Revenge On The Sea

My door opened and McGaragle walked in and pushed Angelica onto my floor. "Thank you Tommy, I have it from here," I said. He retreated out the door. "Enjoy your night?" I asked.

"The hell with you bastard!"

"Remember what I said last night about you being in my power stepmother. Don't make me any angrier than you can afford."

"I'm not afraid of you. Bastard boy."

I knew she was trying to provoke me. It was what she loved to do. Remind me of my low status and the fact I was unwanted. In the past I'd snapped and hit her and that had earned me my father beating me senseless while she looked on in enjoyment. But she had no power over me now. And it was time to show her that. "McGaragle!" I called. He came back in. "Bring the boy to the deck and flog him ten times with the cat."

"No!" she screamed.

"Shut up!" I yelled at her. McGaragle nodded to me and was gone. "You are in no position to give me orders or insult me, my cunt stepmother! I warned you and you ignored me, like you always do! Well this time there's no one to step in and save you! Every time you anger me, your precious Donnie pays the price! So keep that haughty temper and attitude to yourself or else he pays for it!"

She glared at me like always but it had no effect. Outside a voice cried out in pain and that had a better effect on her than my warning ever could. She started to speak but I held my hand and made her listen to all ten lashes Donnie was getting. After the final lash I lowered my hand. "Are you going to behave Angelica?"

"What do you want?"

"Why were you traveling on that ship?"

"Your father was sending us to Boston. I was overseeing the setting up of his new business with the fur trade in the Americas. It's worth more than any silk these days."

"Your in charge?"

"No he had men from the business with me. All dead now because of you."

"Don't expect me to cry for them Angelica. Why'd he send Donnie with you?"

"Because Donnie is going to take over the business once he's of age. And I was looking for potential suitors for my daughters."

"Your daughters are barely into their teens! Pawning them off early?"

"You don't understand the world Leo. You never did, that's why you ran off to sea and became the bastard pirate you are."

"I understand the world just fine. What you clearly never will understand, is that I refuse to live by the standards of the world you hold so dear! Now let's say you made it to Boston. What next?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'm asking the questions Angelica. Don't give me questions again or he gets ten more lashes."

"Upon the successful establishing of the fur business, I would write Giovanni and then he'd come here with my daughters to join us."

"Abandoning the Italian silk trade to go for fur pelts in the New World? More ambitious than I ever thought father possible of."

"Silk is on the decline. Spain has all the best silks from the New World. And the East India Company has a stranglehold on the Oriental silks. Why not capitalize on a new market neither can touch since they don't have any territory on the continent? The Hudson Bay company is far enough north to not be a serious threat."

It made sense. "I see. Is that everything?" A plan was forming in my mind.

"Yes everything! Let my son go!"

"I told you not to give me orders Angelica. Now if and when father sets sail, would he bring everything?"

"His entire life. Two ships worth. He already has them waiting."

My plan gained more details as she spoke. She must have read that from my face because her next words were defiant. "Not that it matters when he doesn't hear from me he won't come!"

"Oh he will," I said confidently.

"I won't write him and tell him to bring my daughters into the hands of your Godless pirates boy! You can't force me either!"

I thought about having McGaragle lash Donnie again but then something better came into my mind. I stood up. "I can't make you?" I asked. "Angelica you still don't seem to understand you have no say in anything except how much pain your son endures. But if you think flogging is the worst I can do then guess again, you stupid bitch! Let me explain what's going to happen. Either you write that letter to father and bring him and my stepsisters into my trap or the following will happen to you: First I'll tie you to the base of my mainmast. Then I'll have Donnie keelhauled in front of your very eyes. I'll do that until he dies. When he does die, I'll lay his broken corpse at your feet and tell my men they all get a turn with you. You will be fucked to death, no matter how many turns it takes! No pun, no joke, just fact. My men haven't seen a women since we made off with this ship. So they're likely already hoping to use you! And it's a long way's to Nassau. I wonder how long you'll last?"

I had her full attention. She couldn't even pretend to be haughtily contemptuous of me. Not with a threat like that. I was not bluffing. She knew I hated her and would gladly do exactly what I suggested in revenge for all she's put me through. "So what's it going be, my dear stepmother? The letter to father and Donnie's safety? Or both his death and yours in very horrible ways?"

