𝕽𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕯𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝕭𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 (Shiva x rskde)

[Shiva the Cat]

No one ever feared the Lucrezia until it was too late.

She had been christened in honor of Lucrezia Borgia, her captain being an an admirer of that beautiful poisoner. It had been six years since the former French merchant ship had been taken by pirates using the same ruse they would use today as they hunted the Juan Pedro up the Florida coast. She was a smaller ship, barely one hundred feet, with never more than twenty guns on board to keep her light in the water. Swiftness was Lucrezia's greatest virtue, and besides, her crew preferred to do their fighting at much closer quarters.

And unless a ship had encountered the Lucrezia before, they almost never failed to get closer.

Even now, a dozen or so women were strolling leisurely along the decks like pastel butterflies, shielding their fair complexions with lace parasols and fluttering fans. Even without the help of a glass, it would be impossible for men who'd been long at sea to resist the temptation of the sweet smiles and heaving bosoms waving so beckoningly before them. Besides, her colors weren't exactly threatening; most agreed the red bull on the field of yellow looked more like a bemused cow than anything else.

So almost every time, the target had pulled close to hail the pretty ladies on board. By then it was too late.

They never saw the eighty other women (very few of them pretty and none dressed in gowns, but all carrying cutlasses and flintlocks) hiding below decks, and while the thirty or so men who remained in sight might have appeared harmless enough, they were killers, every one of them. Several had served under Mad Alice Reed, the Pirate Queen, who never took prisoners and was rumored to have even committed acts of cannibalism prior to her death of illness on Tortuga. Thankfully the captain of the Lucrezia was not known to be quite that savage, but only because she already had all the reputation she needed.

Captain Salomé Reed was the only child of Mad Alice, a twenty-seven year old mulatto who had held command over the Lucrezia ever since its capture. Now her rum-colored eyes watched the horizon for any sign of the Juan Pedro, expecting to overtake the vessel at any moment. For three weeks now they'd been hunting the ship and its cargo of molasses and sugarcane, valued at enough of a sum to keep the crew happy and perhaps invest in a new gun or two. It had been some time since her ship had chased a Spanish vessel, and Salomé had no reason to believe her usual tactics would prove unsuccessful.

That was why a little smile immediately cracked across her plush lips at the call of “Sails!”, although the joy was short lived.

Moving to the side of Mrs. Briggs, the gigantic red-headed quartermaster with a glass in her hand, the captain gazed off in the indicated direction. “Is it the Juan Pedro?” she asked, foolishly sure of the answer.

“No ma'am, it's British.”

Her face immediately fell as she snatched the glass from Mrs. Briggs. “Shit...the fuck are they doing out here?” she cursed, lowering the device. “Any idea who it might be?”

Briggs hesitated a moment, then looked down towards her captain. “I'd heard the Malevolence was hunting pirates in these waters. You'll recall the price the governor put on us...”

Well, on Salomé, to be more specific. The idea that there was a ship crewed by more women than men still seemed utterly preposterous in many ports, and several of the governors didn't believe the Lucrezia even existed. But it was well known that Mad Alice had a daughter who'd taken up her mother's trade, and if the Pirate Queen had managed to avoid death by hanging, the least the British Empire could do was see to it the sentence was carried out on the Princess.

“Can we outrun her?” she asked, knowing the grim answer. They were bounded by land to the west, and a storm on the northeast. It had been part of their strategy to try to drive the Juan Pedro into a trap, but Salomé had never expected pursuers to come up on them from the south.

There was only one thing to do. “Decoys on deck!” she ordered, ensuring that any lingering ladies below the deck would finish their adornments and come up immediately. Any other women not currently necessary to tend to the ship knew to conceal themselves, including Salomé herself. Glancing across the deck, she nodded silently to her first make, Jakob, trusting him to run matters and give the order to attack once the British ship was within boarding range.

Then came the waiting.

 

[Risky]

Yellow-green eyes stared at the sails in the distance as the Malevolence approached her target.

They had been tracking this ship for days, following rumors that it was crewed by the infamous Captain Reed, a pirate with dirty tricks up her sleeve that the Empire wanted dead more than anything. The crew of the Malevolence hadn't seen another ship for a few days now, but they had been tipped off which direction the Lucrezia had been headed in when they last left port, all one really needed to do to bribe a pirate in Tortuga was to have enough coin and not be wearing red after all.

The Jameson Trading Company was one of the powerful conglomerates in the area, side by side with the East India Trading Company in direct competition, though if Mr. Jameson himself were asked about the relationship between the two companies he would probably say that they were allies while on the sea.

And these days, allies were important in the dangerous pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean and West Atlantic.

Alec ponders for a moment while hanging from the rigging, his body naturally stabilized against the fairly unstable rope that was tied perfectly to the Crows Nest and the side of the ship, every sailor here knew their way around this ship. She was fast, the fastest Galleon on this side of the world and paid to be professionally repaired whenever they were in port, pirates never had the comfort of knowing that their ship would be fully refurbished with each visit to whatever hole they climb down into to get drunk on land.

While she wasn't primarily tasked with finding pirates, she had earned quite the reputation for doing so, almost as if taking down pirates was just something they did along the way to their destination, cocky bastards. The proud Union Jack flies above the flag of the Jameson Trading Company's own flag, Alec glanced up to ensure that everything was in order in the Crow's Nest before working his way back down to the deck of the Malevolence, finding the new Swabby still mopping the decks. The kid was green as grass, had never even seen a pirate ship before, and he didn't seem to understand protocol because as far as Alec could tell, he didn't even have his weapons on him.

"Drop that damned mop and go grab your weapons, can't you see there's a ship on the horizon?" Alec's deep voice calls to the younger swabby, who stiffens when he hears someone calling to him, he'd had a pretty rough day already being yelled at by the crew to keep cleaning and focus on his own tasks. But now a crew member was telling him to prepare himself? He quickly nods and runs off, putting the mop away and making his way below deck to grab his flintlock and his cutlass.

Alec nods to himself, armed with a musket strapped across his back, a flintlock on his right hip and a cutlass on his left, the Marine had already proven himself on multiple boardings, today wouldn't be any different than the last few times that they had taken down some infamous pirate that other ships didn't know how to deal with.

As the Malevolence approaches the Lucrezia, the crew holds their breaths, rifles and cannons pointed towards the ship in case it decided to do anything stupid.

~

Jakob held his breath as he watched the Malevolence start its approach on their starboard side, electric blue eyes catching the amount of fire power that was being aimed at them as the ship mirrored them, starting to come in for boarding action.

Please work.

The ladies dancing and moving around the ship looked innocent enough that the ship may just force her crew to board the Lucrezia (with the hope of finding and killing pirates to 'free' the ladies on the top deck), or if it had really been hunting them from Tortuga.. Might just find it better to open up the boarding action with an entire broadside.

They had never had to engage in direct action with a hostile ship before, the Lucrezia's own cannons were outnumbered heavily by the Malevolence. He glances and catches Salomé's nod, returning it before fixing his eyes back on the enemy ship that was closing its distance. "Thank Christ." He mutters to himself, clenching his eyes closed before letting out a quiet sigh of relief, his body hiding expertly behind a set of barrels, concealing his form as he reaches to grasp a flintlock that he'd kept in his trousers.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

"Did you notice the other flag flying under the British?" a soft voice with a French accent murmured in Salomé's ear.

Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed the ship's surgeon had silently sidled up beside her. God but that Louisa could be a sneaky bitch, the captain thought. Probably came from all those years the woman had spent working in a brothel. By all rights she ought to have been parading the decks with the rest of the decoys, she was certainly pretty enough to fit in. But as the only person on deck with the unquestioned ability to set bones, suture cuts, and treat illness, Louisa was utterly forbidden from taking part in combat. Even now, there was a warning look in Salomé's eyes, asking why she wasn't already secured in the belowdecks hidey-hole.

"I did," the captain answered abrupty. "It's the Jameson Trading Company. Why, do you think they're transporting more than just pirate hunters on there?"

Louisa shrugged. "I do not know. Mignonette did not say anything to me when I last visited." Mignonette was Louisa's elder sister, a whore in a Nassau brothel who often supplied the crew of the Lucrezia with leads on targets. "It is possible though, that perhaps they are seeking to kill two birds with one stone, no? Protect their cargo and capture the notorious Madame le Captaine Reed? But the bigger question is: what could they be carrying that would require such protection?"

Salomé was silent for several moments, then jerked her head ever so slightly. "Get off to the hole with Manuela and Miss Lindsay."

"Oui, Capitaine."

The guns were still ready just in case, although the captain warned them that they were not to fire unless absolutely necessary. Considering the Lucrezia had never crossed paths with the Malevolence before, it seemed best to adopt the guise of a simple merchant ship, its lack of national colors explained perhaps by a poorly managed smuggling operation, or worse: a floating bordello. Mr. Jones, the gunner, was the only male not on deck with the decoys, while any woman not in a gown had concealed herself out of sight of the approaching ship. Every one of them had fallen completely silent now, while the rest of the men on deck seemed to be busy making as much noise as possible, as if to cover for their apparently low numbers with the sounds of more.

Loudest of all was the little Italian carpenter, Signore Lecce, who with his fastidious sense of fashion and overly affected manners always managed to surprise other vessels into momentary carelessness. It also didn't hurt if survivors believed the Lucrezia to be an Italian ship, neutral in the political matters of the West Indies and merely there to make a quick profit by any means necessary.

"Bongiorno!" the carpenter hailed with his opera-singer pipes once the Malevolence was in range. "Do I have the honor of addressing the capitano of the Malevolence? May I ask where you are bound?" It was a regular ruse; once Lecce got his answer, he would invite some of the men aboard to collect empty envelopes with fake names on them, bound of course to whatever port the targeted ship was headed. In exchange for the delivery of the false missives, the Italian would invite the officers of the ship to take tea with his pretty "daughters," each of whom had fastened herself to a man and were fluttering their fans even more rapidly now.

The lead decoy, a tall woman with white-blonde hair piled artfully on top of her head, looked in Jacob's direction as she giggled inanely at some comment of the man beside her. Only someone with her great height could see the signal the first mate had given her, and when the other decoys saw her bright red fan suddenly snapping shut, they each did likewise.

"Would you excuse me a moment, sir?" said each decoy to her companion, sliding the fan into the pocket of her gown. Only it wasn't a real pocket, it was a concealed slit in each bright skirt that would allow the woman to brush her fingers against her thigh...where each woman had a flintlock ready.

The shots rang out almost in unison, and a moment later the hatches burst open, the rest of the crew swarming like maggots out of a corpse. The Malevolence sailors who had ventured onto the Lucrezia's deck never had a chance, and within seconds the pirates had crossed onto the British vessel, slashing and shooting their way through the crew. Salomé herself fought like a valkyrie, although her mind was busy calculating the accumulating bodies and determining when the attack would need to be called off.

Most people would never believe it, but Salomé Reed was not her mother. The elder Captain Reed would have no qualms about slaughtering the entire crew of a ship and setting it to burn once the cargo had been taken, but there was something in the younger pirate that abhorred excessive violence. Perhaps it was the challenge of finding that perfect balance of horror and effective mercy that would allow her to keep her reputation while also minimizing the risk to her crew. Perhaps there was just something soft inside her that nearly three decades hadn't been able to kill. But each man and woman who'd pulled a weapon against the Malevolence knew Salomé's rules of engagement, and the punishment that came with breaking them.

First of all, the decoys had been instructed not to kill any man beside them identified as captain, first mate, or surgeon. Of course, they were still expected to shoot the men in the foot or arm, but hostages would ensure that the other vessel wouldn't turn their guns on the Lucrezia. Once the enemy ship had been boarded, women and children were never to be killed, but always taken as hostages, along with any man who could not be identified as a member of the crew. If possible, the very young crewmen were to be spared, and indeed several of these had willingly joined the crew of the Lucrezia, being eager to see the cruel flogging captains of the Royal Navy on the wrong end of a cutlass. And once surrender had been offered, it was to be accepted without further bloodshed.

It was slow in coming. The pirates outnumbered the sailors of the Malevolence, but it wasn't the regular sailors putting up the bulk of the fight. There were better-armed men among them, better fighters, and there were enough of them that several of the pirates had fallen back to the Lucrezia. But they hadn't gone alone. The cleverest among them had lured the more foolhardy of the mercenaries (or so they assumed the well-armed men to be) after them, while the strongest had picked men up bodily and carried them back like writhing sacks of potatoes over their shoulder. Even Salomé had locked eyes with one handsome, dark-haired soldier, flashing him a grin that would show him a pair of unnaturally pointed eyeteeth.

Alice Reed had filed her teeth to points, but Salomé's were natural, and a well-known distinguishing feature. Any man after the reward on her head would be sure to recognize them.

