Chapter 4: A Meeting of Like Minds

Hey guys! Ready for another installment of Mac?

This week we'll see Bonnet and Alston finally come face to face, and meet a new crew member (much cuter than the rest we've met so far!). Bonnet's odd feelings for Brianna continue to grow and he's once again faced with the task of determining how much she's worth to him. Will be lots of blood and gore in this chapter, so reader beware. Next chapter we're going to start heating things up between our main characters a bit more, but nothing too crazy, I'm trying to make this one a slow burn.

W: violence, gore, language, and some sexual scenes.

Bonnet looked down at the bloodstained deck beneath his feet. He had killed a man, a member of his own crew without another thought. O'Cogden had been a good gunner, a part of the Gloriana for nearly as long as Dugan had been. He understood why he had tried to throw the woman overboard; everyone was aware at this point that Alston was about half a day out from catching them in his swift galleon. As O'Cogden was in charge of the artillery and cannons, it only made sense that he would try anything to give them the upper hand in the fight to come. Yet, killing him had been as easy as breathing, and he never once questioned his decision to draw his dagger across the man's throat.

He shook his head. He certainly didn't regret killing the man, but he couldn't deny that he had just lost one of his most experienced artillery men to a moment of… perhaps passion? He had no idea. Seeing the man's hands on her, grasping her tightly around the waist and pressing her to him was enough to turn Bonnet green with envy. He was hers to touch. And hers to scare, at his own pleasure. How dare someone else take over that task for him.

He wasn't a particularly sentimental man, but he sensed some sort of power between the two of them, held firmly in the palm of the redheaded beauty—and not one that he had willingly relinquished to her. His features darkened. She hadn't been on board but three days and already he could feel himself growing restless. Perhaps it wasn't even the girl herself, but the fact that he had to stave off his desires that were driving him mad with new thoughts. He had always found patience to be a fruitless quality, one that only prolongs the taste of victory. Yet, because of his patience, he was sure she would taste better than any successful plunder or pillage he had had to date. He liked a challenge, and she was certainly that with her headstrong temperament and mouth of a sailor. Sneering, he realized himself getting lost in her again—she was a slippery slope to him, a sticky web in which he felt he could be caught in. It was a new notion for Bonnet, one of being the prey rather than the predator. But he reminded himself that he had captured her and brought her here, not the other way around. She was still his "guest" aboard the ship, and was there at his pleasure, not her own. He straightened up, wiped a bit more blood from his face with the bottom of his rough shirt and resolved to remind her of her place that evening after the face-off.

He strode off towards the helm, taking a weary look behind him to see the haunting threat of the galleon clear and crisp a mile back. It would only be but a few hours now. Regardless of the loss of O'Cogden, his brig was well-endowed with both men and cannons. He was sure they would be basking in the glory of another triumph shortly, and he would be able to check Alston off his list of competitors. The thought eased his mind, and he forgot about Brianna for the first time since she had been brought aboard, the notion of a brawl bringing him a discreet sense of excitement. He had started the day with one kill, and was quite sure he would be ending it with the Grim toasting his successes and thanking him for his service. He breathed in the smell of the briny air as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered and set his mind to the battle ahead.

-O-O-

Back in the cabin, Brianna had finally begun to overcome the shock that had wracked her body from the incident with the man called Gordon. Though her neck had bled quite a bit, it was not as deep as she had suspected, and she added it to the mental list of wounds she had acquired so far on her short stay aboard the Gloriana. Dugan had not locked her in this time, as he had suspected correctly that Brianna would rather be there than on deck after the morning's events. He had helped her into the room without a word, took a worried glance at her stiff and unmoving expression, and left with a look on his face as if he were disappointed. In her or himself, Brianna could not tell. When she closed her eyes, all she could see burned into the back of her eyelids was the devilish face of Stephen Bonnet, covered in scarlet speckles with a smear across his left cheek of the man's lifeblood.

She was still unsure why he had taken such offense to her being maimed and nearly murdered, because it seemed to be his ultimate goal for her anyway. To see her broken and damaged until she begged him to take her life. His actions today were not what she had expected and she wondered perhaps if there was more to her being there than just as a "source of entertainment" as he had blatantly put it to the man before killing him. What sort of person kills for cheap entertainment? There was an abundance of whores at every port from here to Nassau, why was she worth killing for? She shuddered as a new thought entered her mind.

Perhaps when Bonnet said he knew her parents he was planning on using her to gain something from them. It wouldn't be land, as he appeared much more comfortable and at ease on the sea, moving with the ship and waves as if they were but solid ground. What did her parents have that interested him so? After thinking about it for several minutes she gave up. Maybe there was something her mother had forgotten to mention to her before disembarking through the stones again. She knew Jamie had owned a print shop, but that was likely long gone by then seeing as they had taken up residence in North Carolina. Whatever sadistic plan he had for her, she was sure she would be able to counter it with a bit of calculated thought. She did have the distinct advantage of an education. Although she suspected Bonnet was far from stupid, and conceded to herself in fact that he was very cunning, she figured she could out-think him if it came to that. She stopped for a moment, frozen as she considered his cunning in earnest. Perhaps he had planned this whole thing so that she would want to stay in the room with him. One for Stephen Bonnet, zero for Brianna. She narrowed her eyes, her brain running on the hamster wheel once again. She shook her head, abandoning the train of thought for the time being. Sighing deeply she looked over the all-too-familiar room once again.

Well, if I'm stuck here, I might as well make the most of it. Getting up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed, she made her way to the desk with purpose. She opened a few drawers, rummaging for paper and anything to sketch with. Bonnet's blood-spattered face was still plaguing her mind and she wanted—no, needed—to get it out of her head and onto paper. Pulling out every drawer, she finally came across a pile of discolored and tattered sheets in the bottom-most compartment. Frowning she turned one over to see a crude-looking promulgation.

"Wanted: Captain Stephen Bonnet for smuggling, piracy, murder and crimes against the Crown," she read it aloud, pursing her lips. The likeness wasn't fantastic, perhaps the most distinguishing feature of the amorphous man was the scar on the left side of his face and the characteristic tricorn he had taken to wearing since arriving back on the Gloriana. Rifling through the rest of the papers in the drawer, she found them to all be the same thing. Red notices for Bonnet with sketches from all different artists presumably posted at all different ports. There must have been at least 15 if not 20 of them. She smirked when she read the reward of 200 pounds upped to 250 and then 300 as she looked at the newer sheets he had collected over what appeared to be years. Turning him in would give her a hefty purse to get back to North Carolina, should she get the chance at their next stop-off point. She considered it, and tucked the idea away in her ever-growing arsenal of plots against the pirate.

Turning her attention back to her task, she took one of the face sheets, flipped it over and put it onto the desk, looking still for a writing implement. Finding one quill and a half-filled ink bottle at the back of one of the top drawers, she grabbed them and smiled gleefully. Finally, something to pass the time. She wasted no time in settling herself at the sturdy desk and copying down the horrific image of his grin, crinkled scar and half tipped hat. She paused, looking down at her work and a chill shot up her spine. She had definitely caught the evil glint in his eye to a tee. As hypnotic as his ever-changing green eyes were, they typically always looked cold and unforgiving, as if everyone and everything were an insult to him.

She continued sketching the various parts of her captor: his hand with her mother's ring on it, simply his eyes on their own and even his silhouette at the helm. Getting the images out and onto paper felt like releasing each and every bad thought and event that had occurred over the past few days. She felt herself growing lighter as she pulled out another notice from the drawer to draw Dugan and then Gordon with his cutlass. Before long, she had filled 3 or 4 pages with simple and complex renderings of her suffrage on the ship. Still deeply absorbed into her work she jumped as she heard a quiet voice call from the doorway.

"Ma'am?" a young girl's voice called from behind her.

Brianna turned to face the owner of the nervous inquiry. It looked to be a little girl, no older than 10, with wild jet-black shoulder-length hair clothed in what looked to be dirty attire meant for a much larger boy. Her eyes avoided Brianna's and she looked down at her feet, seemingly embarrassed.

Brianna got up slowly to approach the girl, who finally lifted her eyes to look at her. They were a brilliant blue that stood out in stark contrast to her dust-covered skin.

"I didn't know there were any other girls aboard," she said softly. It had seemed like when Gordon had tried to throw her over that women were prohibited here. Perhaps children were an exemption from the rule, she considered.

"What's your name?"

"Maggie," the girl replied with a thick Irish accent, straightening herself up with what one could only describe as a silent act of defiance. Brianna raised her eyebrows in response to the feisty gesture, and waited for the girl to continue.

"The cap'n' wanted me to come tell ye that we'll be meetin' with another ship in just an hour or so now. He says to stay below deck so as not to get yerself in the way."

"And what about you," Brianna parried with tenderness, "will you be keeping yourself safe below deck?"

The little girl laughed, "No ma'am, the cap'n' and crew needs me. I can get into places no one else can," she said proudly. The embarrassment had completely faded and was replaced with slight cockiness.

Now it was Brianna's turn to laugh. Maggie barely reached her hip, she was tiny to say the least. She certainly pulled at the heartstrings with her filthy clothes and knotted hair. But, she appeared to be in good health and Brianna wondered how she had come to be on the ship in the first place. A pirate ship was no place for a child, let alone one as young as this girl.

"I saw what ye did to Gordon," the girl's eyes twinkled mischievously, "If ye ask me, th' ol' goat deserved it. I never liked 'im much," before Brianna could reply, the girl giggled and scampered off quickly down the hallway, not giving her a chance to ask the many new questions that had formed in her mind.

Brianna blinked incredulously after the girl, wondering if she had even been there at all or if her brain had become addled from the trauma of the ship's events. She decided she was a bit too real to only be an apparition. Surely she wasn't the child of any of the men on the ship. Brianna tossed the thought around for a while in her head before deciding she would simply ask Dugan about it later. After her incident on the deck his feelings toward her seemed to shift from suspicion to pity. She wasn't sure how much that pity could get her, but maybe it would help to clear up a few things. In the meantime, she figured it best to follow the little girl's instructions and stay put. Turning back to her work on the desk, she sat down and began sketching the doe-eyes and wispy hair of her new-found comrade.

-O-O-

It was time. Alston had finally caught up in his sleek galleon and was making the move to the Gloriana's port side, about 15 minutes out from hugging the bow. Stephen squinted his eyes at the ship—the Revenge. She was a formidable opponent, and definitely a younger ship than his own, but Bonnet wasn't worried. He had years' experience over Alston in sea warfare and captaining. It may not be as quick of a conclusion as he would have liked, but he would get it done.

"Everyone, listen up!" Stephen bellowed. Every man on the ship stopped milling about and halted in their preparations to look up at the captain. "Take your places at the cannons, we're aimin' ta wound until we take a peek at what Alston's carryin' in his holds. We'll be boardin', takin' what we can and then sending her to the depths."

The men cheered in response, clearly excited to see some action as the morning's events were now old news. It was true that Gordon was a bit of a git, and while some would miss him, most had felt indifferent to the situation. They had seen men taken by the captain before and would see him do it again. All they could hope was that it wasn't themselves who were the target of his wrath. Getting back to the task at hand, they began moving to strategic positions along the ship's sides, those not manning the cannons getting ready for the hand-to-hand combat that would ensue shortly.

As the instigating ship approached, Bonnet placed his hands around his mouth, and greeted his opponent with a roar.

"Dia dhuit, Mr. Alston, to what do I owe tha' pleasure of our meetin' today?" he grinned madly, waiting for the man's response. They were close enough now that the ships nearly overlapped. The dance was beginning.

"I think you know why I've followed you here Mr. Bonnet. Allegra terminated our very profitable partnership, saying he "found someone else with better prices". Now I can only assume he meant you, as I saw you snaking around Wilmington at about the same time," Alston yelled back, his voice quavering a bit at the end.

Bonnet sneered. "Allegra, eh? Can't say I know the man. I picked up quite a few new customers this time around, could ye be a bit more specific? Tea or brandy?" the man was too easy to toy with, and as the Revenge made its way steadily to the port side of the Gloriana, Bonnet could see the redness in Alston's face. He laughed, a maniacal sound that made Alston jump even a ship's length away.

Looking to his crew, Bonnet nodded, and with that, animalistic howls escaped the mouths of his crew. Alston's own crew froze in fear, and he looked at them desperately, hoping for a surge of bravery. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he had even gotten a word out, the sound of 3 loud explosions rocked the air around them, followed by the sound of shattering wood. Bonnet laughed as the smoke cleared from between the two ships and he noted that Alston's crew hadn't even had a chance to send one off before his had. The mark had been hit, and now Bonnet needed to turn about before Alston set off a well-placed rebuttal volley.

As the Gloriana began to turn, Alston saw his chance escaping. He had been so busy with talk, he had already made a vital mistake. He was stunned at how quickly things had taken a turn that he had nearly lost his head. His crew now milling about like a disorganized bait ball cut through by a shark, Alston regained his functions and roared with all his might.

"FIRE, GODDAMNIT!" his crew moved back into formation quickly and managed to get off a volley of four, with one hitting the Gloriana near the port quarter as she turned away.

"Damnú," Bonnet muttered under his breath. It was nothing the Gloriana couldn't take, but he'd probably have to moor somewhere before Barbados now to get the ship properly fixed for the rest of the journey. His head still calm, cool and collected, he continued turning the ship until he had finally approached the Revenge's opposite side and prepared to board.

-O-O-

After the first firing of the cannons Brianna had been jolted from her seat at the desk where she had fallen asleep on her sketches. Wiping the ink from where she felt it sticking to her cheek she looked around in a panic. When Maggie had said meeting with another ship, she hardly thought that the two ships would be engaging in combat. It seemed like too important of a detail for Maggie to have left out. She made for the doorway quickly, noting the loud hollering coming from the cutout in the floor leading down into the hold. Maggie told me to stay here though, so I wouldn't get in the way. Brianna rubbed her hand on the back of her neck nervously contemplating staying or going.

Suddenly, another volley went off, and this time she was sure the Gloriana was the target. The ship balked as the cannon-ball entered her side, the boards snapping and groaning as they were blown out of place somewhere a little too close for Brianna's comfort. She rushed out of the doorway and up the ladder where she heard Bonnet barking orders at his crew.

"Throw the hooks, we're goin' over!"

Brianna observed the man who appeared to be in charge of the other ship. He looked a lot shorter than Bonnet, and definitely a fair bit rounder. He was yelling out orders to his own men, but Brianna couldn't make them out from where she was standing, half in the hold and half out. It was clear neither wanted the other's ship sunk before the riches were transferred from one pirate to the other, otherwise someone would be sinking already. As she brought her attention back to Bonnet's crew, she saw men tossing hooks with iron grapples at the end, anchoring the ships together. Some of the men stood back, bracing themselves. It was clear that there was crew designated to fight and others who were selected to defend. She noticed Dugan in the crowd of those staying aboard, and watched Bonnet move down to the lower deck, his pistol poised and his sword ready. Remembering Maggie, she began scanning frantically for her in the sea of men to no avail.

The ships were now bound by more ropes than Brianna could count and men began pouring in from the opposite ship. Immediately blood began to be spilled. Mostly that of the offending crew, it seemed, but Bonnet's crew was taking a few hits. Brianna quickly made her way up the rest of the ladder and stepped onto the deck. It was sheer madness. Men were screaming, crying and dying. Calling for Danu and calling for God. Her eyes flashed to Bonnet who seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing as he buried his cutlass into another man's chest. Brianna shrieked and covered her hands with her mouth. How Bonnet heard her over the battle cries, the clanging of swords and the screams of fallen men she did not know. But his eyes met hers immediately. He was positively covered in blood already, whether his or someone else's Brianna did not know but he looked like the devil incarnate.

"I thought I told ye to—" Bonnet was cut off by a man plunging his dagger into his shoulder from behind. He growled, peeled his eyes from Brianna and turned to face the offender. Grabbing him by the throat, the dagger still in his shoulder, he pushed the man backwards into the pole of the main mast. The man struggled, but Bonnet's grip was tight and he held on until the life left the man's eyes. Letting go of his neck, the man dropped unceremoniously to the deck floor, the consternation frozen on his face.

Turning back to where Brianna stood she was gone. Fear gripped Bonnet again before he pushed it down. Where the hell had she gone now? The adrenaline wearing off, he became distinctly aware of the throbbing pain in his shoulder and he gritted his teeth. He had lost his sword at some point, so for now, the one embedded in him would have to do. He grasped the dagger and pulled it out roughly, a moan escaping his lips as blood began to pour from the wound. He held pressure on it as he looked around. His men were clearly in control of the situation, he needed to find Brianna.

Brianna was searching every nook and cranny on the deck, looking for any sign of little Maggie. Her eyes moved to the attacking ship and she was shocked at how close they were. She could have jumped to opposite ship at this point, the two were so intimately locked in their current position.

"Maggie!" Brianna yelled. Could she be on the other ship? She had said she was small and could get into places no one else could, but surely Bonnet didn't let her go across with the fighting men. Well, if he got something out of it, maybe he did. She squinted her eyes as she scanned the other ship's deck, tuning out the screams and scenes of gore that were unfolding before her. There was no sign of Maggie anywhere.

Suddenly, she focused in on a small figure running at full speed, hoisting over the side of the Gloriana, and landing swiftly on the foreign ship, a small knife grasped in the tiny hand. It was certainly Maggie. Brianna gasped, and started forward only to feel her waist being trapped by an arm at the last moment. She turned around and locked eyes with a very weary Bonnet who looked as if he had just bathed in blood.

