Page 72 of Company of Thieves
Octavia didn’t like that any more than Jack did. “We’re a team,” the latter told him, one arm around Octavia. “Where I go, she goes, and vice versa.”
Octavia looked pleased, and shot her husband a heated look that he returned.
“I hope you’re paying attention,” Hallie told Alan, nodding toward them. “Because that’s the sort of attitude I expect you to have, too.”
“You are with child,” he reminded her. “There are some situations where it would not be suitable for you to participate.”
“Probably pregnant, but not absolutely certain, although I’m not going to kill a sweet little bunny to find out.”
“I don’t suppose that if I asked you to stay behind—” Alan started to ask, but as he suspected, he wasn’t given the chance to finish the sentence.
“No. Absolutely not. Under no circumstances,” she told him.
It was decided, after another fifteen minutes of debate, that they would descend en masse upon William, but would have their respective crews on standby should it turn out that William did not wish to release them from his presence.
“I hasten to point out that if we wish to display a united front of nonaggression to William, the act of you insisting on bringing with you the very same weapon that you used to wound him earlier might give a false impression,” Alan told Hallie later, when they were in a horse-drawn carriage with Zand and Safie.
Hallie clutched her bow. “It makes me feel better to have it. You have a sword and those blasted guns, and daggers in your boots, so don’t make it seem like I’m the only one here who is armed. I bet Zand has the same, and if it comes to that, Safie looks loaded, as well.”
Safie smiled. “I might have a dagger or two hidden upon my person. Alan insisted I learn how to protect myself, and as you must know, he’s very proficient in teaching one the art of ... oh.”
“I don’t want to have to give you and your brother a pointed look,” Hallie said with thinned lips, “but I will if you continue that train of thought.”
Safie laughed, and Alan, mindful that he wanted to celebrate his wedding night with a wife who didn’t make references to the fact that he was unable to teach her the same skills he’d taught his sister, changed the subject. “Zand, I expect you—dammit. No, I can’t expect that anymore now that you are no longer my lieutenant.”
Zand looked mildly surprised. “I’m not? Did you wish for me to not be a part of your company?”
“I would be happy for you to remain with me, but that isn’t the point I was trying to make. You’re captain of theFalconnow, unless Safie has changed her mind?”
“Absolutely not,” she said quickly, leaning into Zand. “I want to live in a house that doesn’t move around from place to place. I want to walk in gardens, and enjoy bathing in the sea, and not have to worry every spare minute about my crew, and whether or not Father will find out what I’m doing.”
“In which case, as captain of theFalcon, Zand will no longer be at my beck and call,” Alan said, a pang of regret dimming a little the pleasure he took in his friend and his sister finally finding happiness together.
“Is there some rule I’m unaware of that says I can’t be both a captain and remain in your company?” Zand asked, glancing at Safie. She nodded.
“If you have joined the Company of Thieves for good, Alan, then perhaps you could take my place in it, and Zand could captain theFalconwhen necessary, but other times help you ... and also join me in our home.”
“That sounds like a smart plan,” Hallie agreed, looking at him. “Would that work for you?”
“You’d be willing to do that?” he asked Zand.
“I never wanted to be a captain, you know,” his friend answered, smiling. “So long as you let me have enough time with Safie, I’d be happy with captaining just when you need theFalconin action, and doing what you wish the rest of the time.”
“As you have my sister to support now, I suppose I could take you back into my company,” Alan said with faux regret, which just made Zand grin at him. “Although you do realize that by changing our purpose, our futures just became that much more liable to end quickly.”
“We’ve always lived on the dagger’s edge,” Zand said with a shrug. “If anything, now that I have Safie, I will be doubly careful to return to her in one piece.”
Hallie squeezed Alan’s hand. “That goes for you, too, buster.”
“Alan,” he corrected her absently, wondering if the others understood just what this change in intention would mean for the Company.
TheConstanzawas a midsized warship, done in shades of white and gold, with a heavy complement of guns that Alan was interested to note were the latest type of oil-injected aether cannons. He’d heard that the Prussians were perfecting this new type of weapon, said to be more effective than the standard aether cannons, but he hadn’t seen one in person.
“Those look different than what we have,” Jack commented when they gathered before theConstanza, which was surrounded by armed imperial soldiers. He stood back, squinting in the darkness at the noses of the cannons, which still remained in firing position.
Alan suspected William had left the cannons in place in order to remind his enemies that the imperial ships were more than able to take care of any threats. “If a smaller gauge of cannon is available, I believe I will look into some for theNightwing.”
“We need them, as well,” Jack told Octavia. “They’re better than the ones we wanted to get.”