She moved like a dancer in her retreat, beckoning the soldier with her sword and her heaving breasts to chase her. Once she was back on deck the fighting continued and her dark figure might have been lost among the others, but there was no mistaking the voice that ran down to the gun deck.

"FIRE!"

While the Lucrezia didn't have many guns to speak of (seventeen functional at the moment), all had been prepped before the first victims had even been lured on board. Nine fired against Malevolence, ripping holes clean through her before the pirate ship began to jerk forward. A few of Salomé's people had been left behind on the galleon, a necessary sacrifice for a prudent escape. But several men of the Malevolence, including her captain, were still on board the Lucrezia as well, and she was relying on the hope that the British gunners wouldn't be quite as cold-blooded as Captain Reed.

The fighting continued on the deck of the pirate ship as Mr. Briggs, the equally brawny husband of the big quartermaster, brought the ship about and prepared to flee south. They were still in range of the galleon's guns if they chose to fire, which meant they needed to subdue the invaders on the deck immediately if Salomé wanted to present evidence of ransom, not slaughter.

She needed a surrender, and she needed it fast. Otherwise her people--the women in particular--would no doubt kill every stranger on board, and give the galleon all the excuse they needed to open fire.

 

[Risky]

Alec watched warily as the men of his ship started to board the Lurcezia, as if the officers had completely forgotten why they were here with the sight of silk and fans. But he wouldn’t be fooled, he glances around to the other Marines on board, all of them experienced sharpshooters and pirate hunters that all seemed a bit uneasy with this boarding. Alec pulls his musket from his back and keeps it at the ready, not pointed at anybody in particular but ready to fire in an instant if something went wrong.. if this ship was the one they were after, the first wave aboard the Malevolence would pay dearly for their trickery.

~

Jakob watched with mischief-filled eyes, the officers of the ship were certainly more naive than the crew. But he watched with concern at the more heavily armed crew, they seemed like they were getting ready for something.. this fight wouldn’t be in either sides favor. With their officers distracted, maybe the enlisted crew would have trouble fighting off the pirates with no chain of command.. but even then, he could identify a few enlisted men who seemed to have some charge.

“Fuck.” He growls quietly, watching the decoys start to move their fans so that they could grasp their flintlocks, he knew that there was no going back now.

The first shot fires and one of the officers collapses to the deck, some of the decoys were more bloodthirsty than others who simply pressed their flintlocks to the chins of the officers to force them to surrender. His eyes shot a dirty look to the one who had killed her prey before going wide as a red mist sprays from behind her, one of the Marines on board having opened fire.

“Brace for boarding!” A voice shouts from the Malevolence, the Marine who had fired quickly reloading his shot as the pirates began their boarding. Jakob himself jumped up from behind his cover and grabs hold of the rigging, swinging across with his crew and landing flat on his feet on the deck of the magnificent galleon.

~

It was a nightmare for Kaden.

His soft brown eyes went immediately wide watching as the officer was murdered in cold blood, and another shot rang out to finish his assailant who laid dead on the deck of the Lucrezia, her dead eyes staring up at the sky, unblinking. He had never seen death, nor had he heard the crack of a musket firing, his right ear ringing instantly as the musket sounded off.

He was frozen in place, eyes staring wide at the pirates swinging across the gap between the two ships to board the British vessel, too many for the Marines to shoot with their single shot muskets. But that didn’t stop them, the ten Marines on board all pinning a target with their muskets, the shots ringing out in a staggered volley and forcing the bodies of eight pirates to fall to the ocean below. Kaden’s hands were shaking as he held his flintlock tightly, eyes looking around wildly for a target.

He was approached by a female pirate with a big grin on her face, holding her cutlass as if ready to block his shot, though his flintlock was not in a readied position to shoot her quickly. As she approached his grip on the pistol slips, a quiet clunk sounding as it hit the deck. She grabbed him and immediately put him in a headlock, easily transporting the young man back to the Lucrezia to join his officers, his body still in shock, so much so that he just limply followed along.

~

“Bastards.” Alec growls after seeing the body of his officer slump to the floor, the subsequent shot that had followed had been his own, an expertly aimed bullet tearing through the heart of the assailant. He had been drilled countless times to get his reload down to thirty seconds, and that was barely enough time to crack another shot off as the pirates swung from their ship to his own, watching the body of a large man catch his musket ball and fall to the ocean, Alec’s hands casting the rifle aside and drawing his cutlass, a marked black-steel blade that had once belonged to a pirate.

Their boarding action was swift, practiced, the pirates storming their vessel and the sounds of flintlock shots and clashing steel ringing through the air, the experienced Marines outnumbered and outgunned, but fighting with the ferocity of a deadly storm. The first pirate to dare lock blades with Alec was another woman, and he cursed quietly to himself as he easily disarmed her, running her through with his blade that became soaked with her blood, her wide green eyes watching him before she slumped dead to the deck. The markings on his blade supposedly drew the energy from whoever it killed, the blood dribbling into the markings on his blade as he tore it free from her body.

His eyes looked around the deck for his next target, watching with unease as more of his Marines were wounded and captured, or simply killed for their efforts to stop the invasion of pirates aboard. A shot rings out and his head turns wildly, a tall man with braided gray-black hair had executed their Captain on the spot, Alec’s hand turns white around his blade before he looks around again, catching the eyes of Captain Reed.

“You.” He growls, watching how she cockily beckoned him to follow before retreating back to the Lucrezia, the Marine taking her bait and rushing to the edge of his ship, jumping across and pulling his flintlock, shooting a pirate that had tried to meet him as he swung across the deck in the chest. He started to make his way towards the Captain, but was immediately met with the sound of boots pounding against the deck towards him.

~

Jakob hated it when his Captain was so foolish, the one she had tempted was clearly one of the more experienced Marines on board, taking her bait but easily dispatching of the crewman who had decided to meet him on board, Jakob’s body moving before his mind had time to process the situation, he knew what he had to do. He couldn’t let her fight alone, it was her place to lead the crew, if she died..

Well, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Swinging across the gap on a dangling rope, he tucks and rolls across the deck of the Lucrezia as she began to pull away, rushing towards the Marine with his curved cutlass ready. But the Marine had good senses, turning and connecting blades almost immediately with the older man, their eyes meeting for the first time, both filled with a rage that could only be quelled with blood.

Their fight began, steel crashing against steel and ringing loudly as they advanced and retreated, their footwork almost professional as they danced around one another, both seemingly equal in skill. Jakob knew that the crew wouldn’t dare intervene, a duel was a perfect opportunity to prove swordsmanship and loyalty, the Pirate Code forbade anyone from interrupting their dance.

For a moment their blades locked, both of the men pushing against one another.

“You fight well for a pirate.” The Marine growls, standing slightly taller than Jakob at 6’1” to his 5’11”.

“I’ll be sure to write that on your coffin.” He growls before their blades slipped and clashed once more, a shove from Jakob sending the Marine off balance before Jakob slashed a quick strike across his knees, forcing them to buckle with a wicked grin spreading across his scarred face.

“You’re done-“ A short gasp leaves him, a moment of gloating, of assured victory.. and yet~

~

His blade had run the man through, though it wasn’t a kill wound, his blade had gone almost entirely through the man’s flesh just beneath his shoulder, a few inches over his heart.

Rising from his knees, Alec had thrust forward with everything he had left, he had taken a step forward, forcing the blade deeper inside of him before shoving him back, watching him stumble before falling on to the deck, clutching his shoulder.

If only that had been the end of it.

Every pirate onboard the cursed ship had their weapons pointed at him now, from broken bottles to stolen muskets loaded with whatever they could find, his eyes glance around the deck at the faces of the men and women (seemingly mostly women) who all looked like they wanted a taste of his blood. It would befit a warrior to charge Captain Reed in a last attempt to kill the fearsome pirate, to seek revenge for his crew that had been slaughtered and his ship that now had several more holes in it, the crew still onboard scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off with no officer leadership to guide them.

His sword clattered to the deck as his hand legs go of it, his knees shaking slightly from the slash that they had taken while he waited for his death.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

God bless Hugo Briggs Salomé thought as her ship sped quickly out of range of the Malevolence's guns with maneuvering that could have only come from a pilot protected by God Himself (or Mrs. Briggs, who was busy swinging her axe towards anyone who dared approach her husband). The Lucrezia wasn't going to escape completely unscathed; once the enemy vessel had realized what she was doing they'd fired on her stern, gambling on the chance that their own officers were still confined to midship. Lecce and his lads were already quick to start repairing the damage, and the gunners had been called up from below as reinforcements.

With every minute that put more distance between the two ships, the captain of the Lucrezia felt more assured of her victory. Most of the men who'd chased her people on board were regular crewmen, foolhardy drunks more upset about being tricked by women rather than acting out of any sense of justice. Later, Salomé would also suspect that some of them had been outright dragged onto her ship, noting in particular how Spanish Jo had kept her meaty biceps firmly locked around a slip of a boy who couldn't have been more than seventeen (she had an unbridled passion for the young ones, did Jo, regardless of her captain's disciplinary warnings about treatment of captives).

But there were only a few of the heavily-armed soldiers that had invaded, and while they certainly managed to take down a few of the pirates, there were just too many of them. A small mob had formed around one of the men and were taking turns beating him, while Mrs. Briggs had dispatched another that had tried to fight his way to the wheel. Salomé herself shot one that had tried to go after one of the younger girls whose courage had failed her, and that left only one more, currently locked in combat with her first mate. Good as dead the captain thought with confidence as she stalked through the fighters to the corner where one of the wounded officers from the initial attack was being guarded by his decoy.

"You," Salomé grunted, pointing her cutlass beneath the officer's chin. "If you have any authority to tell these men to stand down, I'd use it if I were you. I think you know who I am and how I do things. If there's any among you worth ransoming I will, otherwise I'm happy to let them handle things." She gestured over her shoulder and signalled to the guard to stand the officer up. He let out a cry of pain as the woman jostled his bleeding leg, but before he could command his men to surrender another louder sound of anguish gave the pirate captain pause.

There were certain members of her crew that Salomé had always felt a strange, supernatural bond with; those whose presence she could sense no matter where they were on the ship, as well as gathering a slight hint of their mood. Louisa was one such person, as was Mrs. Briggs and the old cook, Manuela. But she always felt it most of all with her first mate, and although she didn't see the blow being delivered, and despite the roar of the wind and waves, she could hear the sound of his body crashing to the deck. A fire of rage roared up in the captain's chest, even though her expression was still ice cold as she looked back at the captured officer.

"Order them to surrender, now. Or I will keelhaul every last one of you," she whispered in the man's ear with an animalistic growl.

"St-stand down!" the officer finally stammered, barely loud enough to be heard. The press of Salomé's blade did encourage him to be a bit louder, and he repeated the order.

It was probably unnecessary, considering most of the men had given up already, but those few that still held weapons did drop them at his command. These were immediately collected as the pirates began to produce shackles from belowdecks, and within minutes the prisoners had all been herded together in the middle of the deck, with a living wall of armed bodies surrounding them. Salomé paced before them like a displeased queen, only pausing to send someone down to fetch Louisa from the hold to tend the wounded.

Louisa was more than ready when the coded knock rapped against the locked door, and glancing at her other companions she immediately rose to her feet, medicine box in tow. "You had better come too, Johanna," she suggested to a nervous-looking, bespectacled blonde in the hold with her. The other girl was clutching a heavy logbook to her chest, and had long fingers stained black with ink. "It sounds like there may be some casualties that may need accounting."

The surgeon wasn't wrong. Six of the pirates had been killed on deck, and eight more were unaccounted for (presumed killed or captured aboard the Malevolence. Several more of the crewmembers had taken injuries that might have proved fatal, but Louisa wasted no time in ordering the uninjured pirates to set about tending to those they could. The captives weren't entirely ignored either, and the Frenchwoman was pleased to see that if the enemy combatants hadn't been killed outright, no one had any injuries that would prove life-threatening, assuming they trusted a woman to treat their wounds and didn't sabotage their own healing.

Meanwhile, Johanna--or Miss Lindsay, as Salomé always addressed the former governess--kept close to the captain's side, calculating out their losses versus their gains.

"If we can get any of the captives to sign the Compact, we should," the clerk whispered to the captain. "Between those we've lost and those that are too injured to work, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Nodding slowly, Salomé looked over the surviving captives. Several weren't in any more condition to work than her own wounded people, but a couple of the officers were still in okay condition, as well as some of the younger lads that had found their way onto the Lucrezia. And the soldier, the one who had nearly taken Jakob's leg, he certainly looked strong enough, and barely had a scratch on him. At the very least he should be able to count for two men, maybe even three.

Moving to the front of the crowd, the captain stepped on top of a crate, knowing her petite form could be difficult for all of the men to see. "Now hear this, gentlemen," she called out to the captives in a clear, unaccented voice. "As of this moment, all of you are prisoners, but you need not remain so. Each one of you has a price, and the only question is: who will pay that price?"

