Chapter 109: The Pirate's Son, Part 2

Captain Kent Carlton eased the bottle of rum back onto the table and eyed the man who sat across from him. All he'd wanted was to be left alonealone with his rum and his misery until he could down enough of the pungent liquid to dull the ache in his heart left by the graceful Lady Isabel Ashton.

Rising, he pushed his chair back, its legs scraping across the wooden planks of the tavern floor. He gripped the hilt of his cutlass, and a hush fell over the unruly crowd. "Do you dare challenge me?"

A stout, gap-toothed man with a black beard that hung to his waist planted both fists on the table and pushed his immense body up from his seat. With one flick, he sent the table crashing into a crowd of men whose curses filled the air. "Aye, that I do, ye slimy carp."

Kent glanced at his shattered glass lying in a pool of rum at his feet. "I can excuse your ignorance in insulting my character, but now you've spilled my rum, and that is an affront I cannot ignore."