Chapter 22
Rosetta hurried to transfer everything she needed into Elizabeth’s room to hide it.
She felt terrible that the soft-hearted woman was crying.
As soon as she’d heard they were going to be attacked, she’d been steadily shaking, her hands trembling with fright. Then, while Rosetta was trying her hardest to be hasty and quick, the sounds of cannons firing brought the woman to tears.
Despite her fear, Elizabeth was helping, her face turning flushed and damp. The sounds of distress she made, the weeping and sniffling, hollowed out Rosetta’s chest, but she was thankful Elizabeth was doing everything she could.
Once everything was moved – no one would think to check a room that had always been empty – she pushed Elizabeth inside.
“You’ll be safe in here,” she told her while holding onto the door handle. “Stay quiet. No matter what you hear, no matter what happens, stay in this room.”
“A-are you going to be okay?” Her hands were covering her mouth, cupping it like she already wanted to be silent. “What do I do if you get hurt or captured?”
“I’ll be fine. As long as you stay quiet in here until I get them to leave, everything should be okay. I’ll get you once they do.”
Rosetta would get them to leave. She had to.
Letting her eyes scan over the woman with an apologetic look, she softly closed the door. Bolting to the door of the navigation room, she threw it open and slammed it shut behind her.
I have to get below deck, have to get away from here.
Without glancing around to know if it was truly safe, seeing Alister’s men had already swung across and their number nearly doubled hers on the surface, she sprinted down the stairs.
The hatch had already been shut, and she didn’t care if they re-closed it behind her.
Down the length of her ship, men were fighting on either side.
Hers were trying to keep those who had crossed over from completely dominating it.
It gave her the space to duck and weave around the few who had gotten past.
Her heart was beating so fast, it felt as though it would burst in her chest, her breaths so sharp it was like breathing through shards of glass.
Almost there. She was only a few steps away.
She came scrambling to a halt when Alister landed on top of it.
Shit! No! She would have been safer below deck instead of out in the open like this.
The look on his face appeared cold. “Hello, lass. Long time, no see.”
A wash of dread poured over her, and she took a step back when he came forward. Rosetta pulled on the handle of her sword to bring it out of its sheath, pointing the tip at him.
He did the same with his cutlass. The large, curved blade seemed overpowering and dangerous compared to her thin, double-edged sword.
How am I supposed to do this? How was she supposed to fight someone who was bigger than her, taller than her... and someone she cared for?
She didn’t want to hurt Alister.
She wouldn’t hand herself over to him, either. Rosetta wouldn’t surrender just yet, not if there was a chance she could still get below deck.
We can talk there.
Rosetta slashed her sword forward, forcing him to step back and deflect it with his own.
“You finally restored that ship of yours.”
She didn’t know why she thought he wouldn’t return her swing with his own. She had to quickly dodge it before she was cut across the shoulder.
“Aye. Thought it was time. I got some pieces of eight because of a certain treacherous woman.”
He swung again, not giving her time to think. She deflected it with her sword. The force sent a stab of pain through her abdomen. My wound still hasn’t healed.
“I can see you finally learned how to dress,” she sneered, slashing forward and making him deflect it.
As much as she was riddled with anxiety because he was here, she couldn’t help noting Alister looked wonderful in his new outfit. He looked better than when she’d seen him last.
The man was wearing the black eye patch she’d given him with his blue family crest. She always thought it looked good on him, but it was the white tunic with a deep V-neck and ties that suited him. It wasn’t the one she’d picked. This one had a seam of lace that showed it was made of high quality.
His breeches were black but clean, made like they were a perfect fit. His tunic was surprisingly tucked in; she’d never seen him do that before. She eyed the brown doublet coat around him. It was new, with golden stitching and buttons.
With all of this alongside his neat stubble, clean-looking face, and black shoulder-length hair tied back neatly, he looked like a man who might have been noble at first glance.
“I had someone show me how to not look poor,” he answered, holding the flat edge of his blade up to block her side swing.
He returned it with his own.
Her attacks were easy on her body, but every time she blocked one of Alister’s heavy blows, a lance of pain hit her. She gritted her teeth and refused to wince.
“Have you figured out how to count your stocks yet?”