Her dark gaze fell upon the officers. "I imagine those of you that come from privilege will have no trouble getting their families to pay the price. If you give your name and rank to the clerk--" Here Salomé paused to gesture to Miss Lindsay, who looked very uncomfortable indeed. "She will see to it that terms are promptly sent, and you will be released when the ransom has been paid. The rest of you have two options."

Now the captain's attention fell upon the rest of the small band of rabble. "One: you may join our enterprise as a full member of the crew. You will sign our Compact, be granted full voting rights in the crew, and be entitled to a share of profits." Several young men seemed to perk up at this offer, not fully understanding that if their names were signed to the Compact and the ship was captured at any time by proper authorities, they too could be charged as pirates. "Or two: when we reach Nassau, you will be sold as slaves to our brothers and sisters. The decision is yours."

These terms presented, Salomé had nothing else to say to her captives. Briggs and Lindsay would see to it that any who chose to join the crew would be immediately released and put to work, while those that didn't would be locked in the bowels of the ship, never to see the light of day again until they reached port. In the meantime, she was more concerned with the hurts her own people had taken, starting with Jakob.

Louisa was already tending to his shoulder, the young boy who served more or less as her apprentice periodically raising a bottle of rum to the mate's lips. Sighing, Salomé reached down to brush Jakob's hair away from his face. "That big fellow do this to you?" she asked gently, recalling with a little guilt the soldier she had lured onto her ship. She wasn't sure why she had done such a thing, besides hoping he might have fallen to his death in the deep crevasse between the two ships. If she'd been only a little less foolhardy no doubt her second-in-command wouldn't have yet another scar added to his collection.

"Hush, capitaine," Lou scolded softly, preparing to stitch the wound. "Don't make him speak, he needs rest." There was something vaguely territorial in the surgeon's voice, and Salomé knew better than to argue with her. She always joked that if anyone could kill someone without getting caught it would be Louisa, and the last thing she wanted was to be the subject of her desire.

Meanwhile, the nervous clerk had approached the big soldier with her book in hand and her brown eyes wide. "Name and rank, sir?" she asked, the quill in her hand curiously steady although the rest of her was shaking. "Did...did you wish to sign the Compact as well?"

 

[Risky]

The sounds of cutlass’ and flintlocks clattering against the deck of the ship filled the air as their officer cried out for them to stand down. “Bloody coward.” Alec mutters beneath his breath, his eyes shooting a glare over to the man that had Salomé’s blade pressed beneath his chin. None of their officers seemed to have any sort of guts to them, they had played right into the hands of the pirates, and now they were either all going to die or be sold as ransom, and further added to the wealth of these bastard pirates.

Alec stood by, his eyes fixated on the sword that he had dropped on to the deck before it was swiftly taken away from him, his fists clenching as if ready to punch his way out of the situation, but the sounds of fists pounding against the flesh of one of his comrades stops him, his yellow-green eyes glancing to the mob that was steadily beating the man to death. His Marines wouldn’t stop fighting to their last breaths, though the ones that had been disarmed were already shackled, they wouldn’t go down without a fight. The whole ship shakes as a few cannonballs pound into the Stern, but it was already too late for the men left on board.

They were all practically dead.

He wasn’t aware of what their intentions were, but soon he was being shackled with a pair of manacles, forced to his knees to listen to Salomé as she spoke. He glanced around the deck of the ship, catching the eyes of a Marine who shakes his head, none of the trained professionals would be taking that compact. It was the boys who feared being sold into slavery and the officers who were still shitting themselves that seemed excited to have the opportunity to be set free under Captain Reed. As the clerk began to make her way around to ask if they wanted to sign the Compact, jeers and shouts began to arise from the Marines.

“Traitors!”

“Bastards!”

But Alec remained silent, a part of him understood why those men wanted to remain free. They didn’t have the guts to risk being sold as a slave, but Alec would take his chances in Nassau, maybe he could find a way to escape, if he could take Captain Reed’s head with him on the way out that would also be quite the treasure. The pirate that Alec had wounded was steadily bleeding on the deck, his hand holding cloth tightly against the wound in an attempt to stifle the blood flow, Alec couldn’t imagine that he would see the light of the next morning if that pirate had anything to say about it.

The whole atmosphere of the ship changed once Captain Reed had silenced herself, crew emerging from belowdecks and two surgeons making their rounds to help the wounded. Alec sits down on the deck with his hands still manacled together, his fingers reaching for the fabric of his trousers to hold against the cut that was across both of his knees, though it wasn’t nearly as deep as the wound he had given to the pirate next to him.

His eyes watch as the two women make their way over to Jakob, starting to treat his wound and reverse the efforts that Alec had made to kill him, he could feel the glaring eyes of the enemy crew around him as the clerk made her way over to him, kneeling down to ask for his rank and name. He eyes her warily, shaking his head. “Corporal Alexander Daniels, but I promise you my parents don’t have the will or the money for a ransom.” He says quietly, though if Charlotte found out he was captured, she would probably beg her parents to pay for the ransom if they could. “I’m not interested in a damned Compact, and neither are any of my men.” His finger points out to the three Marines remaining on board, all of them looking fairly stubborn and unwilling to surrender.

“The only reason you have us captured is because that bastard over there has no spine.” He points to the officer who had shamelessly allowed himself to be manacled and taken belowdecks, his ransom was almost guaranteed as most officer families were quite well off. “He’ll get the money for his release, we’ll be sold as slaves.. another day at sea with the Navy.” He shakes his head before moving his eyes off of the clerk and back to the deck of the ship.

Almost as soon as he had finished speaking, two burly pirates make their way over to him and hoist him to his feet, forcing a sharp intake of breath from the sudden pressure across his legs. They walk him down belowdecks, throwing him into a cell and slamming the door shut, leaving the Marine with his back against the wooden slope of the ship’s hull, his hands still manacled together.

~

Jakob cries out quietly, biting down on his tongue and causing a bit of blood to burst into his mouth, it wasn’t the first time Louisa had seen him in a state like this, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. His blue eyes glare at the bastard who had bested him as he is dragged belowdecks, Jakob’s fists clenching as he thinks about all of the ways he could murder the bastard when nobody was looking. Nobody beat him like that, nobody had the chance to kill him so easily yet spare his life, forcing him to live with the shame of defeat, of failing to protect his Captain.

Said Captain rushes over to his side, his eyes looking up to meet hers as she brushes his hair from his eyes. “Yes.” He says quietly, feeling a twinge of pain from admitting it, taking another sip of the rum that had been offered to him. “I’m sorry Captain, I failed you.” He lets his head rest against the deck, closing his eyes to get the rest that Louisa has prescribed, just trying to let them bandage him with no struggle.

Really he didn’t mind being beat in combat, the soldier he had fought was an experienced swordsman that much was obvious, it was more the principle that he hadn’t been able to take him down after he had threatened the life of his Captain.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Miss Lindsay only stared blankly in response to Corporal Daniels, her hand nimbly scratching his information down in her log book. But behind her, the towering form of Mrs. Briggs let out a soft chuckle. "Laddie, if ye think the Navy an uncaring master, wait until ye see those of the interior," she burred. "They'll have ye cutting cane until ye can no straight yer back. Strong lad like you, I'd think carefully over your decision. Ye and yer men." Shrugging, she glanced carelessly over at the other marines as Johanna moved along to the next man in line. Even if the captives did change their mind, if they waited too long Captain Reed might not even accept them into the crew. Recruits were most valuable when the ship was farthest from port, and Salomé preferred to take on willing volunteers from the free ports rather than untrustworthy prisoners pressed into service.

Still, the quartermaster couldn't help but pass another glance over the apparent leader of the marines. If he could be brought around to the proper mindset, Mrs. Briggs was sure he could prove an asset to the Lucrezia. She'd seen him fighting on the decks, and it was clear he knew how to lead men. She'd never speak it aloud, but while Salomé could certainly inspire loyalty, she still lacked the discipline and organizational skills to truly be the most effective captain. Briggs had tried to teach Captain Reed herself, but it was clear by now that no matter how much the proud young woman might respect and even love the quartermaster, she would always see the older woman as a relic of her mother's crew, determined to mold the daughter into another version of Alice Reed. Salomé was much too proud to allow such a thing, and as such rarely took Briggs' advice to heart.

She'd probably no listen to him either the quartermaster thought with a sigh, finally tearing her eyes away from Daniels. The only man in the world that ever seemed to have influence over the captain was Jakob, and last anyone had seen he was in no condition to be advising anyone. No, it was probably best to forget the entire thing and just try to ensure the captives sold or were ransomed as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Johanna had moved along to one of the youngest captives, mechanically repeating her questions without really looking at him. When she looked up in his face though, his youth made her pause, and she looked questioningly towards Mrs. Briggs. Did the crew really want to take on someone who could barely grow hair on his face? The quartermaster seemed to understand the silent question, but wasn't concerned by it.

"You, lad. How long have ye been a sailor?" she asked before he could give his name or rank. "If yer green, we'd be happy to show ye the ropes, if'n yer willing to sign with us." It didn't seem productive to mention what would probably become of the boy if he refused and had no one to pay a ransom for him. Pretty ones like him rarely made it to the interior, like the big marines would. No, it would be an opium den near the beach for sure, probably with one foot chained to a bed, and death from disease within a few years. Pity washed across both women's faces, and even Miss Lindsay found the courage to speak up.

"We aren't monsters, you know," she said quietly, looking the young man in the eye. "You'll be treated fairly among us and compensated well." Of course, they would have to keep Spanish Jo away from him (she was currently pretending not to watch him while she tended to her duties aloft), but in the worst case scenario Johanna was sure the captain would be willing to intervene on the boy's behalf.

"Aye, and ye'll no be gettin' such an offer from anyone else in Nassau," Briggs agreed.

*****
​

Salomé couldn't help but smile a little at Jakob's apology, and despite Louisa's death glare she patted his cheek softly. "You'll only fail me if you die, Mr. Jakob. Try to avoid that, if possible. Lou, once you're done help me get him to my cabin, then see to the worst-off of our people. Max and Del are patching up the ones that are only a little scratched up, and there's only a couple left that look like they might go either way." Pausing, the captain's face went serious. "If anyone is beyond saving, tell Manuela, she'll see to it they get enough rum to ease their suffering. That goes for us and the captives."

Without taking her eyes away from Jakob's slowly closing wound, the surgeon nodded. "And their injured? Shall I tend to them as well?" Her tone was particularly dry,

"Yes, but prioritize those that have agreed to sign on with us. Then the ransoms, and lastly the ones headed for the auction block," Salomé instructed. "If you need more hands, send Piotr to me, I'll see if we can spare anyone."

Orders given, the captain squeezed Jakob's hand again, and once the wound had been fully closed the two women carried him between them to Salomé's surprisingly bright and roomy quarters. After settling the mate into the captain's berth, she dismissed Louisa and waited for her to shut the door behind her, then turned back to Jakob. "Remember your orders? No dying on me," she chided, leaning over and brushing her lips against his brow. "Rest a bit and I'll send someone to check on you in a while."

On the deck, only a few people noticed the surgeon's clenched fist, and those that did assumed it was merely her stern determination to save as many lives as possible. None of them suspected the seething jealousy she felt towards her captain, and the place Salomé held in her first mate's heart. Perhaps if the captain returned Jakob's feelings Louisa wouldn't have minded so much, but everyone knew that regardless of what went on in Salomé's captain, it was nothing she hadn't done with plenty of other men (and a few women) in ports all over the world. Nor would she mind if Jakob turned his interests elsewhere, though the gossip about the ship was that he never so much as looked at another woman even on land.

She doesn't deserve him, as a lover or a mate Louisa thought bitterly as she tended to her patients. It was a traitorous thought, but one she knew better than to ever voice if she wanted to be anything other than a whore. Besides, the matter of Jakob aside, she did like the captain, and it seemed childish to throw away their relationship for a pointless squabble over a man. Salomé probably wouldn't even care if Jakob and Louisa became involved, but it would have been mortifying for the surgeon if the first mate outright rejected her. So she kept her mouth shut about the entire matter, tending to the wounded until she almost couldn't stand and barely pausing even to eat before she finally turned her attention to the captives.

"Monsieur Daniels?" she asked with a slightly chilly voice, stepping into the cell. She'd heard from his guards that this was the man who had so grievously wounded Jakob, and while she would have been happy to send him overboard, the best she could do was save his treatment until she'd seen to the rest of his companions. "You are wounded, are you not? Will you let me see?" If he said no, Louisa didn't seem too inclined to argue, and her eyes were hollow as she looked him over.

