A Pirate's Crown

"I told you, I have no interest in the crown. I want a ship of my own, and Saffar can have the rest."

"Are you sure?" Bromm asked, slapping his hips against hers and driving his cock deep inside her. Liya squealed again, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Bromm reached around to cup her by the jaw and point her face at her father's crown. "Look at it," he commanded, and he thought he could tell from the reflection in one of the jewels that she was. "Does it call to you?"

"You wear it," she retorted. "Pirates never cared for a bloodline. I just want my ship."

Bromm sighed and caressed her from her hips to her breasts, squeezing them in his hands. He pinched Liya's nipples between his fingers, eliciting a pleased sigh from her. Bromm lifted himself up onto his feet, thrusting himself deep into her while she stared ahead at the crown. His powerful strokes clapped against her buttocks, her jewelry clinked, and he realized he had given up entirely on trying to be quiet. Her father was dead, what was he going to do? And he could hardly stop other men from fucking his daughter while he was alive, since it seemed that she had gathered her own harem of loyal supporters about her.

Men she now wished to take with her onto her own ship, he thought. Why, she's just going to be captaining an orgy barge with all her men. She might as well have taken the emir's ship that we sank. I wonder, will she let her oarsmen fuck her? Will she let me fuck her if we sail together?

"If you're on your own ship," he asked through labored breaths, his hips slapping against her naked flesh and his cock throbbing for release, "How will we fuck?"

Liya turned her head to look back at him. Her brown eyes danced with mirth. "We'll pull up along side one another, I'll put my ass out the window and you can ride me like this," she replied, and Bromm felt his passion overcome him. He seized her by her hair and pulled her head back to kiss again. Liya moaned through their locked lips, her hand reaching back to caress his chest. He thrust into her hard again and, now balanced on only one hand, she toppled forward with a squeal of surprise and a jangling of her bracelets. Her face plunged into the ample pillows to cushion her face. Now pressing her flat against the floor, Bromm pulled himself up atop her and pinned her arms down as he fucked. Liya tossed her head on the pillows and giggled. She closed her eyes, her head sinking into the pillows beneath her.

Bromm growled with lust and snatched up a pillow from the pile. He pressed it down on her head, smothering her in the great pile. Liya clapped a hand to the pillow and held it in place, grunting and moaning under the impact of his powerful hip thrusts. Bromm fucked faster, somehow driven mad with lust even though he could no longer see her beautiful face.

"Nystra's cunt," she squealed, her voice muffled by the pillow, "I'm going to cum!" She kicked her legs underneath him, her feet slapping at his back. Her hands flailed about for something to grasp, and she clutched at both the pillow over her face and another that she seized in her other hand. Bromm growled with lust, feeling that he was about to finish as well. Liya screamed with orgasm and her whole body shuddered. He felt her sex pulse around him, gushing with wetness onto his bedsheets. Whichever sea rat draws my ire next will earn the task of washing these, he told himself, but his mind was too fogged with passion to think much more on it.

He tore the pillow from her face and hurled it aside. Liya lay exhausted, her face stained with black streaks of her eyeliner and flushed red with exertion. She sprawled on her side, staring up at Bromm and quivering with pleasure. Her little breasts shook under his continuing assault and he could contain himself no more.

Bromm pulled himself from her and scrabbled forward on his knees to come on her face. Liya was too exhausted to do much but roll over onto her back and open her mouth. Bromm came early as he scrambled into position, squirting a rope of cum high into the air before he could squeeze his cock shut. It arced over Liya and landed on another of his pillows. Woe to that unfortunate sea rat, Bromm mused, but pinched his cock shut until he could aim it into her face.

He came hot and fast once he released his hold on his cock. Liya squealed in delight as the hot, sticky cum fell on her face and tongue. Bromm groaned with release, unleashing everything he had on her. Liya giggled as she grabbed his cock in both hands and stroked him to get every last drop of it out. Bromm sagged over her with exhaustion, then fell to the pillows beside her. Liya stretched languidly on her back, moaning with satisfaction. Her golden bracelets clinked atop silken pillows, and Bromm could no longer think of power struggles, crowns, or Terkar's querulous sons.

Liya turned over to face him, then kissed him on the cheek. Bromm was too exhausted to recoil at her cum-stained lips.

