So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(31)

Without warning, Sister Fallyn barreled past her and Jeffrey and dashed out the door.

“Wait!” Brigitta ran after her.

The nun darted around the line of seamen, then stopped with a jerk. Brigitta caught up with her and winced at the disapproving glares from Rupert and Captain Landers. The new captain and commander were looking them over with annoying smirks.

“Ladies.” Captain Landers strode toward them and lowered his voice. “Please return to your cabins now.”

“Sorry,” Brigitta murmured as she tugged on Sister Fallyn’s arm, but the nun remained frozen as she stared at Commander Stahl.

“Kennet,” she whispered.

A trace of shock crossed the commander’s face before he turned away with an air of indifference.

Brigitta’s breath caught. This man was Kennet?

Sister Fallyn’s eyes misted with tears as she stepped closer to him and spoke in the Tourinian language. “It is you, isn’t it?”

Captain Landers’s eyes narrowed on the commander. “You know this woman?”

The commander scoffed. “How would I know a nun?”

Captain Wermer cast him a wary look. “Your given name is Kennet.”

“You’re alive.” A tear slid down Sister Fallyn’s cheek. “Why didn’t you let me know? All these years, I thought you were dead!”

“You know this man?” Rupert asked her.

“Yes, I—” Sister Fallyn began, but the commander interrupted her.

“She’s confusing me with someone else! She doesn’t know—”

“I would know my own husband!” Sister Fallyn cried.

Captain Landers stiffened, then his eyes hardened as he glared at the commander.

Kennet muttered a curse. “That was a long time ago, you stupid wench.”

Sister Fallyn flinched.

“Watch your tongue,” Captain Landers growled.

“What happened to you?” Sister Fallyn eyed him warily, her expression both injured and confused. “I thought my father’s men had killed you.”

Kennet snorted. “They paid me to leave you. Why the hell did you become a nun? You were supposed to go back home.”

Sister Fallyn stumbled back a step, and Brigitta caught her. “Y-you left me? For money?”

He smirked. “Did you really think I wanted to spend the rest of my life stuck on the Isle of Moon working in a butcher shop?”

Sister Fallyn’s face crumpled as tears ran down her cheeks. “How…?”

Brigitta couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She wrapped an arm around the nun. “Let’s go,” she whispered in Eberoni.

With clenched fists, Captain Landers stepped toward the commander. “You abandoned your wife?”

Kennet snorted. “Come now, we’re all pirates here. We’ll do anything for gold. I got twenty pieces—”

Crack. Captain Landers fist slammed into Kennet’s face, and the man fell back onto his rear. His feathered hat flew off his head, and a sudden breeze blew it overboard.

Yes! Brigitta had been raised to abhor violence, but the sight of Kennet’s bloodied lip was oddly satisfying. And she suspected Rupert was responsible for the loss of the commander’s fancy hat.

With a grimace, Kennet sat up and rubbed his jaw. “Fine. You avenged her. We’ll call it even.”

“No, we will not,” Rupert said, his voice edged with steel. “If you cannot be loyal to a wife, how can I expect you to be loyal to me?”

“What?” Kennet hefted himself to his feet. “Forget the wench. I’m a good pirate. I’ll serve you well!”

Rupert ignored him and turned to Captain Wermer. “I’ll accept you and your men, but not your commander. He will be put ashore.”

Captain Wermer nodded. “I understand.”

“You can’t do this to me!” Kennet shouted. “I’ll be penniless.”

“I’ll take him ashore,” Captain Landers offered, and from the rage burning in his eyes, Brigitta suspected the captain was planning a little more violence.

Kennet shot an angry look at Sister Fallyn. “This is all your fault, you stupid—”

“Watch it!” Captain Landers raised his fist, ready to strike.

“Oh, I see.” Kennet smirked. “You’ve done quite well for yourself, haven’t you, Fallyn? You’re not a nun at all, are you? You’re the captain’s whore.”

Sister Fallyn gasped, and Captain Landers struck the commander hard, knocking him out.

“Sister,” Brigitta whispered. “We should go below.”

“But—” A look of panic streaked across the nun’s face. “What should I do? Aren’t I still married to him?”

Captain Landers frowned at her. “Do you still wish to be with him?”

“No!” Sister Fallyn cried, and the captain looked relieved.

“Madam,” Rupert said. “You should have no trouble getting the marriage annulled due to abandonment.”

“Oh.” Sister Fallyn cast one last look at the unconscious Kennet, then turned away. She simply stood there, looking dumbstruck, so Brigitta led her back to the stairs.

“Is there anything you need?” Jeffrey asked as he followed them to their room.