally. He didn’t even cry when I dropped him down the stairs.

Captain Martin stared at the pirate. You dropped him? Down stairs? Maybe that should have been your first clue!

This was his own fault. He should have known better than to send some of the crew. If you wanted to get a job done right, you had to do it yourself. Next time, he would go himself, no matter the risk, no matter the cost.

It’s not like we could have cared for a child on board, Reddie continued. We know nothing about children. Perhaps it’s best this way. We can try again later, when he’s older.

Capturing his son would only be harder as the years passed, but Captain Martin said nothing. Wait a few years, and the boy would have grown used to living with his mother. He would resent being taken away, of course, and be difficult to manage.

I was worried I would have to be the one to change his nappies, Roy said. I know our good captain wouldn’t do it himself, but I haven’t the foggiest idea how it needs to be done.

Perhaps it was best to leave the child be until a better opportunity presented itself. It was a stupid idea, to think that a crew of pirates could raise a child. But the feeling of loss still stung. His men had —embarrassingly—fallen for a child’s trick. If word got out that the feared pirate had mistaken a loaf of bread for a baby...

But how on earth and seas was he supposed to get his son now?

THIS IS A STUPID IDEA.

It’s a brilliant idea! Roy pulled harder at the oars, following the sound of sirens.

You’re certain this will work? Captain Martin adjusted the blankets around the crusty loaf of bread. The eyes had long been gone, but in the darkness, wrapped in blankets, the bread almost looked like a child. They’re not going to notice it’s bread?

You give the sirens too much credit. If humans thought it was a baby, then the mathë certainly won’t notice. Roy stopped rowing and stared at the dark outline of the beach ahead of them. Clouds wisped across the moon, sometimes blocking the light completely, sometimes leaving the full moon bright and blinding. A siren song drifted on the wind, wild and haunting.

Captain Martin resisted the temptation to reach for his cutlass. He’d heard these songs before, and knew the horrors and nightmares they caused.

It’s the mathë, Roy said again. Their songs won’t harm you. Listen.

He listened. The sirens sang in a language he didn’t understand, grander than any tavern duet, grander even than a ballroom opera. He waited, but memories of blood and death never came. Instead, the song grew louder, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

They’re coming to the shore, and you’d better be there. Roy held out his arms for the bread. Make sure you cry, and it better be convincing. They’ll feel sorry for you.

Captain Martin slipped out of the boat, the ocean water rising past his waist. He took back the bundle of blankets and slogged his way to the shore. The siren song surrounded him, wrapping around his shoulders like a blanket. He held the loaf of bread like one might hold a child.

It wasn’t supposed to be bread. It was supposed to be his son. Leuth Martin. He was supposed to take his son and raise him on the waters. The boy would grow strong and powerful, and become ruler of the seas. A pirate above all pirates.

Anger drew sweat to his brow, and he wiped at his eyes. Salt water stung his face, and he blinked.

They’d tricked him. Those foolish nobles. They’d tricked him and cheated him, and now he stood here on a quiet beach in Allirayn, waiting for sirens to come.

He’d lost.

A tear sprung to his eyes, and he let it fall. All his plans, now ruined.

Something splashed in the water, and the siren song faltered. Captain Martin turned, and watched a siren rise out of the waves, taking hesitant steps on shore. Her black hair dripped onto the beach, splattering water onto the sand. She wore a barnacle-covered Antovanian breastplate and the ripped remains of a once-grand ball gown.

My son, Captain Martin whispered, hesitating. Can you give me my son?

The siren stopped in front of the pirate, looking up into his eyes. Carefully, she put a finger to his cheek, where a tear slid towards his beard. You have lost something important to you, she said, her voice musical, just like the song surrounding them.

My son, he repeated, holding the lump of blankets between them. Another tear fell, his eyes stinging in desperation. Is there anything...can you...can you give me my son?

He is so still... The siren picked up the blankets and held them close to her chest. We will take him and give him a burial-place with so many other dear ones. Where no one will harm them.

And... Captain Martin reached for the bundle, then stopped before his fingers tucked in the blankets. And...can you...can you return him to me?

You wish for a son, a son that lives? The mathe siren tilted her head, studying the captain. You would ask for a son from a siren?

He nodded, unable to speak, afraid she would refuse him, afraid he would never get what he wanted.

A siren-born child can never leave the water. He is linked to the sea, where he is buried forever. She raised the blankets. You ask for a duath?

Yes. Captain Martin bowed his head. I wish for a son to sail the seas with me, a son proud and brave, a son to rule over the ocean.

The woman began to sing, and the voices from the night joined in with her, weaving a melody different than anything Captain Martin had ever heard before. Even the stars seemed to grow brighter and larger, spinning around and around, clashing with the waves of the ocean, shaking the sands beneath his feet. He closed his eyes, suddenly dizzy, and when he opened them, the siren was gone.

With the bread, no less.

The siren song floated away, but his ears still rattled. At his feet, a baby sprawled in the sand, crying.

Captain Martin had his son at last.

