My cold body shivered and I smiled as I felt a warm hand on my bare arm, knowing it was the one from the blue eyed man sitting down behind me.
I was happy to see that we succeeded, but what I didn't want to think about was climbing the even bigger ship than the one we set on fire.
~~~
(POV Charles Vane)
With my boot leaning onto the higher side of the railing of the ship, I watched the light turquoise sea as my mind went to Naida. It had been a few days after sailing into the dark horizon and her wound was healing better now she had rest. The only thing that concerned me now was the fact that it was getting visible that she was carrying my child.
I could have expected it.
She should be around three months by now and I noticed I was getting even more protective over her. My fear went towards her safety and health and it affected my mood a lot. Besides all that, the men of Teach started to know about her and the kid which wasn't an amazing thought either. Perhaps Teach was right. I definitely changed in a good way which I didn't mind, just, it also gave me something to lose and that uncomfortable feeling bottled up every time I saw the woman I loved.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when Teach walked towards me and stood upright, looking down at me.
Wind's in our favor. Should be arriving in Ocracoke in three days' time."
I nodded at Teach and right away felt the feeling he was going to tell me another story because of the strange silence.
"My fourth wife. Constance.... a sweet girl, bright, but she had her notions. Cricket in the house means good luck, a moth in the house, bad. And the bed.... Jesus the bed. No hats on it, no brooms near it, nor any clothes in it that were worn outdoors. Any violation of this brought great misfortune. I mean, for an otherwise sane woman, she had these pockets of complete and thorough madness within her. Although, it's been six years since I've seen her face.... to this day, if I.... if I see a broom by a bed, I have to move it."
I raised an eyebrow at the man standing in front of me and narrowed my eyes as I couldn't focus on the meaning behind his weird talking.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"A woman has that power, God-given, to leave her marks on you. And it's far harder to dispose of the marks than the woman who left them."
"You think I'm having second thoughts about leaving Nassau? That that is the mark Eleanor Guthrie left on me?" I furrowed my eyebrows before tilting my head slightly.
"I know it is. And I know that you're conflicted about what you have left behind. But the question is whether you can cling fast to the truth we both hold in our hearts, the truth that makes us of the same mind."
"And what truth is that?"
"That a lion keeps no den. Because the savanna, all the space within it, everything that walks and crawls upon it belongs to him." With unbelief, I stared at the clear ocean again and shook my head.
"When I talked like that, they all looked at me like I was mad-.... They never understood."
"There's hardly any of us who do."
"Sails!"
In the distance we heard a man who I recognised as Reuben shouting, he was mostly serving on the vanguard.
He appeared to be spying the merchant ship sailing before us and as we walked closer he was still watching it until we ended up standing next to the red haired man, leaning onto the railing.
He nervously looked away from his spyglass towards us and lowered his head.
"Three masts."
"Colors?" Reuben suddenly hesitated before speaking up and answered Teach with something I rather not wanted to hear.
"Spanish."
"Signal the fleet. Set a course to pursue." Reuben shortly made eye contact with Teach before nodding and left the higher floor to give the orders around.
Teach was about to break a long tradition of pirates not to attack Spanish ships and was acting totally normal about it. I on the other hand wasn't agreeing with my former mentor.
"It was never a rule. No one ever decided it. It was just something of an understanding. Spanish ships are to be avoided."
"Yeah, for fear of reprisals against Nassau. I suppose that's one less thing to worry about now, then. Wake up your woman." I rolled my eyes before I took action, leaving my spot to, indeed, see Naida.
Walking a few stairs up and then down, being accused by crew members for help along the way, I finally arrived at Naida's hammock. To my surprise she wasn't asleep at all, she was fully awake while staring at the ceiling with her hand laying next to her and the other one on her rib cage. "Naida?" I called, trying to get her attention and she weakly waved at me when she took note of me. I slowly got closer and sat down next to her hammock on a small, wooden side table. She looked pretty rested.
Suddenly, she shot upright and held her hand for her mouth as I grabbed her by her back automatically, trying to comfort her.
"I couldn't sleep.... I'm way too nauseous for that-.... And I miss us sharing a bed." I spotted a small smile being painted on the Captain's face as I gave her a sign she was totally right.
I missed it too, the feeling of her curling up into my side, her head laying on my chest. Hearts beating the same rhythm, same as our breathing being in sync.
The feeling of her warming up my bed, just the safety I felt around her, I indeed missed it.
