Lost at Sea Bk. 02 Ch. 03

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There was a few quick minutes of scrambling as all the crew below decks secured what they were doing and came up into the sun. Lord Morant and his manservant Mister Lynch were the last to come up the stairs. Bella joined Will from the Captain's cabin. Danica came down from the sterncastle leaving only the helmsmen behind the Captain as she addressed the crew.

"I had planned on doing this tonight," the Captain boomed. She cut quite a figure. The buttons of her frock coat and the hilts of her pistols gleamed. Will was struck again by how commanding her presence could be.

"The last few days haven't been easy, and ye haven't had a lot of information tae work with. Ye know that isn't usually the way I run things. It's time to set the record straight," Captain Vex said. She pointed to Will. "This is Mister Sterling, our Navigator. With him is Miss Fortuna, his Navigator's Mate. Miss Fortuna is a witch." Another murmur ran through the crew. "A fortune witch. She's our lucky charm," Vex said, smiling down at Bella. Bella blushed, not used to being under so much scrutiny.

"The two of them were hand picked, same as the rest of ye were." Captain Vex continued. "I only take on the best crew. Not just crew that're good at their job, but crew that're good, period. I don't hire folk I don't respect. Maybe I misjudged ye though, so now's your chance to speak up. If any of ye have a problem sailing with a witch, just speak up and I'll see ye off at the next port." No one said a thing. Bella turned and looked around, really taking in the crew for the first time. Only a few were even paying attention to her. She was being all but ignored while they listened to their captain.

"The reason they're here is because this expedition we've been hired for is going tae require us to go through the Drifts," Captain Vex continued. A shocked ripple spread through the crew. She cut it off before it could build.

"Mister North!" she boomed again. "How many times have ye been around the Devil's Horn with me?"

"Four each way, Captain." North said, tapping his own pierced ears.

"How many crew have we lost on those trips?" Vex asked.

"Five total, Captain. Two overboard, one from sick, two taken by the Horn's madness," Mister North counted.

"Ever hear of anyone else with a record to match mine?" Vex asked.

"Only two, Captain, and I suspect one was lying," North said with a wry grin.

"Miss Webber, how many times have ye and I talked about taking a run at the Drifts?" Belita asked her Master Rigger.

"Too many to count, Captain," Lace said somewhat grimly.

"Did ye mean it, or are ye all talk?" Belita challenged.

"Aye, Captain. I meant it!" Lace said.

"Mister Sterling is the man with the plan tae get us through." Belita said, pointing to Will. "I know some of you have heard the stories about Sterling's magic maps. They true?" she asked Will.

"Somewhat," Will shrugged. "It isn't the maps that are the magic part." The crew murmured again, some of them chuckling.

"Take a good look around," Captain Vex said. "This isn't the way the Kestrel's supposed tae be. She's a mess right now. She doesn't look like any ship that's ever tried what we're going tae try." There was a murmur through the crew. "Every other ship who's taken a run at the Drifts has been tossed on the rocks and ground tae splinters! The way things have always been done dinnae work for this. We're going tae try something new! The Navigator with the magic maps says he can get us through. This won't be the first time your Master Rigger came up with a newer, better way of doing things. Ye remember when we won the Dead Man's Regatta? Ye remember when we ran the Bootlegger's Slalom?" The murmur among the crew was getting louder.

"Sterling's coordinates, Webber's sails, me at the helm, and the best damn crew on the five seas doing what they do best. I think we can do this. If we pull it off we'll all be legends. Very rich legends." The crew's murmur swelled to cheers and laughter.

"So, here's what I need from ye," Belita said, putting her forearms on the railing and leaning down, familiar and friendly now where she'd been commanding and inspiring only a moment before. "Miss Webber needs to make new rigging ladders. These ones we picked up in port dinnae work. Every rigger, grab yourself a swab. Swabbies, it's time to brush up on your knotwork. Splicing the big ropes is hard and our riggers can't get it done in time without help. So ye'll be the extra muscle they need. We're going to lay out the lines for new ladder starting from the prow all the way down to where you're standing now. We're going to tack them down into position, and start splicing and knotting across. We're going to do it from dawn to dusk until it's done. If ye aren't on duty and aren't in your rack, I expect ye up on deck twisting rope with your partner." A ripple of concern began passing through the crew. Vex continued, standing back up again. "That means we're going tae have tripping hazards all over the deck. So, no deck duties until it's done." A small cheer ran through the swabs. "Because ye're all going to be working double, your duty day will be shortened by an hour, and ye'll be getting a double ration of rum until the new ladders are hung." That sent a much larger cheer through the whole crew. Will smiled appreciatively. Watching Captain Vex work her crew like a minstrel working a crowd was impressive.

