Chapter 3 #2
“That looks like a lot of food just for yourself.” Mr Smith chuckled, giving her a hard pat on the back. “Good to see you eating properly.”
“It’s not just for me,” she answered, reaching into the pocket pouch that constantly hung from her waist. Usually it held gold coins, but it also held one other item. She stood, making her way to the mirror on the back wall.
He raised an eyebrow at her and straightened his back. Then, he adjusted his round glasses by pushing them up his nose with his index and thumb holding the frame’s edges.
“Are you inviting me to dinner, Rosetta? I’m sure the other men will be rather jealous.”
She gave a hearty laugh. “As handsome as you are, no; I intend to play with someone else tonight.”
“I can only imagine what you mean.” He wagged his finger at her, a gleam in his eyes. “I know how you can be.”
Without truly caring how it looked, she applied a bright-red tint to her lips. She hated the colour, but it was all she had.
“Yes, well, I’m expecting you to watch out for me tonight. We have a new crew on board, after all.”
With a nod, he followed behind her as she stepped out onto the quarterdeck. The darkness draping down on them from the setting sun was brightened by multiple lanterns.
She clapped Naeem on the shoulder. “How’s that other ship Keat saw?”
“Haven’t seen sign of it for quite some time. This girl’s pretty fast.” He patted the wheel he was holding. “Once we caught the wind, the other ship fell off the horizon.”
“Excellent. When I’m done with my supper, I’ll take the wheel while you get some sleep.”
“Are you sure?” He lowered his head closer to hers. “I don’t like the idea of you being by yourself since old Johnny boy there will need to sleep as well.”
“You know he doesn’t like that name.” Rosetta shook her head with a light chuckle.
“I’ll be fine. I have these.” She patted her side, knocking her pistol and sword against her thigh.
“If anyone tries anything, I’ll yell out for you two, since I expect you both to be sleeping in the chamber below. There are two beds already.”
Although Naeem was her second and Mr Smith was just a normal crewmember, she tried to not show favouritism towards Naeem.
He already dealt with the crew’s misplaced judgement, due to the tint of his skin.
He had once been a servant to a horrible noble man, but Rosetta freed him when she first set sail, and they’d been friends ever since.
Just as she had won over her crew, even with her gender, he’d managed the same as her second-in-command.
A runaway servant, an older bookkeeper, and a woman commanding a ship together. They were an odd trio, doing an odd thing, and she was sure polite society would shake their heads if they saw them. But there is no one better to be at my side.
“Now it’s time to play a game.”
“Try not to poke the bear too much.” Naeem nodded his head, pointing with his chin. “He already looks angry.”
Her eyes found the man Naeem was looking at. He was sitting facing them, his hands bound by metal shackles behind his back and cloth tied around his head. Rope was coiled around his torso, tethering him to the thick pole alongside two others.
His legs were in front of him, slightly bent into a relaxed position, whilst the rest of him slumped forward comfortably.
The way his arms were stretched back opened his doublet coat, revealing the plain white tunic beneath. It also showed just how broad his chest and shoulders were, near bulging out of the fabric.
He’s manned the wheel through many storms.
A black patch covered one eye, the other one narrowed on them with a glare she hadn’t seen once since he’d been tied there. Her lips twitched with the hint of a smile she couldn’t contain.
“I would say he looks rather jolly.”
Rosetta descended the stairs with an echo of footfalls behind her. Mr Smith gave her some distance; he never followed too closely, since they didn’t want to give the impression that she was afraid.
Her eyes fell on the older gentleman tied to the mast with him. Since he had been manning the helm when they’d taken over, she instructed Mr Smith to grab him, and she followed behind as he pushed the man towards her chamber. He grunted and shouted through the cloth between his teeth.
After shoving the man into a chair, Mr Smith left them alone.
Rosetta wasn’t afraid to be alone with one man, whether he was armed or not.
She was quick with her pistol, willing to shoot a man dead, and she had a knack for sensing when they planned to attack.
She’d trained her eyes to watch their muscles twitch with the anticipation of a move.
“If you want to walk out of this room still breathing, you best keep your hands to yourself,” she told him while using the key she’d taken from Mr Smith to unlock his shackles.
Then she walked to the other side of the table and took her own seat. Leaning on the arm of the chair while crossing one knee over the other, she grabbed her chalice full of wine. This ship had only one bottle, and she was determined to savour every drop of it tonight in celebration.