Naida threw her legs over the side of her swinging hammock and I caught her when she almost fell to the ground.
"Perhaps we need to find another way for you to sleep properly."
"With you, don't forget that." I smiled, an idea popping into my head.
Teach already had a big liking towards her, even trusted her, so perhaps he would let us sleep in his cabin if he was in a nice mood when I asked.
"Naida, we are pursuing a Spanish ship at the moment."
"On Teach's command?"
"Yes. Listen, within an hour or two they or we will board them and I don't think they will surrender."
"Fucking great." She rubbed her temples before sitting on my lap.
"I thought the same.... and.... he wants you on board."
"What?"
"Can you fight without being harmed?"
I looked down at her and out of a sudden her eyes lit up.
"Long range?"
"If that works for you, yes." I nodded.
"Fuck yeah."
"Good." I smiled back before pulling her into a hug.
In the distance I could hear Teach ask Charles what was wrong with me, with Charles reacting that I was stressed, tired and in pain. Nothing more, nothing less. Laughing to myself I kept my gaze onto the horizon not paying attention to them both anymore.
~~~
"Hey." I heard the broad man in the distance narrowing the gap between us. "You're doing okay?"
I decided to not pay attention to Charles now standing next to me and still glanced at the blue, calm ocean. I didn't answer him and let myself silently drown in my thoughts.
"I know you have troubles with understanding the change of mind, but that doesn't mean I'm turning into something I wasn't before. I respect Teach, but little one, I would never want to turn into his kind of behaviour or into him at all." He whispered and felt his piercing gaze on me. "I know how you feel about Nassau and this situation and I'm sorry...." I could hear him sigh in regret. "But Naida be honest, it wasn't just the reason I changed my mind that made you mad and you know that too. I know you better. If you're angry you'll only show it like this when it's too much and it's bottled up." I turned my head around to watch Charles as he took a step closer to hold my waist while I was sitting on the railing. I first wanted to push him away, but another part of me actually needed the comfort.
"I'm tired and...." I sighed under my breath. "I figured my body isn't capable of doing things I did before and that kinda frustrates me. I just want to spend more time with you and forget everything."
"M-huh."
He stepped closer, sliding his arms around me and hugged me from behind. I honestly had never thought he would do this in the public's eyes, but I think he couldn't care less at the moment as well. I slowly laid my head back and leaned against his shoulder as we watched the sun rise together. His way of thinking and my way of thinking was different, but I could respect that and embrace it as long as he could do the same and stay himself. Still staring at the sun, I suddenly felt Charles leaving short and small kisses in my neck and I chuckled softly while I felt his arms tighten around me.
"I talked to Teach." He spoke to me in a hushed tone.
"So what did he say?"
"After today we'll arrive at Ocracoke." I slightly turned my head around, well, as far as I could. as my eyes grew bigger. It was delightful to hear I finally didn't have to feel sick every time I tried to lay down and it meant Charles and I could sleep in one bed.
"Thank god."
"You should thank me for suggesting to take a faster route instead."
"Who said you're not a god? You're shaped like one after all."
"I could tell you the same." We both bursted into laughter as Charles helped me off of the railing and back onto the upper deck and in the distance I could see Teach smile at Charles who was busy laughing and tickling my body which I hated. I couldn't control my laughing and tried my best to push Charles away so he would stop. Sadly, I ended up with Charles winning and pulling me against him while I had my palms flat on his chest, us both smiling to each other while sharing a kiss.
~~~
Ocracoke
~~~
Sitting down onto the hot sand, sharpening my swords as I watched over the beach, I watched the waves crash against the small cliffs, foam forming afterwards. Men were for fun challenging and fighting each other while other men were messing around with the whores on the beautiful island.
Teach had left with another brown haired woman, it seemed like they already knew each other, and Charles was on the other side of the beach, sitting before a tent on a barrel while eyeing everything that happened, keeping me in his sight as well. I waved at him and he smiled back, his face expression immediately changing as he noticed Reuben walking his way. The red haired man tried to explain something while Charles in the meantime made his way to me.
"What's wrong?" I stood up, rubbing the sand from my pants.
"Flint." He walked past me like it was nothing and I quickly followed his footsteps to the waterline.
"Charles? Explanation?"
"He's alive."
