Treasure of the sea |Lesbian story|

CHAPTER XXXIII

The weeks went by without a hitch. Somehow, my relationship with Arenis improved. She treated me like any of her subordinates and I began to respect her as Captain. It was amazing how she could always find a way out of any situation, how she always kept her cool and managed to handle the nervousness and fear of the crew in the most distressing moments. She had a charisma that subdued everyone, even her opponents, who were fascinated and at the same time intimidated by her.

For the first time Arenis' body distracted me. Perhaps it had always done so, but only then did I realise how much it tormented me. I found myself staring at her, staring at her hands, her neck, her shoulders, her lips. There was beauty in that body; skin darkened by the sun, a small mole near the right eye, strong arms, long, tapering fingers... And every time such thoughts surfaced, I shook my head hard, as if I had just emerged from a trance, and forced my mind to come to its senses.

I took part in two more boardings. They were more peaceful this time. The first one went on without a fight; the crew had raised the white flag and was docile and calm throughout, even when we began to empty their hold. The second, instead, was more agitated. There had been some cannon shots, a few wounded, but the fighting stopped almost immediately when Arenis put a bullet into the head of the Captain of the enemy ship. Seeing him fall, his crew became so hopeless that they laid down their arms and surrendered. By these two boardings I had earned a good deal of money, and part of it was spent in new clothes - men's sailor's clothes, and at last in my own size.

A few weeks later, however, we intercepted another ship. At first glance, it looked like an English merchant ship, but when we boarded it and went down into the hold, in addition to the cargo, we found people shouting and calling to us. They had been put into another room, with an extremely low ceiling and little light. They were tied to each other on the floor, forced into a supine position. The smell of filth and excrement was very strong. I neither screamed nor uttered a sound. The horror of the scene had paralysed me. Dinnington counted them. There were fifty-two of them. Three of them were women. Arenis ordered us to release them from their chains, and as I walked among them, I felt my blood flow out of my cheeks at seeing those emaciated, naked, dehydrated bodies. I hurried to untie them, to help them up, but they were struggling. They hadn't used their legs in weeks.

"Adler," Arenis called to me. "You're not well. Get out."

"I am fine, I can do this."

She shook her head, her tone harsh. "No."

"I'm fine, I said!" I shrieked. It hadn't been my intention to yell at her, but that situation made me angry, angry to see what they had done to those people.

Arenis, then, let me continue and did not insist further. She went and called for Naade, with the hope that he would know their language, so that we might communicate with them. When the slaves saw him appear, they took hope. They began to go around him, talking to him, asking him, and a multitude of languages began to mingle.

"Only ten of them are Yoruba, Captain. The others are from other tribes. I can understand Igbo a little and they told me they were captured and sold to Europeans, but they can't remember how many weeks ago. They have lost track of time."

"All right. Tell the Igbos and Yorubas that we are pirates and they will not be slaves from this day forward. Tell them we will take them to Nassau."

"What about the others, Captain?"

"If necessary, we will try to make ourselves understood through gestures."

Suddenly, the Black Star was loaded with many passengers. Harris and other men went to retrieve all the groceries they found on the slave ship and brought them to our hold. Arenis gave him directions on the meals to be prepared and the quantity, then ordered us to distribute water to everyone. They drank eagerly, filling up with water until they almost burst. Dinnington filled entire vats with seawater and invited them to wash. Arenis, meanwhile, checked their health. She examined their eyes, their mouths, their bodies, looking for signs of disease. Epidemics were a condemnation on a ship. However, by divine grace, there were no signs of sickness.