"You always know how to make me feel good," she whispered in his ears, and Bromm sighed. His hand rose from the pillows to fumble about for a rag, and he found a silken handkerchief discarded some time ago. He turned over to stare in Liya's eyes and wiped her face clean. She smiled.

"You and me," she whispered again. "At sea, with the wind in our hair and before us a world to plunder."

Bromm smiled breathlessly. A droplet of cum hung from one of her lapis earrings and Bromm daubed it away with the handkerchief. She shifted on the pillows, looking into his eyes with some concern.

"Bromm?" she asked quietly.

"Your ship," he said, and rolled back onto the pillows to stare at the ceiling. "I don't know how they will agree to it."

"Don't let them agree," she urged. "Take it, and let us be gone."

"Saffar has raised the harbor boom," he reminded her, and Liya groaned with frustration. She threw herself back onto the pillows and slammed her fists down. One silken pillow popped up, spinning in the air, its tassels golden in the sunlight, and landed on her knee. Liya swatted it away in annoyance.

"Just give the crown to whoever agrees to give up the ship. Surely, one of them will."

There came a knock at the door, and Bromm started. It creaked open slightly, and Ji peered in, showing surprise at neither Bromm's state nor his companion.

"Sorry to disturb you, captain, Lady Liya," he said with an amused smile, his eyes wandering all along Liya's bare body, "But we're back."

"Fuck," Bromm gasped. "Just a moment. I'll be right out." He reached for his clothes. Good thing Parash isn't here, he thought to himself. I'd never hear the end of it. He quickly pulled on his clothes and grabbed his weapons. As he reached the door, Liya called to him from the bed.

"My ship, Bromm. Don't you forget it."

"Never," he replied hastily, then went through the door and shut it behind him. in the main room, Serris and Ji awaited him, while the other pirates were still packing their things for the retreat to the Lion of Amra. "Alright, let's hear it," he said, still out of breath.

Ji set a small treasure chest down on the floor before him, then took two sacks from his men and poured out a modest hoard of coins and loose gems.

"This was all we could get before Saffar's men ousted us from the vault. We could have overwhelmed them, but I obey your orders."

"Good," Bromm said. He rubbed his temple, feeling the hangover once again. "We might still reach an agreement with him or Jiran. This gold will give us the upper hand in the negotiations, but I'd hoped to have more than this."

Ji nodded and stuffed the coins back into the sacks. He handed them to his men for safekeeping. Bromm turned to Serris.

"What news from the Lion?"

"Kainan and the crew make ready to sail, but we've another problem. Saffar's men have manned the harbor bastion and raised the boom. They will not let the Lion leave her berth until you hand over the crown. He claims it as his father's birthright."

"Damn," Bromm growled. "I had hoped to be gone before that happened. He is more confident in his position than I thought."

"And more suspicious," Serris added. "I had expected him to take our loyalty for granted, and move to finish off his brothers first."

"Serris, request a meeting with Saffar. Let's see what he is willing to offer us for the crown. And Ji, go back to Kainan and make sure he knows the plan. I want them ready in case we need to flee quickly, including shooting our way out, if need be."

"Aye, aye, captain," said Ji. He shouldered his musket and left. Bromm sensed motion behind him and turned. Liya stood there, back in her drab servant's dress and veil.

"What about Debauchery?" she hissed. "I want my ship, Bromm."

"And you will have it. I will persuade Saffar."

"You don't have my talents," she opined sharply. "Saffar is drunk on his victory and claims the crown as his birthright. You'll be lucky to get a bezant out of him, let alone a ship. We must strike now, while he is waiting for us! Storm the bastion, spike the guns, and make for the open water! Scuttle his ships, if we've the time, or break the slaves' chains and leave him to quell the revolt."

"Give me time to work my silver tongue," Bromm replied. Liya merely scowled and stormed off into his bedchamber.

Bromm sighed. It was going to be difficult to get her what she wanted. Her suggestion to storm the harbor bastion and seize the ship by force was not misplaced, but he feared the casualties that would be sustained in attacking the fort. He looked around at his men. They were his men, his friends. Together they had been through the fire, and he loathed the thought of losing them.

To an extent, he felt the same about Terkar's sons. He had never been overly fond of them, with Khalan's fiery temper, Saffar's arrogance, and Jiran's serpentine personality, but they had fought by his side, drunk together, fucked girls together, and he could not easily break those bonds.

