^^Above: English actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson (pictured here in 2021's The King's Man) as Raymond Kingsley's cousin Joshua.^^

Thomas

Years ago, when Francis and I were boys, he'd asked me what I was looking for in a woman. I thought it an odd question, because his attentions were often elsewhere. He did not intend to marry any time soon; he was the younger brother, after all. He'd said often enough that if anyone was going to inherit the estate and carry on our family name, it would be me. 

But I took my time to answer. Of course the woman I eventually married would have to be charming, kind, smart, unafraid of a challenge. It seemed they were in abundance when I came of age, old enough to be attending balls and house parties myself. But I soon became disillusioned with the whole affair. The ladies only acted the way they did because they knew my father's influence. They had their eye on my inheritance. When we were alone, and out of the company of everyone else, the courteous act dropped like a mask. They practically threw themselves at me and forgot their promises to my father.

Then the war came, and any thought of me inheriting anything disappeared like the morning mist. It was so uncertain, and besides, rather than devoting myself to running an estate, I became married to the cause and my comrades. Risking any attachment would have been disastrous for everyone involved. Plenty of men I knew left behind families: future wives and current wives, some pregnant and others with small children. Nearly all of them never saw those families again.

But seeing the pain in Emmeline's eyes when I told her the plans made me doubt everything. She had committed herself to me without really knowing me. She made her best efforts to fit in to society and to be a fit wife for me. She had even asked me to return to her. I hardly recognised her from the night of her arrival. Everything about her had changed so quickly. Even her speech was becoming less halting.

"Here's the last of your things, milord," said Lucian, handing me my packed saddlebags. "Everything you need for the trip is ready now."

"Thank you, Lucian." I only needed a spare change of clothes, a map, the plans we had drawn up, and a hundred pounds in notes. Joshua had said it wouldn't take more than three days, if everything went smoothly.

"Are you certain this plan will work, milord?" he asked tentatively. "Everything according to plan?"

"Not everything," I said, knowing it sounded foolish the moment it was out.

"And you do not know what you will do if something goes awry? Any second battle plans?" His brow furrowed, and his eyes were worried. I had no will and testament, no heir, no nothing. I would simply cease to exist.

Again I had to shake my head. "Not a one."

He was about to speak again, his mouth opening. Then there came two knocks at the door. I turned and pulled one open, and Joshua ducked inside, rainwater streaming from his hat and the tails of his coat.

"Everything ready to go, Captain Haywood?" His eyes moved from the bags over my shoulder to my face.

"Yes. My stable boy is just now bringing my horse around."

The sound of another door opening interrupted us. It was Emmeline, the stricken expression on her face making my throat hurt. She seemed about to speak when our eyes met, but then they flicked up, to Joshua standing behind me.

"Hello, Mr Kingsley." She gave him a shallow curtsey, just like a proper lady.

"Ma'm." Joshua touched the brim of his hat.

"Emmeline." I went to her, taking her elbows and pulling her near. She allowed it, grasping the lapels of my coat. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"You're leaving....I've no way to know...when you'll return." Her eyes searched my face, with brows furrowed. "I want to say, Tom...before you go..."

The front door swung open again before she could finish. It was Ray, his hair and clothes sopping wet, eyes moving between all of us.

"Ready to go, then, or not? I'm getting drenched out here."

"Yes, Ray, just give me another moment," I said, earning a scowl from him that said Be quick about it. I turned back to Emmeline, taking her face in my hands. "I must go. I'm sorry we did not have more time."

She pulled me closer by the lapels of my coat, quite unexpectedly, and kissed me. Her lips were soft and warm, sweet from the sugar in her tea. It lasted for only a few seconds, and then she drew back. "I love you, Tom."

"I love you too," I said. Hearing those words coming from her was what hardened my resolve. I would do everything in my power to come back to her. She was my wife. I would not leave her alone to fend for herself. I kissed her cheek, slid my hat on, and then followed Ray and Joshua out into the rain, towards whatever lay ahead.

||

The rain stopped about midday, just outside the town of Yeovil. We stopped as well, to rest and water the horses and to dry ourselves out. We'd talked very little since we'd left, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Mine drifted ahead, to Southampton. I wondered first what on earth we would find there, and what sort of men we would encounter. Even Joshua, who'd been watching them for the past month, only had a vague idea of the answer.

