Chapter 128 - A Pirate's Ship

Delaney looked around the huge ship in awe. The wooden boards were worn smooth and shining from years of life on the seas. There were painted symbols here and there that Delaney recognized from Captain Black's home as well. She assumed they must be pirate symbols or something from the land they came from.

"The Black Wrath was my parents' ship," Ian informed the group proudly.

"Can we look around?" Delaney asked.

Ian considered this, "Might be for the best if you stay above decks. Some of my men live aboard the ship even while it's docked."

"Besides you wouldn't want us stumbling across your pirate treasures," Cora smirked, teasing him.

Ian laughed somewhat uncomfortably, "I wish there was a treasure here worth being worried over."

The others laughed and with his approval, began exploring the pirate ship. Delaney took Vincent's hand and together they strolled along the decks of the ship. They went from one level to the next and on the highest deck they stopped and gazed out at the ocean.

Her husband wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. Delaney smiled and turned in his arms until she was facing him and could kiss him back. Vincent took her face in his hands and kissed her slowly and deeply.

"Can you imagine living on a ship like this?" Vincent asked with a smile.

"I could live here but only if I was with you," Delaney murmured as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again while he chuckled against her lips.

They heard rapid speaking then and turned to see where it was coming from. There were four young men standing together looking at them with wide eyes and speaking to each other rapidly in the language of the pirates. They were all tanned and wearing clothes like Captain Black. One of them pointed at Vincent and they frowned, speaking over one another.

Delaney saw they wore large swords just like Ian and the captain and now it made her nervous. She looked around for Ian but saw they were alone on this deck. One of the men walked forward and pointed at Vincent again and said something to him now. Vincent shook his head, not understanding them and the man said something else as he stepped even closer.

"What should we do?" Delaney asked with worry.

Vincent frowned and shook his head again, eyes on the man closest to him. Delaney felt her worry growing and saw his hand drop to hover above the hilt of his sword. The pirates saw the motion and got louder, speaking to each other as their own hands moved to their own swords.

"I'm going to get Ian," Delaney whispered to Vincent.

"No," he said sternly, "Don't move Delaney."

"But they are getting closer," she argued, "They look upset."

"We don't know what they want."

"Ian will be able to speak to them. They're probably his men Vincent just let me go get him. Surely they wouldn't touch me."

"We don't know that. They don't know what we're saying or what we're doing aboard their ship."

Delaney couldn't wait as the man took another step closer. She eased out from behind Vincent's tall, muscular frame and pressed her hands to the wooden railing behind her. She moved one step and then another. One of the men saw her and reached a hand toward her.

In a rush of activity, Vincent pulled his sword and pointed it in the direction of the man that was headed for his wife. Seeing the stranger with his sword out there was a flashing of blades as the pirates all unsheathed their own. They were nearly shouting at Vincent and Delaney now.

"What is going on?" Ian shouted suddenly leaping up the stairs to the deck they were on. He raised his hands in the air and roared at his men in their own language. They hurried to sheath their swords. The man that was closest to Vincent pointed at him and Delaney speaking quickly, looking just as confused as Delaney felt.

Ian looked from him to the other men and Delaney had a feeling they were getting scolded. When he had finished with them he turned to Delaney and Vincent looking apologetic.

"This was a misunderstanding," Ian explained, "They have heard stories of you fighting the dragons, Lord Adair and they recognized your scars. They were trying to ask you about the dragons but they should have stopped and waited for me when they realized you didn't understand them."

"It was my fault," Vincent shook his head as he sheathed his sword, "I was startled and drew my sword first. They only reacted."

Ian nodded and Delaney moved back to take her place beside Vincent again, her heart still racing from the tense encounter.

"This is my brother Samuel, my first mate," Ian introduced them to the man closest to Vincent before introducing the others as other younger brothers who were also crew members, "I'm sorry about their manners. My mother insisted all of her children learn English but their mother did not."

"These are the sons of the Captain's wife?" Delaney asked curiously as she looked at them and now saw the resemblance.

Ian nodded, "They are my half brothers. My brothers from my mother are on her crew and the crew of one of my uncles."

"Half brothers?" Vincent frowned in confusion, "Has the captain been married multiple times?"

"Just once," Ian replied with a smirk.

"I will explain later," Delaney assured her husband as she giggled at his confusion.

Thunder rumbled overhead again then and they all looked up to see the clouds were growing closer.

"We should probably get back," Vincent suggested as he slid an arm around Delaney's waist, "I imagine the Captain will be wondering where we've gone."

Ian nodded and clapped one of the younger pirates on the shoulder, "You're right. Let's go back."

Delaney took Vincent's arm and they walked back to the plank they had climbed up on. Ian held it in place as his guests got back to the dock. His younger brothers didn't wait though and they all climbed down ropes over the side of the ship.

Walking back to Captain Black's home, Delaney listened curiously as Ian spoke to his brothers in their own language. They laughed and shoved one another. This was the happiest she had ever seen Ian and again she wondered if it was right to make him return with them.

Then again if it wasn't Ian, Captain Black might send another one of his sons, and that one might not be able to speak English. That would be worse for all of them.

"I always like when I catch you and Miles laughing and teasing one another like that," Delaney said to her husband as she nodded in the direction of the group of brothers.

"It is nice to have a sibling you're close with and can talk to," Vincent looked fondly at the men, "It is a friendship like no other."

"I wish I had had a sibling," Delaney sighed, "Maybe the loss of my parents wouldn't have been so hard if I wasn't alone."

Vincent considered this, "I think losing my father and taking over his titles was made easier by having Miles. He was very supportive."

"When we have children we must have at least two," Delaney said to her husband, "Although I'd like to have more if we are able."

Vincent swallowed and looked away from her. He didn't say anything back and it hurt her heart that he didn't. She wished he could stay hopeful as she was instead of assuming they would not be able to have children at all.

They had been married only three and a half months and although that didn't seem like a terribly long time, it was already more than a quarter of the way through their first year of marriage. The time weighed heavily on Delaney and she considered the bottle she had hidden away in their bedroom. She wouldn't use it yet but it was growing more and more tempting.

-

The Captain was looking for them when they returned and so was Mason. Vincent quickly explained their curiosity to see a pirate ship and that Ian had been kind enough to show them his. Captain Black nodded and seemed to accept this excuse.

It was announced that dinner would be served then so the Captain led their group to a long table under the canvases and they all took their seats. Delaney sat safely between Ian and Vincent and was relieved that was her place when the servers began to pass by and serve her portions of foods she'd never seen before.

"Could you tell me what some of this is?" Delaney whispered to Ian and saw Vincent lean a little closer to try to hear as well.

The young pirate smirked but gave her a quick explanation of everything on her plate. She and Vincent tasted everything and Delaney was pleasantly surprised by some of the flavors.

Vincent barely ate, too nervous to be doing so in front of so many people. Unfortunately, his embarrassment made his scars darken in color anyway.

A lot of people in the crowd stared at Vincent and whispered back and forth to one another. Delaney was sure they were like Ian's brothers and just curious about the dragon fighting duke they had heard stories of but it didn't help ease Vincent's feelings of humiliation.

They had just finished their meal when the rain began. Delaney thought that would mean the end of the party but instead, the captain had laughed loudly.

"A little rain has never stopped a pirate!"

Cheers rose from the crowd around them.