"I'll write the letter."

I grabbed a parchment and pen and ink and set it on my desk. "Write."

"Donnie won't be touched?"

"If you write that, yes."

"And me?"

"Write woman, or I'll have them both done anyway!"

With a frightened squeak she began writing. "And if you tip father off in the letter," I warned. "I'll draw out Donnie's suffering even more."

She nodded and wrote. I waited for her to be done, then when she was I snatched the letter and read it. Nothing that said she was being held by pirates and he was coming to his death. Good. No odd phrases that could be tip-off words either. Good. "McGaragle send for Tomwise, Patrick, and Arthur and join me in here!" I called.

Tomwise and the others arrived. I laid out my plan to them. "It's risky Cap'n," said Tomwise. "First we have to turn around and backtrack uncomfortably close to Boston to drop someone off to both send the letter and take the letter when it arrives from your father. And we got to be to Nassau and back before he arrives. Winter is coming up north. The winds will be against us. We'd have to cut our time in Nassau short."

"The men won't like that," said McGaragle.

"And we're outnumbered," said Arthur. "Two ships, no telling how well armed they might be. If they're really carrying your father's entire life then my guess is they'll be well armed. One-on-one with more experience we might win. But two-on-one? No way. Not unless we was a Man O War."

"Then men will have five days in Nassau," I said. "The promise of another prize will soften the blow of them not getting longer. And they'll have my word as Captain that when we return to Nassau with our next prize they'll have two whole weeks."

"They'll buy that," said Arthur nodding.

"What about the numbers?" asked Patrick.

"We'll have to enlist some help in Nassau."

"Splitting the profits with another captain and crew won't make our crew happy," warned Tomwise.

"Well the only other option is to take another ship and crew it. And we have neither the time nor the effort nor the manpower for such a feat," I said. "And even if we did, it'd still mean sharing profits with more people. But this will be worth it."

"I agree," said McGaragle.

"You're all insane," said Angelica.

"Shut it bitch," snarled McGaragle.

"Forget her for now. We CAN pull this off! I know it!" I pounded my fist into my hand to emphasize how strongly I felt.

"Crew thinks he walks on water as it is," said Patrick. "Shouldn't take much to convince them."

I remembered what Lawrence had always warned me about, not letting them think I can do anything. When they find out I couldn't, it would get ugly, he always said. "We'll ask them what they think," I said. "I won't ignore my crew's ideas."

"Afraid of taking the reigns of power I see. Not surprised," said Angelica.

I looked at her. "Stupid woman, you just don't have the ability to not be a bitch even when your life depends on it! Your mistake. And since you wrote the letter I don't really need you anymore anyway. McGaragle take her to the mainmast and tie her up! After the crew's voiced it's opinion, they can all have a turn with her!"

"Bastard!"

"And gag her too!" I added as he dragged her away.

"Providing we can even pull this off, who would you trust enough to ask to help us?" asked Tomwise.

I only smiled.

Chapter 7: A Captain Meets A Captain

It was good to be back in Nassau. It felt like I'd been away for years though in reality it had only been half of one year. In life experience it felt like a lifetime ago that I'd stood on the dock and looked out at the Defiance in the harbor, trying to decide my course of action. Now I was back, the captain of my own ship. Then haul taken from the north had brought me a pretty penny! And I'd encouraged the men to tell the story of how I'd taken my prize without losing a man or taking a shot. And encouraged them to tell of the crew's execution. This was the pirate hotbed, with all due respect to Tortuga. Because of Nassau's location and proximity to the shipping lanes for all trade to and from the Caribbean, Nassau was where most pirates made their home.

We'd arrived two days ago. Word in that time had spread about Captain Leonardo Sanfino of the Death's Hand, the fearsome looking grey ship with the bloody handprint sails that sat out in the harbor. I'd endure some looks from other pirates of that border from hostility to respect to curiosity. Which was good because if my chosen plan didn't work I needed to have a way in to buy some help for our next haul.

But I was determined to wait for Captain Cold Eyes until the last possible moment. To Tomwise's never ending irritation. He's already had three offers since we arrived of other captains wanting to sail with us. Plus the Death's Hand had collected fifteen more new hands, putting an end to Arthur and McGaragle's comments about the warship being under crewed. Why wait when we could get moving sooner? Tomwise asked me daily.

