A Pirate's Bounty by Eliza Knight

“The king was a friend of a sort of my father’s. I think he does not believe me capable of the heinous crimes I’ve been charged with, but so many have placed blame on me. I believe he waits for me to return to tell him myself what happened.”
    “And now you shall.”
    He nodded and then picked up the next item, a jeweled belt. “This was my father’s. He had it on him when he was murdered, but when his body was found the belt was missing. The belt was being sold at a market, and when I questioned the man who sold it he described the man who had sold it to him. A witness. You can still see the blood dried between the links here.” He pointed to a dark reddish-brown stain between several jeweled links.
    Faryn nodded, feeling her stomach recoil.
    “And this last bit is the piece de résistance .” He tapped another velvet-wrapped object. “But I cannot show you what it is.”
    Faryn frowned. “Why ever not?”
    “I have never shown anyone before. I am…” he trailed off, his face suddenly looking vulnerable. “Mayhap this is all too much for you. You’ve already bared your soul to me.”
    She squared her shoulders, and with as much strength as she could muster covered in only a linen sheet, she spoke. “Wraith, I am not a child. I have been through more than most women I know, and I’ve come out on top, and strong.” Now she told him, only because of what he’d said, and because she wanted him to think she could handle whatever it was that lay hidden beneath the fabric. “Show me. I will not shy away from it.”
    He nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. “I took this myself from the scene, when I fought one of the attackers.” He unfolded the cloth carefully, revealing a gold ring with a large ruby.
    The way the ring sat on the linen, the crest faced away from her and she could not read the tiny inscription along its side.
    “A ring,” she said, unable to state more than the obvious.
    “Yes. The ring of the man who killed my father—I wrenched it from his finger as we fought.” With the tip of his finger, he rolled the ring so she could see the crest.
    It was then Faryn lost her balance and her struggle to remain calm. She turned away quickly, gasping for air. But it was no use. She ran to the nearest chamber pot and vomited. Just when she thought her stomach was good and empty, she heaved again.
    “I knew I shouldn’t have shared this with you, it is too much after your confession,” Wraith muttered as he gently pulled her hair back and rubbed a wet cloth on her neck and face. “Forgive me.”
    But she shook her head. It wasn’t that he’d shared the information with her that disturbed her, but the ring.
    A ring she’d seen many times before and on a man she would never have guessed could be capable of murder. A man who in her turmoil over the last few years, she hadn’t noticed was missing his prized family heirloom.
    Her father.

Chapter Seven
     
    Wraith was called to the stern while Faryn splashed water on her face.
    Her whole body was numb, yet it tingled all the same, and every time she recollected the ring her stomach protested. But seeing as how she’d already emptied it, there was nothing left for her to toss up. So she sat, huddled in a ball on the corner of the bed, against the wall, totally in limbo.
    How could she bring Wraith to her family now? Knowing that her own father had been the one to murder his family…
    She hoped and prayed they never set foot in France after tonight’s discovery.
    Her father would try to kill Wraith.
    And once Wraith found out who the ring belonged to, he would never look at her the same again. Her father was a cold-blooded murderer. Wraith would unknowingly resent her, put the blame for his family’s death on her.
    She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and took a few long slow breaths. What was she to do? She didn’t want to leave Wraith. She didn’t want him to get hurt or worse. She didn’t want him to hate her… With that she came to a