stowaway || j. norrington

14

Many minutes later, the ship was close enough for her to signal it. She stood in her boat and waved her arms, yelling for help. As it got closer, she noticed the flag. It was black with a horned white skeleton holding a spear, pointing to a heart. She recognized it from Elizabeth's books as the flag of Blackbeard, but everyone knew that Blackbeard didn't sail anymore.

Perhaps it was some new pirate that was trying to look intimidating and pretend to be Blackbeard. Either way, she needed to board. Finally, she reached the side of the boat and someone threw a rope down for her. She climbed up and was helped onto the deck.

She looked around at the crew, trying to draw a conclusion on whose ship it was. Her question was quickly answered when a man pushed through the crowd and stood before her. "Captain Villanueva. Who do you owe allegiance to?" The man had an obvious Spanish accent.

"Frances Groves. And no one, at the moment."

"Es inglés!" A man yelled out from the group. She cringed at his accusatory tone of voice. She did not know much Spanish, but she got the message. She had thought England and Spain were on relatively good terms, but it was always changing.

Villanueva drew his pistol and, without looking away from Frances, shot the man that had interrupted right in the forehead. Frances flinched at the performance, which was exactly what the captain had wanted: Fear.

"Follow me, girl," The captain ordered, and she quickly did. "What brings you out to sea alone on a dinghy?"

"I'm fleeing Cutler Beckett. He has an assassin after me." She oddly found it easy to answer the man honestly.

"Mierda." He muttered. "That man is despicable." Frances nodded her head in agreement, remaining silent as Villanueva led her to his office.

"Unfortunately, I cannot leave you anywhere. I am rushing to get to the Brethren Court, and I must either kill you or bring you with me."

"Please don't kill me, I'm trustworthy. I've sailed under Hector Barbossa, I'm spied on Beckett for the crew of the Black Pearl."

Villanueva eyed her for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I will bring you with me to the court, but you must be useful until then."

"I know how to sail, I will be useful." Frances straightened her back.

"Not useful in that way, Miss Groves. I request that you serve me. My food, fetching what I ask for, doing whatever else I wish," Before Frances could ask to clarify or argue, Villanueva continued. "Our deal, Miss Groves. You claim you are trustworthy, and the only way I can trust you is if I know you'll do what I ask."

Frances took a minute before deciding that she wouldn't get a better deal. She had nowhere else to go. Literally, there was nowhere else to go. She shook the captain's hand and began to head out the door.

"You're not dismissed. You'll sleep in my quarters. It is rare that I ever sleep, or that I sleep in my bed. I must keep an eye on the mysterious girl we found floating in the sea, who claims she is a spy."

Eventually she agreed. Rather the captain than the whole crew.

•

The next few weeks were actually quite nice. Captain Villanueva — who she'd almost gotten onto a first name basis with — was a kind man, at least to her. He was losing his eyesight and had a bad leg, so he mostly kept her around as a caretaker.

He spoke very highly of Mistress Ching, another Pirate Lord. They were business partners, but the romance books Frances had read back in Port Royal gave her a different notion.

She was so content spending time with her new crew and captain that she nearly forgot about finding Elizabeth. Frances had a feeling that the Brethren Court would probably end up bringing them together anyway.