Chapter 11

It was late in the day and the sun was beginning to turn the sky a magnificent orange color.

Captain Jonas had come out from his cabin a little over an hour ago, dressed plainly. He sat at the bow, watching the sun set with Cordelia next to him. She was talking to him, and he would respond occasionally, but he didn't take his eyes off the sky. He looked deep in thought as the sun slowly set.

Celandine was lost in thought as well, watching how the sea breeze pushed his hair past his face. She was perched on the ropes, giving her a good view of him. The ten girls had become quite comfortable balancing on the net. Everyone with a dress on had tied it up between their legs, creating makeshift baggy pants that came above the knee. Several women felt uncomfortable about showing that much of their legs, but after attempting to climb and just getting stuck in the fabric.

"Viola," a voice called. Celandine didn't turn around, still watching the captain.

"Viola," it called again. There was a tap on her shoulder. Celandine turned around to see Joyce looking at her. "What's with you?" Joyce asked.

"What do you mean?" Celandine asked.

Joyce looked incredulously at Celandine. "You don't ever respond to me when I call your name. What's with that?"

Celandine felt her ears get hot, and she looked away bashfully. "I just get lost in my head sometimes."

"Even back on the boat your chaperone would call you the wrong thing. I think you're hiding something from me." Joyce wiped the sweat off her brow, while her other hand gripped the rope above her.

Celandine weighed her options and realized that her family would probably assume she died at sea, if they cared at all. There was no point in going by an alias any longer. "Viola's not my real name," she said and let out a deep sigh of relief.

Joyce scoffed, but her lip turned up into a smile anyway. "I know." Celandine's face must've revealed her surprise, because Joyce let out a carefree laugh. "I've been waiting for you to tell me on your own for a month now. You're not exactly the best at lying, and Eliza wasn't exactly the best at playing along, Cela." Joyce raised her eyebrows and smirked when she called Celandine out.

With a wide grin, Celandine nodded, remembering all the times that Eliza would call her by her nickname. "I guess you're right." There was a pang of sadness in Celandine, as she tried to think about what Eliza was going through right now. Eliza had no money- a refugee of a pirate attack. Celandine felt guilty for bringing Eliza all this way just to be separated in the final days of their trip.

"Well anyway, Cela," Joyce said, testing her name out, "You've got to help me. I'm going to try walking across the mast. I'll be holding onto the rope in case I fall, so you have to counterweight the other side."

Celandine nodded, and the two of them climbed up to the lowest mast. Joyce gripped the end of a rope while Celandine held the other side. The rope came down from above, connected to a pulley that would hopefully catch most of her weight if she fell. Joyce was most worried about holding on tight enough if she did slip. She didn't trust her grip and had just started to trust her balance.

Celandine held the rope tight, intertwining her legs into the Jacob's ladder so she wouldn't be pulled off of it, should Joyce slip. Joyce walked across, holding her arms out to the sides.

Her grin once she reached the other side was blinding. Pride in her ability was evident in how she stood up straighter and waved Celandine over. Joyce lowered herself onto the opposite Jacob's ladder, hooking her legs in like Celandine had done.

Motion for motion, she followed Joyce. Her confidence grew with each step and so did her smile.

"This isn't too bad, either!" she called. That confidence was lost in a moment, though. The ship was hit with a gust of wind. In trying stay upright, Celandine took a step back and slipped. Her torso hit the mast with a thud, and she used her nails to try and grip the wood. "Joyce!" Celandine shrieked. The pain of having splinters of wood forced into her nail bed forced her grip loose. Her arm was forced upward as Joyce tried to pull her back up, but it just offset her grip again. There was a feeling of weightlessness and Celandine's breath left her chest. Pain shot through her arm. Her eyes looked up to see her wrist tangled in her safety rope. She was left hanging, swinging wildly. Her fingers tightened their grip and she tried to ignore the agony in her shoulder.

"Cela! Help!" Joyce's voice traveled to her but all she could focus on was her slipping grip. With her other hand, she held onto the rope by her body, and she wrapped her legs around it in an attempt to pull herself back up but her legs just flailed around the loose rope wildly.

She felt like she was falling, but as she looked around, she saw that it was controlled. In just a few seconds, she was on the deck. There was the sound of running steps all converging on her as she laid there, trying not to cry from the pain.

"What happened?!" Cordelia's strong voice broke through the chaos. Celandine was worried that Joyce was going to get in trouble, until she saw through blurry tears that Cordelia was shouting at their instructor, Georgie.

He spat out a couple of broken excuses, before Cordelia dismissed him, furious. There was a touch at Celandine's shoulder, and she flinched away.

"It's okay, let me take a look." Jonas was kneeling at her side, gingerly lifting her shoulder. He lifted his eyes from her arm to look at her face. "You're not going to like this, love." he said. He leaned close to her, his face only inches from her own. She could smell the spices coming off of his skin mixing with sweat. She was caught staring at his neck, which was hovering over her. One hand wrapped under her hurt arm and the other went over her, supporting her torso from under her.

