Tony and the Buccaneers: Tony Johnson Novel 01 Page 3

  Oh shit. No wonder they were keeping me in cuffs, and no wonder the goddess told me I’d be tempted. I narrowed my eyes as suspicion filled me.

  “What do diviners usually do on your world?”

  They both exchanged glances, and Lia answered me, “They work for the king, and are extremely rare. As far as I know, there are only five currently in the Islands kingdom of Iziral. Their job is simple, they find witch’s, and strip their power.”

  Fuck.

  Sharon said in repressed anger, “A sorcerer and sorceress gain their power at sixteen, before then it’s impossible to detect. The kingdom is ruled from Pheles, and each of the islands has a duke. It’s their job to ensure any woman older than fifteen wears a pair of those bracelets until they turn sixteen and are cleared by one of the diviners. The diviners work with many sorcerers and are well protected and extremely powerful as a result.”

  They exchanged glances again, and Lia took up the story.

  “We… are pirates of a sort, and we do raid ships that carry government supplies and tax monies in order to survive. But our true aim is to find these girl wielders and rescue them before the diviners arrive to strip them. It’s an ugly process, magic is intrinsic to a man or woman’s soul, and people that have been stripped of magic are never really right again.”

  Sharon said, “We saved two sorceresses yesterday, while we raided the harbor at Goldenleaf island, another ship in our small pirate navy sent a group inland to rescue them. That’s why Kelly wanted to kill you, she lost a sister some years back to a diviner. You see, they only strip a woman of magic if they don’t resist, her sister resisted and those just get slaughtered out of hand.”

  I felt a strange rage growing in me, why would they do that? I also looked down in confusion at the map. There were so many islands, all belonging to this Iziral islands kingdom.

  I asked, “How do you get away with that? I mean, why don’t they just take all their ships and invade this last island cluster?”

  Lia replied, “Two reasons, fear of rebellion, and elves. Right now we’re kind of a pain in the ass, but we only manage to save a score or so each year. Due to that, everyone on the island with a few exceptions are sorceresses, and we have many protections and spells in place, it’s a fortress. If they sent enough ships to take care of us, they’d be afraid the populace would rebel. It takes a large army to keep their kingdom together, most families have lost daughters or mothers to the king’s laws and the diviners. The king is not well loved by his people.

  “Also, sorceress haven isn’t an island name, it’s what we call our town. The real rulers of that small string of islands are the elves. Raethsari is the name of the main island and their forest. The elves are insular, but they suffer our presence. Personally, I think they believe what the king is doing is a crime against nature, so they support us by allowing our presence, but no more than that. However, if the king’s forces were sent against us, they would use their magic to send back any invasion fleet. We hope.”

  Sharon added, “Elven magic is different, not based on the elements, but life and nature. It’s something no diviner has been able to successfully copy either, so I would suggest you never try.”

  “That’s… a lot to absorb, and I’m horrified by what they do to innocent young women, but I do have one more question.”

  When they nodded, I asked, “Witch, sorcerer, wielder, sorceress, are their differences?”

  Sharon smiled, “No. Sorcerer and sorceress are the proper names for what we are by gender. Wielder is a general term, to indicate both sexes as one group. Witch is just a derogatory term for sorceress, it is what Iziral calls us, but it hasn’t always. This has gone on for just three generations. No one is sure what set it off, but we know the king’s wife, a sorceress, died shortly before the new law was made.

  “Before that diviners were honored, and quite often teachers, and judges. Their ability to remove magic from someone was seen as a blessing because it was used strictly for those that broke the law. Now the government itself has become the terror of the kingdom, and diviners the worst of the worst. I’m sure you can see now, why you would be such a boon to us, or quite possibly our downfall if you play us false.”

  I nodded slowly, “I would never strip someone of power merely because they were a woman.”

  They both exchanged glances, “Any more questions?” Lia asked.

