Captain Barbossa leaned back in his chair and glared across the dark wooden table at his prisoner. The ship she had been aboard was now plundered and sunk and the crew she had been traveling with, executed. Barbossa studied her face for a moment, blank and cold, and then nodded toward a bowl of apples at the center of the table.
"Care for an apple missy? Ain't had nuthin since yesterday, it would seem."
The prisoner faltered slightly and let her gaze rest on the red and green orbs. She glanced sideways at Barbossa and with the encouragement of his smile, reached out for the fruit and bit into an apple.
"There ya are. There ain't nuthin' half so satisfyin' as one of..." The captain's commentary was cut short as the prisoner moved her finger across the edge of her lip in a failed attempt to quell the juice. "Nuthin' half so satisfyin'..."
A small smirk crept across Barbossa's face as he watched the girl devour the fruit. "What be your age?"
"Not but three and twenty," she replied plainly, her large eyes searching his smug expression.
"You'll fetch a generous ransom, as it were." the captain laughed, observing her figure. The girl looked away, resting the apple core at the edge of the table, and worked to steady her voice.
"Will you put me ashore then?"
"Aye, we will."
"Now, then." The girl leaned forward as she spoke, "I demand you release me."
"We can't be doin' that," the pirate smirked as he shook his head. "There'd be no sense in puttin' ye ashore with nuthin' to show."
"Nothing to show? But you sunk..."
Beginning to lose his patience, Barbossa squinted across the table and growled. "Come now, do us a favor. Bring me one of them apples."
The prisoner instantly fell silent. She looked toward the bowl and then back toward the captain. It would be far worse to refuse him, she reasoned, and rising from the table, she clenched a second apple in her hand. Barbossa watched with a steady smile as the girl slowly approached him. She extended her hand to present him with the fruit and he reached out, pressing his thumb against the inside of her wrist. The girl stopped suddenly, gripping the apple tightly and driving her nails into the flesh.
"Well now missy, weren't nuthin' to be afraid of. Hand it over."
The girl looked down at the apple and at her imprisoned wrist. She could feel the pirate's grip tighten around her small hand.
"Closer." Barbossa growled, pulling her near.
She relaxed her grip and released the apple, letting it fall to the floor. With a sudden gasp she lunged forward. The pirate reached out, clasping her by the waste, and with a knowing sneer, pulled her into his lap and under the breast of his frock coat.
"There now," he snarled, "don't move."