"Missus North, ye have the deck. Mister North, Hunter, Sterling, Webber, with me. The rest of ye, as ye were." The Captain didn't move. The crew moved. Riggers climbed, swabs moved to the large crank that sat just behind the foremast. Danica North started barking orders. The cargo hatch in the middle of the top deck began to slowly open.

Will and Bella climbed the stairs to the sterncastle. Lace and North went up the other side, followed by Jack. They all met where the Captain stood, watching the crew work.

"I dinnae appreciate starting a new voyage with a fight," Captain Vex said tersely. "Miss Webber, what happened?"

"I was told that Miss Hunter was our new Navigator. I wanted to talk to her about the mess all these extra boats have made of my rigging," Lace said. It was clear that she wanted to say more, and likely use more colorful words, but she was keeping restrained.

"Mister North, you posted the new crew manifest and duty roster, didn't ye?" Belita asked.

"Aye, Captain. This morning, just after you came aboard," Mister North answered.

"Miss Webber was on duty then?" Belita asked.

"Aye," Lace and North answered simultaneously.

"Alright. That's a good excuse not tae have read it yet. The mixup is forgivable, but even if Miss Hunter had been our Navigator, there was no reason tae accost her," Belita said.

"I wasn't going tae hurt her, I was just pissed about all the... problems," Lace protested.

"I watched the whole thing, Lace. I've been out drinkin' with ye enough times to be able to spot when ye're looking for a fight. " Belita said with one terse eyebrow raised.

"I said I'm sorry! It never would have happened if Sterling hadn't tricked me!" Lace said, throwing her hands into the air in frustration and starting to pace.

Belita leaned back against the railing. "Why'd that happen, Will?" she asked.

"I'd been hearing that she wanted to hang me," Will shrugged. "Apparently Mister North's been taking bets on it."

"Aye, that's true," North admitted.

"You were there when it was brought up the first time, Captain." Will said.

"Aye, I was. Miss Webber is a bit intense sometimes, but nothing I thought you couldn't handle. Seemed all in good fun. Probably would have been if you hadn't tricked her into going after Miss Hunter," Belita's arched eyebrow was turned on Will now.

"Well, fun for everyone but me," Will shrugged. "I'll concede the point though."

"You threw me to the wolves to save your own skin, Will," Jack said flatly.

"No, I threw you to the wolves because it was funny, Jack" Will shrugged. North started to laugh but turned it into a cough. Captain Vex's eyes were amused, but she held onto her composure.

"Mister North, Sterling and Webber are yours for three days. Whatever extra duties need doing."

"Aye, Captain," North said. Lace glared at Will, who seemed amused.

The Captain wasn't quite done. "Miss Hunter, ye aren't part of my crew, but if ye were you'd be joining them."

"I'll join them," Jack said. Now it was Will's turn to be surprised.

Belita nodded slowly. "You heard her, Mister North. Haven't seen anyone volunteer for extra duties like that before," she added.

"Oh, I'm happy to volunteer," Jack smiled. "Will managed to piss off Miss Webber and myself. Now he's going to be stuck with both of us."

Suddenly Will wasn't quite as amused.

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Janie flinched at the knock at the door.

She hadn't left the lighthouse. She hadn't slept. Thomas had brought her a meal and checked on her last evening. She could tell he was worried about her, but she didn't feel like talking. She had done what she could to keep her mind occupied. She cleaned some. It felt more like moving the mess around. The ground floor was starting to smell musty. Her rain sigil had soaked everything. It felt like a swamp. Bastards Bay was already tropical, plenty hot and wet in the summertime, but with just enough shade to keep the damp in, the heat turned Will's library into a sticky, sweltering hole that stank of damp wood. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting at the table staring into the grain of the wood without really seeing it. She felt like she had lost everything all at once. She'd finally found a dream worth believing in, and she'd only had it for a matter of hours before it was stolen from her. The knock pulled her out of her reverie.

"Who-" she called. Her voice cracked, rough from lack of use. "Who is it?" she tried again.

A muffled man's voice answered. "Caine."