  So many, but I had no idea where to start, and I was overwhelmed with information already. My first inclination was to go kick the king in the teeth, but that wouldn’t lead anywhere good. Fortunately, I was good at suppressing my need to kick people that deserve it, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it as a cop for very long.

  “Wait, if only diviners can feel magic, how did your other group know who to rescue?”

  Lia smiled at me, which made her go from stunning to mesmerizing.

  I was almost positive now contact with the goddess had upped my libido, how was I going to survive surrounded by all these gorgeous women? I was very attracted to both of them for goodness sake.

  Lia said in her musically hypnotic voice, “The bracelets. They suppress magic, and change color only if the spell is actively needed. That way when the fifteen year olds turn sixteen, they are revealed, and kept locked up until one of the five diviners can make their rounds. The others are left cuffed though, just in case something went wrong with the spells, but as far as I know that’s never actually happened.”

  I nodded, “Is magic hard to learn?”

  Sharon shrugged, “Some things are easy, and come naturally. Other’s take time. Spells are extremely difficult. I don’t know how much training a diviner would need, and unfortunately we have no one to train you except in spell work. Only the royal family or the diviners themselves could train your inherent magic, and of course that’s not a possibility.”

  Great, I’d have to wing it, assuming I’d even get the chance. I thought I had a pretty good general picture of things now though. There would still be plenty to learn, but I had no doubts what I wanted to do, or of what the goddess wanted from me. The question was, what exactly could I do to help these ladies, and would they even let me try?

  Curiously, I asked, “This is kind of personal, and you don’t have to answer, but were you rescued?”

  Lia tilted her head, “I was. From Polperro six years ago. Since then I’ve been helping rescue more sorceresses as much as I could. Once they trained me that is.”

  Sharon shook her head, “I was born on Sorceress haven, my mother was pregnant when she was rescued.”

  I frowned, at sixteen?

  “How early do your people marry?”

  Lia shrugged, “Eighteen on average.”

  Lia looked unsure and turned to Sharon.

  Sharon looked uncomfortable and said, “My mother was uncommonly beautiful, and caught the eye of the island’s ruler when she was fifteen. He…” she just trailed off, and her eyes widened at the anger that must have been on my face.

  “That’s not acceptable where I come from, but sadly is also far too common. I didn’t mean to bring up something painful. I was just, curious about you both.”

  Sharon shrugged helplessly, “There is no shame in it for me or my mother, only my father’s.”

  I nodded, and changed the subject, “So how could I help? As a diviner I mean. You don’t need me to find young sorceresses, the bracelets take care of that.”

  Lia answered, “That’s true. Ship against ship we have an advantage, since the entire crew are wielders, but they have a lot more ships. Sometimes we have to abandon the mission, we could be far more successful with you amplifying our power, and suppressing theirs, not to mention wielding your own.”

  “Wielding my own?”

  Sharon nodded, “When we fight, if someone throws ice at us, even though I’m a water wielder, I can’t affect that ice directly. It already belongs to my opponent’s magic. All I can do is raise a wall of water, or throw a counter to meet its force. A diviner’s magic can int
eract with other’s magic. It has to in order to enhance, suppress or strip. You’d be able to steal their missile, and send it back. In theory.”

  I nodded in understanding. We talked for a while longer, and then Sharon offered to give me a tour.

  The ship was rather large, it had three levels below decks and then the top deck of the ship. The bottom was mainly for storage, the second level had the jail cells, more storage, and the kitchen. The third level had crew quarters, which were very small rooms with a simple bunk and a small dresser.

  All the lighting, heating for the ovens, and things like that were accomplished with spells that had been enchanted into the ship.

  The top deck was all sails, rigging, the captain’s ready room, the helm, and ammunition that looked like cannon balls, but there were no cannons. I assumed the earth wielders would be throwing them with magic.

  I had a really good time with Sharon, truth told almost too good, it felt like I was on a date instead of getting a tour from one of my jailors. We mostly spoke about nothing earth shattering, but I got to know her a little better. I also found out that sorceress haven was very women heavy in population, but there were men there as well. Fathers and brothers who insisted on coming along with their budding sorceress, to not only watch over their family, but escape the grip of the Iziral king.

