With their valuables secured, Rhys headed back up on deck. He wished he could hide away their cargo and the rest of the money, but it wouldn’t work. He knew Lucy was right; the pirates would be expecting to find both cash and cargo. Not having either of those present was asking for a problem.

The Endeavour was just breaching the top of the cloud sea as Rhys reached the helm. Oliver stepped aside as Rhys approached, relinquishing control back to him. Taking a deep breath, Rhys adjusted the power to the ventral thrusters and brought them to a halt. The last vestige of cloudstuff sloughed from the Endeavour, giving Rhys his first true look at the pirates.

The other ship was around two-thirds of the Endeavour's size but had two additional vapour thrusters at the rear, giving it a strangely uneven look. The three cannons that Rhys had noticed earlier were matched by three on their port side and two at the prow of the ship. The extra thrusters meant that there wasn’t room for any mounted weaponry at the rear of the vessel. It was an interesting choice, but Rhys was bitterly certain that these pirates usually chased other ships when firing on them.

Unlike the Endeavour's skeleton crew, the pirate ship was all but teeming with people. Rhys could see over a dozen from where he was, most of whom were crewing the cannons or holding rifles with their eyes on the Endeavour. None of the rifles were pointed their way, but the implied threat was there nonetheless.

The pirate ship was moving steadily over to the Endeavour and came to a halt mere feet away from them. A pair of muscular men moved forward with long ironwood planks, laying them down to form a bridge across to the Endeavour.

As soon as the planks touched down, three rifle-bearing pirates ran across, showing no hesitation as they crossed between the ships. A single misplaced step would send one of them tumbling into the abyss, but this was clearly a familiar peril to them.

The pirates were all wearing a classic sailor’s garb of tight clothes with thick vests for warmth without sacrificing movement. More unusual was that each and every one of them bore a brand on their right cheek. Some of them even had a second brand that looked to be linked to the first.

The brand itself seemed to be some form of runic character, but not one Rhys was familiar with. Any curiosity he might have felt about it was overwhelmed by the cold wave of terror he felt when he saw them train their rifles on his crew.

Rhys found his gaze fixed on the closest rifle and absently noticed how new it looked. The ironwood barrel of the weapon was gleaming and fresh, clearly well-maintained and ready to be used.

‘Please, don’t panic and don’t do anything stupid,’ a man called out as he walked casually across the planks connecting the two ships and hopped onto the Endeavour. ‘My name is Giannis, and we are the Kou-Nak. Now, who is Captain here?’

Rhys vaguely remembered hearing about pirates named the Kou-Nak, but not to the degree that he knew anything useful. Still, they hadn’t killed them yet, which was a good thing in Rhys’s book.

‘I’m Captain Hunt,’ Rhys said, straightening reflexively as Giannis turned to face him.

The pirate had short dark hair, tanned skin and a ready smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Giannis was also one of the people that Rhys had picked out with the second brand.

‘Ah, Captain Hunt, tell me, is this all your crew?’ Giannis asked, cocking his head slightly as his right hand fell casually to the pistol at his belt. Like the rifles, the pistol looked like a new model, sleek and deadly.

‘It is, yes, we’re relatively new to working together,’ Rhys said, meeting the other man’s flat gaze despite the cold sweat running down his back.

‘Hmm, I even believe you, how odd. If there is anyone down there, though, I will kill you all for lying to me, understood?’ Giannis said, his hand staying on the grip of the pistol as he spoke.

Rhys simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he dry swallowed and tried to stay calm. The promise of death from Giannis was so at odds with the smile he wore, but something told Rhys that it wasn’t an idle threat.

‘Actus, Nax, check the ship,’ Giannis said, two of the pirates moving over to descend the stairs into the Endeavour slowly and carefully.

Rhys and the others waited in silence as the pirates checked the ship, several slow minutes passing before one of them came most of the way back up the stairs to give Giannis a nod.

‘Well, look at that. You were telling the truth,’ Giannis said, laughing softly to himself as he crossed over to Rhys. ‘Now, cooperate with us, and we will be on our way without issue. Tell me what you’re carrying and where it's stored.’

‘We have a range of finished goods that we're carrying, that's all. You'll find them all in the main cargo bay.’

‘Good,’ Giannis said, whistling sharply and beckoning to the other ship. A moment later, another two pirates had come over to join them. ‘You, take my men down to the cargo bay. Captain Hunt, please escort me to your cabin.’ Giannis gestured for Oliver to lead the other pirates, waiting until they had gone below before motioning to Rhys to start moving.

Rhys swallowed thickly and nodded, heading over to the stairs with Giannis a few steps behind him. The two pirates that had already been sent into the Endeavour were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Giannis whistled sharply as they went past, one of the two leaving their position to follow them.

Rhys’s heart was pounding as he made his way to his door, the two pirates close behind him and watching his every move.

‘Here,’ Rhys said, his throat uncomfortably dry and scratchy as he opened his cabin and stepped to one side.

‘Thank you, Captain. Actus, check the room,’ Giannis said, staying at the doorway with his eyes on Rhys as the other pirate stepped past him with their weapon at the ready.