I froze, standing still onto the unsteady and hot sand which made my boots warm up from the outside in as I tilted my head. I couldn't believe Flint had survived Hornigold, but Charles wouldn't lie about it. With every man on the coast we surveyed the sloop that arrived onto the shore of Ocracoke.
The first man who hopped out of it was Flint who helped the rest with the other two sloops to come ashore before Flint and his men stepped our way.
"Jesus." The old man spoke before eyeing the alive man again. I was positioned slightly behind Charles and in my mind I started to cheer up horribly. "Welcome to Ocracoke."
~~~
"Nearly dismasted in a storm.... a storm you chased after. Nearly starved to death in the doldrums. Nearly executed by them." Teach looked at the men sitting behind Flint and stared back at him. "Either you are unkillable, friend, or way overdue."
"One way or another, I am here, and there is much to discuss about all our futures." Flint reacted annoyed, but secretly tired towards the older man on the other side of the table. I had taken my distance between them and sat around a fire with Charles' men. I was more comfortable with them. The men first had to get used to me being around their Captain, but eventually everyone started to adapt to the idea and even started to bring up conversations with me.
Either way I was lucky that they weren't that far away from the conversation so I could eavesdrop Flint and Teach with ease.
"What kind of future do you propose that to be?"
"I intend to gather forces and move to reclaim Nassau. The conquest is always weakest when the conqueror allows himself to believe that it is done. For Nassau, that point is now. Now, England may hold the island, but it still needs supplies brought in. It is still dependent upon trade. We will make that impossible for him." I didn't know Flint had these kind of manners while talking against another pirate, but he still seemed to have a little piece of his past in the way he behaved towards other people. "We will harass his ships. We will plunder his supplies. We will force him to bleed capital and support and the goodwill of the men surrounding him until he is weak enough to challenge directly. Until we can bring the fleet to bear and retake the bay." He explained while still keeping eye contact with Teach.
"You know, when I called Nassau home-...." I could feel an old habit of Teach coming up and already prepared for a new long story. "Most of the men on this beach weren't even men. I sailed with Ben Hornigold. I sailed with Sam Bellamy. I sailed with Henry Avery. Feuded with them, stole with them, questioned their motives, but we all knew what we were. Then a man arrives who would explain to us what we've been doing was wrong all those years, what Nassau ought to be, what he could make it if we would all just follow his lead. And here you are again asking to do the same."
"You let go before it's time." Flint had a hateful tone behind his voice and he shook his head.
"Oh? And what task is that exactly, Captain Vane."
"You must keep my child safe." He left a kiss on my forehead and we stared at each other for a minute until he headed towards the wooden door to later disappear behind it with me beginning to wait for him to come back safely with Flint by his side.
~~~
(POV Charles Vane)
"Did she tell you already or are you still seeking the answer?"
"I know.... that's why I tried to keep her away from what is about to happen." I kept my eyes on the judge. "Why didn't you turn around when you found out about it? You know I had the right to know and besides that, you knew this wasn't safe for her." I explained, my voice softer than a whisper in a raging storm. I only wanted him to hear my words and didn't want to look suspicious in front of the crowd.
"She wanted to get away from you so why would I turn my ship around and deliver her back to the man she tried to run away from?"
"Because it's my child." I groaned under my breath and watched the man who had built up the whole fucking theatre start to read the diary of Lord Peter Ashe's daughter. He appeared to have a hateful expression towards us, the most wanted pirates in the seven seas who weren't allowed to be killed yet and he rolled his eyes at us.
"So now you have everyone's eyes where you want them, on the two of us. What happens next?" To my surprise Flint understood my rage and backed down a little from the last conversations, curious about what my plan was. Flint had looked questioning at me from the corner of his eyes, but already knew I couldn't say anything, afraid people were listening. "When it happens. Once I'm free, whenever it is, you won't want to get in my way-.."
"When it happens, we will be moving to the jetty and out of this place. Didn't come all this way to have them kill you steps from the gallows." I snapped back. I didn't really appreciate it if this man got himself killed before I managed to free him.
"Mmm.... They're all trying so hard to convince themselves that they have nothing to be afraid of. How is running going to change that?"
"What do you suggest?" I turned my head his way at a slow pace.
"That we remind them that they were right to be afraid. If Naida would have been here, you know she would have agreed with me." I clenched my jaw before I arose from my wooden chair. I wouldn't run without a fight that perhaps had the effect to remind civilised people what real freedom was. I knew Naida would have fought them to death and beyond, same as an old friend of mine and I couldn't let them both down. For the first time Flint was truly right, Charles Town had to burn.... with all the citizens in it.
