Blazing Blunderbuss (Wyvern Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  They were to meet Marya, their Roshian contact, in a warehouse. Gideon had insisted on coming even though Hara was supposed to go on her own. She couldn’t convince him to stay behind. It had been another thing to convince Angel that she had remain behind. A battle she had lost. Hara hoped that no one saw the clockwork creature curled up in the fur coat’s collar. Hara couldn’t very well deny the small dragon when Hara knew Talen was out there somewhere keeping an eye on everything as well.

  The warehouse was mostly empty when they entered. Gideon followed close behind her, looked around.

  He sniffed and said, “It smells like tea in here.”

  A voice further into the warehouse said, “Darjeeling, to be exact.”

  A woman stepped out from behind a large crate. She was an older lady, but still stunning. Her hair was up in a loose bun. Her hands were tucked into a large fur coat.

  The woman added, “I was under the impression you would be alone.”

  Hara sighed and said, “He’s a dragon. There’s no way to make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

  Marya tilted her head sideways as she studied Gideon. “I had heard you spent time with dragons. I thought they were merely rumors. Interesting.” Marya came closer. This time her gaze was on Hara. “So you are the one who stole my airship.”

  Hara wasn’t about to let this woman guilt-trip her. “Yeah, sorry about that. We have money.”

  Marya stopped in front of them. She was a very small woman for her presence. “That isn’t how it works. That ship was made in our shipyards to play a particular part in our own interests. Selling it to you isn’t in our interests.”

  Hara frowned. She had hoped they could buy off the Roshians as easily as it had been to buy off the pirates.

  Hara finally said, “Well, I had hoped to settle all this, as I’m tired of assassins.”

  Marya’s eyebrow twitched and she said calmly, “The Rosh government does not deal in assassins.”

  Hara waved it off and said, “I don’t care what the policy is for assassins, I just don’t want to kill some sad sods because they decided to take out a contract on me.”

  Marya pulled her hands out of her coat and laid a roll of paper on a low crate. She asked, “Do you know what this is?”

  Gideon answered. “It’s the writ of transport. Well, a copy. It’s very pretty with all those curly letters. All the countries in the world signed it.”

  Marya seemed impressed then asked, “You were there?”

  He nodded. “It was a great party. They had quail inside of ducks for the main course.”

  Marya ignored his comments and motioned to the scroll and said, “That also allows for the commission of privateers. The Blazing Blunderbuss has been commissioned as a privateer. That is our right. We don’t particularly like people flying around in our ships and not working for us. So are we going to have a deal here? The Blazing Blunderbuss has a letter of marque, and her job isn’t finished.”

  Gideon glared at the woman. Hara said, “Let me have a moment here with my associate and I’ll have your answer in a jiffy.”

  The woman shrugged and sauntered off with her hands back in her pockets. Gideon turned to Hara and hissed in a loud whisper, “You can’t seriously be thinking about becoming a pirate.”

  Hara shrugged and said, “I don’t want to, but what choice do we have? We’ll pick targets who are picking on other ships. We’ll clean up the skies. Help others.”

  Gideon rolled his eyes and said, “You’re away with the fairies if you believe that for a moment.”

  Hara asked him, “If we go through with this, will you stay?” Her heart actually went into her throat at the thought of him leaving. She wasn’t ready to lose him yet.

  Gideon turned his back to her and said, “I don’t know.”

  Marya must have sensed they had come to the end of their conversation, because at that moment she returned. “So, do you have an answer?”

  Hara gritted her teeth. “You know we don’t really have a choice.”

  Marya gave a warm smile which was more tooth than truth. “Good. Here is your first target.”

  Hara hesitated, but took the piece of paper Marya offered. Hara looked at the location and the name of the ship.

  Marya said, “If I don’t hear about the demise of this ship, be sure that you will have trouble shortly afterwards.” She turned and started walking away, and she said over her shoulder, “Kale isn’t the only one good at infiltration.”