"Do we know anything about these...smugglers, Joshua?" I asked when we were back on the road. "Besides what you've seen?"

"Not much, I'm afraid, Captain. Haven't really seen 'em do much else." Joshua slapped his wet hat against his knee with a hollow thwack. His expression was grim.

"Is there no leader? No one they answer to?" Even smugglers seemed to have a way of conducting themselves. Honour among thieves, as the saying went.

"Well...there is a man I seen sometimes on the ship — big bloke. Only got one eye. Could be a pirate...wears an eye patch even. Like bloody Blackbeard or sommat."

Ray and I exchanged glances. "And yet you've never heard him addressed by name? Not even by his so-called crew?"

"Not even that." Joshua shook his head. "Expect if I hang round often enough..."

"Are we on a fool's errand, then?" said Ray, shifting uncomfortably in his saddle. "We know nothing, not even any names, or who to look for."

"Do know one thing, actually," Joshua answered. "The ship's name. The Galatea."

"Then that will be the first thing we look for," I said. "Seek out the ship. Then we can work from there."

That evening, we stopped in Blandford Forum. No one said it, but we were all thinking it — it was a wonder we hadn't been robbed, attacked, or at least tailed on the way. These days it seemed we couldn't trust anyone, not even the bartender in the pub. We took our dinner huddled over our plans, only a vague outline of what we intended and what we were hoping to find.

After Ray and Joshua went off to bed, I stayed awake and wrote a letter to Emmeline by candlelight. It had been less than twenty-four hours since I left, but this letter wouldn't reach her until the day after tomorrow, at the earliest. I told her once again that I loved her, and would be home again soon. And that I would think of her always. And again wondered if that would be enough.

By the following evening, after another full day of travel, we reached Southampton. It was not as large and bustling as London, but it was a good deal busier than what we were used to in our small villages. Still, we kept to the inn and ourselves that evening, keeping our eyes out for anyone looking suspicious.

The next morning, we decided we'd split up. Ray would stay close to the inn, to watch for any of the smugglers loitering about, watching for new targets, perhaps. Joshua and I would go to the Town Quay, where we would most likely find the Galatea.

"Good luck, Tom." Ray took my arm, his eyes a restless grey-blue. He was nervous, I could feel it in his grip.

"And to you, Ray." I gave him a once-over. He was dressed like a gentleman, in a tan coat, beaver Wellington hat, and maroon waistcoat. His boots were polished to a high shine. The smugglers wouldn't be able to tell what his intent was. At least, we hoped not.

After that we parted ways. I trailed Joshua down the street, moving far easier through the crowd than I was. Perhaps it was because he was used to the ways of the city, how it moved and breathed.

"Have you seen the ship before?" I asked him as the quay came into sight, the masts of ships rising above the roofs of the buildings.

Joshua nodded. "Big one, she is. Three masts, six cannons on each side. Figurehead's a mermaid. When they're in port, they fly a Union flag, but once they get out on the high seas, God knows what happens."

"They want to blend in, I assume?" I squinted up at the ships we were now passing. They were much larger than I was expecting, showing the prosperity of its crew. The fanciest ones were painted in a dark colour and a border of gold, and had glass in the captain's quarters at the stern. Many had painted figureheads in the shapes of women with wings or horses with fish's tails.

"Well, smugglers en't taken too kindly otherwise." He shrugged. "Reckon they're coverin' themselves fairly well, if they en't been caught yet."

We were nearly to the end of the quay, with no sign of the Galatea. I was determined to not let that bother me, but we had come all this way and waited for so long. But then Joshua grabbed my arm and pointed.

"There," he said. "She's comin' in. See 'er?"