He didn't understand that captaincy of the Death's Hand didn't mean a damn thing to me if I couldn't get back into Cold Eyes life. I still hadn't told him about my love for Cold Eyes. He knew I was crew on her ship and left it after she and Solomon Kane had humiliated me. But not that I saw captaincy as a stepping stone to hopefully being Cold Eyes lover. He'd never respect that. None of my crew would, new reputation and promise of money or not. So until the time was right (which in my mind was when Biranna and I took my father's ships, split the profits between our crews and made them all so happy they didn't care about us being together) I had to keep it from my crew. Tomwise would likely guess once he saw me and Cold Eyes together. He wasn't called Tomwise for no reason. Arthur would probably guess too and be on Tomwise's side of things when it came to my attention to her. Patrick wouldn't care to look. McGaragle wouldn't care at all.

But that was getting way ahead of yourself Leo! You have to get her to listen to you before that! And she was likely still stinging from my defection. Her whole crew probably was. Life on a ship makes you brothers. When one of your brothers jumps ship it turns the rest of the crew cold. And the last time I'd seen Cold Eyes, I'd said terrible things to her, so it was going to be doubly hard to earn her forgiveness. But if I could win Lawrence over, he'd help her see the business sense of my suggestion. Getting her to agree to work with me was the first step.

I hope.

I'd asked around if the Defiance was expected back in Nassau anytime soon. It was. Within any day of my arrival. So I waited. I was currently sitting in the bar where the business in Nassau was done. All captains with stolen plunder to sell made their way here eventually. And even if her hold was empty, she would hear my name and everything it was now attached too and (hopefully) have to come see herself. Or at least send Lawrence to see.

My stepmother was still alive somehow, after eighty-seven men had taken their turn with her. Though I'm fairly certain she'll never enjoy sex again as long as she lives. After the crew was done, they'd hauled her away and I'd caught her expression. She was completely empty. Broken. Exactly the way I wanted the fucking cunt to be. No less than she deserved after years of making my life a living hell. Donnie's back had been patched up and I'd put them back in my brig. I intend to keep them alive until I have my father and stepsisters in my clutches so I can make them all suffer together.

Maybe I am as sadistic as Blackbeard.

No, you're not Leo! This is revenge for wrongs done to you long ago. Blackbeard would do these kinds of things to normal people he'd never met before. Just to remind everyone he's Blackbeard! He'd not have nearly thrown up after the execution of those eight men. I'm not like him!

Tomwise, McGaragle and Arthur all joined me. "Where's Patrick?" I asked.

"Today's his turn to watch the ship," said Arthur.

"Cap'n how much longer are we going wait?" asked Tomwise for what must have been the tenth time.

"Until I say otherwise."

"This is stupid Cap'n! We're on a schedule remember? We got to get back to-"

"Back to Boston to pick up our man, learn my father's timetable and intercept him. All with the north winds against us. I know Tomwise. I knew before the first time you said it to me."

"So why are we wasting time?"

"Because I'm waiting for Captain Cold Eyes. She's my choice to sail with us on this score."

"Other cap'n's are more than willing to leave with us right now!"

"He's got a point," Arthur chimed in.

"I suppose you agree with them?" I asked McGaragle.

He was halfway through a large gulp of rum. When done, he shrugged. "Who's with us don't matter to me Cap'n. But they got a point. We do need to get moving soon."

"I said five days total. It's only been three!"

"And every extra day increases our chances of pulling this off!" argued Tomwise.

I knew they were right. They were approaching this logically. What they didn't know was my desire to wait for Captain Cold Eyes was anything but logical. I crossed my arms. "I'm getting sick of this discussion. The men are already unhappy they only get five days here before it's back to the approaching winter in the north. We cut them short on what we offered and they'll be even angrier. Five days. But since I know none of you will give this up here's what we'll do. Tomorrow if Captain Cold Eyes hasn't arrived then Tomwise, you can bring me the other captains to see what they have to say. Will that shut you up?"

I could tell he thought this was bullshit. I'd not said I'd agree to any of the captains only that I'd hear them out. A stalling tactic. And he knew it. But he also knew he wasn't going to be able to push me any further without making me angry. So he sighed and gave up. "Aye Cap'n."

