Barbossa's Daughter

Chapter 3

(A/N: In honour of reaching 100 reads already, please enjoy another chapter.)

*****************************************************************

For a day they sailed until night fell again and Cora was forced to enter the room that Elizabeth was being kept in by her father's request. The medallion glittered around her neck in the firelight as she held a bundle of fabrics in her arms and entered the captain's quarters, every candle lit.

"Put this on," she ordered as she threw the fabrics at Elizabeth, revealing them to be a corset and a dress, but the woman let them tumble to the ground as she failed to catch them. "For reasons beyond me, me father wishes to have ye dine with us tonight."

"Well, you may tell the captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request," Elizabeth sassed and Cora was over her holier-than-thou attitude.

"Yer choice then," she shrugged as she picked up the clothes. "If ye refuse to dine with us, then that leaves you to dine with the crew...without any clothes. And for yer sake, I do hope the rest of ye is pleasant to look at, unlike yer face."

Cora was two steps towards the door before Elizabeth bellowed, "Wait!"

And the governor's daughter hated the smug look on the face of the captain's daughter as she spun on her heels and fixed her gaze on Elizabeth. "Yes?"

"Give me the dress."

And Cora let the garments drop onto the floor. "Now wasn't that an easy choice to make?"

And she strode out of the room.

*****************************************************************

While no one else on board was capable of eating, they always made sure that Cora was well-fed. Despite the way it tore at them, the way it made them rage with jealousy, with hunger, with greed, they'd watched the girl grow up, not to mention the fact that the only thing stronger than the captain's greed and ambition was his care for his daughter.

The table had been set and a rather lush spread of food was laid out including a whole roast pig. Cora leaned back in her chair as she braced her feet on the table, her plate full to the brim as she tilted her head back to pluck some grapes off a stem with her teeth before tearing into some of the pork. Her corset was covering a tunic of blue cloth this time, her slacks black and tucked inside tall boots that were well-worn and covered in scuff marks, but still in good condition.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, sat in the dress her father had chosen, actually one of the dresses he'd acquired for his daughter before she threatened to down the whole ship if he tried to get her to wear it. And she was actually using the cutlery set out for her as she lifted cube after cube of meat to her lips.

Her father laughed as he watched like a hawk from where he sat across from his daughter while Elizabeth sat at the head of the table. "There's no need to stand on ceremony, no call to impress anyone," he said. "You must be hungry."

Elizabeth hesitated for a second before setting down her fork and knife and tearing into the meat with her teeth before she grabbed a slice of bread and wolfed it down. Wine was poured for her as her father watched her with a transfixed gaze, Cora not caring for any of it as she sipped from her own goblet, her lips being slightly stained by the drink.

"Try the wine," her father insisted as he passed Elizabeth the goblet and she slurped every last drop. "And the apples. One of those next," he said as he held out a perfectly round green apple.

The piece of bread in Elizabeth's hand fell as Jack came to rest on Cora's lap and she stroked his back as she continued to eat.

"It's poisoned," Elizabeth gasped and both pirates laughed.