I followed the direction he indicated, and I saw it. There was a ship entering the harbour, with three masts and flying the Union flag. The figurehead was what he'd described: a mermaid, with flowing hair and painted eyes. Across her deck prowled a man in a long black coat and a wild thicket of dark beard. Beneath his bi-corn, with a large blood-red feather in the brim, he wore an eye patch.

"That's him," I said. "The captain."

"Aye," said Joshua. "See his scar? Reckon that's what took his eye."

"What was the circumstance?" I felt a twist in my stomach, uncomfortable enough to heighten my senses.

"Haven't the foggiest." Joshua pulled his own hat forward, so it shaded his eyes. "But he only comes when there's been a good haul."

"The one I saw in the village?" I watched the ship pass with only my eyes. The men on board moved with a deadly efficiency, with the look of hardened sailors about them.

"Likely the same," he said. "Would have to watch, just to be sure."

The ship docked at the opposite end, where we'd come in. Joshua started off towards it, and I followed. I wanted a closer look at this captain, so that I might be able to describe him down to the last detail. Any detail was important at this stage. Especially if he was the one who had beaten and tortured Emmeline. I would make it my personal mission to hunt him down and make him pay for what he'd done to her.

They were disembarking by the time we reached their end of the dock. The crew moved in a pack, all with mismatched eyes. Their one similarity was their single bright golden eye. It was nothing like the gold of a Fire-Elemental. Theirs was hard and flat, completely unreadable. Lastly came the captain, descending the gangplank with the air of a man who believes he can command the world.

"How do you propose we get close to him?" I asked as Joshua pulled me behind a pile of crates just as he passed us.

"We're here for the ship," he said. "See if they've got prisoners down there."

"I see." It made sense, after all, to see what sort of man he was by perusing his ship. "Will they be gone long?"

"Not sure." He pulled me up again and then hurried me towards the ship. "But I'll keep watch."

"You mean to make me go down into the ship alone?" I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Well, someone's got to." He tugged me forward again. "Remember what we discussed last night?"

"Yes," I said grudgingly. If we came upon one of the smugglers, we weren't supposed to put up any kind of fight. We just had to shoot them. I'd shot men in the war, but somehow this didn't seem the same. The pistol in my belt felt much heavier as a result.

By now we'd reached the gangplank. Joshua ducked his head, pulled his hat down, and scuttled up it. I did the same, trying not to look down. There was nothing between me and the water but a thin piece of board.

Once on deck, we hugged the gunwale as we crept aft. The crew appeared to have not posted any watchmen, the one thing that seemed to be working in our favour. As we reached the poop deck, Joshua stopped again, drawing his own pistol.

"What?" I fingered my own, but I didn't draw it. "What is it?"

"Making sure the coast's still clear." He nodded towards the door that opened into the captain's quarters. "Go."

I ran across the deck, still bent double, and pressed myself against the door. There was no sound from the other side, so I pulled it open and slid through the crack. The corridor I found myself in was narrow, and smelled strongly of saltwater. The only light came from a lantern hanging from a hook on the wall. I took it and proceeded forward.

The captain's quarters were locked, but I expected as such. A man such as this had secrets to keep. I didn't linger. There would be time to probe into his background soon enough. Instead I wound my way through the narrow corridors towards the front of the ship. I heard a deep snort come from one of the rooms, and it made me freeze. When it didn't come again, I kept on, making sure I made no noise. It was the brig I wanted, because it seemed the most reasonable place to keep prisoners.

It became much gloomier and smellier as I went lower. The portholes disappeared altogether on the lowest level, and my lantern only cast a small circle of light ahead of me. I had to keep my hand out in front of me, just to prevent running into anything. That was why I was surprised when it hit a wooden door enforced with bands of iron. I held the lantern up to it, looking into the small barred window near the top. The smell of unwashed bodies came to me, making my nose wrinkle involuntarily.

I tried the rusted handle, and to my surprise, it gave. When I started to pull it open, the hinges squealed. I stopped, listening hard for any sound of approaching feet. There was none, so I kept inching it open until the crack was wide enough to slip through. Once again, I lifted the lantern and found a narrow walkway lined with grilles on both sides.