Then I felt something on my neck. A prickly feeling like I'd just been stung by a bee. "Cap'n," said McGaragle. He pointed over my shoulder. My back was to the door so I had turn to see what he was pointing at.

Captain Cold Eyes was in the doorway staring at me.

I had to work not to burst into tears at the sight of her. Long red hair, pale skin, large breasts, dressed and armed like always. Lawrence, as refined as ever, was standing behind her. "Damn me to the depths," she said. "It really is true."

I got out of my chair, walked three steps and stood before her. Then I did some ridiculous bow and said, "M'lady Cold Eyes, Captain of the Defiance." I was careful not to call her 'the' captain now as she wasn't my captain any longer. When I came up out of my bow Lawrence was fighting back a smile and, for a brief second, she was too. Then anger clouded her face. Tomwise and the others were staring at me. They'd never seen my courtly manner side before. I'd abandoned it in Boston when the dockworkers thought it was me trying to be a fool.

"You really are the Cap'n of the Death's Hand that I've been hearing so much about?" she asked. Her eyes were icy. Mind you, I'd expected nothing less than cold hostility to start with.

"Yes I am Captain," I said, calling her captain out of respect.

"I've only been in Nassau for half an hour and I've already heard some things about your ship."

"All true M'lady."

"In that case I confess myself disappointed."

I knew she meant my actions on killing all my prisoners. She had no love for brutality and only resorted to it out of necessity "I believe M'lady my former Cap'n once told me to not be afraid of harsh violence, but instead to be afraid of when the harsh violence does not effect you," I said.

That impressed her. But she wouldn't show it. "Drop your 'M'lady' right now," she warned. "I've no reason to put up with you. You abandoned us."

I knew this wouldn't be easy, but I was surprised to hear the faintest quiver of hurt in her voice. I spoke with real emotion. "The hardest decision I'd ever had to make, my former Cap'n. Whether you believe that or not," I said with complete sincerity. So far this was going about as well as I expected. But Lawrence was hanging on my every word. That gave me hope. "And I know the last time we spoke I insulted you terribly. Something no Cap'n would tolerate. Since becoming a Cap'n myself I have a deeper understand of how such things work. So I'm sorry for saying what was said. You don't have to forgive me. I don't expect you to! But I will settle for you not hating me at the moment."

That gave her pause. I wondered if she was expecting me to plead. Tomwise and Arthur were muttering to each other behind my back. McGaragle was looking bored and he paid the most attention to Cold Eyes beautiful figure. "Fine then. I won't hate you," she said. "But I don't forgive you either. Don't you ever speak to me again!"

Those words were like scalding knives to my heart. But I had expected something like them so I kept my composure. "Before our falling out," I said getting in her way as she tried to move past me. "I promised you and the Defiance a score. I would like to deliver that. I've a job I can't take on alone and I don't trust anyone else to sail with me."

"Fuck off. Boy," she growled.

I ignored that. "Please hear me out."

"No."

"Cap'n forget her, she isn't interested," said Tomwise.

"Shut up Tomwise!" I snapped at him. He recoiled. I'd never spoken harshly to him before.

"Listen to your man, I'm not interested," said Cold Eyes.

"We should be Cap'n," said Lawrence speaking for the first time.

My heart leaped with hope. Winning him over would do half the job! She rounded on her first mate. "No Lawrence, not this time! You're not going to talk me down! My decision stands!"

"Cap'n," said Lawrence. "We haven't had a take worth taking since Sanfino left. The crew's getting rebellious. Some of 'em blame you for driving him off and losing the money maker! The three prizes we've taken since then haven't equaled his score. Combined they haven't! If you won't hear him out for his sake, do it for your own and that of your crew. The crew that's never been closer to mutiny!"

She glared daggers at him. But she knew he was right. "Fine. Let's talk Sanfino."

I invited her and Lawrence to my table. She took McGaragle's seat after sending him a glare that even he knew not to challenge. I ignored Tomwise beside me and spoke. I laid out my entire plan. Told her every detail. She actually laughed. "Well Sanfino, I thought your Havana scheme was crazy! But this insanity? This makes that look like child's play! I'm not sure if you're brilliant or completely insane!"

"It's a good plan Cap'n," said Lawrence to her.

"You think he can make this happen?"