There were only four names on Will's "any time, no questions asked" list. Janie herself was one, Jack and Bella were the others. Caine was the fourth. She'd never met him, but she knew of him by reputation. She got up and trudged her way to the door. A wave of her hand clattered all the locks open. She wished the chain hadn't been broken. She pulled the door open enough to look outside.

Caine looked like Will had described. Balding. Unkept. Broken nose. Janie had met retired Centurions. They were all one big scowl of scars with tired eyes that had seen too much, old before their time. Caine looked like one of them.

"Come in," she said.

Caine followed her inside and wrinkled his nose as she shut the door. "What happened to this place?"

"It's a long story," Janie said, offering Caine a chair with a gesture of her hand. "Don't use the upholstered one, it's still wet."

Caine slowly crossed the room, his head on a swivel, eyeing everything. Finally he sat. Jaine sat across from him. "I'd offer you tea, but the stove isn't lit."

"I don't really drink tea," Caine shrugged.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"You're Janie Castilian, right?" Caine asked.

"Yes," Janie said, a bit warily. "Why?"

"I'm going to help you out for a while," Caine said gently. He looked around again. "Seems like you could use it."

"I can't accept that," Janie said.

"Well, I guess I'll just wait around until you get used to me then," Caine said.

Janie normally would have argued, but she just didn't have the energy.

"How long have you been in here?" Caine asked.

"Since yesterday," Janie said.

"In the morning. When Will and Bella's ship left," Caine said, sounding like he already knew the answer. "When they took you hostage."

"Yes," Janie said.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but when was the last time you had a bath?" Caine asked.

Janie's mind flickered back the baths she'd taken in the last few days. First with Will, then with Bella. They had been wonderful and now they hurt to think about. They felt like a lifetime ago.

"The night before last," she said.

"That's too long to be sitting in this humid pit. You need a change of clothes," Caine said. His tone was businesslike. Not exactly gentle, but not accusatory or mocking either.

A week ago she would have been embarrassed and outraged. Now, it just didn't seem to matter. She nodded. "I haven't been able to get any," she said quietly. The Kidd gang had been here. Last night. This morning. Prowling. Looking for easy ways in. Trying the door. Knocking to see if she was dumb enough to answer it. They were probably still outside, watching. "I can't leave."

"You can now. Let's go," Caine said, standing up.

"They'll come for me," Janie said shaking her head.

"They won't. They know better than to come at me," Caine reassured her.

"There's too many of them," Janie said. "Even you can't fight off all of them."

"I don't have to," Caine shrugged. "They won't take the risk."

"How do you know?" Janie asked.

"They came after your captain friend because of a bad bar fight, right? Just one slight?" Caine asked.

"Yes, that's what started all this insanity," Janie scowled.

"I've been busting their skulls for nearly ten years. I'm still alive," Caine said. It sounded like he was discussing the weather.

"Why? Why do they leave you alone and come after me for nothing?" Janie asked.

"Oh, they've come at me before. Tried to kill me about a half dozen times in the first few years. I'm hard to kill," he shrugged. "They kept escalating and so did I. It was ugly. Eventually I got tired of it and went and had a talk with the Old Man. His crew leaves me alone now, even when I have to rough them up when they get out of line."

"Why?" Janie asked, a bit worried at what the response could possibly be.

"Because I don't kill them, and when they're at Mary's I make sure no one else does either," Caine said.

"You should," Janie said bitterly.

"Maybe," Caine said. "I'm not going to argue that a lot of them don't deserve it. I'm just not going to be the one to do it."

"Then what good are you?" Janie snapped. "They hurt people!"

"It would be a never ending job," Caine said. "There's always more bad people. Right now they have a hold on this place. For the most part they keep the worst violence to a minimum largely because they don't have anyone challenging their power. There's plenty of violence, but people aren't dying very often."

"So they just get to do whatever they want?" Janie said, every word snapping from her lips.

"Until the people they're hurting rise up together, yes," Caine said.

"The Magistrate will stop them soon," Janie huffed. She didn't know why she said it. The Magistrate hadn't helped her at all.

"Then the people will be trading one boot on their necks for another," Caine said.

Janie wanted to argue, but she knew the Magistrate too well. There were good people among the order, but the Magistrate themselves, and the Church, they did too many bad things. She felt broken. Helpless. She had nowhere to go for help. Eventually, they were going to catch her and kill her. "I know," she whispered.