Echoes

By Helena George

Fear stirred in his gut, nearly making him vomit. Jay fidgeted in his seat, trying to focus on the history book spread out across his desk. Sweat dripped down his back, and he held his breath, slowly letting it out as quietly as possible.

Is something the matter, James? The new tutor looked up from his own book, raising an eyebrow like a flag in the breeze. You have no patience for the history of your own country?

No, not at all, sir. I do enjoy history. Something is simply wrong, and you’ll never believe me!

Then please sit still. You’ll be out and running around in no time, if you would just finish your lesson.

Jay tried, he really did. But the horrid sensation continued, and no matter how hard he rubbed at his skin, the fear and panic would not go away. Just like the bruises that he felt, the knife-cuts that bled invisible drops of blood. A doctor had looked at him once, the first time. Jay refused to mention it again, for fear of being called mad.

He skimmed the pages, barely reading, barely understanding, until the next chapter appeared when he turned a page. Before the tutor could ask any questions, Jay snapped the book closed and fled the room, boots stumbling through the manor halls with no set destination.

Somehow, he found himself outside, sprinting down towards the shore of the loch below the manor house. He couldn’t explain why, but finding himself running to the sea felt right. Jay didn’t stop running until he was knee-deep in the salty water, straining against the water until it drained his strength and he stopped.

Where does this pain come from, he whispered, clenching his fists against the panic pounding in his temples. I’m not mad. This is real.

Pain erupted across Jay’s wrist, and he fell to his knees on the sand, screaming in pain. A voice, so similar to his own, echoed in his ears. He stared at his wrist, expecting to see a melting, burning, angry scar, but saw only pale skin on the underside of his arm. It didn’t make sense. He felt the pain, he could feel the aching numbness spreading up to his elbow. He could even feel panic and fear and horror pounding in the back of his head.

These feelings were his, and yet...not his.

Jay stumbled through the water, shoving his burning, flaming hand into the cool wetness. The waves rolled back and forth onto the shore, calming his heart, cooling the pain in his hand.

Distantly, as if in a dream, Jay heard weeping. His cheeks were hot and sticky, and he didn’t remember crying.

I think I’m going mad, Jay whispered, closing his eyes. I’m going mad.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t tell his mother. She had already suffered enough shame with his birth. The nobles would only laugh at her the more if news got around that her son was mad. People would remind her over and over that she should have gotten rid of it when she could.

Lady Leanne Hill had chosen to keep her son, to let him live, to let him grow up and become a man, and he couldn’t spit on that choice. He had to do better than this. He would find a way past this. He would ignore these pains, these echoes of another life. He would be the perfect son.

Water splashed, and Jay opened his eyes to see he was not alone on the shore of the loch. A woman sat beside him, dark of skin and even darker of eyes. She wore rusty armor and a long patch of seaweed wrapped around her neck like a limp scarf. A trident lay across her lap, but she merely rested her elbows on the shaft and smiled—and her smile was nice and kind.

So you are the one, she said, when he caught her glance. The one he said was dead. You don’t look dead.

Jay could only shake his head. The ache in his wrist faded, pounding in his pulse, but now almost forgotten. Who are you?

I am Kelsy. And I think I’ve made a mistake. She held out a hand and gently touched Jay’s forehead. Yes, you are very alive. This is unheard of.

Yes, he was most certainly going mad.

See, man of the land, I am a siren. You have heard the tales?

Jay nodded.

Then you know what a duath is?

When a siren takes a dead baby and gives their parents another, one tied to the sea.

The siren, Kelsy, nodded solemnly. Yes. Only, I have made a mistake. I thought I was given a dead baby, and I gave his father a child born from the sea. But I was given this instead. She pulled something from her pocket and placed something into Jay’s open palm.

He stared at the handful of stale, moldy, soggy material. It was small and squishy, but somehow he still recognized it. Bread? A piece of bread?

That’s what it is? Kelsy held out a hand, and Jay handed it back to her. I didn’t know.

Jay considered the legends he’d heard, the ones about duaths. Parents brought their dead babies and received a new one, one that couldn’t leave the sea. But if this siren had been given bread instead of a dead human baby, what had happened? And why did this involve him?

Suddenly, Jay knew. He knew what Kelsy meant. He knew why he felt pain and fear and thoughts that were not his own. He knew why the sea called to him, more than anything.

It was a pirate who gave that to you.

Kelsy nodded. He said he lost his son, and he cried. I could feel his sorrow was real, his longing for his son was real. But it was all a lie.

And there is a duath out there. My brother.

Yes.

Jay rubbed at his wrist, his healthy, unmarked wrist. And his life is worse than mine.

Your lives are joined together. You feel each other, like has never happened before. Kelsy stood and put a hand on Jay’s shoulder. You will forever battle for your place in this world, two men where there should be one. If he dies, you will lose your love for the sea and it will no longer have any hold on you. If you die, he will break all ties from the land and continue on until the water brings him home. She shook her head, and water dripped from the ends of her hair, splattering on the surface of the loch. "My mistake has ruined the way of things. This pirate captain’s lie has created