The Captain

five

Ramsay took one of each of our arms and hauled us up to the main deck, where the rest of the pirates waited. 

Fletcher looked at Amelie with an expression of utter pain, eyes flashing to mine in apology. They couldn't protect us. 

"Oh Ramsay, what have you found?" 

A tall man with dark hair and matching eyes wandered towards us. His arrogant stance and the way the rest of his crew were stationed lead me to believe he was probably the captain. 

"Hiding in the wardrobe and under the bed, sir."

The captain made his way towards us, and once the shadows were gone from his face, I realized how young he actually was. Probably no more than 22. Why on earth was he in charge?

"Hello, ladies. Care to introduce yourselves?"

I stared right back at him, steeling my nerves, teeth clenched firmly shut. 

"Oh come now, cat got your tongue? That's alright. We'll ask... Him!" He reached over and grabbed Tristan, holding a dagger to the poor man's throat. 

"Who are these pretty little girls?"

Tristan was silent. 

"I'm not going to ask you again, sailor. Who are they?"

He pushed the dagger closer to the fragile skin of Tristan's neck. My stomach flipped. 

"You have three seconds to tell me before I rip your throat out."

Tristan met my eyes. I nodded briefly. Our identities weren't worth his life.

"Florence and Amelie Harlow," he said through gritted teeth.

The captain looked at us, eyes flicking between my face, Amelie's and the man in front of him. He seemed to think for a moment before recognition lighted his features.

"Ah? Not the daughters of the Harlow trading company?"

He pressed the knife so far that a tiny bead of blood appeared.

"The very same," Tristan finally choked out. 

The captain let him go and approached me, reaching out and tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. 

I flinched away from his touch, which he didn't seem to notice or care about. 

"Very interesting. Now, what are you two doing on this boat?"

Neither of us spoke. As if to answer himself, his eyes landed on the heavy engagement ring on my left hand. 

"Aha! You don't mean to tell me that you're old Kenneth Thompson's fiancee?"

His gaze met mine when he said old, eyes flashing with something indiscernible.

I remained silent, willing myself not to cry.

"Well that makes the two of you very very valuable, doesn't it?"

"Please, just take the cargo and leave, they haven't done anything!" Carson pleaded, still trying to defend us. 

The captain stepped back, tapping his chin thoughtfully. 

"You know, I wish I could, old man. But if we let you go, then you'll be off to Port Royal, to tell the navy about us, and see, we rather like this passage. Can't have some Commodore chasing us down. Nobody's quite caught onto our presence yet. No, I'm afraid we're going to have to take all of you with us, just so you aren't off warning anyone."

I bit back a sob as reality, stone-cold, sunk in. 

They weren't going to just leave us be. We were officially hostages. 

They hustled everyone onto planks at sword and pistol point, shuffling us onto the main deck.

After the whole crew had been moved onto the pirate's ship, a girl with matted hair lit a cannon that caused a massive crater in the Alexandria's hull, causing it to sink almost immediately. 

Tristan, Markus, Carson, Fletcher and everyone else were all tied up and sent below deck to I don't know where. Ramsay still had his eyes on my sister. He walked over, stalking around her like a vulture. 

"Don't touch her," I spat, the first words I'd spoken. 

Both the Captain and Ramsay looked at me in surprise. 

"Oh, so she does speak? Bonnie, take the little one to my cabin. I'd like a word with her sister."

"Please don't hurt her, don't touch her!" I shrieked, trying to escape the strong arms that held me back. 

The girl who had lit the cannon, Bonnie, looked at me with a look of almost pity, before escorting Amelie down the stairs. 

Now alone as the ship pulled away from the sinking wreck of the Alexandria, the captain looked at me. 

"Awfully pretty ring you've got there, Miss Harlow."

I clenched my teeth. 

"Let us go, and you can have it."

He laughed loudly, mockingly. 

"If only it were that easy. I will take it though."

He snatched my hand, pulling the ring with surprising gentleness off of my finger and tucking it into one of his many pockets. 

He led me, with a strong and insistent hand on my waist, over to the steering wheel.

"Set sail for Tortuga, men!" 

I couldn't help myself. 

"Tortuga?" I asked apprehensively. 

He grinned at me, a crooked mischievous smile that made my heart lurch.

"Ship isn't big enough for all of us, Miss Harlow. We'll drop the crew off in Tortuga. By the time they get the message to your betrothed, we'll be long gone."

"Message?"

"Ransom, of course. Who knows how much your father and husband-to-be will pay to get you back unscathed?"

He took a healthy look at my chest. 

"Well, mostly unscathed."

Skin crawling, I resisted the urge to jump away from him. I settled instead on staring forward, out at the water. 

"They'll kill you."

"Ah, so I've heard. But they haven't caught the legendary Captain Sparrow yet."

Something tickled the back of my brain. I knew that name. 

"Sparrow?"

"So you've heard the stories of Jack Sparrow too? Yes, quite the pirate my father was."

Mouth agape, I stared at him. 

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. 

"Yes, I'm his son. Maverick Sparrow, at your service."

He dipped into an elaborate sweeping bow, clearly still making fun of me.

"I've heard the stories about your father. About you. What you've done. Your father got the end that he deserved. You will too."

Something like anger or pain flashed across his face so fast I could've imagined it. 

"Well I'm hurt that you think that."

"You're despicable."

"I'm a pirate, darling. Welcome aboard the Mermaid's Revenge."