I have the rest of the story planned out, I believe it will go to Thirty Two Chapters.

Enjoy, please let me know what you think.

Listen to Warning Sign by Coldplay for this chapter.

-G

On her return to the Jackdaw, her coin purse a little lighter with a new dress for her & new breeches & shirt for Drew, Liete practically glowed as she walked through the Kingston Streets.

The bath 'house' they found was little more than a boarding house, with a few tubs large enough for a sponge bath in some of their rooms. In the end it was heaven either way, and she'd paid up front for two rooms to use the bath. They inn keeper had been a fumbling mess, partly due to the direct tone & piercing eyes of Liete but his wife soon took over, a seemingly practical woman who roused two boys and ushered them on to boil water before showing them to their separate rooms.

Drew had hesitated at first to leave her side, but after seeing the rooms were right next to each other, and he could hear her if she called, he relented and followed the woman to his own room.

Liete had simply stood in the window as the boys & the woman came and went with buckets of water to fill the tub. She watched the bustle below as their voices carried back and forth.

She'd listened to Kenway's plan, and she'd immediately laughed. It was all held up on this plan of the dishonorable man keeping his word. Whether out of fear or whatever it was, that was a thin string to hand such high hopes. She'd not try to reason with him, it was not her duty to council men when they decided to do stupid things. Ade had not felt the same, and had voiced his concerns straight, even mentioning that his crew had begun to grumble at the lack of plundering & this mission that may well cost them the very gold they'd just taken the fort for.

Edward had of course listened with a deaf ear, positive it was simply that the men were too simple to understand what a grand prize this Observatory was.

Ade had looked to her then through candlelight in the wee hours, and she'd stilled at it.

It unnerved her to be held responsible as some tool to control Edward. As if her madness was seen as some way to bewitch him to other man's whims. Kenway wasn't hers to own & collar like a dog. She'd chosen to accompany the man because her madness scared & excited him. Because his own ruthlessness & yet kind heart had spoken above everything to her broken psyche. It would never be in her to cage another's actions…

Yes, his plans seemed daft… his ambition that of greed… but would it make her a hypocrite to chide someone for their pursuit when her own was just as selfish? She could have the world if she left to England, marry the weakest sot she could find, and take hold of the very industry built by men that caged her. Was it not selfish then for her to simply remain here & basking in freedom, technically bought by the man she was being looked to sway?

In the end, it had left her irritated, and her mind had reared with it, as she stood from the table within the Captain's Quarters abruptly making both men flinch. Good, her mind had whispered.

"It is a fool's errand, built off a man you know to be a brand of evil that you as cutthroats & pillagers won't even contend with. No amount of money can buy what you seek."

Her words had been final as she'd left the room to wander to the bow of the ship, a place she found her most comfort.

Now, she watched closely to the rooftops on the off chance she may see her Death, carrying out his plan. He'd been cross with her, but as she'd returned in the wee hours to his bed, he'd still pulled her close and held her to his chest to rest. A man not so offended by a woman's speech was a rare thing to find in this day and age, rather than hurt by her sentiment.

Although she foretold the plan going to pieces. It did not mean she wanted to see him hurt in the process. Her one solace in it was that he'd be following from rooftops and such, hidden as he listened, being lead to the sage.

Maybe this was the thought to counsel, her mind suddenly blossomed as she watched the sun begin to descend from its high post in the middle of the sky. Maybe it is not hypocritical to express your doubt if it leads to the safety of another…

It had been a thought she'd save for another day, as behind her the last bucket of cool water had been placed to simmer the boiling and the mother of the two boys had bustled them out of the room.

It was clear the woman meant to assist in the bath, hardened by constant work & duty.

Liete did not protest, as it had been many months since she'd been taken care of, and it was not a hard task and most likely took the woman away from having deal with something rougher.

Liete had been aware that most saw bathing as a sin, but that had been when she'd been among the aristocrats of the world, she'd found among the west indies, it was not so.

They'd refined the lye they used for clothes, added scents like honey and delicate flowers. It was beautiful in its simplicity.