His reminiscing about their triumphs was interrupted by Serris' return. His first mate wore a grim expression.

"Saffar refuses to negotiate," he said. "He demanded the crown and threatened violence if he does not get his way, as well as making many unkind assertions about my mother, who he has never met, I should add."

Bromm sighed. He turned the crown over in his hands again. Liya had been right. What should he do now? Storm the bastion? He sat himself down on a bench in front of the window and rested his chin on his fist, staring out the window. Lion of Amra's masts were visible from here, and he could see his men crawling through the rigging in unsubtle preparations to sail. Not far from them, more men scaled the ratlines of Terkar's xebecs at their berths, and Bromm felt tension in the air. The whole fortress was a powderkeg, just waiting for an errant spark to set it off.

"I told you," said Liya from behind him. "Saffar is an arrogant, stubborn, blockhead of a man."

"You were listening through the door again," Bromm accused, and she did not deny it. "You're as slippery as your brother."

"And I learn much in the shadows. I try to tell you these things, but you do not listen."

"I've sailed with pirates for almost twenty years now, Liya. I know things as well."

"I've lived with these men my entire life. You've been here barely a year. Listen to me when I try to tell you how they think."

"Pardon, captain," said Ji from the door. "But Jiran is in the courtyard below. He wants to speak with you."

"Jiran himself? That's awfully bold of him. What does he want."

"The crown, I would wager. But he demanded to talk with you."

"Is he alone?"

"No, he has five men and three women with him. They brought chests. And weapons."

"Get some men in the windows and on the roof. If he's planning to seize it, I want someone ready to end his life. But I'll go down and speak with him in just a moment. Liya, stay here."

"I never thought to leave," she said, pulling her headscarf tight around herself again. "He cannot know I'm here."

"Good. Maybe he will be willing to give you your ship."

"Bromm," Liya said seriously. She stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He stared down into her dark eyes. "Do not trust Jiran. I mean it."

"I know what I'm doing, dear girl. Now, lurk up here by the windows and listen in, as is your way. I will hear him out and then decide what to do."

Liya started to protest, but Bromm headed for the door. He handed the crown to Serris and commanded him to keep it safe. At the door to the courtyard stairs, he stopped, summoned his page, and armed himself. His trusty sword was already strapped to his waist beside a dagger, but he added another dagger, a brace of pistols, and a boot knife to his arsenal. He did not need Liya's warning to know that Jiran was not to be trusted.

Gan stepped up beside him with five other sailors.

"Ji is on the roof," he said to Bromm, and behind him he heard other men taking up shooting positions at the windows. He heard the scrape of ramrods in musket barrels and smelled pouring powder.

"Let's go," he said at last, and opened the heavy wooden door to the courtyard. Below him stood five men arrayed around Jiran, who sat on a pair of treasure chests in the center of the courtyard. He wore a gleaming steel cuirass and a dashing red cape, topped by a broad-brimmed hat with an ostrich feather. His men were all armed and armored as well, with broadswords at their hips and arquebuses on their shoulders.

Behind them stood three slave girls that Bromm knew well from their many drunken orgies. Jiran had garbed them in long cloaks that covered them from shoulders to knees, and covered their heads in cowls, but Bromm could see their naked bodies in his mind's eye, writhing and moaning atop him, their pert young breasts bouncing as they rode his cock. Jiran had chosen well from his father's varied stock, bringing with him three slender, fair-skinned girls -- Bromm's favorite. While their complexions were all alike, Jiran had selected a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, acknowledging Bromm's preference for all hair colors in his bedmates. Their eyes downcast and their hands folded in front of them, they obediently awaited their master's commands as Bromm descended the stairs.

"Captain Bromm!" Jiran beamed, spreading his arms wide in greeting as he stood up from his seat. He approached slowly, both hands held out wide. Bromm eyed him suspiciously and stopped him with a raised hand when they were ten paces apart.

"That's close enough," said Bromm. He eyed Jiran's men standing impassively behind him, then turned to look at his own men. A half dozen windows looked down into the courtyard, and in each of them stood a man with a musket at the ready, half of them backed by another shooter at the ready. Above them, Ji knelt on the roof with a musket in his hands and two more by his knee.