"'Oo's there?" said a weak voice, and there was a scuffling noise, accompanied by a rattling of chains, somewhere off to my right.

"Hello?" I turned towards it, approaching the grille.

"Say, you ain't the cap'n," said the same voice, and then a thin ragged man emerged into the light. His hair was long and stringy, his beard was wild, and his eyes shifted with the distinct colours of a Water-Elemental.

"No," I said, gripping the grille with one hand. "How many of you are down here?"

"Carn't tell sir," he said, pressing himself up against the grille. "But you're one, ain't you? Got them eyes like 'em."

"Elemental?" I said, and he nodded. "Yes."

"Who is the captain of this ship?" I wished for some light down here, so that I would be able to gauge the scale of this operation.

"Calls 'imself Cap'n Blanchard. Lord knows if that's really 'is name. Say, mate...'e'll catch you if you stay."

"I figured as much," I said, pushing myself away from the grille and proceeded further into the brig. But all I saw behind them was an inky blackness. "But I'm well-armed."

That sentence was punctuated by thumping feet above. I looked up, but all I saw above me was darkness.

"Who is that?" I cupped my hand around the lantern and blew the flame out. Now there was an absolute blackness around me, not a crack of light anywhere.

"Jailer, mos' like," said a second voice, rough as a rusty spoon. "Come down to make sure we ain't plannin' mutiny 'r nuthin'."

I pressed my back into the grille and waited. The footsteps came closer. A flickering orange light came from outside, and then a large bald man with scars all over his scalp entered carrying a torch. I slid further along the grille as he came forward, staying just outside the reach of his torchlight. There was another twist in my stomach, much stronger this time. I held my breath in, just in case he was listening.

He came closer, and as I edged sideways again, my shoulder hit something solid. I was trapped, and there was no way to get past him without touching him. The only way out was to incapacitate him enough to give me a head start.

Slowly I inched my foot out into the walkway, so that the light caught the tip of my boot. He grunted in surprise and thrust the torch out towards me. I caught his wrist, yanking him forward with all my strength and shoved my shoulder into his chest. His breath escaped him in an audible whoosh, even as he made a grab for me. I ducked out from under his hand, clipping him under the chin with one fist. He staggered backward, allowing enough space for me to dart past him and towards the open door. I felt him catch my coattail. I yanked it away with a tearing noise. Then I dropped the dead lantern and fled.

Joshua seemed surprised when I burst out onto the deck, and for a moment he only stared at me in astonishment. I wasted no time, running over to the gunwale and climbing up onto it.

"What's goin' on?" He hadn't moved, glancing at the open door and then at me.

"Jailer. Caught me in the brig," I got out. "I'll explain everything later."

"Captain! Thomas! Wait!" Joshua shouted behind me, but I'd already stepped off the gunwale, plummeting towards the water feet-first. I hit it and plunged deep, the water wrapping around me like a blanket. Distantly I heard a muffled splash, and knew he'd followed me.

I surfaced soon after, seeing nothing but Joshua's hat bobbing on the surface. I managed to tread water as I spun once and then twice. Bloody hell, I'd lost him. I caught up his hat, and then mine, floating a distance away, and then swam to the dock.

Not even five minutes later, his head broke the surface near the stern of the ship. He shook his hair from his eyes as he joined me, climbing out beside me.

"Are you mad?" he said, and although his voice sounded angry, his mouth was barely keeping away a smile. "Doin' that with no pretence? Or warnin'?"

"I have been accused of being mad before, yes." I pushed my hair out of my face and clapped my hat on over it.

"So what'd we learn?" he asked as we left the docks, our boots squishing with water.

"The captain's name is Blanchard, but it's likely it's an assumed one. And the prisoners are being kept in the brig, in the belly of the ship."

"And they're Elemental?" Joshua tipped his head one way and then the other. "Didn't get a count, I'm guessin'."

"Yes, to both of those."

"Well, didn't think we could do it, Captain, but we actually accomplished somethin'." He grinned and grasped my shoulder with a wet slap.

I smiled back. "Yes. It was exactly what we came for."