  If Hara had wanted confirmation that the Rosh government had been behind the Rosh Barkers, she now knew that Marya had her hand in that particular pie. Marya added conversationally, “Oh, and your grandad’s place is adorable.”

  With that, Marya was gone. Gideon was red with anger. His fists clenched.

  Hara touched her shoulder, where Angel came out to click her concern. Hara asked, “Gideon?”

  “I will kill her and eat her.”

  Trust a dragon to immediately jump to violence to solve the issue. Or was it just a male thing? “That won’t work. She’s the hand of a monster; she isn’t the monster itself.” She tugged at him and said, “Come, we need to get there fast, otherwise we’re in trouble.”

  Gideon growled and said, “You’re going to attack an innocent ship?”

  Hara wasn’t sure yet what she was going to do. One thing was sure, she would do everything to keep her crew safe. “I don’t know, but I’m going to be there and I’ll make my choices as they come along.”

  Gideon looked dark.

  Hara touched his arm and said, “I swear I’ll only attack if they’re the villain. If they’re innocent, I’ll leave them alone. We’ll do what Talen suggested and run. We’ll pick up Oupa and make him come along, and we’ll disappear to the other side of the world and the Rosh can go stuff themselves.”

  Gideon’s look was still dark, but he was now thoughtful. He said after a long moment, “You swear.”

  “Yes. I’m not a murderer.” But she had been the cause of deaths. Nikolai was almost assuredly dead from that explosion, and she knew that Kale had been killed in the skirmish. She had known that would be his fate when she had left him to Talen. She might not have blown up the boiler on the weapon or put the knife in Kale’s gut, but both men were dead because of her.

  The judge who had taken pity on her had helped her come to terms with the people who had died in her past. That made her more aware now of all the people’s lives in her hands. Regardless of whether she pulled the trigger or not.

  “You need to trust me, Gideon.” He nodded his head sharply and stormed ahead. She let him have his space for a while. When his pace slowed down she approached him. He was still fuming. She said, “I won’t make you kill humans.”

  Gideon stopped completely and turned to look at her. He said, “I never thought you would.”

  “Good.” At least they were on the same page about something.

  He frowned for a long moment, then said, “With the other dragons, they never understood that. Never understood I couldn’t take lives like that.”

  Hara said softly, “You have killed, you know.” His eyes went stormy and she added, “Nikolai was in that barn when you blew it up. There were others outside. They most likely died. All our actions have consequences, some minor and some which are deadly. I was part of Nikolai’s death. If I hadn’t knocked him out he might have been able to pull himself out of there. I know when I put a man at the guns that one of those bullets could end a life or many lives. It’s never done lightly. I’ll do everything in my power to preserve life. You understand that?”

  Gideon surprised her by pulling her in for a kiss. She resisted for a moment because she was startled by the move. But she enjoyed the way his lips felt on hers. She put her arms around his neck and moved closer.

  He stopped after a moment and his eyes studied her face for a long moment. He then said, “We should get back.”

  Hara nodded, though she wasn’t in any rush to move her arms away from his neck.<
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  Gideon was very quiet as they approached the map coordinates Marya had given them. They were a little early, so Hara wasn’t really looking for an airship.

  Hara came to stand next to him and asked, “Gideon?”

  He turned to look at her and said, “I’ve lived a very long time, and I’ve realized my hands are not as clean as I had thought.”

  She winced. That had been the point of her speech in Moscow. But she hated thinking of him as being in any way the villain.

  Alice yelled and pointed. Their conversation would have to wait. The ship they were supposed to take was coming slowly around a mountain. Very slowly in fact. Harawould have said it was drifting, by the way it was moving.

  Hara reached over for the telescope and extended it out to its full length before placing it to her eye.

  There were a lot of people crowded on the deck. There was a plank stretched out and the crowd was forcing a man to walk it. She swore and focused on the man. That garish red coat looked a little familiar.

  She dropped her hand down with the telescope when she realized who the man was.

  Hara called urgently. “Talen!”