"What are you doing?!" The ridiculous man called out loud, trying to restrain me and put me in my place.
"I wish to speak on behalf of the defendant." Lord Kensington's face turned into a storm of wrath, but I stood my ground.
"You have not been recognized. Sit back and you'll-...." He pointed out and aggressively pulled his wig in place.
"These men convinced you that they speak for you." I addressed the public who had all gathered to see the so-called phenomenon, Flint's hanging, and I rolled my eyes at the angry man ahead of us who kept on warning me in an exasperated tone. The words that had rolled off my tongue seemed to make the people frightened and it was clearly visible that Kensington was scared to lose control over the citizens which motivated me to continue.
"How dare you?!" The man tried to cut me off for a third time to stop the fermentation that was caused, but I wasn't going to give in to the iron chains that were wrapped around my bruised wrists.
I would never become a slave again, nor would I ever listen to civilization and their laws.
"That the power you've given them is used in your interest. That the prisoner before you is your enemy and they your friends. Who those of you who live to see tomorrow.... know that you had a choice to see the truth and you let yourselves be convinced otherwise." I continued, raising my voice to the crowd. No matter what would happen, I was going to let these words mark their brains and let them all know how true life is supposed to be lived.
"That's enough! Bailiffs, remove him!"
With controlled rage I elevated my tied hands, willing to end this all, and lowered them as planned to give the command to fire at free will.
Each single person observed the scene with open eyes and were intimidated by the idea of not knowing what was supposed to happen. The fact that children had attended the show as well gave me a strange feeling, but I wasn't their parents and I didn't make the mistake of involving them.
Within seconds the first cannon was fired, ending diagonally to the left into the building.
Flint readily stood up and snatched someone's gun out of the man's hands to rotate it and hit him in the jaw while I avoided some rapid shots before a man stepped towards me with the intention of murdering me. I punched the man downwards, grabbed his gun in the process and went low myself to avoid the next shot. It didn't take long before I hit another man who challenged me between his ribs and a blow to his temple followed which knocked him out. I could still feel the pain from the injuries I had contracted in my last battle, but ignored it. It took a moment to see through the chaos and I tried to pay attention to how Flint was doing to confirm he wasn't killed yet.
~~~
30 minutes before the first shot.
~~~
(POV Naida Jones)
I wasn't able to help it.
The plan was smart, but Charles was insane to try this with a small group of crew members.
I knew he would have made it back alone, but what if I was wrong? I didn't want to hear a single word that said 'he died trying.'
Worse imaginations overflowed my head and I stood up from the bed I had rested in after Charles took his leaving. By now our bed just smelled like sex mixed up with sweat and the sheets weren't as soft as they were, however, that was for another time to worry about. I took a hold of my long black coat that was neatly folded onto the low wardrobe and I pushed my arms through the long sleeves as I proceeded to walk towards the door. My hand closed around the doorknob, but I suddenly backed down. Charles was going to be so pissed and disappointed with me.
I cleared my mind, shook the thoughts out of my head for the second time and placed my hands on my swords, one hanging on each side.
I fucking need to do this.
I have to help him.... whether he likes my sudden company or not and besides that, I never made a promise to stay here and these people seem to hold a tremendous grudge against me.
My hand folded around the door handle once more and there was no turning back. I inhaled deeply. I had to do this, I repeated once again. I pulled open the heavy door and took in the clean air from outside, softly closing the door behind me quickly. The men were so busy watching the Walrus crew that they didn't even suspect anything and I placed myself onto the railing of the ship with my legs thrown over the side. "What do you think you're doing?" An unknown man asked and I quickly looked behind me.
"Helping." I responded and in that moment we heard the first shot echoing through the city. It was my sign to leave if I still wanted to be there in time.
With that said I jumped off the railing and dived into the water before the man could even consider stopping me.
The water felt refreshing on my skin and made me cool down a bit, but I couldn't give in to the comfort the ocean gave me and I reminded myself I had to hurry. I mostly swam underwater while moving to the closest piece of land that I could reach the fastest and I snuck into the streets of Charles Town. I understood that climbing the roofs was a better idea to get to the place faster and unseen so I made my way to the roof tops instead. Everywhere I went there were screaming men and stressed out women with kids, but I couldn't help. I just couldn't.