‘Clear,’ Actus called back, their voice little more than a husky croak.

‘Fantastic, watch the captain then, please,’ Giannis said, swapping places with Actus as he stepped inside Rhys’s cabin.

Actus was a heavily built man with a heavy brow and deep-set eyes that regarded Rhys balefully. The man’s throat was a mass of scar tissue, likely the cause of his speech issue. Rhys couldn’t help but wonder how he’d been injured; it looked as though a good portion of his throat had been torn open or cut somehow.

‘Well, let’s see what we have here,’ Giannis said aloud as he searched Rhys’s bedside table. Rhys had been careful to return everything he wasn’t hiding back to its original place, so hopefully, it all looked natural.

Giannis sighed happily as he retrieved the portion of the ship's funds that Rhys had left behind, weighing it carefully in his hand before nodding in satisfaction. ‘Excellent, not a bad amount here, Captain. I’m sure you’ve hidden some items or coin around here somewhere, but I’ll only keep my people searching for the next hour. Call it a consideration to you for how you didn’t keep running when the conclusion was obvious. I wish more captains were as easy to deal with as you; it would save so much unnecessary violence.’

‘You won’t find anything,’ Rhys said in what he hoped was the right tone. ‘There’s nowhere to hide things on this ship.’

‘Well, we’ll search all the same,’ Giannis said with an expressive shrug. ‘Don’t mistake my allowance for weakness or think that you can start lying to me. We simply believe in letting you merchant types get away with hiding something. If everything had been hidden from us, well, then I’d just have to torture it out of you. Such a messy process, though. I’m glad that we won’t be needing that today.’ Giannis gave Rhys a long look with a slight smile that sent a shiver down his spine.

Rhys’s heart was pounding as he listened to the odd pirate. There was a chilling contrast between his friendly tone and what he was saying. The longer he spent with him; the more concerned Rhys was getting.

‘No need to look so worried, dear Captain. I’m sure you’ll behave yourself next time we catch up with you. Just remember, we are the Kou-Nak. Don't resist us, and we won't hurt you.’ Giannis told him with a too-wide smile. ‘Actus, get the others and search the ship for anything hidden. Captain, if you would head back up on deck, please.’

‘Yes, Giannis,’ Actus croaked, heading into Rhys’s cabin with an eager gleam in his eye. Rhys could hear the furniture in his cabin being tossed around as he headed back the way they’d come, Giannis a few steps behind him.

Giannis went back over to the pirate ship, leaving Rhys, Lucy and Tom under the watchful eyes of the other pirates. There was little that Rhys and the others could do with reinforcements mere moments away on the other ship and the pirates on the Endeavour keeping a safe distance from them.

A few minutes went by before Oliver reappeared with the pirates who had gone to the cargo hold. Actus joined them a few moments later, getting a report from the pirates who had been in the cargo hold before heading over to the other ship with one of them.

Rhys exchanged a worried look with the others as the pirates left the Endeavour. Hopefully, the pirates would take their loot and leave. Rhys only wished he could reassure the others that their valuables were safe.

Giannis eventually returned after a few long minutes, a sheet of paper in one hand and a guarded expression on his face. A stern-looking short woman joined him with a brace of pistols at her hips and the same two runes branded on her face as Giannis. The new woman had a scarred visage and an intense gaze that made Rhys shiver as she stared into his eyes.

‘Full name and ship name, now,’ the woman said, not raising her voice but making it absolutely clear that it wasn’t a request.

‘Captain Rhys Hunt of the Endeavour,’ Rhys replied, unable to look away from the woman as she stalked closer.

‘Well?’ The woman snapped as she came within a few feet of Rhys, her hands resting on the pistols at her hips.

‘That’s what it says here. Endeavour, Loggerhead Class. Rhys Hunt, Captain. How fortuitous,’ Giannis said, reading from the piece of paper in his hand. Each word was like a lead weight in Rhys’s gut; there was no chance that having his name recorded like that was a good thing.

‘Take command, keep them locked up. We’re taking the ship back with us. Kassandra will want to speak with them,’ the woman said, finally looking away and releasing Rhys’s gaze.

‘Very well, I’ll keep this lot, but send me another half-dozen to make sure,’ Giannis said, passing the paper to the woman as she stalked past him and back over to the pirate ship.

‘You six, get over there,’ the woman’s voice cracked out, sending six more pirates scurrying over to the Endeavour. A few of Giannis’s original group had also been on the other ship and hurried back under the woman’s stern glare. Once everyone was back over, the planks were removed, and the two ships began to drift apart.

‘Escort the crew back to their cabins, post a guard at each door and secure the stairwell. I will pilot us back home,’ Giannis called out as he walked over to the Endeavour’s helm.

Not all of the pirates were armed with guns; some of them had ironwood clubs and shivs, which was still more than Rhys had. One of the club wielders came over and motioned toward the stairs, making it clear that it was time to move.

Confused as to what was happening, Rhys went with the pirates, heading for the stairs at a steady walk. He could feel the eyes of the others on his back as he led the way; no doubt they were wondering just what he had done to draw the ire of the pirates.

There was only one thing Rhys could think of, and that was terrifying.