The Swashbuckling Yarn of Milady Vixen Read Free Page A

expression she met the gazes of the sailors while she climbed to the empty prow. Pointing to the very tip of the ship, Suga told her daughter without words where to take up her vantage point. Kneeling briefly, Mama set the short lance beside her and began chanting. All eyes were upon her. Suga’s dark chocolate skin, her swaying bosom, long, lean legs and proud arching neck were seared into the memory of everyone who witnessed her preparations.
    She stood without warning. Twisting her long braids into a ponytail, so it appeared a sea creature with endless tentacles had gripped her by the head, she picked up the spear on the deck. A surprised gasp was torn from every throat when she launched herself into a series of jabs, thrusts, and spinning movements too quick for the eye to follow. Her feet slapped against the floor in a primal rhythm, and a fierce look twisted her features. Violet studied every move, the powerful grace and the intense concentration of the spear dancer.
    Yes, I must be strong like my mother and learn the ways of the spear if I am to avenge my father, Violet swore inwardly.
    Of course you realize that Suga’s bizarre display was not truly for practice, right? She was sending a warning to the men whose hot stares she had detected when they had boarded. Any lusty thoughts or erotic daydreams died upon the flashing tip of her weapon. A woman has to look out for herself and her daughter—don’t you agree?

To Sea with Thee!
    Violet was standing at the prow of the Dancing Dolphin , the salt spray in her face and the wind in her hair. Gripped in her right hand was a smaller version of her mother’s spear, and in the other was Mister Snookums. Looking out all around her, she could only spy the rolling deep blue waves until they met the sky far off on the horizon. The pitch and yaw of the ship’s motion had become second nature to her. Even the sailors toiling on the vessel had given her tight-lipped but honest grins at the speed with which she had obtained her sea-legs. Her mother, on the other hand, was often hanging over the side, retching loudly. Some people just don’t travel well.
    Pulling herself away from the mesmerizing view of the ocean, Violet began the spear dance her mother had been teaching her. Despite the work she had put into it these past two weeks, her solemn-faced mother critiqued her efforts harshly and found them unsatisfactory. Stomping her feet on the deck, avoiding the butt of her spear, Violent waltzed, spun and thrust.
    “I think ye are better off with a sword,” a man’s voice interrupted her.
    Her feet crossed up into the spear’s back length, dumping her onto her butt as the weapon flew out of her hands. It skewered the space between the sailor’s legs, making him hop back, both hands covering the precious cargo betwixt his legs.
    “Blimey, lass!” Ginger Tom exclaimed. “Be careful with that pig-sticker!”
    “Sorry, Tom,” Violet said.
    She stood up and rubbed her stinging backside, and the ginger-haired man laughed. It was an infectious sound, and soon she joined in.
    “If’n ye beg my pardon,” Tom started off. “I have something that ye might find to be more suitable.”
    From behind him he pulled a short sword, thin bladed and nearly her height. It was a common weapon, not gilded or ornate, but it caught her eye and made Violet’s stomach tremble nervously. She snatched up the spear and aimed the flint point toward his once-more guarded crotch.
    “Now avast, lass! I don’t intend to spill your guts out with it,” he cautioned her.
    “You want to give that to me?” she growled suspiciously.
    “I thought I might teach ye to fence. I asked yer mother, and she said it’d be okay.”
    “The spear is the weapon of my people.”
    “Well, about that,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Your esteemed mother stated she’s given up hope you’ll ever learn it well enough. That’s how this got started. I told her about the sword I used to practice when I was a