“Yer a silly one, little lassie,” the scraggly bearded man said, after ripping the mouth gag from his teeth and narrowing his coal-black eyes on her.
“For what?” She gestured to the food between them. “Inviting you to dinner?”
She smiled around the rim of the chalice before she took a sip.
“Do ye not know whose ship this is?”
She gave a small shrug, then raised her fist and leaned her cheek on it.
“Was,” she rebuffed. “Why should I care who it belonged to when it now belongs to me?”
“He is Cap’n Alister ‘One Eye’ Paine, the Bloody Storm of the Seas!”
She gave him a grand smile, her eyes twinkling with humour. “Am I supposed to give a fuck about who that is?”
“Are ye not a pirate? Ye should know ’bout our crew. He got his name by sinking ships and killing almost everyone he’s met.”
She swirled the tip of her index finger in the wine, giving it a stir before bringing it to her mouth. “I don’t care to speak to other pirates or hear their tales. They are often myths, or egotistical stories to pretend a man’s achievement cock is large, when, in fact, it’s quite small.”
“Then ye are a stupid girl.” He shook his head, his long beard swaying side to side, the beads in it jingling. “He will take this ship back.”
Rosetta stabbed her fork into the chicken in the middle of their table to cut herself a slice.
“He can have it back.” She placed her meat on her plate before going for a bit of smoked... she wasn’t sure what it was, but she’d eat it regardless. “Once I’m done with it. Let’s just say I’m borrowing it for now.”
“Well, ye won’t have it for long.” The way he said it made a small shiver roll down her spine. His eyes were on her, but it felt like he was looking into her future with so much unwavering confidence he’d be right.
Could Alister really be that dangerous? She’d heard of more famous pirates.
“Every word you speak pushes me closer to slicing his neck.” She looked up at him through her lashes, leaning over the table, her lips downturned into an irritated frown. “Refrain from continuing unless you want his last moments to be staring at his own blood.”
She watched the hairs around his mouth draw in as his lips puckered. She nodded to the food.
“Eat. Tell me your name and position.”
He was quick to manhandle the poor chicken with bare hands, ripping a leg and wing from it, along with the smoked meat and some bread.
“Me name is Derek Von’tuken, and I am the quartermaster of this ship.”
“Were,” Rosetta corrected, her smile returning. “Currently Naeem is the quartermaster, while you are a prisoner. If you are what you say, who is the other man who came forward?”
“Alister’s first mate.”
That made Rosetta frown. “Pirates don’t usually have first mates.”
“Aye, girl, but ye do if ye command a complicated ship like this one.”
She stabbed the point of her knife into the wooden table with a booming thud, startling Derek, who dropped the chicken leg he was about to bite into back onto his plate.
“Call me girl one more time, and I’ll stab you in the back of the hand with my eating knife.”
He gave a snort of laughter. “What are ye? Sixteen, seventeen? Wee lassie like yerself shouldn’t be on these seas.”
“I’m twenty-one! I have been sailing these seas and managing a crew for three years, you ill-mannered piece of shark bait.”
“Still young.” He shrugged like he didn’t care that he’d angered her. “What do ye want from me?”
“Join my crew,” she huffed out.
The belly jiggling, bellowing laugh he gave surprised her, enough to make her eyes relax from their squinting glare.
“No, Miss, I don’t think I will.”
“Why not? It’s better for your crew if you do. They won’t like my new authority.”
“Because where me cap’n goes, I go.” He gave her a wide smile, one she could barely see with all that hair. “And there ain’t nuttin’ you can offer me that’ll change me mind.”
“Fine.” She drank from her chalice before nibbling on her food in thought. “Where is the key to the safe?”
“I won’t tell ye nuttin’ ye want to hear, missy. Yer better off putting me shackles back on.”
She gave a grumble, knowing he was telling the truth. Stubborn man. He reminded her of her father.
“Finish eating, because I won’t be feeding you tomorrow.” She was going to dish out punishment.
While he was eating, and being quite messy with it, Rosetta got up slowly after draining her chalice.
Time to poke the bear. She didn’t need to; she just really, really, really wanted to. Derek willingly allowed her to shackle his hands and then stood for her.
“Aye! Lassie, what are ye doin’?” he voiced in outrage when she unbuttoned his faded brown breeches to the point that they were almost falling away from him.