  Talen approached and asked, “What do you need?”

  She passed him the telescope and said, “Please tell me that isn’t my dad.”

  Talen’s face showed all the anguish she felt. He didn’t hesitate to look through the telescope.

  He didn’t look for long before he lowered the telescope and said, “I’m afraid it is him. What do you think? Marvin been up to his usual tactics?”

  Hara shook her head, but not to his question. “It doesn’t matter. He’s still my father, so we'll rescue him.”

  Gideon said, “I’ll get him.”

  Hara caught his arm and asked, “Are you sure?”

  He knew what she was asking. By going after her father, there was a good chance he would be forced to attack the ship. People might die and though those on the ship weren’t completely innocent because they were trying to kill her father. She understood because she had wanted to kill her father a few times. They didn’t deserve to die for that alone.

  Gideon nodded his head and pulled away from her. She turned to the others and said, “Man the guns, and Alice, you take the wheel. Move the ship how I showed you.”

  Henry would help out the boy in the boiler room so they would have the power to move. She went to the guns on the left while Murphy went to the others.

  Talen said, “I’ll help Gideon.”

  Hara wasn’t sure how he was going to do that, but it might be a good idea to have him there when Gideon brought her father to the Blazing Blunderbuss.

  Alice asked, “Are we really going to be pirates?”

  The thought made Hara’s throat feel like she had swallowed ash. “Today we are. They have my father, Alice.”

  Alice nodded. She understood family as well as Hara did. They needed to distract the ship so it wouldn’t fire on Gideon. Hopefully to give him enough time to get close enough to save Hara’s father.

  The other ship noticed them and she could see people moving on the deck. Gideon had changed and he flew up. He buzzed the airship, making it shake. Her father tipped off the plank, but she saw Gideon dive for him. She saw they had men at their guns as the guns started to move.

  Hara didn’t wait for them to shoot at the Blazing Blunderbuss or at Gideon. She opened fire, aiming for the envelope on top as she didn’t want to kill the crew.

  Marya hadn’t said they had to take the cargo, which was a usual thing for privateers, so they would just injure the ship and hopefully buy themselves enough time to come up with a better solution than becoming full-time pirates.

  Something hit them and it made the airship tilt. Talen yelled, “Go, go, go!”

  It must mean Gideon was back. Alice spun the wheel and they turned away from the fight. The other ship was already limping and going down fast, though only one of side of the envelope was deflated. It would be a while before they were airborne again.

  Marvin, Hara’s father, walked onto the ship and waved his arms out. “Oh, wonderful, wonderful.”

  This was the first time Hara had seen him since he had left her, and she realized she still wasn’t ready to face him. She turned slowly away from him.

  Marvin approached her and went to hug her, but she sidestepped him. She went to Alice and motioned for the girl to go to her usual position.

  Gideon entered the bridge and came to stand by Hara.

  Marvin frowned a little, but it didn’t last very long. He said, “Aren’t you happy to see me, darling? You are certainly a blessing, and your timing’s perfect. I was about to be a meat pancake on the side of some nameless mountain.” He approached Gideon and patted his shoulder and said, “Thanks for the save. You can’t imagine what I was thinking as I was falling. I truly thought it was the end of me.”

  Marvin patted his coat and pulled out a silver flask. He grinned as he screwed off the cap. “Ah, at least I left with the essentials.”

  Hara said to Talen, “Take him to one of the rooms. Settle him in. We’ll talk later.”

  Talen nodded and guided Marvin off the bridge.

  Gideon said, “Are you all right?”

  Hara nodded and said, “I’ll talk to him later when I’m not so mad.”

  He frowned at her tone, but didn’t say anything.

  Gideon watched as Hara concentrated on the maps. She had set the course already, so there was no need for her to be so focused. He knew it was her father. That man had more in common with dragons than was healthy.

  If Hara had been without her Oupa, Gideon doubted she would have survived past her childhood years. Marvin was callous as a snake, a trait his daughter did not share.

