H.M.S Valor: Treachery And Triumph: A war time adventure on the high seas by Cal Clement (best contemporary novels txt) 📕

has all perished, you will be released from my service.” The officer’s expression remained unchanged and Lilith felt an annoying tug in her spirit telling her she was not done with the Lieutenant for his part. Her unease faded as she turned to an ecstatic Trina and Chibs greeting her in celebration. Trina grabbed her into a hug, kissing her forehead while heaping praise onto her. Another round of cheers sounded high up into Maiden’s rigging while flames from the Valor brightly flared against the fading dusk as one of her sails began to be consumed.

Chapter 15

Pirate Cove

29 Sept 1808

19 Degrees 36 minutes N, 72 Degrees 59’ W

A cool dawn stretched over the skies, pouring its light into the low hanging smoke still lingering over the water of the cove. Will rose from the bed he had made of coiled line on the Maiden’s bow, stretching his muscles that were still tight from the activities of the evening before. His face still covered in smudges and stains from gun smoke and with a stubbly growth of beard that nagged and itched. Celebrations on board had gone long into the wee hours of the morning until finally a watch was set and everyone retired. His back ached from hauling on the gun lines, his ears still holding a soft hum from the reverberating reports of each shot. Will’s mind spun from the whirlwind of what had occurred in the last few weeks. Looking out over glass calm water, with a dense mixture of fog and smoke clinging to its surface, he began to feel a ripple of calm overtake him.

William’s life had been wholly committed to crown and country. Service had given him purpose and family where he had none. Until now, he had considered the cascade of tribulations had ripped away these values which he held so dearly. Last night as he fired each cannon, watching their devastating impacts onto the ship he had been commissioned to serve, he considered himself stripped of his traditional honor. This morning, under the new light of day, his mind was considering the totality of his circumstances. He had not surrendered his honor, quite the contrary. Will knew in his heart, while he looked out over the wreckage that remained of the Valor, he had done what is right. The pungent aroma of smoke mixing with the salty sea air clung to his nostrils and he breathed in deeply, savoring the smell while pondering his future. He closed his eyes and craned his neck, lifting his face to the skies in the slight chill of the cove, still shaded from the rising dawn. Lilith’s approaching footsteps interrupted his reflective vigil and he gave her a warm smile, which she returned.

“I meant what I told you Lieutenant. I will not hold you in service against your will,” she said, “But if you choose, you may stay on with the crew.”

“I don’t suppose sailing master is a billet offered aboard a pirate vessel?” Will replied, only partly in jest.

“Accommodations could be made, Chibs will remain Quartermaster as long as he wishes to, and Trina will always hold my trust as well. But I believe, if it is what you want, we have a place for you with us,” her voice found his ears softly, inflecting a question she would not ask, only imply.

“I can only speak for myself; the marines and Lieutenant Shelton will have to decide for themselves. But I suppose much of it depends on your intentions after this. Where does the Maiden sail after this? And what does her Captain intend?” Will asked, rubbing the irritating scruff under his chin.

“There is a chest of gold below deck, enough to outfit an entire fleet and there is a cane plantation I intend to pay a visit to in Haiti. Captain James made it his purpose to reap benefit from destroying the slave trade. I intend to continue toward that end,” fire lingered under her voice as she answered.

“And the legitimate merchantmen plying their trade across the seas?” Will pressed with a note of apprehension.

“I’ve no interest in wanton murder or thieving. If I kill a slave master or the one delivering the people kidnapped from their homes, that’s another matter,” her response came without hesitation or thoughtful pause.

“That is purpose I can commit myself to Captain,” his smile stretched wide and was met by hers.

“Then we’ll be glad to have you Lieutenant,” she said, walking off to greet Chibs as the sun finally broke over the canopy on the east shore of the cove.

The sunlight washing over the rock faces and sandy shores of the cove revealed brilliant colors to William. Blue and green hues reflected up from the water and its calm glossy surface soon held a mirror quality Will noted his image in, looking down from the bulwark. The scene of the cove was a surreal contrast of paradise marred by the aftermath of mayhem. The water’s serene surface reached from a pristine white sandy strip of beach out in deepening shades of blue to emerald and finally dropping into a shade of deep blue where it blanketed underneath the hulk of the Valor, still lodged onto the blur of white reef. Her form was still smoking from smoldering timbers where her deck protruded from the surface. Most of her larboard side had keeled into the water, taking sea into where William’s gunnery had breached the hull. Her foremast lay tipped backward over the deck in a mess of rigging and spars that failed to arrest it’s fall. The stern had risen as the highest point of the remaining hulk, with daylight visible through its scuppers along the fantail and her rudder laid bare to the world.

In the water around the Valor’s corpse floated all manner of debris, wooden and flesh as evidence of their violent end. Will noted that a sortie should be mounted to check the wreckage for survivors and salvage any useful goods from her decks. The