Annie Simpson is a Scottish lass on her way to the colonies as an indentured servant until her ship is attacked by Blackbeard's crew. Israel Hands is Blackbeard's second in command who is questioning his commitment to pirate life. Lizzie Poole is a lonely innkeeper's daughter who longs for a secure home all her own. As their worlds collide they explore the timeless dynamics of power.
Annie Simpson is a Scottish lass on her way to the colonies as an indentured servant until her ship is attacked by Blackbeard's crew. Israel Hands is Blackbeard's second in command who is questioning his commitment to pirate life. Lizzie Poole is a lonely innkeeper's daughter who longs for a secure home all her own. As their worlds collide they explore the timeless dynamics of power.
Excerpt
Israel studied the girl, looking quite different from the day they’d found her. They had captured a sloop bound for Jamestown carrying men and women for indenture. Teach had strolled onto the deck as usual with firebrands under his cap and ribbons in his beard, a costume that he used to strike fear into the crews of the ships they took. The sloop’s crew and passengers cowered behind barrels. Some of the women swooned, but not Annie. She stood there filthy, painfully thin and alone in a sea of cowards.
Teach had been visibly shocked. He stood before her studying the strange creature, the only person in years who hadn’t fallen at his feet in fear. Then he bellowed “Is she secure Mr. Hands?”
“Aye, sir.”
The girl had not flinched at his booming voice. She simply stood there. He stared a moment more at the sharp blue eyes that defiantly stared back. Her eyes were the only thing about here that wasn’t brown. Her dress may have started another color, but by then it had become tattered and stained the color of dung. Every visible inch of her skin was smudged with dirt and her hair hung in matted clumps. Glancing around, Hands had noticed that her appearance wasn’t any different from the rest of the human cargo. Teach never looked at the rest of the prisoners. This courageous jewel-eyed ship rat had caught his attention and Hands knew that Teach would not be satisfied until he’d had her. Hands felt a stab of pity. Teach took her by the wrist and pulled her to the captain’s cabin, vacant since the captain had been killed in the fray. “Mr. Hands, guard this door. The rest of you men secure the captives and do what you will.”
Fifth Book of the Southern Swallow Series. Nan Ya and his crew take a final adventure into a mythical Chinese universe and become entangled in court intrigue.
Third Book in Five Book Series - Southern Swallow - a tale of 12th Century China. Li K'ai-men becomes entangled in an intrigue that becomes his undoing.