  She walked me to my new room, and let me know when dinner would be. I hadn’t asked her, I don’t know if it was nervousness, the new situation, or that I felt the need to find my feet before pursuing it, but she dropped the information I really wanted to know with a shy smile on her face right before she left.

  “And yes, I have not yet found a worthy mate.”

  And then she dropped a bigger bomb, which just confused me more, “Neither has Lia.”

  She squeezed my arm, and then walked off while I stared at her with what I’d imagine was a poleaxed look on my face.

  Chapter Five

  I had the run of the ship, but I didn’t speak very much except to Lia and Sharon, who always had a smile for me, and seemed to have time to answer my constant stream of questions. Marie was friendly as well, and gorgeous to boot, but I wasn’t getting vibes from her like I was the other two. It was really confusing, that they both seemed to be flirting with me without concern for the other, and finally I just asked Lia about it.

  Lia chuckled, “We’re just… testing the waters? You seem like a good man, and your very attractive. Also, Sharon has told you there aren’t very many men on the island?”

  I nodded, unsure where she was going.

  She continued, “A man on the island is encouraged to have up to three mates, that may change in the future if the population evens out, but right now we’re building a society the way the kingdom used to be. To do that, we need children, and we need to share. Eventually, things will even out? Maybe. Even so, every year we add more women than we do men. We’ve taken a natural view of the situation.”

  “Jealousy isn’t a problem?” I asked, wondering why I didn’t just keep my mouth shut. Having both of them would be a dream come true, I think. Not that it was going to happen right now, or even tomorrow, but the mere possibility set my blood on fire.

  She looked confused, as if I was talking nonsense.

  “No, this kind of thing is accepted everywhere, but isn’t usually necessary on the other islands where the population is more naturally even. It still happens of course, but is rarer. The women get a say of course, it’s important that they get along with the other wives. That isn’t a problem though, Sharon is my closest friend.”

  I nodded, and let it drop. I also had the feeling there was more to it than that. At least I understood the context of Sharon’s comments the other day. I also guessed much like earth this flirting we were doing was just the precursor of dating. The only difference being it was the precursor to dating both of them at the same time. I imagined at that point they didn’t want to rush into anything, not with me still in cuffs, with my future undecided.

  After all, one day Kelly could get her wish and turn me into fish food.

  It was the second day at evening meal where things got interesting. Outside of two of the most beautiful women I’d ever met, both liking me at the same time I mean. There was the sound of a horn, and the tables of women started to chatter and speak excitedly.

  I looked at Sharon and Lia questioningly, both of them had joined me for dinner and had never seemed very far away from me the last day. A part of me was glad of that, I was getting attached to them and it had only been a day. The other part of me wondered a bit cynically if they were just ordered to keep track of me, and flirting was an easy way to keep me calm and obeying orders. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, so I dismissed my negative thoughts the best I could.

  It was kind of a natural reaction right? New world, didn’t know anyone, magic was real, and I was sort of a prisoner. I couldn’t help but try and form connections, and it certainly didn’t hurt I was attracted to them both, and they were nice to me. Not to mention nice to look at.

  Sharon answered, “Lookout signal for ships on the horizon. We took a course to avoid this now that our mission is over, one that stayed far enough away from the islands and the regular shipping lanes between islands. My mother will fill us in soon.”

  Lia sighed and looked at her plate, then grabbed a roll and stood.

  “I should check it out myself.”

  Sharon gave her a subtle nod, and she left the table.

  “What was that about,” I asked.

  Sharon shrugged, “She’s first mate, her job is to evaluate and give recommendations to the captain.”

  I nodded, “I got that part, I meant the little nod.”

  Sharon smirked, “She just wanted to make sure I was comfortable being alone with you. You are a terror after all,” she added with in a teasing tone.

