Ashore in Malta
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The Mermaid's crew undertake two missions ashore in Malta. Here you can read about the Maltese people they meet:
Or you can read about other characters in the books: Carlo de Santiago Lily first meets Carlo on Gisella, where he too is a prisoner, held for ransom by El Capitán de Diablo. Carlo is a little older than Lily; a nobleman by birth, brave, handsome, adventurous ... and completely hopeless. Nothing in Carlo's pampered life has prepared him for the rough life of a pirate. Instead, he was tutored at home, and as the younger son he was destined to grow up to become a Knight. Now he finds himself at the mercy of men who only respect others for what they can do - not who they are. Carlo tries desperately to be taken seriously by the crew, and wishes he could become a pirate like them. He has tried to adjust to the daily routine on the ship, helps the men with their chores (and often gets in the way). His great hope is that he will be able to prove himself in battle. But to Diablo, Carlo is nothing more than an excuse for a very high ransom fee. For hundreds of years, the Maltese people have been ruled by the Knights of St John. Carlo's father, the Duke, is from one of Malta's ancient noble families. Like many noblemen, he is proudly Maltese, yet some of his ancestors were Portuguese aristocrats who first came to Malta to serve with the Knights. So the de Santiago family brings together the heritage of both the ruling Knights, and the ruled Maltese. The Duke is proud, perhaps haughty, but fiercely determined to defend the rights of the nobility and the greatness of Malta. His first wife died in childbirth but many years later he married a young woman, Carlo's mother, from one of the most ancient of Malta's noble houses. They live in the Old City, Mdina. He has two sons, but Carlo, his youngest, has yet to prove that he is worthy of the great name of de Santiago. Mister Black is a gentleman. A secretary at the court of the Knights of Malta, he lives with his family in a house high on a cliff top. He is well-read and his library contains many treasured books in several languages. He likes to wear the latest fashionable waistcoats and shoes from Paris or Lisbon and his hair is always perfectly groomed. Like the Duke de Santiago he is proudly Maltese, but his mother's family were from Ireland. Unlike the Duke de Santiago, though, Mister Black is not wealthy. He knows everything that goes on at the Grand Master's Palace, and he is intensely interested in the upheavals that have shaken Europe since the French Revolution. He and Lily meet under the worst possible circumstances - in the middle of the night during a pirate raid.
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| ©2006 Kelly Gardiner |