Chronicles of the Dragon Pirate Read Online Free PDF Page B

walked up the center aisle towards a man sitting in the second row, facing the altar, who turned his head to watch us approach. He was lean, his wrinkled face close to being skeletal, with a bald head marred by brown spots, and he stared at us with eyes shrunken into his skull like dark pits. But his voice was firm as he hailed us. “Ah, Captain Alfonzo; I feared you were not coming. And you must be young Tomas.” He slid over on the bench and patted the surface beside him. “Come sit with me.”
    There was naught in the world I wanted to do less. But I did as he asked, sitting on the bench as far away from him as I could, as General Montejo bowed to him. “Sir, the heathen chief and his son have yet to arrive.”
    The old man shrugged. “We clearly told their envoy sunset today. Very well: once we have concluded our business here, we shall adjourn to the ships.” Master Gomez made a strangled sound, and the old man looked at him. “You are troubled, master merchant?”
    Master Gomez was sweating. “Ah, a little, milord.”
    “They are the ones who broke faith this time, not you, and in front of witnesses. I would say the score is settled, at least where honor is concerned. Would you not agree?” Master Gomez bobbed his head and the old man looked at me. “So tell me, Tomas, who am I?”
    I took a deep breath to settle my nerves. “I’d say you’re Lord Marcus, head of the order Draco Dominus. At least the chapter in the New World,” I amended quickly, adding, “I mean, who else could you be?”
    He chuckled,” Who else, indeed? Now tell me, what do you know of our order?”
    I chose my words with care. “Only what my foster-mother’s told me.”
    “And I can well imagine just what she has said, considering the Draco Dominus, under a different Knight-Abbot of course, helped in the destruction of Fort Caroline. She has told you we were once part of the Templar knights, has she not?” I gave him a tentative nod and he continued. “We alone of the Templars survived the great purge, and only because we could call upon our dragon-spirits in our defense. So his Holiness spared our order and made it independent. But there was a price. Since the Templars had built themselves great fortresses and had amassed an enormous amount of wealth, corrupting themselves in the endeavor, we were ordered to never follow in their footsteps. Thus, we are only allowed temporary places of shelter. For example, two years ago his Holiness, Pope Paul, ordered all the Draco Dominus to abandon their fortresses, so I had our chapter destroy the fortress we held on Hispaniola and re-establish ourselves on the island of Jamaica. We did this without a word of complaint, for we are an order of wandering knight-monks, obedient to his Holiness at all times.” He gave me a shrewd look. “Now tell me, since we are a wandering order, what refuge do we have that no one can take away from us?” I shook my head and he said, “Take a moment to look at Captain Cholula and think.”
    I turned my head to look at the captain, imagining her on the deck of her...”Ships,” I blurted out in sudden realization. “If your order always has to wander then they’re perfect, because a ship’s always travelling.” I looked back at Lord Marcus. “You wander the seas in your own floating fortresses, and no one can take them away, because you’re following the letter of the law.”
    Lord Marcus gave me a pleased look. “Cholula said you had a full set of wits about you, and once again she speaks the truth. You have the right of it: our order does wander the waves, hunting pirates and those out of favor with his Holiness, heretics and the like.” His face became severe. “But our true mission is seeking out and destroying Shadowmen and those Dragons who have given themselves over to evil, the dragon-spirits known to their kind as the Dark Sisters.”
    “Lord Tiberius told me about them when he renewed my license,” I said, beginning to forget my