Before she'd moved into the bath water, and she'd been completely unclothed, Liete handed over a hundred reales to the woman whose eyes had gone wide, and asked her to send for a new dress & clothes for her man.

"Yes, miss, 'ight away." She'd nearly run for the door, whispering to someone outside as she held the door near to her chest as to not allow anyone to see in.

Once her bath had been done, her hair rinsed and washed, a knock had sounded on the door and the woman left to return with a beautiful dress of near emerald green even in its simple cotton.

Leaving the inn shiny & new had done much for Liete's spirits even as the question of Kenway hung over her head.

No, her Death wouldn't leave her now. He was far too clever for that.

With a promise from the woman, Sarah, to hold the rooms for the night since they had technically paid for such, they'd made their way back to the shore to find once more the docked Jackdaw.

The closer they drew to the Jackdaw, Liete could feel a heaviness fill the cavity within her chest.

Attempting to give no heed to the feeling, one she dared not give a name, as they turned onto the dock where the Jackdaw was moored, she found Ade sitting idly on a stack of rum crates piled on the dock space, as other sailors brought more from within the bowels of the ship.

He pinned her with an exasperated look even before she was close enough to see the whites of his eyes.

He puffed at a tobacco pipe gingerly, and once she drew up short in front of the man, he all but forgot about it as he let it burn in his palm.

Ade motioned for Drew to assist the other men, and with a nod between them, Drew lumbered on to do his duty as a sailor on the Jackdaw when given a directive by his quarter master.

Once Drew had delved below with the rest of the crew, Ade looked to Liete with exasperation.

"How am I ta look after you, as tasked by my captain, if you are runnin' off ta' anywhere every chance you get?"

Liete pinned him with her own look of annoyance, as she smoothed the bodice of her dress as she sized him up with a calm.

"If he was concerned of my well being, he can come watch over my himself. You are a grown man, do as you please."

"You head is full of somethin' else. You know as well as I, he'd go right off his tops should ya' disappear on 'im. Again." The stab with his final word was intentional, and bought him a quirk of her eyebrow with the boldness of it.

Ade was no ones errand boy, and it gave her a pause as she took him in. He didn't like her. No, that wasn't quite true. He didn't trust her.

As he shouldn't. Most pirates were suspicious, & her presence and demeanor asked a lot of such men. The culture framed her a witch, and her actions had not quelled the thought either.

"What of Julle, I asked this of Edward but he could not rightly recall."

Ade's eyes widened just slightly as he shifted in his seat, gripping his pipe with the mention of the servant woman.

"She runs the manor on Great Inagua. When you left, she was given the option to be taken any where she may wish to go. She asked to remain, to see the manor in its own form of dilapidation seen to right. Edward approved, but I set her with the masons of the island, to aid as she see's fit."

"She must be flourishing."

"She is. I know not why she chose ta become steward, with no ties ta Kenway but whenever we make port there, she asks of you. I have a thought dat she does out of waiting."

Liete listened to Ade, her face still as she thought of her wayward caretaker she'd unceremoniously left behind. She'd seen it as a type of kindness, releasing the woman from dealing with her madness. Drew had seemed a better choice, she couldn't protect Julle, but Drew could do more than that for the both of them.

Ade watched Liete wary of the witch. Edward could read her like a book from what he could see from their interactions but everyone else, including him, saw nary a look but madness most moments. Her constant swirling eyes, when she looked at you, you felt as if you were looking into the eyes of judgment day.

If you tell a lie, you might just burn before them.

The pure disinterest in anyone she looked at, was alarming. It was like being looked at like god may have looked at humans. So far off & removed, with little to no use for them living.

Except Kenway.

If ever Ade found a women in this lifetime, he hoped she looked at him with the fevor Liete did for the captain. It was like seeing a sunrise for the first time, how she looked at him. Anyone who doubted she belonged to him & only him would have to been deaf, dumb & blind. Ade could feel it even know. There was almost a tangible line between them, that once they both were in the same vicinity it was like waves rushing to the shore. The pull as each crashed.

But for all of Liete's darkness, he'd seen her gentle hand come for the dawg that followed.

For Edward too, a goodness lay within him.