 

[Risky]

Alec glanced to the large figure that was standing over him, probably the burliest woman he had ever seen in his entire lifetime. Truly if he were a man of less stature and confidence he would be intimidated by the large pirate, but truthfully her words only reinforced his decision. “Seems you have experience with that.” He gasped when they got him to his feet, the deep slash across his legs letting loose a bit more blood on to the deck as pressure is applied to it from being forced to stand. “But to be brutally honest, I’d rather face the auction block a proud sailor than face God a cowardly pirate.” He breathed, closing his eyes for just a moment to bite his way through the pain of being dragged to the cell in the bowels of the ship, tossed inside with little to no regard for his injuries.

Though confident on the outside, Alec could feel his inner resolve crumbling slightly with the defeat that they had suffered. It had been his job to lead his Marines and win, but he had foolishly jumped across to the other deck just for his own bravado of taking down Captain Reed, she had probably planned on forcing him to the other deck to be captured like this. He should’ve seen it coming from a mile away. He rested his head against the inner hull, letting out a few shallow breaths as his hands made their way down to the slash he had taken, that pirate he had bested had been a hell of a swordsman, the experience of this crew was beyond belief, as pirates didn’t normally last long enough on these waters to be as good as they were. The bounty of Reed’s head made more and more sense by the minute.

~

Kaden sat on the deck of the ship with his arms around his legs, keeping his knees firmly pressed to his chest while he waited for the clerk to make her way over to him. This decision was an important one, he had heard the speech that Captain had given, and from the look of things the Malevolence wasn’t coming back for them, she probably didn’t even have enough crew to pull her back to Port Royal.

Her question made him flinch, his eyes having gone hollow for a moment as he had zoned out thinking about what would become of him, soft hazel hues flicking up to meet the eyes of the clerk. “I.. only a few months.” He had never been anything more than a swabby, cleaning the decks of the Malevolence while learning the ropes of sailing and being a sea soldier from the much bigger Marines, who seemed to be accepting that they would be ransomed in Nassau. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, knowing full well that nobody in this wide world would pay a ransom for him, not like the officers and the men with more well off families.

He could sense the pity, the other woman’s words turning his gaze to the deck of the ship before he nodded. “I’ll.. I’ll sign.” The crew of his last ship hadn’t exactly treated him well anyway. He took the quill from Johanna and signed the Compact that she had on her board. “Just tell me what I need to do.” It was fairly obvious that he was not comfortable with being a criminal, that he had barely fared will in combat when it had meant the life or death of the crew he had been with for months, he probably wouldn’t fare much better on the Lucrezia without proper training and guidance from her crew.

He hadn’t even been injured, he had given up with not so much as a punch or kick, his weapons lost to the deck of the Malevolence or to the ocean floor.

~

Jakob lets out a quiet chuckle when Salomé told him to avoid dying, shaking his head. “Can’t die, still have more work to do.” He laughed before clenching his eyes shut as some more alcohol was rubbed into the wound to keep it from becoming infected, wrapped sturdily with bandages to stifle the bleeding on both sides. He could feel that he would be having trouble moving his arm for the next week or so. He hated being on mandatory rest, but at least he would be able to stay with Salomé when all was said and done.

A quiet grunt is forced through his lips when the two women helped him stand, leaning his weight on his injured side a bit more than on his good side, walking with them to reach the Captain’s cabin. It hadn’t been the first time he was inside, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last with his and Salomé’s odd relationship.

He still wasn’t quite sure what they were, she treated him as a lover but consistently slept with others when they were at port, he had seen her drunkenly taking lovers left and right. Meanwhile at port, Jakob never really even glanced at another woman, his loyalty was firmly with Salomé along with his love, he hoped one day she would see that.

A quiet gasp leaves him when he collapses on to the bed in the cabin, though soft it still put a bit of pressure on the exit wound he had received from being speared through his shoulder completely, that bastard had gotten him good. The sound of the door closing signaled that they were alone and he nodded when she mentioned his orders from her. His eyes closed for a moment when her lips were against his brow, it was moments like this that confused him the most, made him wonder why she didn’t seem him like he saw her.

“You’ll be back?” He asked her quietly while reaching out and taking her hand, giving it another gentle squeeze. “I’ll try my best.” Sleep was not something that came to the man easy, countless nights he had been disturbed by memories of harder times, though sleeping at her side made things a bit easier. He let go of her hand and rested his head against her pillows, his eyes closing so that he could get some proper rest, the various medicines that had been mixed into his blood along with the amount of the vital fluid he had lost helping to lull him into a deep sleep.

~

Alec was still putting pressure to his wound when the female surgeon walked inside of his cell, there was a few drops of blood that had escaped his soaked trousers and fell to the deck beneath him by the time she had arrived, his yellow-green eyes looking to her through the dim light of the cell. Her words didn’t sound like that of someone who cared in the slightest about helping him, but perhaps she had been sent on orders to do so anyway. “Yes.. please.” He let go of the wound, both of his hands caked with a decent amount of his own blood. Though part of him didn’t want help from the crew that had slaughtered his, it happened to be in his best interests to remain alive long enough to get off the cursed ship, bleeding out in a cell wouldn’t help him any.

He moved his hands above his head, as they were still shackled together, giving her plenty of space to look to the wounds that Jakob had inflicted on him. “Where are you from?” He asked quietly when she approached, her accent had indicated that she was French, but he had wanted to confirm. “Not too many people speak French this far south.” He said quietly, a part of him wondering how she had managed to get mixed up with this sort of crew.

Had she been like him? Only difference being that she had signed the Compact and joined the crew that Salomé had built, he imagined that her talents as a surgeon would often come in handy with the business that the ship conducted. He doubted that she wanted to make small talk with him, but it helped with the pain not to focus on the wound, he hoped that she understood that.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Mrs. Briggs grinned at the young man's agreement, and clapped him warmly on the shoulder. "There's a good lad. Lessee...Johanna, what's a good use for this pup? A bit old for a cabin boy I'd say..."

Miss Lindsay quickly flipped the pages in her log. "We're short a rigger, but we've lost quite a few crewmen in general. Looks like the gunners are the only ones who came through this last fight relatively unscathed," she sighed, flipping to the back of the book where a long but neatly folded sheet of parchment had been stowed. Moving over to a crate that served more or less as a desk, Johanna's delicate fingers unfolded the page, which listed the terms of joining the crew (a more verbose but no less exhaustive list than the captain had provided) as well as the signatures of every man and woman who had accepted them. A few of these names had been struck out, with a small letter "D" written beside it in Miss Lindsay's flawless handwriting. She held out the quill to Kaden, then turned back towards Mrs. Briggs to continue her thoughts. "I'd suggest we send him to Mr. Hawke, he can probably find the best use for him. Mr. Hawke is our bosun," the clerk added for the young man's benefit, gesturing towards a bald, burly man with dark skin covered with decorative scars.

It was only after the lad had signed the compact and the ink had dried that Briggs would remove his irons, but in the meantime Miss Lindsay mused over the newest addition to the parchment. "Kaden...that's a rather unusual name," she murmured as she folded the compact and carefully tucked it back in the log. "Do you mind if I ask where you come from? Do you have a family? You will note that in case of death, a small sum will be provided to your dependents, if you have any." The clerk would have been shocked to learn the young sailor had children, but perhaps there were children or parents who might have been reliant on his income. Most of the crew felt more loyalty to their brothers and sisters (and in many cases, spouses) on the Lucrezia, and upon their deaths they were happy to put their shares back into the pot to divide among the others, but there were a few with wives or children on land to consider.

Once the newest addition of the crew was free, Mrs. Briggs escorted him over to Mr. Hawke to make introductions and officially put Kaden at the bosun's disposal. From there it would be out of her hands, unless either of the men requested her deliberate intervention.

*****
​

"Water, please," Louisa ordered the guards in a calm, stern voice as she took her knife from the medicine box. She didn't bother looking into Alec's face as she knelt beside him, but she did glance momentarily towards his raised arms. "I don't recommend you try anything so foolish as strangling me," she warned. "I am the only person on board with any legitimate medical knowledge. It is my understanding your other men also took injury, and I will not be able to save them if I am dead." With that, she began to cut away the leg of his trousers, giving her better access to his wounded knee.

The guard had brought a bucket of fresh water with him, and between that and her private store of purified alcohol she managed to sterilize the wound, savoring the idea that her patient couldn't have enjoyed the sensation too much. The cut on his knee was deep, but it was just a cut. Nothing was broken, and while the corporal had lost a fair amount of blood Louisa was sure with rest he would probably make a full recovery. And locked up as he was, what else could he do but rest?

Well, apparently he could talk.

“Where are you from?” He asked quietly. “Not too many people speak French this far south.”

"Saint-Pierre," Louisa answered shortly as she stuck the needle into his flesh with probably a little more force than was needed. "And many of our crew speak French. And Spanish, and Italian, and German, and Yoruba. It is useful, in this part of the world. But perhaps you think all pirates ignorant savages?"

The thread drew tightly through the torn flesh. "You nearly killed the captain's mate, you know," the surgeon continued in a low voice as she continued to stitch. "I think you should know that, considering she asked me to tend to you and your men, rather than throw all of you overboard." Louisa herself could think of plenty of pains to inflict upon her patient, but she'd encountered Mrs. Briggs on her way into the hold, and the quartermaster had made it very clear that if any of the captives could be persuaded to defect, they should be encouraged, and the surgeon didn't dare risk upsetting either Briggs or Salomé by wasting a perfectly good body.

"He's going to live," she said finally as she knotted the last bit of thread. "As will you, at least until we reach port. I imagine Jakob is going to have a much happier future ahead of him than you, however. Do you need anything else?" Gathering up her supplies, it was clear Louisa was in a hurry to move along.

*****
​

With Jakob resting in her quarters, Salomé had adjourned to the kitchen, where the ancient, froglike Spanish cook, Manuela, reigned supreme. The old woman was already starting the evening meal, completely unfazed by the events of the afternoon and singing softly under her breath as she went about her work. Not long after, Briggs and Lindsay joined them, and while typically the little council would have also included Jakob and Louisa the matters at hand didn't require their presence.

"Well? How many agreed to sign on?" the captain asked, turning hopefully towards the clerk.

"Twelve," Johanna replied, although her tone was far from proud. "The ten officers from the Malevolence and the four marines refused."

Salome's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, but the results were hardly unexpected. The officers were too lazy to work when they knew they wouldn't be harmed, and the marines, if not wealthy, were still too proud to even consider joining a crew that felt "beneath them." And twelve able-bodied men was still better than none. "Any skilled among them? Pilots? Sea masters?"

"Ah...no ma'am," Miss Lindsay answered. "But all in relatively good health. And there were a couple of gunner's mates among them. I've sent them down to the Browns, the rest are all under Mr. Hawke."

"Any cooks among them?" piped up the raspy voice of Manuela, startling the other three women.

A small smile twisted the captain's face. "Why, abuela, you planning to retire?"

"Can't do this forever, can I? What'll you do when I drop over dead, starve?" the cook continued without even turning to look at her. Such disrespect might not have been tolerated on other crews, but Manuela had been the cook of the Princess Elizabeth even before the infamous mutiny that made Alice Reed one of the most feared names on the sea. Despite being more than seventy she still went about her work as cheerfully as could be expected, and in all the years Salomé had known her the old señora had never taken an apprentice. Now it seemed that was about to change. "If you have any to spare, give me one of the young ones, someone who might still learn a thing or two."

"Aye, but there's the trouble. We haven't any to spare," Mrs. Briggs sighed, crossing her arms over her prodigious chest and leaning against the wall. "Ye don't suppose we might stop in Santaveia and see if we can't take on a few more?"

"With a hold full of captives? Impossible," Salomé answered, shaking her head.

"But couldn't we sell them in Santaveia instead of Nassau?" asked Miss Linsday, looking from one woman to the other.

Now it was Mrs. Briggs' turn to shake her head. "No at enough of a profit to make it worthwhile. Former slaves control the interior and will nae buy em, and the pirates on the coast won't pay a piece more than they're willing, which en't much. And that's no even thinkin' of the ransoms."

"Indeed. The pirates are just as likely to steal them out from under us as facilitate any sort of transfer or communication back to England," Salomé sighed.

For several moments the kitchen was silent, save for the sound of Manuela's stew bubbling in the enormous pot. As she shuffled back and forth adding ingredients in no particular order, the cook decided to toss out one more suggest just as she tossed in a handful of minced onions. "What about Olvidado?"

"Olvidado?" The pirates answered in unison, three different expressions on their face: curiosity for Miss Lindsay, intrigue for Mrs. Brigs, and concern for Captain Reed.

The latter did seem to give it a good deal of thought though, before ultimately shaking her head again. "I don't think so. Many of them are injured, they'd probably be dead by the time we came back to fetch them."

"Aye, but if they can't survive the island, do ye think they'll survive the plantations?" Briggs countered.