Then suddenly blinding pain, and she screamed out. He sat back up, leaving her to grip her shoulder. "What was that all about?!" she scolded him.

"Your arm had come out of its socket. I had to push it back in, love." Celandine narrowed her eyes at him, but silently thanked him. The pain was already starting to disappear.

"Cela!" Joyce ran up to her, apparently just now being able to come down from the Jacob's ladder. "I'm so sorry! I tried to catch you, I-" Joyce was caught off by Cordelia stepping forward and holding her hand up.

"Joyce, you did everything right that you knew to do. Good job." Joyce's gaze flew back and forth from Cordelia, to Jonas, and back to Celandine.

"Thanks." Her voice was small and her eyes gave away her shock.

Jonas helped Celandine up from the floor. "That's probably enough for today anyway," he said. His hand was so warm on her back as he led her back to the group of women. "Ladies, dinner will be served at sundown. You're free to wait for it in the mess hall or in the sitting room below deck."

Joyce immediately hooked arms with Cela, on her good side, pulling her away from Jonas.

Joyce led part of the ropes class back down below deck to the Yellow Room. She noticed the same two women who were missing earlier still opted out of following the girls. She especially noticed how Robin was hanging off the same mast Celandine had fallen off of, gathering the rope in her arms.

In the room, they saw a group of six girls, covered in black ash.

"What in the-" Stella started to say when she saw the mess.

"Don't!" Zephora held a black stained finger up, her face contorted in annoyance. "I've not had a good day."

Charlie sat next to Lara, the two significantly more dirty than the others. "I rather enjoyed myself," Charlie said, flashing a toothy grin.

There was some commotion as the two groups of girls collided, telling their favorite and least favorite parts of the day. Stories began swapping at light speed, as sounds of joy and frustration could be heard from down to the opposite end of the hallway, where Zylphia and Olimpia approached. They entered the bright yellow room, alive with candlelight and excitement.

Olimpia bit her lip as most eyes in the room turned to her and Zylphia. Olimpia waited for Zylphia to speak, but she was more introverted than Olimpia was. "Dinner is ready in the mess hall," she said, barely above a whisper. Her urge to hide in the background was shattered as a crowd of hungry women pushed forward to the door. Olimpia and Zylphia led the group to the food they'd made with the ship's cooks, trying not to get run over by a stampede in the process.

They walked into the long plain room, and were presented with platters of food. Excited chatter filled the room as each girl found a seat. Olimpia and Zylphia did the same, appreciating their work.

They kept it to themselves that the reason there was so much food was because if they didn't use it all, most of it was going to go bad. Those were the consequences of cooking on a pirate ship that rarely made port. The meals to come weren't going to have nearly as much flavor, but there was no sense in telling that to them. Best to let everyone enjoy their feast.

Zylphia smiled to herself, absentmindedly popping the knuckles in her crooked hand. She was proud of herself and Olimpia for cooking for everybody. She could tell this was a welcome feast after a long day of hard work.

Several pirates entered the mess hall as well with Florence and Robin on their heels. There was plenty of room, and more than enough food to feed everybody. The two girls had learned how to portion ingredients to feed the numerous crew members, all of which were hungry men. It surprised Zylphia to see the Captain and Cordelia enter and sit at the end of the table. Cordelia immediately struck up a conversation with a member of the crew, while Jonas looked around at the gathering. His eyes landed on Zylphia, who was staring. Her head snapped down and she focused on the number of birds sewn into the fabric of her dress. She took a risk by glancing back up at him, but saw that his gaze had moved on, probably onto one of the few women covered in soot.

Mid-way through the meal Jonas stood with a chalice of wine in his hand. The cacophony of sound fell silent. "Join me," he started, "in thanking these two ladies who helped prepare this decadent feast." There were grunts and shouts of approval from the pirates, followed by silence once again. "I'd like to officially welcome everybody, albeit slightly later than I intended, to what I've creatively dubbed The Selection!" More sounds of approval came from the pirates, but the women of the table glanced around in confusion. "As pirates there's nothing we love more than a bit of friendly competition, eh mates?" Jonas was riling up his men more than his guests, it seemed. "So it's a competition of just that, becoming pirates! I hope to find my successor among you lovely group of ladies. Whomever is the strongest, most valiant, and most clever of you all will inherit my riches. Well, most of my riches. I'll be taking a small finder's fee." There was a low rumble of chuckles among the crew as Jonas laughed at his own quip. "Regardless ladies, I welcome you most humbly. I pray that you all find what you are looking for, whatever it may be, during our time together. Hear, hear."

"Hear, hear!" The men toasted and most of them downed the rest of their wine.

Jonas offered the chance to speak to Cordelia, as he sat with a flourish of his hand. "Ladies, it has come to my attention that several cases of luggage that we pillaged from your ship were placed in my personal collection. When you've finished your meal I'd like it if you all followed me, as I think you'll like what I have to offer you." There were no shouts of agreement or grand toasts as she sat back down and finished her food.

