Southern Caribbeans, 17 Years Later...
"Another marriage, gone! And he was a nice boy, too. Oh Alexandra, couldn't you at least pretend to love him?" Ms. Cuss, the old wife of Governor Horris Cuss, was waving a fan about frantically. It was summer time in the Carribean, the hottest point of the entire year. Women pinned their hair up in top buns, some tucking their locks underneath a tight bonnet. Alexandra did neither. She allowed her black locks to roam freely down to the small of her back. And while at this point she would've loved to laugh allowed at the sight of the old flying Spanish fan of her adoptive aunt, she held her composure.
"I'm...deeply sorry Ms.Cuss. Maybe next time a man shall find me suitable for a...proper marriage." The old woman sank into her wicker chair by the open balcony.
"Not this year, my dear. All the boys have found their women, and weddings are being planned. Even Margaret has found a suitor." Alexandra held her chin high, her dark Bohemian skin playing along with her proud black eyes.
"I am not Margaret." Margaret was the Cuss's only daughter, and she herself had already went through 5 husbands at age 23. She married all the older gentlemen, piling up the wealth with the burials. Ms. Cuss sighed.
"That you are, my dear. I fear we will never make an honest woman out of you. Tell me Alex, what do you look for in a suitor?" This caught the young woman off guard. What did she expect from a man?
"Well...I suppose good humor."
"That was the Bradley boy..."
"Courage, and strength."
"Mr. Upwell..."
"Enough money to satisfy a small family."
"George Burkus had enough a financial status of a small country."
"...and a ship." Ms. Cuss started to speak, but was shocked into silence. Alexandra smiled as she stopped listing off her former applicants.
"Alexandra Crowe, you speak of a pirate!"
"I never said such things! You only assumed..." The girl smiled a mischievous grin, that of which was said to belong to her father, whoever that be...
"This...this is all your mother's fault! She mixed herself up with such nonsense. Had you out of wedlock, only to find herself alone and abandoned by her so called lover!" This unnerved Alexandra a bit. She turned to Ms. Cuss, her glare murder worthy.
"My mother told me a different story, Ms. Cuss. And before you start to rant and rave of how you and your husband took me in at her untimely death may I remind you it was your poor trained soldiers that killed her in the first place! Never...NEVER mention my father as a swindler or rouge again. I might be forced to tell the town how exactly Margaret's husbands die so quickly after a honeymoon, no?" Ms. Cuss paled slightly. She knew the temper Alexandra held, and also noted that what the girl promised was no lie. Rising from her seat, the woman headed for the door. Once outside, she headed for her husband's office. The girl needed limits. Knocking slightly on the oak door, her husband allowed her to enter.
"Horris, we must send her away!" He lowered his spectacles, as if trying to see her more clearly.
"Agatha, my love, she is only a child. She has not been raised the way Margaret was. She knows nothing of respect."
"Well, I can't teach her. She has threatened me with cold promises once too many." Horris lowered himself into a chair. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he spoke.
"What do you suggest we do with her, then? The orphanage?"
"Good Lord no! She is already 17, no shelter would dare take her...do you still have connections with the Turners?" Horris looked up in alarm.
"Turners? From Port Royal?"
"Yes dear, surely they would be able to teach her something. They are only a few years apart, married, wealthy. Maybe if Alexandra saw something such as their happiness she would accept her role in life." Mr. Cuss nodded in reluctant agreement. He picked up parchment and pen and proceeded to write a request.
"Agatha, you know I am quite fond of the child..."
"It's for her own good..."
"And you know William's father as well as himself are notable pirates?" Ms. Cuss's face paused in thought.
"We must try, Horris. This could be our last chance in raising her right." The old man nodded, finished his note, and sent it along to the town of Port Royal.