"I don't care if they survive the plantations or not, I care that we get paid first," the captain shot back. "We'll never take the Juan Pedro like this, and I will not put my crew through all of this for no profit at all." She had finally allowed some heat into her voice, but Salomé was quick to quench it before it grew to violent. Sighing, she gratefully accepted a small bowl of stew from Manuela, and took a deep sip of the spice broth before answering. "I'll consider Olvidado. Meanwhile, let's try to work on those marines and get them to join us as well."

"And ye'll set a course for Santaveia?" Mrs. Briggs pressed.

There was another moment of hesitation, then the captain nodded. "Yes. For now, at least."

 

[Risky]

Kaden handed the quill back and watched as his shackles were removed, gently rubbing his wrists to make sure that the irons hadn’t dug into them at all. The two standing over him seemed pleased with themselves, though he got the idea from how they spoke that they believed they had saved him from a terrible fate.

He slowly rises to his feet, clasping his hands together in front of him respectfully while they talk to him, shaking his head. “There’s nobody, no dependents at least.” He says quietly, he hadn’t been married or ever really been with a woman, the Jameson Company recruiter had told him that came with the job. But he had barely been on the ship long enough for a proper port call, and the one they had taken in Port Royal could hardly be considered an opportunity to find a woman and spend the night. No, they had been far too busy trying to find the ship he now belonged to, every ounce of effort focused on hunting down the Lucrezia. With his thoughts about the past few weeks drifting further, he could feel his mind zoning out, snapping back to reality when they mention Mr. Hawke, his head nodding along to their words about him being the bosun of the ship. He didn’t know what use he would have to them, being a swabby didn’t exactly transfer over into much else, he could work a mop and bucket just fine though.

Further questions from both of the women standing before him have him shifting his weight from his left foot to his right, thinking for a moment. “My parents came from Ireland, but I was born in England.” He explains, his accent had a touch of Irish to it but growing up on the mainland had shaped his voice to be far more English than anything. “Kaden is a Gaelic name with an English spelling.” He finally explains. “I guess they wanted me to keep my roots without getting too much attention for not being English.” Irish folks tended to have a lot of trouble with others, they were often seen as inferior people. “My parents are still in England, but I don’t have anybody else.” He says quietly. “Wilma and Michael Mayweather.” He hoped that they would be able to find them just off of their names, it was hard to remember addresses when he had been at sea for so long.

Walking over to the much larger man with Miss Lindsay, Kaden offers his hand in introduction. “Kaden Mayweather.” He introduces himself, though the man standing before him didn’t look like he was much for pleasantries.

****
​

Alec sucked in a quiet breath when she plugged a needle into his leg, shaking his head to her warning about strangling her. "I'm just moving out of your way." He says quietly, keeping his hands raised above his head. "No man is stupid enough to bite the hand that feeds them." Though realistically, he imagined that they wouldn't be sparing him and his men much food at all under the circumstances, they were just bodies to be sold now, they didn't need to be kept that strong. He closed his eyes and let his body relax beneath her hands, shaking slightly from the pain and the amount of blood he had already lost, his body slightly pale.

"I've always wanted to visit, though it's harder to go these days." Hundreds of years of war had already soured relations between France and England, and now this whole race to the New World had only made things worse, the Colonies had divided Europe more than anything in the last century. The wound stung with the alcohol that she applied, but he was far stronger than he appeared in his wounded state, his mind still focused on pushing through whatever pain was necessary to heal him.

"No, I don't think you're a pirate." He laughs while shaking his head. "Didn't see you on the deck when I came over, didn't see you on the Malevolence.. No, they keep you around for this." His fingers motion down towards her hands that were starting to work on sewing his wound shut.

"Pirates rape, torture, and kill.. Plunder all they like." He lets out a quiet sigh as she continues working to sew him shut. Her next words open his eyes, eyebrows raised to the point. "Nearly killed him?" He grinned before shaking his head. "No, I spared his life if you hadn't noticed." Alec was more than capable of finishing a duel the messy way, really he had chosen not to do so. "I had my sword so deep through him, all it would've taken is a bit of force towards his legs... Cut the heart in half." His eyes looked a bit hollow as he looked to the surgeon. "I figured it'd be a shame to waste such a fine swordsman, he fought with everything.. And if I had killed him I feel like I'd be dead by now."

"Jakob.." The name rolls over his tongue, the man he had dueled on the top deck. "Pass on my get well to him? And let him know that if he'd like another duel it was great fun the first time." Despite being locked in a cell on his way to be sold as a slave, he seemed more cocky than ever. "And.. Thank you for the help." His tone shifted to one that was more serious.

"Might I know the name of my savior?"

****
​

"Alright lad let's see what yer capable of." Mr. Hawke had already run Kaden through a couple of tasks around the ship to see what he was good at.. Turns out, he was definitely not a capable rigger, and he would not make a good gunner (even if they actually needed new ones). Now they were on to swordsmanship, seeing if Kaden could replace one of the crew that had jumped over on to the Malevolence. He stands awkwardly in front of the officer, his former sword in his hand with an unbalanced stance that would generally suggest his usefulness as a swordsman.

Mr. Hawke rolled his eyes, taking a step forward and forcing the boy a step back. "C'mon, fight!" He growled before lunging towards him, eyebrows raised with surprise as the boy swats his strike away, though it had been a wild attempt, it had still paid off in his favor.

But another strike towards the lad decided wholeheartedly that he would not be fighting on behalf of the Lucrezia, the boy's sword knocked from his hand and scattered to the deck. "Ye have potential, but it seems you're not good at much." The tall man shook his head, motioning for Kaden to follow him.

They began walking belowdecks, walking into the kitchen area Mr. Hawke eyed the meeting that was occurring. "Sorry to interrupt Cap'ain, Manuela, you want a new cook?" He gave Kaden a push forward, the young man looking to the old woman with an obvious nervousness.

Manuela grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Speak of el diablo and he will appear, eh?" She looked to Salomé before motioning for Kaden to come closer. "Let me get a better look at you." Her ancient face squinting to try to see him.

Kaden walked forward and stood in front of her, she gives a nod to Mr. Hawke. "He'll do, thank you senor Hawke." With that, the larger man took his leave, walking back upstairs to continue his duties.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Louisa's eyes narrowed as she looked over the restrained form of the prisoner. "You have a rather dramatic definition of 'pirate'," she sniffed, wiping her fingers on her apron. "If you consider all of the men I've failed to save over the years--intentional and not--I have a higher body count than anyone else on this ship. There are many who would call me a torturer as well, and while I find that practice inefficient most of the time, who do you think it is that ensures our prisoners are kept alive when Mrs. Briggs or the captain is drawing information out of them?"

A rather catlike smile crossed the surgeon's face as she imagined the corporal at the hands of the big quartermaster, who certainly knew her way around knives and ropes. Then she cleared her throat slightly and turned towards the door. "As for rape," she continued. "Per the compact, anyone found engaging in it is to have their genitals cut off and fed to the sharks. Even worse, they'll be exiled from the crew and their shares forfeited to the victims. So do not worry, Corporal. No one is going to ravish you while you're on board here. You aren't worth the price." She let out a little chuckle as she glanced over her shoulder.

Despite her veiled threats, the prisoner seemed utterly unfazed, even throwing out what Louisa might have considered a barb regarding Jakob. "He is Mr. Jakob to you, and if you ever come near him again I'll kill you myself. It will not be quick," she warned, whirling around to look him straight in the eye. "As for my name, to you I am Mrs. Murdock. Good afternoon, Corporal." With that she stepped out the door, which immediately bolted behind her, leaving Alec in his solitude.

The only thing that cheered Louisa's bad mood over the following days was her regular visits to Jakob, who despite his injury seemed to be healing with reassuring rapidity. He'd been moved out of the captain's cabin to his regular hammock (considering he still wasn't in any condition to pay a nighttime visit to Salomé), and since the surgeon's hammock had been strategically placed beside his, it was convenient to tend to him regardless of the time. This morning though, Lou had suggested he get some air on the decks, and had graciously offered to accompany him on a light stroll.

"How's your chest?" she asked once they were in open air. Her eyes briefly scanned the deck for any sign of the captain, and to her joy she overheard someone saying Salomé was in her quarters, going over the books with Miss Lindsay. With that resolved, the surgeon gently slipped her arm through Jakob's uninjured one, then leaned her head close against his chest to listen to the sound of his breathing. "Any pain when you inhale?" she asked, straightening up as she avoided the curious gaze of Mr. Briggs at the helm.

*****
​

It had taken quite some time, but between the two of them Miss Lindsay and Salomé had finally been able to come up with appropriate ransom terms for the officers taken off the Malevolence. While the men might not have been the most comfortable locked down below, Louisa had assured the captain that all were perfectly healthy, and the one good thing about the Lucrezia's crew taking so many losses was that they now had plenty of supplies to keep them well-fed. Even better, they'd picked up a strong wind after passing Nazara, and as long as it held out they could most likely make it to Nassau in only a few days.

With all of this in mind, Johanna, dressed in close fitting trousers and a loose white shirt, decided to venture into the galley to see if Manuela couldn't spare her a bite of something. It wasn't quite time for the midday meal just yet, but the ship's clerk never seemed to eat much. She supposed it was a habit from her time at the Lowwood School, and probably explained her short stature and slight build. Still, an apple or a bit of panbread sounded rather nice, so it was she made her way through the swinging tables of the dining hold back into the cramped, hot kitchen.

"Señora Manuela?" she asked, poking her head in and immediately jerking it back in surprise when she realized the old Spaniard wasn't alone in the room. "Oh, Mr. Mayweather! I didn't expect you down here. Weren't you assigned under Mr. Hawke?" the clerk asked with a quizzical glance towards Manuela.

"I needed him more," the cook replied simply as she tossed some brightly colored peppers into a vaguely doughy mass in the heavy iron pan. "These old hands cannot mince the way they once did, eh mijo?"

She practically beamed towards young Kaden, whom Johanna was surprised had been placed in a very close proximity to Manuela's knife collection. Still, he didn't seem too much of a threat at the moment, and the clerk approached the young man's side curiously. "What are you making today, Mr. Mayweather?" she asked, taking a much closer look at him now than she had on the deck. There he'd seemed so much younger, being a captive and probably frightened out of his life. But now, Miss Lindsay was wondering if perhaps he wasn't closer to her own age.

But under Maneula's watchful eye, she didn't dare ask.

*****
​

Salomé was in almost as fine a mood as Johanna and Louisa, albeit it would have been better if she could have had a quick tumble with Jakob sometime in the past three nights. She was sympathetic of course, considering he'd nearly died, but with the unexpected winds shifting her plans around she'd been busy scrambling to have everything ready for port in a couple of days. It didn't help that the crew had nothing to show for their efforts besides ransoms and slaves, and most were out of sorts thanks to the extra work that had been placed on their backs, but by God she would at least see to it that everyone who was feeling as tense as their captain at least got a chance to take it out at Lorena's once they finally got to the island.

In the meantime, she was trying to unwind with a small glass of brandy, when Briggs knocked on the door of her cabin and entered with a look on her face that said "trouble."

Sighing, the captain set aside her now empty glass and rose to her feet, arms crossed over her chest. "What is it, Briggs?"

"One of the prisoners, ma'am, down in the hold. The big marine...Daniels, I believe his name was? Toby and Fitz caught him trying to escape."

One of Salomé's dark brows raised sharply. "Escape? Where the hell did he think he was going to go?" she asked, rolling her eyes with exasperation.

"Well ma'am, seems he was going to try to reconvene with his men and try to free the ransoms, then take control of the ship. Least that's what the guards said. Perhaps you'd care to speak with him about it yourself?" There was a strange glimmer in Briggs' eye that the captain didn't like the look of, but the quartermaster had never done wrong by her previously.

"I suppose I ought to," she agreed. "In the meantime, split his men up as best you can, don't let any of them get within speaking distance of the other. Do we have a more secure spot for Daniels in the meantime?"

"No ma'am. We haven't any others we can spare as guards either."

"Great." The captain rubbed between her eyebrows. "When you have a moment, can you bring me some leg irons? Chains as well, if we've any to spare. I'll see if I can't talk some sense into him in the meantime."

The guards were all too willing to let their captain in to see the prisoner, whom Salomé was pleased to see had already been shackled around the ankles as well as having his rather loose chain manacles exchanged for tight cuffs behind his back. "So you're the troublemaker, hm?" she asked, leaning casually against he wall as she looked the man over. Her voice was as level as if she was commenting on the weather, but her eyes seemed to glimmer with a predatory light.

"You're being an ungrateful prick. You do realize that, don't you?" she continued, beginning to pace slowly in front of him, as if to tease him with her own freedom of movement while his was so restricted. "It was your own foolish pride that got you into this situation. If you'd stayed on your ship you wouldn't be here right now. If you hadn't tried to kill my first mate, you might at least be free to move about your cell a bit more. And if you had taken the opportunity I gave you to join us of your own free will, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all, would we?"