It wasn't long before the wine had settled in everyone's bellies, and loosened the conversations. Everyone seemed more at ease with everything than earlier in the day.

Zylphia wondered what purpose she could possibly hold aboard the ship, though. She was never one for leadership and doubted that she would want to ever take on the role of captain that Jonas offered. Not only that, but why even offer that position up to eighteen unknown women, instead of offering it to one of his crew members, or better yet offer it to Cordelia?

Zylphia kept these thoughts in the back of her mind. She was sure that he was still holding back from the rest of them, keeping a secret to himself.

She found herself staring, and he met her eyes once again. They were enchanting and the golden hazel color practically glowed in the candlelight, filled to the brim with unfiltered knowing. Zylphia felt uneasy, like she'd just been caught taking an extra helping of dessert. Her conversation with Olimpia quickly danced through her mind, and she wondered if her instinct was correct; that he truly did sense her suspicions.

She didn't have time to contemplate it further though because Cordelia stood and invited all the women to follow.

Zylphia wasn't sure how many levels there were on the ship, but they must've gone pretty far down. The smell of tar and mildew was stronger down here as they were undoubtedly close to the surface of the ocean. Cordelia led them to a room filled with rare artifacts, priceless jewels, and exotic items all strewn around like they were nearly worthless. Various empty trunks were piled up in one corner, lying open like they'd been picked through already.

"I have several armoires down to the left. Feel free to come down here whenever you all would like. Anything here is yours to use," said Cordelia. A handful of women ventured over and opened the doors, revealing the numerous gowns and elaborate coats. "Tomorrow is another day of working, so pick what you wear appropriately." She seemed to eye some of the more bejeweled ladies in particular, before her eyes fell on the hems of everyone's dresses. There was a small gasp as Victoria held up a beautiful purple gown. "This- this is mine!"

Cordelia seemed unaffected by the underlying accusation. "Yes. I do believe that most of your belongings have found a temporary home among my possessions. As I said, anything here is yours to use." Cordelia was unabashedly still, waiting for someone to challenge her. What were they going to do? Steal them back from the pirates who housed them?

With that, Cordelia went back up the stairs. She slipped away nearly unnoticed. Most of the women went to great lengths to locate their stolen belongings, but several others found new treasures to hold onto.

"What's that you've got there?" Cordayne asked Brett.

In Brett's hands was a ruby pendant the size of grape, big and bold, just how she liked. "Just my newest bauble," she held it up to her neck to let Cordayne judge it.

Next to them, Joyce had dug out a violin. "Oh my Lord." She held it gingerly between her fingers, her mouth agape. "Do you know what this is?" Joyce asked to no one in particular.

"A violin?" Brett responded, unsure of what Joyce was so excited about.

"Not just any violin," Joyce said, "This is a Stradivarius." She stepped away from the duo before they could ask what exactly that was, and began to tune it. She approached Victoria, who was dusting off a Forte-piano. She played with the keys, surprised to find it in working condition despite the girls tuned their instruments and dabbled a bit while the rest continued their search.

One by one, the women were satisfied with their haul, taking care to find working clothes for the next morning as well. Eventually Joyce took her violin up to her cabin, feeling the pull of sleep. All that was left was Victoria, who had settled in nicely. Various melodies erupted from the keys, light and airy, as she experimented with the instrument. All she had to go on was her baby grand back in London, but there was little chance that she'd ever see that again.

At some point, time caught up with her. Victoria realized she'd probably been down here for an hour longer than the rest. She shut the lid and turned to the stairs behind her, blinking her eyes a few times to make sure she didn't trip and break something worth far more than she could imagine.

"It's from Vienna."

Victoria gasped and jumped back.

Jonas stood in the door frame, leaning his head on the post. "You're quite talented. I could have that moved to a more accessible room if you'd like. Nobody can hear you play down here, love."

Victoria was very aware of that, and also very aware of the fact that nobody would be able to hear her if she were to be ambushed by a pirate. Especially when that pirate was their captain.

"Thank you," Victoria said with a shaky voice. "I'd rather like that." There was silence as Jonas narrowed his eyes, like he was studying a map instead of a woman. Victoria wasn't having it, though. She pushed her fear down, like she'd done so many times before. "Good night, Captain," she said and slid past him to run up the stairs. He didn't follow her.

For a moment, she was worried that he was actually there in good nature, to compliment her musical ability. That fear of insulting a well-meaning man chipped away at her resolve, but she shook it away. She wasn't going to risk her safety to flatter the ego of men ever again. Her hand flew to her locket, holding it tight until she had made it to her cabin.

I thought I'd update one more time before Christmas, so consider this an early present. Let me know what you all think of it! I love reading everyone's reviews! There was quite a bit in this chapter, and it ran longer than my normal ones do, so I hope it was alright.

Until my next update I hope everybody has a very Merry Christmas!