  Gideon realized now she would never have killed those people, even if the Rosh had threatened her. She was clever enough to find a third path. Maybe he should take a page out of her book and pick a third path. Marvin might be her father, but he wasn’t in Hara’s collection, and Marvin wouldn’t be in Gideon’s. Marvin would be treated like a dragon father and Gideon decided he didn’t need to add Marvin to his collection.

  Gideon found Marvin lounging in the mess. He was cheery with liquor. Gideon sat down and poured himself a drink from Marvin’s silver flask. The conman grinned at him and said, “Haven’t seen a dragon in a long while. I tend to steer away from you types.”

  He tapped his temple and said, “You tend to be brighter than the average man. So what brings a bright spark like you to this ship?”

  Gideon didn’t prevaricate, as he doubted subtlety was Marvin’s strong suit. “I’m here for your daughter.”

  Marvin grinned, but he showed too many teeth. Marvin wasn’t a friendly type. Gideon returned the grin and said, “You should see my teeth.”

  Marvin’s eyes sparked. He recognised the threat. Gideon left the drink on the table and left.

  Hara knew she had to talk to her father, but she really wanted to be childish and just run to her bed, throw herself on it and cry. Unfortunately, she had to be the adult in the relationship. It had always been that way.

  She knocked on the door and waited a second before she entered. Her dad was lounging on his bed with his hands tucked behind his head. The casualness was too suspicious. She quickly looked around and saw he had been hiding something in the cavity behind the drawers, as they were still slightly open. When her father looked too innocent there was always something he was hiding.

  Hara would check it out later. Right now she had to get some answers from her father.

  Marvin smiled at her and said, “You’re looking good. I like the clothes. More feminine. I wonder why you didn’t dress more like a girl when you were younger.”

  He always did this selective memory thing. It hurt more than she realized, as his actions had such an impact on her, but she knew she was barely a bump on his road. “Because you were taking me to dangerous places for girls so I had to dress like a boy.”

  “Oh. Where was that?” He fro
wned in confusion.

  Hara wasn’t surprised he didn’t remember. He wouldn’t change. She waved it off and said, “How did you end up on that ship, dad?”

  He settled more comfortably on his bed and pulled out his silver flask from under his hip. “Well, I needed to get to Siberia and they were heading that way. So I hitched a ride. But the captain wasn’t very happy about the whole arrangement and that’s when you found me. Good timing on that, by the way.”

  “The Rosh government sent us.” Hara wondered if it would worry him if she was working for the Rosh government instead of the Empire. She didn’t tell him she had been sent as a privateer, as that was her own private shame.

  Instead Marvin’s grin brightened and he said, “Perfect. The reason I need to get to Siberia, is I have to pick up something and take it to Moscow. You can stop in Siberia for me and my project will go ahead as I planned.”

  Hara shook her head. He always had a plan or a deal going. She wasn’t astonished that he hadn’t changed. “What about our last project, Dad? Did that go as you planned?” The bitterness of his betrayal tainted her voice.

  Marvin rubbed his chin. “What about it? We got out with the money.”

  “You. You got out with the money. You left me there.”

  He frowned as he dredged his memory and then finally shook his head. “I was sure you had gotten out. Where have you been, by the way? I went back to the workshop and you weren’t there.”

  Hara wanted to hurt him for being such a careless rogue. She wanted him to feel the betrayal she had felt, so she said, “Prison.”

  That had been true for a short time. It would have been a permanent reality if it had not been for a generous judge. Marvin gasped and jumped off the bed and said, “Oh, my dear, that’s terrible.”

  He reached out to her. He offered some comfort a gesture presented way too late. She stepped out of his reach. The offer wasn’t an honest one in any case; he just wanted to bring her back under his thumb.

  Hara closed her eyes because she had heard these words before. When she had had to leave a place without a treasured item or when she had had to leave a friend behind. She had learnt the hard way that those words were merely tools for her father to get what he wanted. And right then, all he wanted was a ride.