Crouching down in front of him, Salomé caught a handful of his hair and jerked it sharply upward, forcing him to look her in the eye. "So what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Daniels?"

 

[Risky]

Alec had scoffed with the threats the surgeon had tossed towards him with some attempt to keep him quiet, he had hoped that she would be somewhat willing to talk to him normally, but those hopes were quickly dashed with the small realization that she probably was pretty close to the man he had wounded on the top deck. Truly if the Marine had wanted to do so, he could have killed the man in cold blood, sent a message to the crew that he wasn’t to be trifled with.. but then again they probably would have just returned the favor in retaliation, and he wasn’t sure that his men would still be alive either.

The next few days he spent rotting away in his cell, whenever Ms. Murdock came to check in on him he was silent, not wanting to give her a reason to make his stay in the brig more stressful than it already had become. Pirates didn’t abide by the rules of war, they didn’t treat the enlisted prisoners with much dignity. He had been fed enough to keep him alive, but not enough to give him more energy, even with his body healing he felt sick and weak, but he remained silent, saving every breath of energy he still had inside of him for the opportune moment.

There had been a few opportunities to try and escape. He was sure that even in his state of weakness he could overpower at most three guards at a time, hopefully secure their weapons and go to free his men. They specialized in taking control of vessels like this one, the Pirates were organized but not professionally, they all seemed to just do their own work, none of them prepared for a surprise combat engagement.

But still he had waited, until finally his guard had been reduced from four patrolling guards to one or two standing around the inside of the brig, spaced out through the area to keep an eye on him and his men. They must have taken enough casualties that they couldn’t spare the manpower to keep a really good eye on them. Besides, what could a bunch of chained up men do to two fully armed pirates? He was about to prove exactly why they shouldn’t have reduced the guard.

For the first time in the last three days he opened his cracked lips. “Oi!” He called out to one of the guards, who walked over with raised eyebrows, neither of them had yet heard him speak, his body still sitting against the wall of the cell until the man approached, standing on shaky legs. Faking injury was easy enough, just shake and look afraid of the armed man, underestimating a barely fed, shaking, injured man was the nature of untrained men. “I’ve not had water in two days.” He approached the door of the cell and looked to the unamused man before him, his eyebrows curled up into an almost begging look. “It’s bloody hot down here, isn’t it?”

The pirate shook his head, glancing around before walking to grab a water bucket (probably filled with filthy water) and walked back over to the cell, his other guard watching with a bored curiosity as he opened the cell to hand Alec the water bucket. Alec’s yellow-green eyes scanned the man’s belt, finding the keys hanging from it before delivering a swift kick straight into the man’s balls between his legs, the water bucket falling from his hands and clattering to the floor. The man cried out and fell to his knees, Alec’s hands roughly gripping his hair before smashing his knee into the man’s nose, a loud crack sounding through the brig as the other guard finally got over his shock to start moving towards them quickly.

By the time the other pirate had reached him, Alec had his manacles off, running forward and slugging the man across his face, shoving his body into the cell he had been occupying before closing the door and locking it behind him, the two barely conscious pirates groaning on the deck of his old cell.

Everything about his plan was perfect up until the moment that someone came down to investigate the ruckus.

Mr. Brigg’s leveled a flintlock with the Marine, who hesitantly raised his hands in the air, he wasn’t a fool after all. “Give me four men!” Mr. Briggs barked, four pirates running over to help him, approaching Alec and restraining him.

But not before kicking the shit out of the Marine.

By the time he was back in his cell, and his wounded guards replaced with fresh ones, he had bruises growing on his face, and several more hidden beneath his tunic, every breath he took felt labored, laced with pain from cracked ribs. They hadn’t held back this time, whereas before there had been the chance that he would want to join the crew, now that he had attempted and almost succeeded with an escape, the gloves had come off. They had secured him tightly to the wall of his cell, his head slumped over and his eyes closed, a bit of blood dribbling down his chin from a split lip, his breathing slightly ragged.

He hadn’t been able to see where his men were moved to, before they had been around him, but now they seemed spread thin throughout the brig, most of the guards now concentrated around Alec’s cell.

The sound of his cell opening brought his eyes open, his head lifting slightly to see the form of Captain Reed approaching him, a quiet chuckle leaving him when she called him a troublemaker. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself, they’re all so weak without their weapons.” He glanced up at her before shaking his head, spitting to the side, a bit of blood finding itself on the deck but he didn’t mind. He let out a quiet cough, pain wracking through his ribcage as his lungs pressed against them, they had really gotten him good. “They could use some proper training.” He coughed again, he had been telling the truth when he had said that he hadn’t had water in a day.

He felt defeated, though he had left his mark on several members of her crew already, it almost felt impossible that he would ever be free again. She started her speech and he still stared at the deck of his cell, biting the inside of his cheek with thought as she paced in front of him. He scoffed when she told him that he was being ungrateful, he had been doing his job by following her on to the deck, it had been his officers foolish decision to come aboard a ship they had assumed to be hostile beforehand, stupidly trusting a bunch of women with flintlocks in their dresses. He had led his men to the best of his abilities, inflicted casualties on her and her ship, he could tell that they all hated him.

She gripped his hair and forced him to look up at her, a bit of anger flushing into his iris’. “Your mate tried to kill me, and he failed.” He growled quietly. “And if it hadn’t been for that prick over there, I’d be the one grabbing your hair right now.” In reference time the officer she had forced to call for their surrender, he had turned her forced gesture, using it as an opportunity to look up into her eyes defiantly. “Your only decent swordsman could have made a fine addition to my sword’s notches, but I allowed him to live.” His hands behind him tightened to fists. “You’re the only ungrateful one here.”

****​

Jakob wasn’t the kind of man that enjoyed just sitting around.

Honestly it was worse than torture for him, being wounded and forced to lounge around, the eyes of his crew mates showing a sympathy that he didn’t want from them, he wanted them to see him as strong, when he was at his finest there hadn’t been a single hope of a mutiny against their Captain, Jakob consistently ensured that the crew knew who they would answer to.

The only nice thing about being confined to his hammock was being able to talk with Lou, who was very insistent on being around him to take care of him in his injured state. When he was finally well enough to emerge from the lower deck, he walked out into the fresh air with Louisa at his side, standing near the bow of the ship so that they could look out at the clear blue waters that their vessel cut through. If he hadn’t been in love with Salomé, Louisa would certainly be the woman to catch his eye.

He tensed up a little when she slipped her arm through his, he hadn’t really expected her to be so close, but she seemed to be doing it so that she could listen for any anomalies with his breathing. He relaxed after a few moments and shrugs his shoulders, wincing a bit with the pain of moving his injured one. “Better than it was.” He said quietly, his eyes locked on to the waves in the distance. “Not anymore, it’s healed quite nicely thanks to you.” He glanced in her direction for a moment before quickly averting his gaze back to the ocean.

****​

Kaden hadn’t thought that he would enjoy the company of the old Spaniard, but he actually liked working with her. She was a good teacher, hard on him when he made mistakes, but fair. She still held leadership over the kitchen with an iron fist, and if he made a mistake she would often throw whatever she could get her hands on first at him, whether that was something as small as a carrot or as big as a pot... Luckily she never threw knives. By the time three days had passed, Kaden had gone from a man who hardly knew how to cook, to a fairly confident crewman who could follow the directions that Manuela gave him.

She had taken to calling him ‘Mijo’, though she had never explained what it meant, he imagined that it was a family term, maybe she saw him as a sort of son that she never had. He worked hard to learn, picking up cooking fairly quickly and now able to mince much faster than her old hands could manage which certainly made preparing meals for the crew much easier. Generally all that they really made was stews, occasionally there would be some meat thrown into the mix for the crew to enjoy, but standard sea cooking was much harsher than it was on land.

For side meals they had bread and various fruits that they kept hidden away, not wanting to encourage any thieves to make their way down, though Manuela had commented that a lot less food went missing now that he was around. A familiar voice called for Manuela while they were working to start preparations for dinner, causing him to jump when Johanna suddenly rounded the corner, his trained hands setting down the knife he had been using when she addressed him.

“I’m sure you could do anything you put your mind to, Ma’am.” He laughed before glancing to Johanna when she approached his side, Manuela really had needed his help, and Mr. Hawke really couldn’t find any use for him abovedecks. Anything was better than having to mop the ship every single day, and at least with cooking the crew seemed to like him better than they had when he had first signed the Compact a few days prior.

“Oh, just another stew.” He shrugged, picking up the knife against to continue cutting up vegetables for the meal. “Adding a few peppers for spice, vegetables and a bit of meat for substance..” He brushed the cut peppers into a small pot set beneath his cutting board, setting the knife down to look to her. “It’s good to see you again, I see you every now and then in the Mess.. but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you consistently eat.” He rubbed the back of his head, a bit of nervousness flitted through him.

He hadn’t ever been the best with women, generally talking to them, looking at them, being with them.. Other than Manuela, who he saw as his teacher more than anything else. She took him in when it seemed like he had no use on the Lucrezia, he was thankful for her teachings.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Salomé let out a deep sigh of disappointment and straightened her back, and for a moment she actually released her captive's hair. But before his head could fall too far downward, her knee suddenly jerked up with surprising speed, colliding with his jaw with enough force to break it. A moment later, her boot drove deep into his stomach, knocking him onto his side before she crouched down again, this time drawing a small knife from her belt and holding it against the captive's throat.

"You might be a good fighter, but you wag that tongue of yours like a little boy who's just discovered his cock and now feels the need to show everyone else. If I weren't such a soft-hearted woman, I'd cut it out." The delicate movement of the blade against his skin didn't make it clear which appendage she was referring to. "You seem to forget that you're outnumbered, and two days out from a port where no civilized ship would ever come to save you, if you were even worth saving. The only way this ends well for you is if you show me the respect I deserve, and even then I might still decide to geld you. I suppose it depends on how it'll affect your price at auction."

Her knife began to drag downward, cutting through the fabric of his shirt and stopping just short of his waist. The captain raised one eyebrow; aside from the bruises and broken ribs, the marine seemed to be a rather impressive specimen of a man. Under better circumstances, Salomé might have been inclined to treat him a little more gently, but as it was she couldn't risk letting him get the upper hand again. "So, here's what's going to happen, Mr. Daniels. You're going to behave yourself. You're going to apologize to my men. And you are going to beg me, on your knees," Stowing her knife, she seized him by the hair again and raised him up until he was in that preferred position. "To forgive your stupidity and rudeness."

Releasing his hair, she took a step backwards and crossed her arms over her chest, resuming her cool, confident demeanor. "Once that's done, I'll see to it you get fresh water and medical attention. Or, if you insist on behaving this way, you can say goodbye to the water, and the food, and we'll let someone treat you once we're on land. Probably not someone as gentle as Mrs. Murdock, but again, that's your decision."

A wicked smile crossed her face as she continued to finger the hilt of her knife. "Now, again, Mr. Daniels: what do you have to say?"

*****
​

Jakob wasn't a garrulous man by nature, but he seemed even more reticent than usual today. Louisa supposed it might have had something to do with the wound, but something in his eyes hinted at something deeper. She wasn't stupid; of course she knew he would have preferred to have the captain at his side rather than her. But Salomé had more important things to deal with at the moment, while most of the surgeon's patients were either dead or well on their way to recovery at this point.

"I can give you something for the pain if it's still bothering you," she said quietly, following his gaze out towards the waves. "Or...is it something else?"

She was silent a few moments, then gently laid a hand on his good shoulder. "You know I can hold my tongue," Louisa whispered, just loudly enough for him to hear her, and letting the waves drown out her words to any other eavesdropping ears. "If there is something that must be said, you know I would never betray your secrets. Are you really all right, Jakob?"

*****
​

"Dios mio, the boy is on the one ship that has more women on board than men, and he flirts with the old abuela," Manuela grumbled good-naturedly, whacking Kaden lightly on the back with a wooden spoon as she brushed by him. Her sunken whiskey-colored eyes glittered mischievously towards Johanna as she nudged her apprentice in the ribs. "Señorita Lindsay is much closer to your age, mijo, and no one's spoken for her yet. Make your eyes at her, if you can't keep them on your work."

The clerk blushed crimson as she glared at the old cook, who had already turned her attention back to her tasks. "How are our stores of vegetables?" Johanna asked, ready to change the subject to anything else. Although she should have had her ledger book with her to make a proper inventory, her sharp eyes were still quick to count the sacks and barrels in sight. "You know how Louisa gets about the produce. If anyone skips she's convinced they'll die of scurvy the very next day."

She glanced back towards Kaden from the corner of her eye. As far as she could tell, he wasn't suffering from any of the usual maladies that afflicted most sailors. His teeth were all there, his skin had a healthy cast, and he even seemed to have a new liveliness in him compared to what she'd seen of him on deck. Ignoring the comment about her own eating habits, Johanna tilted her head slightly as she turned back in his direction.