But a greed had taken deep root, something Ade saw more and more as they sailed on. The sheer desperation for something grander, almost a duppy the way it haunted him. He wasn't sure if even Liete realized how selfish the captain was in truth. His blind ambition towards this fairytale goal…

Edward was right in someways about the simplicity of the everyday pirate and how they couldn't fathom such an object, but all Ade saw was danger.

Pirates wanted a simple life, one of freedom bought with blood and sweat. They had no want for royalty or grand intentions.

"We've turned to serious matters. You're easier to read than I'd expect with that gruff expression nearly plastered onto your face all the time." Her words were light but they held an expectant tone.

She didn't push further, and merely waited for the man to speak his mind, as he looked past her now sorting his thoughts. The men had made another drop to the dock before heading in once more before he began to speak.

"We move into uncertain times. I'm not your papa or mama… and I know betta' than most just how well you can handle yourself… but Kenway…"

Again the man stopped speaking as he hardened his jaw.

How was he too speak ill of the captain to his own woman? Would it find him cast off of this here country of Jackdaw? But how could he not, in good conscience? Edward had told him a little of her, how he found her.

Ade had asked him then, if he believed that the man she killed had abused her. Edward hadn't answered but his drawn features and the tick that formed in his jaw had told him all he needed to know. It had softened him to her just ever slightly.

She'd turned hard out of necessity as many men around him, but because she was a woman it was far more daunting to them as men who barely knew how to understand themselves.

So in it, it found him spewing away now, because no women deserved to be second to a fruitless dream, & for all his wariness of her, he nary wanted to see a woman hurt.

"I won't dance around your lineage, as I think it may hold a candle to what I mean ta say. You're from a world we pirates can only dream of. It is one where weeks old food isn't the food of the day, and men bow when you walk into rooms." He looked to where the men were bringing out another load of rum and a few crates of sugar as they moved on to the other sellable items to bring up.

He nodded his head towards them, meeting Liete's eyes head on no matter the chill they forced down his back.

"You may think you've made a choice already but I think you still have it in front of you. When it comes to it, you'll need ta make the choice between which life you choose ta lead now that you have tha freedom you craved-"

Again he referenced the crew as they withdrew, and threw his hand out towards Kingston as well, Liete realizing in reference to Kenway somewhere off.

"One of dirty bodies, a man consumed with your own royalty & treasure. Or as a noblewoman, off in some court where no one nary look at you half mast again, with enough riches to never want for anything. That choice is still yours."

Liete was genuinely surprised.

The counsel from the quarter master was some that hadn't been asked for & was not expected in the slightest. It gave her pause to think more men than just Kenway, Drew & Thatch held some semblance of decency. He spoke with no gain for himself, in fact, Liete was sure if she uttered what had been said to Edward he'd not be happy with Adewale at all & may reprimand the man.

"Do you think I was right to leave on my own to Nassau in the first place Ade?"

The question was direct, Ade should have expected as much.

He mulled it over as he held the pipe, the tobacco now burned out within, just as from the distance in the busy streets, he spotted Kenway's mop of golden hair as dust & a little blood marred his black assassins-like tunic she'd made for him.

"I'm but a pirate but I know freedom is king to us all here. I'd not begrudge another for doing whateva they thought brought them closa to it. Be careful you don't let the black flag blind you to the horizon further on."

As he spoke his words grew quieter & quieter until she nearly had to lean forward to hear his final thoughts. As he finished, his eyes that had never faltered from her own intense gaze, peeled off behind her to latch onto something else.

Liete felt a shift in the air, and before a hand slid to the small of her back, she took a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Turning her head slightly to look back, she found Kenway alone & disheveled with blood splattered across his chest & a bit in his hair.

"I'm going to assume it went off how I expected?"

Kenway pinned her with a tired look before growing, clearly annoyed & angry, to Adewale.

"Make haste to sell the loot. I have to meet with Kidd once more before we make sail. I intend to bring back the Sage this time. In the mean time, we leave on the morrow to Nassau."

His anger did nothing for Liete, as she had a sense it would still not go to Kenway's way, she simply met eyes with Ade once more, his words feeling more and more of a foreboding.

Duppy - Spirit/Ghost