Without realising it yet, I heard Flint's way of shouting and spotted Charles with Flint trying to avoid gunshots that were fired at them by standing behind an old wooden barn. Grabbing my gun, I laid down onto the flat roof so I was capable of aiming without shaking and I targeted the redcoats that were most dangerous to them. I decided to shoot the closest redcoat to them which made Charles and Flint wonder where the bullet came from and they were smart enough to follow the trail of the shot with their eyes, glancing right at me. I playfully waved at them before drawing my other pistol and shot a second one before jumping off the low roof.
"Hey boys." I whistled at the other group of redcoats and a wink specially dedicated to them followed. They instantly finished firing to dumbly glare at me and I launched myself at one of them, breaking his neck and then went up to the other three who were startled by the sudden attack and were stuck to the ground like a statue. I, without hesitating, cut the throat of another redcoat who's dark blood covered the dusty floor, leaving two of them left. I suddenly didn't have the surprise attack on my side anymore and they started shooting uncontrollably at me. Trying to avoid each shot, I knocked them both out as fast as I possibly could by pulling the gun from their hands and smashing it onto their jaws and I gasped for air afterwards. I was ready to kill them, only, right before I wanted to do so.... I felt a familiar arm sneak around my waist.
"Leave them!" By hearing the husky and rough voice, I could detect it was Charles and by the tone in his voice he seemed relieved, but also quite mad at me for making my appearance here.
"We have to move, both of you." I hurriedly nodded and Charles retreated his arm.
It looked like we were already too late though and a battle crate was heard as a man sprinted towards Flint while in the meantime another man approached us from another side.
"Flint, watch out!!" Right on time Flint turned around to see the man and he pushed his competitor against a cage full of slaves. Charles was in the meantime still busy handling the other man as well and shared a gaze with me which manifested the attitude he didn't want any help. I rolled my eyes and sighed before following his gaze towards the cage full of slaves, understanding exactly what he meant. I rushed to it and tried to crack the lock open with my sword. After two or three times chopping the lock, it jumped open and the slaves were freed.
It felt good saving them.
Flint and Charles had both won their fights and waved me over to join them.
"Let's go!"
"There they are!" The group of redcoats had recognised us and decided to fucking kill a few of the released slaves because they stood in their fucking way.... and these people called us monsters. I shook my head. Something was truly wrong in their minds.
Charles, Flint and I quickly moved away from the scene and continued to run down the blown up streets.
It was chaos.
"Flint, Charles. Do we even have a plan from here on?" I nervously spoke up and we just kept on running without an explanation given to me with Charles meanwhile grabbing my arm to help me pick up speed. Not that I wasn't fast, but I really needed it at this moment to keep up with them. I noticed I wasn't as fast as I used to be because of my tiredness and it annoyed the shit out of me. I was dragged up a few stairs and was then shoved into a sloop. All three of us were panting as if we had outran death, which we technically had done, and the two strong men rowed as fast as they could, away from the jetty and away from the destroyed Charles Town.
"Look." I pointed at the jetty that was now full of men aiming at us with their massive guns. "We should have sabotaged the canons."
"We didn't have time for that. The only thing we can do now is to hope no one hits us while we row back." With all force I began rowing as well, following their rhythm as I hoped we were out of range soon. Unfortunately, we weren't.... not even close. With anxiety building up inside me, I horrifyingly glared at the town that slowly was going up in smoke and right when the men were ready to fire.... a cannonball hit the jetty, pulling the men deep into the dark waters with it. I took a deep breath, relieved that we were still all intact and after a few minutes of calmly rowing, we finally ended up at our safe haven.... the ship. Charles climbed up first and stood on deck to pull me up with him.
When we finally all stood onto the deck, including Flint, my concern had fully left my body.... but that was until a gun was aimed at me and Charles.
"Great, what kind of hatred do you have towards me now, Billy?" Billy struggled with suppressing his smile, but failed dramatically and I could see a little smirk being painted on his face behind thé seriousness. The gun changed its way it was pointing at and now only was pointed at Charles which made him look pissed after such a long day of trying to aid Flint. Billy didn't care though and spoke up.
"A bit of turmoil since you left. But it's under control now." Flint watched the imprisoned men and took in a deep breath without taking his eyes off them.
"Release those men." He commanded sternly.
"What? Captain."
"I know what happened and I don't care. I'll not hold pirates prisoner on this ship, not after today."