"Mr. Mayweather, if you don't mind my asking...how long have you been a sailor? Was the Malevolence your first ship?"

 

[Risky]

She released him and he glared daggers up at her, his breath leaving him when she suddenly knee'd him in his jaw, feeling it almost dislocating with the force she had applied, his body slouching to the side before she kicked him in the stomach, causing him to cough quietly, a bit of blood of leaving his lips from the force she had hit him. He had already been in a lot of pain from the men that had beaten him down, pirates never fought fair after all. But now he felt like his whole body was ringing with pain from the vicious attacks she had gotten him with.

His eyes closed as he felt the cool steel of her knife pressed against his throat, taking a shaky breath to steady himself from shaking, not wanting to show this woman an inch of weakness. He knew when to hold his tongue, but her words further reinforced that now was not the time to be taking quips at her and her honor. He bit the inside of his cheek as she continued, though he was a tough man, he didn't see the sense in getting his tongue or his cock cut off. She was right, he was completely outnumbered even with his men on his side, he might be able to take on two pirates at a time, but he couldn't say for certain whether or not his men would be up for the task of taking down pirates like he was.

Alec's breath wavered gently as she moved the knife lower, feeling the fabric of his shirt give way to the sharpened blade of her knife, revealing his very injured torso, her men preferring to keep his wounds beneath his clothing so that he would still sell properly at the auction in Nassau. He didn't want to be sold into slavery, and he certainly didn't want to die.. Her offer of joining the Lucrezia was more tempting now than ever, but would her men be able to live with the idea that he would be their equal? Or maybe even superior with his experience on the water and in combat. He cursed quietly as she dragged him up by his hair and forced him on to his knees before her, his eyes zoning out as his body tried to slip him into unconsciousness from his wounds, but his pure willpower fought with all of its being. He knew that if he fell now, she may not even think him worthy of selling in Nassau.

She stepped away from him and his eyes settled on the two men guarding his cell. "I'm sorry I tricked you and hurt you." He said quietly. "To be fair, you got me back pretty good." He coughed again, a bit of blood dribbling down his cut lip before he looked up at Salomé. The words were hard to find, but he clenched his eyes shut for a moment to reach for them, opening them up again to look to her again. "I won't beg for that.. But what I will beg for is a second chance." He coughed again, his head looking down at the floor as to not get any blood in her direction, he couldn't imagine that she would be too happy with his blood on her boots.

"I don't want to die... And I don't want to be a slave." He felt better about this decision now that his men weren't around him, looking up at her he took a shaky breath. "Please, let me join your crew, I'll do anything." Nobody was coming for him, nobody would care if he was sold into slavery and worked until his body could not work anymore, this was his only chance.. He felt broken.

****
​

Jakob had been close with Louisa since she had joined Salomé and her crew, she was always a good shoulder to lean on when things were rough, and could patch anyone up as long as they had blood flowing through their veins. Her voice asked him if something else was bothering him, he had been overthinking his relationship with their Captain, it wasn't good for him to have when the other crew might think she plays favorites with him. But he didn't really care about any of that, he just wanted her to feel the same way that he did.

He took a deep breath when she set her hand on his shoulder, his blue eyes glancing to her. "Yeah.. It's something else." She had been able to keep her tongue the other times he had talked to her, but this seemed like something that would be harder for her to keep confidence with. "You can't tell a soul." He looked her dead in the eyes now, not wanting her to think that he wasn't being serious.

"I'm in love with Salomé." His eyes looked away from her now and back out to the ocean. "But she uses me, she doesn't feel the same." He sets his elbows on the rail and runs both of his hands through his hair. "She goes to port and fucks every man and woman in sight, and then comes back on this ship and uses me when she has nobody else." The truth hurt, saying it out loud was bringing a sort of stabbing pain through his heart. "But yet I still love her.. I just.." He shook his head, even knowing that Lou wouldn't tell anybody it was hard to talk about.

"I wish she felt the same, I dedicated my life to her.. And I shouldn't have, I'm just not like her when it comes to these sort of things.. I settle, I suppose."

****
​

Kaden jumped when she whacked him with her spoon, he still wasn't used to people hitting him with things and throwing various objects at him, nor was he used to the environment of the Lucrezia, so he was still very much on edge. "I- what.. I." Manuela had already walked away by the time that he was starting to recover from the massive blush that had turned his face a bright red. He looked over his shoulder at the old woman, she was already back to cutting up various vegetables to add to their stew, a quiet sigh left him as the embarrassment started to fade.

He was young and healthy, and practically ate whatever the ship cook served him when he was onboard the Malevolence, most ships had a Louisa that was looking out for them just like this one. Maybe he had been born to go to sea, though he had been a bit disoriented and sea sick on his first few nights aboard his last ship, he had surprised his crew members with how quickly he had adapted to ship life. Though he still hadn't learned enough to be of much more use than a swabby, so he had only learned to mop the decks.

Johanna looked back his way and asked him how long he had been a sailor for, he rubbed the back of his head in thought before answering. "Only a few months, Miss Lindsay." He explained while continuing to cut what had been given to him to add to the stew, his hands working while his eyes looked to the woman standing next to him. "I'm not much good at sailing, but at least I've yet to come down with scurvy." He laughed, though he had heard the stories of sailors who had done so.

"She was my first ship, though I don't miss her." Here he seemed to have actual purpose, not just mopping the decks.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Well, this was unexpected. Salomé had watched Daniels speaking to Miss Lindsay at the time of capture, and he seemed much too proud a bastard to ever submit to joining a pirate crew. Then again, a ruptured spleen could do a lot of convincing.

The captain had to think quickly. She knew there was a very good chance that her captive would probably start his shit all over again once he was well. But judging by the damage she and her guards had done to him, that wasn't likely to be for at least a week, possibly even longer. By then, his men would already be long gone, and he would be even more alone than ever. And if all went well, the Lucrezia would be able to refill her numbers with fresh recruits from Nassau, so even if the marine did decide to act up again, at least she'd have enough crew to knock him down quickly. If worse came to worst, she could at least make an example of him in front of the green ones, and show them what happened to those who opposed Captain Reed.

"And just think, if you had told that to Miss Lindsay at the beginning of all this, we might have saved your pretty face," Salomé commented, nudging his cheek gently with the toe of her boot. "But if this is what you want, I suppose I'll allow it...with conditions."

Her gaze hardened. "One: you will remain imprisoned in this cell until all of your men have been sold off. I'll see to it that you get food, water, and medicine in the meantime, but you will not be stepping one foot on Nassau until I feel you can be trusted."

"Two: because I don't trust you not to try to cut the throat of the first person you encounter, once you're well you will report directly to me. I'll admit you're a bit big for a cabin boy, but I'm sure I can find a use for you." She couldn't help but smile a little at the though, and silently congratulate herself for not being so impulsive as to cut out his tongue. "Once you've proven your loyalty to me and this crew, then we'll see about letting you carry a weapon again."

That matter settled, Salomé knocked sharply on the door, signalling the guard to open it. "Of course, if you touch any of my people again, all of these terms are immediately null and void, and I'll just go ahead and kill you. Keep that in mind, Mr. Daniels." Without another word to the prisoner, the captain vacated the cell and let the door slam shut behind her. She did however give murmured order to the guards to fetch him fresh provisions, and to have Louisa come down and take a look immediately.

*****
​

Louisa tried to keep a straight face as Jakob told his story, she really did. She even clapped a hand over her mouth, feigning awe and surprise, which was immediately ruined by the soft chuckles leaking out behind it.

"Oh mon ami," the surgeon sighed eventually, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. "I am not mocking you, but your feeling for the capitaine are hardly a secret. It's a small ship, after all, and we do have eyes." She let her hand fall, and her quiet mirth soon faded into wistfulness. "Anyone can see by the way you look at her that there is more than just duty in your eyes, Jakob. I would not even be surprised if she knew it herself, although if she does I will agree with you that she does not treasure your regard appropriately."

Sighing, Louisa leaned forward over the rail a moment, then glanced back hesitantly towards the mate. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but it wouldn't surprise me if your love for her is what earned you your position. Capitaine Reed knows your heart will prevent you from ever betraying her, which is why she chose you as her first mate. If she ever suspected you were not true to her, I think she would choose someone else in a heartbeat."

And who would that be? Louisa wondered. Briggs? Unlikely, considering how firmly she spoke for the crew. Manuela was too old, Johanna too young. And Salomé certainly wouldn't pick Louisa herself, at least not until the crew had another surgeon that could take her place in case of accidents. It was an interesting through though, one the former madam would have to think over carefully.

"Luckily," she continued, standing up straight again. "The captaine knows the first rule of the whorehouse, which I think applies well here: your heart is not your bed." Louisa couldn't help but smile a little at that, thinking of how she herself had violated that rule once she'd married her husband. "If you did seek company elsewhere, I doubt she would begrudge you of that. And I'm certain there are plenty of women on board who'd be happy to assist you."

Louisa gestured towards a pair of women who'd been glancing in their direction and giggling occasionally. "Flora and Yejide certainly look willing," the surgeon whispered conspiratorily, raising one eyebrow. "Probably both at the same time, if you were up for it. And of course, everyone knows Spanish Jo will fuck anything that moves." Although the bosun's mate could certainly be rough, and Louisa doubted Jakob would be too interested in the woman's bulging muscles and half-shaved head. "And you know, if you wanted someone gentler, I think even the little English governess might finally be willing to give up that virginity of hers if you were the one who asked for it."

Through all of these suggestions, the surgeons was careful not to name herself as an interested party. The last thing she wanted was for Jakob to think she had an ulterior motive by coaxing him into someone else's bed. Besides, it seemed pointless to dare hope for something that seemed impossible.

*****
​

Johanna couldn't help but smile at Kaden's remarks. "I can understand that," she remarked, letting out a little yelp of surprise as an apple suddenly flew towards her head. She hadn't even seen Manuela throw it, but she did manage to make a clumsy two-handed catch before laughing nervously as she rubbed it against her shirt. "I'm not really a sailor myself, as I'm sure you can see. I was supposed to be a governess; that's what all of the girls at the charity school were brought up to do. By all rights I should be in Carolina right now, teaching the young Misses Wallingfords their letters and numbers and helping them become proper young ladies."

She often wondered what had become of the family that had contracted her, and if her charges ever had secured another tutor. Miss Lindsay had no family back in England that would have missed her, and she expected that she was assumed dead at this point. "Perhaps it was a good thing in the end," she murmured, more to herself than to Kaden. Realizing she had spoken aloud though, she colored slightly as she tried to explain. "You see, when Captain Reed attacked the ship that was bringing me from Bristol, she made me the same offer as she did for you: without anyone to pay my ransom, I could either be sold as a slave--" Johanna shuddered, knowing that path would have ended in a Nassau brothel, rather than a cane field. "--or I could join the crew. And since I'd had a decent education, she said she could use me as a clerk, and no one would ever lay a hand on me unless I asked them to."

And indeed, to that very day Johanna was just as intact as she'd been at Lowwood School, though she was hardly about to tell Kaden that. Instead, she decided to change the subject. "What were you before you were a sailor? Not a cook, I imagine," Miss Lindsay added with a chuckle, although he did seem to be picking up the trade with surprising adeptness.

 

[Risky]

Alec lowered his head to the floor, her toe nudging his face making him suck in a pained breath as she spoke about how he could have just joined in the first place rather than go through all of this pain. Days of being imprisoned already and barely fed had all taken a toll on him.

The other men who had decided to sign her Compact had immediately joined the crew and started their work aboard the ship, treated as equals among the crew and not as enemies any longer. But from her words, that would not be the case with him, and he understood the reasoning behind it, he just wasn’t sure that the guards outside of his door would want to keep him alive. He bit the inside of his cheek as she spoke about his conditions to join her crew, all of it seemed pointed at keeping him down, ensuring that he wouldn’t pull anything to try and get revenge on any of her crew, he wondered silently if they would at least let him roam his cell without his manacles on, but that seemed fairly unlikely at this point.

“Alright.” He said quietly when she finished making her terms to him, agreeing to them meant another few days of being imprisoned, but she had said that he would be getting food and water, plus medical attention for the wounds he had sustained from trying to escape.

Though he doubted that Miss Murdock would want to see him again when all was said and done, he wasn’t sure that him wanting to join the crew would really change her opinion about him as she had very obvious feelings for that Jakob fellow.

His face darkened slightly as he thought about the man that he had wounded, sitting back against the wall of the cell when Salomé left, his eyes staring down at the floorboards while he thought about it. That man would want him dead, he had done enough damage to him that he would want some form of revenge, he just hoped that reporting directly to the Captain would help to protect him a little bit.