“No.” She deflected another attack, but his seemed to come faster and faster. “I had a terrible teacher.”
His lips curled into a small smile of humour.
“That’s not true. I thought I was pretty patient as you fumbled your way through it.” She squinted her eyes into a scowl and stabbed her sword forward, forcing him to jump back or she would have stabbed right through his midsection. “Ever considered it was the student and not the teacher’s fault?”
He raised his cutlass over his head and swung downwards. She raised her sword to block it, placing her hand against the flat part underneath to support it.
His blade curved in front of her as she stepped back.
Although it hurt to block, she’d expected his swings to have more force behind them. He isn’t using all his strength. He couldn’t be. This seemed too easy.
She eyed the hatch coming into view; she had been directing them in a circle so she could be within range of it.
“I don’t think so.”
“How many strikes have rung?”
“Seven,” she blurted out, right before she had to deflect his attack again. “Eight.”
“Aye, good job. But you’re eyeing that hatch now.”
She should have known he’d realise what she was up to.
Rosetta slashed forward in a wide swing so she could get him to back up and give her space.
He didn’t dodge it like she thought he would. He swung his cutlass to the side with such a heavy burst of strength, it resonated up her arm when their swords made contact. It speared all the way through her body, making her wince as she tensed.
Her sword swung out of her hand as her grip loosened.
Knowing this was her only chance, she sprinted the two steps towards the hatch and flipped open the lock. She threw open the hatch, but before she could take a single step down it, a hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around.
A small scream locked in her throat when he grabbed her wrist and curled his body forward. He shouldered her waist until she flipped over it.
“Put me down!”
He continued to hold onto the same wrist, and she used her other hand to palm his back, trying to take away the pressure under her torso.
He brought his free hand to his mouth and let out a loud whistle as he started walking across the deck. His men immediately came up to circle him like a pre-organised response as he carried her.
It didn’t escape her notice that he’d grabbed her arse firmly when she started kneeing him in the chest.
“Let her go!” she heard Naeem shout behind her.
He must have come to stop Alister. She wished she could help by grabbing her pistol, but he was holding the wrist that could’ve reached for it.
Unable to see what happened when they halted, she tried to make sure Naeem was still alive when Alister started walking forward again.
She reached for him.
“Naeem!” She screamed his name in a shrieking cry when she saw someone had their sword to his throat, holding onto him from behind. “Don’t you dare kill him!”
She winced every time Alister’s foot hit the steps to climb higher, her body bouncing over his shoulder.
She tried to keep her eye on Naeem but couldn’t see what happened to him when the upper deck blocked her view. She noticed his men clustered around both staircases on either side, as though to block anyone from climbing after them.
Pierre had his eyes narrowed on her in disapproval as he followed up the stairs. He turned to Mr Andrews to point his pistol at him, stopping him from assisting her.
She started bashing on Alister’s back when he opened the door to her navigation room. No! Nonononooo!
This was the last place she wanted to be, and she worried for Elizabeth currently hiding in her room. She didn’t want her to hear what was going to be said, or what this could eventually turn into.
It felt like she was being choked when he didn’t put her down to talk. Instead, he carried her to her sleeping quarters.
Oh my god... He wouldn’t, would he?
She didn’t think Alister would do something so cruel to her simply because she’d left, but dark emotions could make people callous.
Her heart leapt to her throat when he threw her down against her bed. She pushed her free hand forward, trying to stave him off when he knelt above her.
“No!”
“Let’s get this off you.” He pulled on the buckle of her weapons belt and ripped it off her, throwing it behind him and out of reach. It clattered against the wooden floor.
“Wait!” She pushed harder, a mixture of betrayal and fear bowing her eyes so deeply she could feel tears pricking in them. “Stop!”
He gripped her flailing arms and pushed them until he had a hold of both her wrists in one of his large hands, pinning them above her head. When he settled into the gap between her thighs, she started kneeing the sides of his legs.
“You and I are going to talk, Rosetta,” he said in a composed but stern tone. “Calm down.”
Talk? She hadn’t realised she’d clenched her eyes shut until she stopped struggling. She slowly peeked them open.
“Then why did you–?”
She thought he was going to strip her!