章 148: Aurane 4
"Heave."
Aurane Waters, Valyrion bastard and conqueror of Bloodstone, or at least Salt-Town, smiled as he crossed the muddy trench which was even now being filled with sharpened wooden stakes.
He was not one for such things himself, but it was clear that the engineers of Dragonstone knew well what they were doing here, though the same could not necessarily be said of the soldiers under their command. Still, the battlements of the rising fort Saltspire were growing steadily enough. It was no castle to be sure, not yet at least, with logs cut from the forest further inland on the island serving as the initial walls of the structure.
The fort was to overlook the eastern side of the Bay of Salt-Town, to be matched by a sister at the western end some point in the near future, earth was being packed into a raised interior, to protect it against cannons, apparently, as the Prince did not think his monopoly on the devices would last forever. The fort itself would be packed with them ideally, though it's initial armament were apparently not the rifled devices the boats were provided with. Instead, it would be armed with the older smooth-bores which the Dragonstone foundries had produced in excess prior to the creation of newer models.
Aurane could find little distance between the two, both seemed perfectly capable of shattering masts and sinking vessels, but then, the Prince claimed that the distance was vast, and he didn't particularly want to argue with the boy who had forged all of this.
It hadn't taken long for the first three structures in the fortress to be raised. A command building, little more than a Hut truly, and he preferred his quarters on the water, was the first to arise, followed by a small chapel for the gods, and then by a prison.
It was awfully easy to outfit a prison in towns where the slave trade was so common, though now the cages were mostly occupied by their former owners.
Not all though, and that was why he was visiting the dingy building today.
"Up and at 'em, Sal." He said, gesturing for one of the guards to splash the man's face, even as Polly repeated his words in her croaking voice.
"Up and at 'em, up and at em."
He loved that bird sometimes.
The man on the floor was bruised, but still in better condition than most of the others in this place. Everyone knew he had been a pirate of course, but the folk in town spoke well enough of him that he didn't get the beatings that the slavers did, and most of the injuries he had picked up were from his drunken attempts to escape arrest the previous evening.
He seemed far soberer today, as he sputtered out the water.
"It's Captain Sal." The Man choked out, sitting up, before turning his eyes towards Aurane.
It was almost like a mummer's play how they widened in size as the man realized his situation.
"Aw hells, no disrespect meant… Captain…."
"Aurane. Aurane Waters and you are Sal-Kaeron, a fairly prominent pirate who had henceforth evaded my notice in this town."
"Evaded," Polly squawked "Evaded!"
"Quite."
The man had the sense to look bashful.
"Ah well, I wasn't trying to evade you, not exactly, I just wasn't particularly looking for you, thought I'd let things cool down a bit before I went looking for work, specially with the way you handled old Sam. Dumb as he was."
Aurane chuckled slightly, in a way his Mates told him was menacing. Bloody Sam and his officers had been lined up in the town square and shot one at a time by Aurane himself, then strung up in a pair of former slave-cages for use as gibbets over the edge of the bay to mewl and die like the wretches they were.
If anything would convince pirates that their time here was up, it would be the rotting corpses of men like them hung over the bay under the sight of the fortresses' guns.
"And why shouldn't ye be joining him? You're a well-known pirate yourself, albeit of a slightly better reputation, though I put little stock in that."
The man balked. "Only a little better ye say? Why Sam was a bloody tiger shark he was, looking to chum the waters, not make a living, my ships were raiders sure, but not loons." The man smiled, even in his drenched and bruised state. "Look, I have a ship in the harbor if ye haven't sunk it for sport already, and I know her in and outs, what say ye let me fight Fer you instead of doing something regrettable."
Aurane stared at the man for a long moment, before throwing his head back in laughter.
"Oh, that is a gutsy hand to play, but are you sure you can back it up with Yer cards?" Aurane blinked through his laughter. "That ship is Narrow Sea Company property now, acquired as pirated goods. If ye think y'll be some free sells ail sort then you are quite mistaken."
Before the man could object, however, Aurane did raise a finger. "Still, I'm afraid this is a tad above my station, I can't recruit you on my own volition. Regardless of my opinion." Aurane scratched at his stubble. "I'll have ye put on the ship to Grey Gallows, still in chains o'course. Ye can plead Yer case to the Prince when they go there to coordinate."
The man, Sal Kaeron, nodded sharply, his tired eyes sobering plainly.
"I can live with that."
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット