Trigger warnings: Mentions rape and SA. Violent scenes.

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Adventures of Elizabeth Swann

Chapter Fourteen: The Keelhauling of Mr Eriksenn

"Captain!" Huang called through the thick door to her cabin, rapping thrice against the wood. "Tis eight bells, Captain."

Groaning, Elizabeth pushed herself upwards, kicking her legs against the knot of bedding.

"Yes," She said, her voice groggy, "thank you. One moment, please. Have the men gather on deck."

"Already underway, Captain."

"And we have left the harbour?" They, after all, could not keelhaul a man upon a docked ship.

"Aye, Captain, we should be in deep enough waters within a quarter hour."

She nodded, realising at once that he was unable to see her. "Excellent, Huang. I will be there promptly."

Listening to the scuffle of Huang's footsteps as he departed, she turned her attention to convincing her body to leave the warm confines of her bed, and to perform her duty as Captain. Her men were expecting to see Eriksenn keelhauled. She had promised them a spectacle, and - what's more - she had promised Eriksenn that she would make a spectacle of him, for his sins. To back out now, would be an act of weakness.

Yet, every fibre of her bones rebelled against the idea, her guts churning at the thought. She had no warm feelings towards Eriksenn - even prior to his attempted assault of Anne the night before, she had found him to be a cold, difficult man, but she would much prefer to simply dock up at the nearest port and expel him from her crew. But, in the brutal world of piracy, a blood price was to be given - there was rarely mercy, and never without a price.

Swinging her legs out of the bed, her stomach suddenly roiled dangerously. Throwing herself towards her chamber pot, she barely made it before the contents of her stomach erupted violently into the porcelain bowl, her body convulsing for several painful seconds even once her stomach hadn't anything more to expel, her throat burning with each dry heave. At last, the attack passed, and she sagged onto the ground, wiping her mouth roughly with the back of her hand.

Again, there was a rap at the door, followed by another barking reminder by Huang.

"In a minute!" She called out, her tone apparently sharp enough to dissuade a response, and she listened to his hasty retreat, her brow rested against the crook of her elbow, which in turn, was propped against her knee.

Within a few moments, her head steadied itself, and the nausea passed as swiftly as it had seized her. Dressing hastily, she rinsed her mouth several times with water - slightly stagnant - and paused just long enough to pour the contents of the chamber pot out of an open window, use it again to relieve herself, and repeat its disposal, before picking up her effects. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she pinched her cheeks and bit down on her lower lip to bring some colour back to her face - she had looked almost grey. Satisfied well enough, she stepped out onto the deck.

Sure enough, every member of crew was present, circling the mast, in front of which, Huang and Gibbs were standing on either side of Eriksenn, though neither had a hold of him. Anne, she noticed, was standing near the back of the crowd, their eyes catching momentarily as she passed. A dark shadow marred the flesh beneath her right eye, and there was a deep scratch on her jawline, running down the length of her neck.

Eriksenn's gaze was directed towards the deck, but as Elizabeth emerged from her cabin, he turned her gaze defiantly in her direction, squaring his shoulders. She met his dark gaze with a fire of her own, her every moment exuding a warning to all present; that she, Captain Elizabeth Swann, was not a woman to be crossed. 'Do so, at your peril'.

Regardless, her knees shook dangerously as she climbed the steps to the quarterdeck, clinging to the banister for support. Below, her eyes sought out Jack's. He was watching her, and, she saw with relief, he gave her the slightest of nods, his eyes full of understanding. Were her nerves as obvious as she felt they must be? Could they hear the pounding of her heart? Or could only Jack tell?

Reaching the quarterdeck, she spread her hands out across the rail, steadying herself as she looked down at her crew. She could feel Jack's gaze upon her. Everyone had turned their eyes to follow her, but to all but Jack, she was oblivious. Yes, he could read her like a book - he saw her nerves, her terror at what she had vowed to do, and knew full well just how desperate she was to prevent such a punishment, though in truth, she did not fear his judgement. Perhaps foolishly, but it was true.

He was the same as she, of course. They neither of them were bad people. Not really. But a life of piracy - a life, therefore, of freedom - sometimes required cruelty, in order to retain that freedom. He would have done just the same, and he would have felt as sick to his stomach for doing so as she currently did.

"Gentlemen," She said, her voice clear and strong as she flicked her eye to Anne in acknowledgement. "As some of you will have witnessed, last night, a member of our crew made a serious breach of our code of conduct." She raised an arm towards the defiant ex-navigator, "Mr Eriksenn here, did set himself upon, and attempt to violate, Miss Harris. As I made clear to Eriksenn last night, and so, allow me to clarify to anyone in any doubt - the Empress does not hold with rape. Furthermore, any breach of this ship's code of conduct will be taken with the utmost severity. And it is for this reason that you all stand before me today" She said, spreading her arms out before her.

"I have no doubt, that you would all much prefer to still be sleeping off the festivities of last night. I'm sure that many of you are right now enraged to have found yourselves dragged from your beds - or whoever's bed you may have found yourself in on waking," She added, smirking jovially.

In response, there was a bawdy roar of laughter, despite the seriousness of the matter at hand.

"But, Gentlemen, I'm afraid that you have only Eriksenn here to blame for this grievous disturbance to your morning. His crime, interrupted though it thankfully was, is nevertheless, most serious. And as Captain, it is my duty to you all, to uphold order. And thus, Mr Eriksenn, for your crime, of assaulting and attempting to rape Miss Harris - and act which I have no doubt you would have pursued to the end had you not been so prevented by Miss Harris in particular - you shall face the punishment of keelhauling."

All eyes drifted now from Elizabeth, to Eriksenn, who in turn, had gone deathly white, his gaping, horrified face moving back and forth between his victim, and his Captain.

"Last night, you were unrepentant. What say you in the cold light of day, Mr Eriksenn?" She asked, her eyes like Medusa's, burning down upon him.

For a long moment, he seemed incapable of speech. "I-" He grunted at last. "I say this, Madame. Not a soul aboard this wretched ship believes it right for us to be Captained by a woman," He said, spitting the last word as though it were poison, his eyes raking over her as he did so. "Nor to serve alongside one." At this, his cold rage turned to Anne. "And you shall both face the consequences of daring to attempt to live in a man's world, and deal with the matters of men."

Pursing her lips, Elizabeth flicked her gaze around her crew.

"By all means, if anyone else here has an objection to being Captained by a woman, there is always an exit." She indicated casually towards a door within the ship's rail, at which, the gang plank would be laid out. "You are not enslaved to the Empress, nor to myself, nor indeed to a life of piracy. You are all free to leave, at any time."

Nobody moved, eyes turned sheepishly towards the ground, or else, turned with certainty towards her.

"Very well." She said, smiling, though it did not reach her eyes. "Huang, you have a line prepared?"

At this, Huang stepped towards, turning Eriksenn sharp by the elbow until his back was to Elizabeth, to reveal that a line of rope had been secured around his waist. "Aye, Captain."

"Good." Her gaze sought out Jack once more, finding him easily, mustering her strength. At last, she gave a small, curt nod to Huang.

Huang beckoned for two crew members to step towards, while Gibbs in turn stepped back. A complex pulley system had been rigged, at the end of which, Eriksenn was attached. The three men took hold of the other end of the rope, which hung down above them, and began to heave. Slowly, Eriksenn was pulled upwards, off his feet, until he was suspended several feet above the deck.

"Eriksenn," Elizabeth said, having to look up at him. "I pr— hope, for your sake, that you do not survive." The word 'pray' had died on Elizabeth's lips. What right had she, of all people, to mention prayer? These were Godless waters, and here, there be monsters.

As for he, his entire body shook at fear of his punishment, but he remained stoic, his eyes fixed upon her, unblinking. She met his gaze, setting her jaw.

Gibbs, taking hold of a lever, began to pull it hard towards him, and Eriksenn began to move in a horizontal crescent, so that his hanging figure moved through the air, across the deck, until his feet dangled over open waters.

All eyes were once more on her, waiting for her signal.

Gripping the railing tight, she gave another curt nod.

At once, Huang and the men released their grip on the rope. Eriksenn fell with a howl of anguish and a collective gasp from the crew. Elizabeth's stomach dropped like a stone.

There was a splash, and a surge of people moving forwards to see. Only a few remained in place - Anne, frozen where she stood, her knuckles white as she gripped the rail; Jack, whose steady, supportive gaze remained fixed upon Elizabeth, as steadying as if he had taken a hold of her arm; and the four men who were acting as her torturers, and quite possibly, executioners: Huang, Gibbs, and the two others, Smith and Ricardo. All four of them had moved to pull on another line, which was wrapped around the hull of the ship. Every painful heave of the rope dragged the body beneath the ship slowly, painfully across the hull. Across thousands of barnacles, each of which would be slicing into the flesh with each movement. Simultaneously, Eriksenn was drowning, desperate to reach the other side of the ship, and be dragged above water just long enough to gasp air, before the process would begin again, and he would be dragged back across the sharpened shells of the barnacles.

As she witnessed each excruciating pull of the rope, her fingernails bit only tighter into the rail, marring the wood with crescents. Yet she would not avert her gaze; the men depended on her to be a beacon, an inspiration. She would stand her ground, damn it, and bear witness, even as her knees threatened to give out from under her, and her stomach churned in protest, bile rising to the back of the throat. As for how much time passed, she couldn't be sure. Her men would continue with the torturous pull of the rope until she raised her hand, and surely, though it already seemed as though hours had passed, it could only have been a matter of minutes.

Elizabeth's gaze flicked to the crowd; many of her men were baying like hounds for the blood of a fox, leaning far over the rail to catch a first glimpse of the man. While others stood back, towards the back of the crowd, reluctant to make too obvious their discomfort. They stared at nothing, refusing to look, fixing instead on the horizon, or the back of a crew mate's head, feigning interest.

Each time Eriksenn emerged from the depths, the four men on the rope would look her way, for permission to continue - or to stop? And she counted diligently. One haul, two hauls, three hauls. How many was deserving? How many was typical? How many would turn her crew against her, and convince them that she had taken matters too far.

The worst part, undoubtedly, was the screams. Each time the former navigator was pulled, even momentarily, from the sea, his strangled screams would erupt across the deck like a crazed animal. Deep, guttural sounds torn from flesh. Such sounds as she had never heard escape from a man's lips before. Truly, the sound of a man enduring hell itself. By the fourth time Eriksenn was pulled from the sea's crashing waves, his screams had begun to subside. By the fifth, he made little more than a whimper, barely audible, had the sound not been carried by the wind, as though Boreas himself was pleading with Elizabeth.

As the man was dragged for a sixth time across the ship's hull, Elizabeth raised a hand, unable to withstand anymore herself. And, just like that, all present released a single breath of relief. Returning her shaking hand with care to its place upon the hand rail, she hardly dared meet anyone's eye - least of all Jack's, though she had felt his upon her for every excruciating moment.

"Heave him up," Huang instructed, hauling at the rope alongside Gibbs, Smith and Ricardo. "Heave, heave, heave."

With a wet splat, and a gush of bloodied seawater, the mangled body of Eriksenn was deposited unceremoniously upon the deck. The crew moved forwards to take a better look.

"Step aside." Elizabeth called from the quarterdeck, turning to make her way down the steps, onto the lower deck. "Move aside now."

Her man parted to allow her to pass, all eyes flitting back and forth between herself, and Eriksenn.

Standing over him, Elizabeth paled.

"Is he dead?"

Crouching down, Huang pressed two fingers against Eriksenn's neck, in search for a pulse.

"No - like this, see." Elizabeth demonstrated, pressing two fingers to her own neck. Jack was standing towards the front of the crowd, to her left, and she was suddenly painfully aware of his presence, as the memory of when they had found him, a hairs breath from death, at sea in a bedraggled dinghy, returned to her.

Huang followed her instruction. At last, he turned his cold eyes towards her, "He is alive, Captain."

Elizabeth nodded.

Barely.

"Carry him below and tend to him," She said. "Razif." A tall, willowy man stepped forwards, nodding his head formally towards Elizabeth. "If you'll please grace us with your healing skills?"

"Aye, Captain." Razif said, shifting from one foot to the other.

"I ask that you tend to Mr. Eriksenn for no more than a week. Should he survive, we will leave him at the nearest port, or in the care of a doctor, depending on his condition. Otherwise… my husband will escort him beyond."

A muffled murmur drifted through the crowd at the indirect mention of the Dutchman.

"And now," She said, standing erect, raising her chin sharply. "Let this be a warning to you all, as to how seriously I take my duties as King, and Captain, and the articles by which we live, aboard this ship. Now, back to your stations, the lot of you."

With that, the crew dispersed, and Elizabeth retreated quickly to her cabin, hardly making it to her chamber pot before her stomach betrayed her once more.