"Git back to the lower deck, that's an order darlin'," he apprehended her through clenched teeth with murder in his eyes.

Brianna's own flashed back. "No! I've gotta help Maggie, she went over to the other ship!"

"Aye, that's what she's supposed to do! She picks the locks so the men can get into the cargo and the captain's quarters. She's never failed me once," Bonnet attempted to grin, but it looked more like a grimace as he clutched at his shoulder in pain.

"You're the one who's hurt, maybe you should go back to the lower deck!" she screamed, turning back to face the other ship again. She thought she had lost the girl when suddenly she found her. Bonnet seemed to see it at the same time as her and his eyes widened. Maggie was dangling by a leg, held up by Alston. She was kicking and screaming with all her might to no avail. The man seemed amused and shook her slightly. She waved her tiny knife toward his jewels in a last-ditch effort before the man grabbed her wrist forcefully with his other hand and bent it in an unnatural position. She saw Maggie's mouth open, but no sound seemed to come out. The battle raging around them was still going at full force. Dead men were strewn about the deck and blood covered nearly every surface of the wood.

It was all Brianna could take, seeing the girl hang upside down. She entirely forgot about Bonnet, who was still staring at the child hanging down from Alston's grasp. Not even looking back at the captain, she immediately took off full tilt toward the Revenge.

"Brianna!" Bonnet howled. He reached out in a futile effort to grasp her arm but felt only her fingertips brush his hand. He groaned and started after her before yet another of Alston's men stepped in to block his path.

Brianna made the leap easily to the other ship, and no one had tried to stop her because everyone else had their hands full. Both ships easily had at least 40 men aboard, and it was a complete bloodbath. No one had time to spare for a stray woman running madly about. Alston and Maggie were at the opposite side of the ship, near the edge. Brianna looked down and realized she had nothing to defend herself or Maggie with. Scanning the deck, she found a dead man who still had his fingers wrapped firmly around his cutlass. She kneeled next to him shuddering, and peeled his still-warm hand from the weapon, avoiding looking at his face. She then turned her attention back to Alston who had moved to dangle Maggie, who now looked to be unconscious, over the side of the ship.

"STOP!" she yelped rushing towards the man. He looked at her shocked and his chubby lips morphed into a smug grin. He pulled Maggie up from the side of the ship and pressed the small knife she had carried with her to her gut. Her right wrist was grotesquely swollen and nearly purple. It was for the best the girl had lost consciousness; the pain would probably be overbearing if she was awake.

"This little weasel is yours then, I presume?"

"Give her to me," Brianna whispered, her body shaking.

"Doesn't look much like you, to be sure," he remarked, looking her tiny body over. "What'll you give me for her?"

"I don't have anything to give," she swung the sword threateningly and Alston laughed. She realized after she had said it, that she had said the same thing to Bonnet a few days prior. When she had said it then, it had exactly the same effect as it did now.

"Better be careful swinging that thing around, doesn't look much like you know how to use it," he moved backward a step to hold Maggie over the water again and Brianna dropped the sword instinctively.

"Good girl," Alston purred, "Now, back on the subject of what you can do for me. I'll give you the girl, if you come to my cabin with me and play nicely," as quick as he had said it, he dropped Maggie and made a grab for Brianna who unwittingly felt his hands close around her upper arm. They didn't feel like Bonnet's with his steely vice grip, but felt soft and clammy. She fought against him and he seemed to struggle to hold her. She looked around for Bonnet, but he was nowhere in sight. If ever there was the time to think him into existence, now would be it, she thought bitterly. She looked down at the little girl at her feet who was still out cold.

It was at that moment she felt Alston's hand slide up the back of her skirts onto her bare skin. She shut her eyes, knowing that this time there was no hope of escape. She had avoided it with Bonnet the past few days, but her time had come due. He buried his face into the nape of her neck and breathed in deeply, kissing her skin as if the war happening around them had ceased. Tears began rolling silently down Brianna's face. She just prayed that Dugan or one of Bonnet's crew had seen Maggie get caught and would take her back to the ship once Alston made off with her. At this point, she had no idea who was winning or losing, the gore was insurmountable. Despite this, all she could think about was the little black-haired girl just below her.

While Alston's head was immersed beneath her red hair, he seemed to forget the precariousness of his situation. Brianna had mentally turned everything off. No thoughts were running through her head; no sensations were being felt, and no sounds were being heard. She was simply shut down. His hands touching her beneath her skirt disappeared into nothingness, and her furrowed brown smoothed.