"So let's go," Caine said.

"Go where?" Janie asked.

"My place," Caine said with a small smile.

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"Captain, I need your help," Bella said.

Captain Vex looked up from where she sat next to Colin, checking in on him. The lad was exhausted but still stubbornly refused to head down to his rack. Belita patted him on his good shoulder and stood up. "What do ye need?"

"Uh... privately, please," Bella said. Belita arched an eyebrow and followed Bella down the stairs toward her quarters. "North, you have the deck!" she shouted to her first mate, who gave a responding, "Aye!"

Once inside, Belita hung up her hat on a hook. Bella could barely see, but the Captain moved around in the cabin like she didn't need eyes to do it. Then she turned up the oil lamp near the door to brighten the room. "Alright, what is it?"

"You said you wanted to see the next ritual, right?" Bella asked.

"Aye, yerself and Will planning on doing your map trick already?" Belita smirked.

"No, not yet. I need to replenish some energy I lost. I tried to do it this morning, but I couldn't gather the energy. I was hoping you would help me out," Bella said with a small shrug and a seductive twinkle in her eye.

A slow smile spread across Belita's face as she realized what Bella was asking. "I suppose I can take a short break,"

"Good," Bella stepped in and slid her arms around the Captain's waist beneath her coat, bringing their lips together in a gentle, sensual kiss.

Bella was used to being the initiator of intimacy. It came with the territory. She often had to take charge of sexual encounters to be able to guide her rituals in just the right ways. She didn't consider herself to be forceful or dominant. She just had more specific goals when it came to sex than most people. She rather preferred to let someone else take charge when she could. Her favorite sort of lovemaking slowly drew a partner's innermost self out with just the right kinds of asking, teasing, or taunting. It was a skill she prided herself on.

Belita Vex needed no such prompting. She was a confident, sensual creature who did nearly everything with an edge of wild abandon. So when their lips met, Bella found herself immediately yielding to her Captain's hunger. Belita's hands ran up her sides and cupped the small of her back, pulling their bodies together. The Captain wasn't demanding or forceful. She was slow and deliberate. Commanding. Her actions clearly showed her intent, and Bella followed, obeying instinctively. The N'madi witch's passions flared at the Captain's presence. This was her favorite sort of lover. Sklled. Patient. Confident. Completely and effortlessly in control.

"Oh yesss..." Bella hissed, her anticipation and heady desire building with every stroke and kiss.

Gone were the distractions, the intrusive thoughts, the stress and noise. Belita Vex had banished them all. There was no room for such things. All the attention Bella could muster was casually demanded by the Captain's very nature.

Belita brought her arms to Bella's bare shoulders and ran her hands along the witch's smooth skin, dipping her fingertips below the hem of Bella's blouse.

"Undress me," Belita said, her mouth still pressed against Bella's. Bella nodded and began feeling for the buttons on the captain's ruffled shirt.

They began to drop clothes behind them in a trail as they slowly made their way to the bed. It wasn't far away, but they took their time, kissing, touching, exploring each other's bodies. Bella's skirts hit the ground in a puddle next to the captain's coat, leaving her only in her blouse. When Bella's fingers went for the Captain's weapon belt, Belita stopped her and carefully undid the belt on her own. It was hung from the bedpost with care, ready in case of an emergency. Bella waited dutifully, their lips meeting again as soon as the Captain came back to her. The dark haired beauty undid the last button on the ruffled shirt when the blond came back. She pulled it open to expose firm, tanned breasts. Bella's hands cupped them from below and from the sides, her thumbs brushing the delicate gold rings that pierced the blond captain's nipples. Belita took a breath and arched her back, which only served to push her chest a bit further into Bella's hands. "They're very sensitive," Bella grinned, squeezing the blond woman's breasts a bit more firmly.

"Aye," Belita agreed. "It's the rings. They make everything more intense."

"I'm not sure I could handle that. Mine are already pretty overwhelming sometimes," Bella said, glancing down at her blouse.

"Oh really?" Belita said mischievously, then tugged Bella's blouse down. It was an off-the-shoulder style, mostly held in place by Bella's sizable breasts and the grace of the gods, so with Belita's firm tug Bella's blouse was suddenly hanging loosely around her hips. Her dark eyes lit up at the Captain's forcefulness. The blond woman's head dipped and took a rosy nipple in her mouth. Bella gasped and shuddered, her hands finding the back of Belita's head.