Tempest

Chapter 9

Rain pelted against Sera's face as lighting crashed and thunder roared overhead. The Naunet and her crew were tossed side to side as the captain fought to keep control of the ship while her quartermaster barked orders above the noise.

"Bring in the sails! Tie down the canon! TOBY! Below deck- NOW!" Todd stood to Sera's right and even the large African native was having trouble keeping his footing. It was just as Sera was tossed from the helm with a particularly strong gust that he caught her in one arm and took the ship's wheel with the other.

"Easy, Captain! It won't do to have you go overboard!"

After nodding her thanks, Sera retook the helm with a wide stance to her feet and once again began fighting for control. This was a hell of a storm; one of the worst she'd seen in all her seafaring years. She cast a glance out over the lower deck and her gaze was just barely able to make out Cooky's head poking up from below. He was waving madly and trying to shout but the noises of the sea and her anger were too great.

"What is that old fool doing?!" Growling as she pulled the helm hard to port, Sera gritted her teeth as the spokes were nearly ripped from her rain-slickened hands. Thank the gods she'd sent Belle below before the storm hit; she'd be safe down there. Unless the ship took on too much water, but if that happened they were all to be dining with Davy Jones before dawn.

"Captain!"

The voice of Sera's young cabin boy reached her ears and she rounded on Toby while still giving all of her strength to the wheel. "Go below deck, Toby! If you're to go overboard, there isn't a soul here who can save you from Calypso and her fury! Now go!" Her patience was running thin. *Why* did the boy *always* have to disobey orders at the *worst* of times?!

"But. Captain! It's Belle. She said the baby is coming!" Toby grabbed hold of the railing at the top of the stairs to keep from losing his balance with the latest gust of wind.

With her blood running cold, Sera froze in her movements as she gaped at the boy. "She *what*?!"

"Go, Captain. I can manage the helm and see us through this storm!" Todd reached over her and steadied the wheel while giving her a solemn nod. "Go. You are the only one capable of delivering the babe."

Without another word, Sera abandoned her post and her crew to the storm while following Toby below deck. It was a difficult task to keep from slipping against the rain-soaked boards of the lower deck, but once they were below most of the noise from the storm was drowned out. It was one of the blessings of the Naunet and how she was built. Aside from the worst of nature, she was typically a quiet soul to sail upon.

That is until the quiet was broken in the same moment by a clash of thunder and lighting laced with Belle's screams. Not waiting for Toby, Sera took off down the long corridor and leaped down the stairs that led to the inner deck where the galley was located. Belle had been left in Cooky's care, and that was where the screams were originating from.

The sight that met Sera's eyes was not a pretty one. Belle had been lifted up onto Cooky's work surface where she was supported on either side by members of the crew. One at each shoulder and one at each knee. All four of the men nearly balked and backed away at Sera's entrance, and they all lowered their heads in submissive greeting but Sera waved it off.

"I don't have time for protocol. This tempest is only worsening and I have a baby to deliver." Without waiting for a response, Sera lifted Belle's dress as another contraction came over the brunette. Thankfully, Sera had witnessed many births during her time living at the temple of Isis. Between that and the numerous books Belle had made her read, she had a fairly good idea of what to do. All that aside, however, nothing could have prepared her for the sight that met her eyes when she lifted the dress.