A loud squelch drew Brianna from the dark room she had built in her mind. Her eyes flew open and fell on Bonnet, who looked pale and certainly not himself. A warm liquid began dripping down her back and she looked down to investigate. The same dagger that had been in Bonnet's shoulder was now stuck in the lower left hand corner of Alston's gut. Brianna jumped forward, away from the man and watched with horror as Bonnet dragged the dagger the rest of the way across the man's stomach, effectively disemboweling him. As Alston fell, the captain looked down at him triumphantly.

"It's over!" Bonnet yelled above the mass hysteria and as quickly as the fighting had seemed to start, it came winding down as what was left of Alston's men realized they had lost. The sound of metal hitting the wooden decks reverberated across both ships. While Bonnet had certainly lost a few men, Alston crew had been reduced to just 15. Brianna kneeled and turned her attention to Maggie who had not moved an inch. She pressed her fingers to the little girl's neck just below her jaw and felt the steady pumping of her pulse. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and looked to Stephen, who was eyeing the two of them with an unreadable expression. She nodded her head and Stephen seemed to relax a bit too. His nervousness faded as quickly as it had come and his features hardened again, trying to hide the discomfort from his shoulder. The little girl was a vital part of his operation, and it was his job to protect her as captain.

"Round up the remaining men and bring em' to me. The rest of ye, get to loadin' the cargo onto the ship," the men were battered and bruised, but jumped to command and began shoving the remainder of the Revenge's drained crew towards the Gloriana.

Brianna lifted the girl carefully in her arms. Her head lolled backwards and Bree adjusted her so that it rested in the crook of her elbow. She walked carefully across the bloodied and slippery deck, stepping over bodies and carrying the girl as if it was the most important task she had ever been given. Bonnet followed closely behind. His vision had started to deteriorate, with black spots clouding his peripheral view. He had lost a lot of blood, but it came at a fair price. The brig had been carrying numerous crates of tea, whisky and gold which Alston had yet to deliver.

Bonnet walked carefully from the Revenge to the Gloriana, moving slowly over the interlude between the two ships. Brianna had rushed off ahead of him to take the girl to the hold and had disappeared by the time he lifted his head to look for her. Of course, he would have saved Maggie if he'd had the time, but when he saw Brianna dash to her aid, it stirred something within him and he felt compelled to leave his own ship. That was bad enough. But when he found Alston with his hand up her skirts, running his fingers across the redhead's perfect body, he had forgotten completely about Maggie. All he had known in that moment was that he had to stop it, to protect her from him.

He thought for a moment: perhaps Brianna saw him as exactly the same as Alston. She surely hadn't looked like she was submitting to him willingly, in fact she looked to be behaving in much the same manner as she had when he touched her. The thought disgusted Bonnet. To be placed into the same category as Philip Alston was a slap in the face to say the least. But, he considered the source. With this one, force didn't seem to work. Most women just submitted when faced with the prospect of rape, but not Brianna. Her defiance was unnatural to him and he had no idea what to do with it. He was not a man easily stumped, especially not by something as simple as a woman, but this one had him doing things he never would have dreamed of. Today alone he had killed two men for her. Well, one really, as Alston was always meant to die by someone's hand. But he had left his own ship just to make sure it was done before he deflowered her. His fascination with her was both intriguing and worrying to himself and his reputation. If it got out that he was harboring a woman, and even favoring her, he would be ruined. It was just not feasible for her to be anything but an object to him. So why did this feel different? By Danu, why did ye bring me this one? Bonnet looked upward to the bright blue sky, as if the goddess herself would respond to his plea for clarity.

Lightheadedness began to cloud Bonnet's mind as he remembered his wound. He would have to sort it out later. There were more pressing matters at hand now—namely the ship's repair and tending to the wounded crew. Brianna would be but a fleeting moment in his life, one that he would laugh about in the coming years, but his crew—they were some of his most valuable assets and taking care of those that stood with him was a task he always tried to uphold. What mattered in this life could not be found in another person, he thought, calming his churning insides. Plundering and coming out victorious as they had today was his life's meaning, and no one could stand in the way of him striking fear and terror into the seafaring men of the world. He could have anything and everything he wanted without effort—women, gold, and ships. It had always been enough before to pay for his pleasures, and after Brianna was long gone it would still be enough, he reassured himself.

"Light her up," Bonnet barked as he made his way to the Gloriana's helm. With that, the crew unhinged the two ships and began the task of returning the Revenge to the sea.