Alec’s eyes closed, feeling the need to get a bit of rest as his body ached for sleep. He falls on to his side, his hands still locked behind his back and lets his eyes settle closed, pulling him into a deep sleep.

****​

Jakob leaned against the railing as she clapped a hand over her mouth, shaking his head. “Don’t patronize me.” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his index finger and his thumb while shaking his head. “I get it, everyone knows.” It’s not like it wasn’t obvious.

He didn’t think that she was mocking him, but he didn’t want her pity either, he just wanted to get a load off of his back with how he had been feeling. Though now he was more recovered than injured, he couldn’t help but feel like Salomé still didn’t want him for the right reasons. “Part of me hopes that she doesn’t know, maybe if she did she might think differently..” His voice dropped a bit, as if he knew that wouldn’t be the case. She was far too much of a free spirit to ever settle down, admitting his feelings for her would only make things awkward.

“I tended to think it was my skill with the sword and my wits that kept me as her first mate.” He laughed before shaking his head. “But you’re probably right, I’ve also been with her since the beginning.” She had saved his life, he owed her everything, a bit of loyalty was not too much to ask of him. “I wish things were as simple as they used to be, just us on a small sloop, practically begging people to join our crew with no upfront coin to show for it.” He smiled, wistfully.

“I doubt she could ever replace me even if she tried, the men and women of this ship all fit into their roles adequately.” He runs a hand through his hair and sets his eyes to the sea below them, watching the white froth of the waves crash against their ship and cause it to rock slightly. Hopefully there wasn’t a storm brewing, it would be nice to have clear waters all the way to Nassau.

He glanced her way as she mentioned the first rule of a whorehouse, really he had never been to one. She explained herself and his eyebrows knit together neatly. With his time in the Captain’s bed, it was hard to notice other women on board, but maybe Louisa was right in saying that other women would be interested in him, a soft sigh leaving him. “It’s not just the company I want, Lou.” He shook his head. “Am I just unlovable?” He laughed, it seemed like a reasonable assumption, he could probably bed any woman he wanted onboard, but earning someone’s love was different.

She goes about pointing out various women that would be interested in him and he shook his head seeing the two staring their way, holding up a hand to cover his face from their view. “Gods above, they’ve been staring this whole time?” He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, though the concept of bedding two women at the same time was of interest to him, he didn’t see it ever working out in his favor. “I’m not like the Captain, Lou.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’ve never just.. slept around, I suppose.” It seemed strange coming out of the mouth of a pirate, but it was completely true.

“Before I joined the crew I had a girl ashore in England, though I’m not sure she loved me so much since she sent me a letter to break things off.” His eyes flicked down to the ocean again. “Maybe I just have the worst luck with women in the entire world.” His story seemed fresh out of a lovers book, a man who could never land a proper woman’s love. “I suppose I could always try sleeping around.. as long as Salomé didn’t mind..”

It made sense that she wouldn’t care, after all she fucked anything that she thought was attractive when she hit the shore. His eyes glanced to the French woman standing next to him. “How do you feel about me, Lou?” He asked quietly.

****​

Kaden also jumped when Manuela threw an apple at Johnna, his own body moving in delayed reaction to held catch the apple, though by the time he had set the knife down she had already caught it with both of her hands. “Do you ever think about what your life could have been if you had made it to Carolina?” He asked while taking a small towel to clean his hands with, they were partially covered with the juices of various vegetables and fruits, but he managed to clean them quite thoroughly. “I always think about what I could’ve been on land.” He admitted with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head, seemingly a nervous habit.

He couldn’t imagine that being a woman in the slave trade would be anything pretty, truthfully even if he had been made a slave at Nassau, the worst he would experience was forced labor. At least he probably wouldn't have been violated like she would have been, he bit the inside of his cheek while leaning against the counter to look to her. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, but I’m glad you found purpose on this ship.” He smiled, seeing Manuela look at him over her shoulder he quickly turned to get back to work, not wanting to ensue her wrath again. “If you wanted to attend dinner instead of coming between meals, I’d like to sit down and eat with you.” He offered, he thought her story was interesting, plus she seemed interested in talking to him.

“Before I sailed? I was nothing.” He laughed, shaking his head, his face dropping a bit as he went to set the pot over a small cooking fire. “I grew up in an orphanage, never learned much other than how to survive on my own, and as soon as I turned eighteen I joined the Trading Company to escape all of that.” He doubted that he would have found a better job in the streets. He could have shined shoes, or maybe just begged and lived on the streets.. but sailing even with pirates was preferable to that.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Once the matter with Daniels had been settled, Salomé made a small detour to her quarters to down a quick cup of Madeira, just to settle her nerves. At times like this she could have used a quick tussle with Jakob, but the last she had checked with Louisa he'd still been firmly out of commission in that department. As the wine began to ease her pounding blood, it occurred to the captain that her first mate hadn't been in his hammock the last time she passed through the crew quarters, so that meant at least he was well enough to walk around. Setting her glass aside, she settled her brown tricorn on her head and decided to go up to the deck, just to see how Jakob was doing. Certainly with no other motives in mind.

She found him leaning against the starboard rail, in close conversation with Louisa. Salomé let out an exasperated little sigh. She needs to just fuck him and get it over with. The captain really wouldn't have minded sharing her first mate, the trouble was that the surgeon wasn't nearly so generous. All or nothing, that was the way with Mrs. Murdock. If she couldn't have the man she loved all to herself, she wouldn't have him at all, no matter how badly she might want him. That was probably why despite her beauty and skills, she'd never remarried after her first husband's death.

The surgeon immediately tensed when she saw Salomé approaching, especially with that determined rhythm in her stride that made it very clear she wanted something. "Afternoon, Capitaine," Louisa saluted, straightening up but letting her hand linger on Jakob's forearm a second too long. "Is there something you needed?"

Salomé nodded sharply, wondering about the men she'd sent to find her surgeon to tend to the wounded man belowdecks. "That marine in the forward hold; seems he was dumb enough to try and escape and Briggs and his boys had to kick the shit out of him. They must have done a good job though, he wants to sign the compact now, although I think his fingers might be too broken to hold a pen. Can you go make sure he doesn't die?"

"Oui, Capitaine. Though this time when I treat him, can you please ask the crew not to undo my work so quickly? If I have to keep healing the same man I'll hardly be able to tend to anyone else," Louisa replied dryly. Before stepping away, she whispered something else in Jakob's ear that only he would be able to hear above the wind and waves. "I love you enough to kill him for you, if that's what you want."

Meanwhile, Salomé chuckled at the surgeon's joke and shrugged as she brushed past her. "If he doesn't survive this one, he isn't worth shit as a crewman anyway. Do whatever you can for him."

Louisa gave Jakob a knowing look, then disappeared below the deck. Meanwhile, the captain sidled up beside him and took a pointed look at his chest. "So, that wound healing up all right? I had a quick task for you in my cabin, if you're up for it..." A little smile quirked at her mouth as a familiar gleam began to sparkle in her dark eyes.

Down in the hold, the surgeon strode past the guard looking much less cheerful than she had on deck, and she hardly looked excited to see the wounded man. "So we meet again, Mr. Daniels," Louisa remarked, noting the new manacles behind his back. That was certainly going to make things difficult. After some whispered conversation with the guards outside, they only agreed to remove them if Daniels could be properly subdued otherwise, beyond the point where he would even stand a chance at lashing out.

Removing a few trays from her medical chest, Louisa pulled out a small box that had been locked with a silver key she kept on her belt. Inside was the entire ship's ever-dwindling, otherwise-restricted supply of opium. After sterilizing her hands with a mixture of water and alcohol, the surgeon gently touched Daniel's lip, trying to ease open his mouth. "Open for me, please. I'm going to give you something for the pain."

*****
​

“Do you ever think about what your life could have been if you had made it to Carolina?”

Johanna was silent a few moments. "Sometimes," she finally admitted. "But I never met the family I was supposed to work for, so it's not as though I can miss them. The school I attended arranged all the placements for us. It...it was a school for orphans. Girls only of course, but it's the only life I've ever known. I imagine it wasn't so different from yours?" There was an unoccupied stool near the wall, and without thinking the clerk sat down, her eyes curiously watching the movement of Kaden's hands.

"Did the orphanage place you with the trading company, or did you decide to go to sea on your own?" she continued curiously. For as little control as the cook's apprentice had over his life these days, Johanna had to envy any chance he might have had previously. It seemed she'd never been allowed to make her own decisions for herself. Even now, she had to shake her head at his offer to come down between meals.

"No, thank you. It's a generous offer but..." She blushed slightly. "I don't exactly have the best rapport with the rest of the crew. It wouldn't look well on either of us if they thought you were giving me special treatment. Of course, everyone's afraid of Manuela--"

"As they should be!" the cook called from the shadowy corner where she'd retreated, making the clerk giggle a little before she went on.

"--But I don't want to cause any trouble for you so soon after signing on. I've probably stayed down here too long as it us, but...you haven't technically given me anything, so I suppose it's all right." Johanna smiled shyly at him. "There's nothing against two crewmates having a nice conversation between their duties, is there?"

 

[Risky]

Jakob jumped a little when Louisa suddenly snapped to attention, glancing to see Salomé approaching and giving her a light smile, though they had just been discussing her, his face never really revealed how he felt. He was a stoic man, he preferred not to show emotion when it came to matters like this, he had been taught that showing emotion could allow an enemy to exploit your weakness, even when surrounded by friends he kept his practiced look. Louisa’s hand lingering on his arm didn’t bother him much, though she hadn’t answered his question before they were interrupted by the Captain, it was hard to consider being with another woman while looking to the one who had saved him all those years ago.

He stayed silent while they spoke between one another, Salomé was obviously here to find Louisa, and considering how closely the surgeon had been sticking to him over the last few days it probably wasn’t very hard to find them, there were only so many places to go on the ship after all. His eyes focused on the waves for a moment, social encounters were never really his forte. He had originally joined the Navy because of how much he enjoyed the ocean, watching waves crash against the hull of the ship and seeing the creatures that occupied its depths, just being able to watch the blue horizon made him feel at peace.

His eyes glanced to Louisa when she whispered in his ear, while he would have loved to see the bastard’s body thrown overboard, he knew that with the way he fought that he would be a valuable asset to the crew. He shook his head to her words but gave her a smile, as if to thank her for her willingness.

The surgeon left his side and was replaced almost immediately by the Captain, his blue eyes settling on her beautiful features as she looked down to his chest to examine his wound. He was still bandaged, but he had a lot more free movement with his body now that he had had a few days to heal. Unfortunately a through sword wound wasn’t something one could just bounce back from, but he felt more than willing to get back to work.

Her words made a small smile form on his lips and he nodded. “I think I can help you out.” He said while leaning against the railing. “Might just have to be a little more careful this time.” He was still a bit sore from the wound, but being with Salomé again would be more than worth it.. it was almost as if Louisa’s words hadn’t swayed him at all.

“And after that, I think I’m good to stop laying in bed all day.” He laughed before starting to walk with her back to her cabin, excited to be well enough again to be with her.

****​

Alec looked up at Louisa as she walked into his cell, noticing how she eyed the shackles around his wrists before stepping outside to talk to the guards. When she returned he had sat up, his legs crossed in front of him while his yellow-green eyes stared her down, unsure of her intentions. She had warned him that she would kill him if he even looked Jakob’s way again, and honestly he doubted that she was excited to have him join the crew.

She opened her chest and he eyed the contents, his teeth gently grinding against the inside of his cheek as she pulled something from it. “What is it?” He asked quietly when she asked him to open up, though he doubted that she would poison him but there was always the chance that she would go against her Captain’s wishes.

He hesitantly opened his mouth with her gentle prodding, taking in a shaky breath as he does so.

****​

Kaden listened to her talk about her orphanage, and how she hadn’t really considered what her life in Carolina would have been like. He had always been one to speculate about the different paths he could have taken in his life, though he was sure that joining this crew was far better than being a slave. “My orphanage didn’t really care about us, if you call that freedom.” He said quietly while continuing to prepare the meal for the night, his eyes focused on the task in front of him.

“They gave me a bag to put my things in when I turned eighteen and threw me out.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I chose to go to sea, it seemed better than begging on the streets, I’ve never had enough skill to be a craftsman or an artisan.” He hadn’t really had any opportunity to practice a trade, other than cooking now that he was on the Lucrezia.

His eyebrows knit together neatly and he looked to her after she declined his offer. “They don’t like you? Why?” He asked, she seemed perfectly like able to him, the Captain seemed to trust her too. “You seem fine to me.” He laughed.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Well if you won’t eat with me will I at least be able to see you again?” He asked her while setting the knife down for a moment. “When I’m not cutting vegetables and getting things thrown at me?” He said that last part a little more quiet than the first sentence, not wanting Manuela to retaliate.