  I nodded, “Plus, water wielder right?”

  I’d meant it to come out joking, to tease her back, but it hadn’t come out that way at all.

  She examined me a moment, and then said, “Yes, but there’s also the sword, and everyone else in the room. But I don’t believe you have it in you to hurt me.”

  That hung between us for a moment before I responded.

  “No, I don’t believe I could.”

  Unless she attacked me, but even then I’d most likely find it difficult. We were silent for a while, as we dug into our meal, and it was maybe fifteen minutes later when Captain Melinda walked into the room and stood stiffly very close to the wall. I watched rather impressed by the discipline as all the chatter died in moments and all eyes turned to their captain.

  Melinda said, “There’s a six ship kingdom flotilla on our stern. It appears they were waiting in ambush behind one of the smaller uninhabited islands, and started a stern chase as we passed by. Good news is it’s late, they won’t catch us before nightfall, and we’ll change tack at that time. No lights tonight people, not on the top deck at least.”

  Melinda nodded a moment later, when no one commented, and then moved to get her meal.

  Sharon noted my confusion, as Lia sat back down and dug into her meal as we finished ours.

  “Six would be a really tough fight. We’ve got the advantage one on one, they generally have one of four crewmen with magic, where we all have it. Six ships though, all kingdom navy, could be a challenge, maybe too big of a challenge. We’ve never faced more than three before, which is a normal patrol group.”

  I looked around, and there were a great number of attractive but grim faces as they absorbed that news.

  I wondered if I could help, but I didn’t think there was any way they’d remove the bracelets. Still, I’d an idea about that, based on their explanation of how diviner magic worked. The bracelets blocked all other magic, but I could still feel the magic in the bracelet itself. I got the idea it couldn’t block itself, because it had to throw that blanket of magic around me to block the rest. Didn’t that mean, in theory, that I should be able to connect to it, m
aybe even suppress it, if I tried?

  I hadn’t yet, I figured if I tried and was caught, they’d kill me. It was better just to play along for now. Based on the history that they’d told me I couldn’t really blame them for their caution. I knew though, that if we didn’t shake those six ships in the dark of night, I would try. I could suppress the idea out of mere curiosity, but if all our lives were on the line that was a different thing altogether.

  That idea kind of scared me, because I had no how to use the magic, even if I succeeded. They’d told me that some things came naturally, I could only hope that was true. Better yet, I hoped we just lost the six ships and it wouldn’t even come up. Of course, my life was never that easy.

  I shook my head slightly, and felt highly overwhelmed for a minute. The grace and calm I’d seemed to absorb temporarily from the goddess was definitely fading.

  I’d been shot, four times. Once mortally.

  I’d been saved, by a goddess no less who’d given me the most intense pleasure I’d ever felt, and then sent me to another world, to a pirate ship full of hot women that could do magic and kick ass, yet desperately needed me anyway because of my supposed great power. It seemed… crazy, and clearly not so reasonable at all.

  Yet, there were so many things that lent this as reality. Yes, two of the crew seemed to be attracted to me, but they hadn’t just hopped in bed with me either. If this had been truly a delusion or fantasy, they’d have been naked and on my cock in five minutes. Sharon seemed to trust me already, but Lia was obviously holding herself back, and more reserved with her judgement.

  Then there was Kelly, the one I’d come to think of as my true jailor, and the angry suspicious looks she sent at me whenever we were in the same room. Marie, who was polite and friendly, but clearly not interested in me at all.

  I’d been taught how to read people, and I was fairly good at it. It all felt… right, outside of the new world with sexy magical pirate women wearing supple and body conforming leather outfits that is. Thinking of it like that, all together, it almost sounded ridiculous, like a puerile fantasy of a thirteen-year-old boy. Except again, if it was that, all the women would no doubt want me. I certainly wouldn’t have a fantasy about a woman in pain who’d lost her sister to tragedy, and that wanted to gut me before feeding my body to the fishes.