"All that just for me?" Jiran teased with a deceptively easy smile. "I am flattered." He bowed low, still keeping his arms spread wide. As he bent, Bromm noticed the contours of a knife hilt on his belt showing through his cloak. He decided to get things to the point.

"What are you offering, Jiran?"

Jiran stood up and twirled his cloak in a flourish. He extended a hand toward the chests. "Gold. Silver. Jewels. Slaves." He snapped his fingers, and the girls doffed their cloaks as one. The simple cloaks fell away, revealing three naked young bodies, decorated with jewels. Two wore sleeves of henna up their arms, long coiling vine-like lattices of reddish-brown accents. The blonde girl's shins had been painted as well, and above her shaven sex she promised in the flowing script of Zahir to obey Bromm's every desire.

They each wore golden bracelets and anklets, along with jeweled earrings. The redhead had a silver ring through one nostril and a ruby stud in her sex. They turned their eyes to Bromm, each girl promising in a look to relive every wild, drunken night he had shared with them over the past year. Bromm swallowed. He felt his cock stiffen underneath his trousers, its strength returning after having just spent itself on Liya.

Not to be outdone, two of Jiran's men stepped forward and opened the chests. Inside glittered a king's ransom of golden coins and shining gemstones, all atop a lining of deep purple velvet. Across the top one of hoard was laid a diamond-studded dagger of silversteel.

"All this could be yours," Jiran said, stepping toward Bromm and theatrically clenching his fist. "In exchange for your support. I would succeed my father and rule the eastern seas. Together you and I will be unstoppable. We will cut a swathe across the waves and leave none spared. In no time at all, you and I will sail through the Gates of Dawn and plunder the Sea of Spice. We will charge a ruinous tribute over every spice convoy that passes through the Gates, forcing them to acknowledge our supremacy or else take the long way around Limaxus to the south. Think, Bromm! It could all be ours! In time, we might even sail to Torvuls and depose the sorceress queen to take the Jewel of the Seas for ourselves."

Bromm chewed his lip in thought. Jiran and his sister shared a grand vision of the future, though he found that Liya's was the more plausible of the two. The sorceress queen of Torvuls had reigned for an age, throwing down countless would-be usurpers more powerful than Jiran and Bromm. Any attempt to truly close the Gates of Dawn to the precious spice fleets would bring the full might of the powers of the Sea down on them. A pirate empire might even bring down the full might of the Golden Armada. Even the Lion of Amra would be woefully outmatched by one of the emperor's warships.

"I see you are amenable to my proposal," Jiran beamed slyly. "Think not just of the gold, Bromm, nor of the women you will enjoy," he waved a hand to the three naked slave girls behind him, "But of the glory! The adventure! The legend! Men an age from now will speak of us in reverent tones. 'Bromm and Jiran, Kings of the Sea!'"

"And all you require of me is to hand over your father's crown?" Bromm asked. Jiran snorted.

"Just the crown? Oh, Bromm. I have not come to buy a trinket. Why, I could turn this booty into a new crown, with twice as many jewels and enough gold to break my neck when I put it on my head. No, I have come to strike an alliance. The crown is part of it, but I need more than that. I need your swords against my brother, your ship against my enemies, your mind for my war councils, and your reputation for my recruitment. You have sailed with some of the greats, you have been beyond the Gates of Dawn, crossed swords with Amazons and the Golden Armada, slain wild beasts and a king, and fucked nereids. You are a legend already, and I aim to ride you to glory and riches."

Bromm felt himself puff up at hearing his own tales repeated back to him. Some of them had been exaggerated, but every pirate expected that. And Jiran was right, he was a legend in the making. But Liya's words echoed in his mind. Jiran was not to be trusted.

"And I will seal our alliance," Jiran went on, "With the hand of my sister. Oh, you may choose any sister you like, but I know you will choose Liya." Bromm raised an eyebrow at him and suppressed a smile. He means to give me Liya? If only he knew I have already had her, today, and that she is even now under my roof. "You might have thought you were clever, sneaking around the way you were, fucking her under the stairs, in the cellar, aboard your frigate, but nothing happens on Meleath that escapes my notice. I know every whispered secret, every tunnel under these walls, even every insipid feud between crabbers on the far end of the isle. Take my sister's hand, become my brother by marriage, and we will rule the seas together."