Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: I am so proud of the response this story has received and I thank you all for the kind reviews and personal messages.

Note: Captain Flint's instructions on sword fighting from Black Sails were too good not to include here. LOL.

Note: I realize that there is a young adult book series detailing Jack Sparrow's early years, but I have not read them, so I do not intend to use them. Sorry.

Note: Tia Dalma is definitely going to show back up sooner than you might think.

Chapter Three - Welcome To Nassau

"Alright, your reaction time is great, and you clearly know how to dodge." Barbossa noted, as he faced off against his captain and allowed his rapier to start twitching through the air. They were training him in the use of his khopesh blades up by the forward bow, and all the crew members that were not busy following Adewale's directives for sailing the ship had gathered to watch.

"Now," continued the older man, noticing where his captain was looking, "you're watching my eyes, which is a great way to get yourself killed." He raised the basket hilt of his weapon to show how his hand moved it to and fro, "Your opponent's wrist be from whence the attack is born. It is the past tense, from whence it can not separate itself. The end of the blade, where the attack arrives, is its present tense, and this too cannot be denied. Watch both the wrist and the tip of the blade or your dead."

Harry thought about that for a moment before getting into his ready stance, Body sideways to his opponent, One sword extended between them, and the other held back with the tip to the ground, ready for rapid movement. "How am I supposed to watch two spaces in time while also keeping track of other foes, the terrain, and my own weapons?" Though he was picking the skill up quickly by his first mate's estimation, the weight of two swords in his hands was taking some getting used to.

"Practice." Hector smirked, "Now en garde!" He jabbed with his own weapon and smiled as his captain nimbly leapt to the side of the attack before launching one of his own with a slash to his hand that he quickly parried before having to dance out of the way of the second weapon's path. Back and forth they went, and as the younger man began to get comfortable with the rhythm, Barbossa began to pick up the speed of the thrusts, swipes, and parries, forcing his young captain to think on his feet, react in an instant, and start swinging his own weapons at greater speed as he got a feel for them. Training by doing was the only way Barbossa knew, and by thunder it worked!

By the end of the session Harry was a panting and sweaty mess, covered in cuts and small stabs to non-vital areas, but he was smiling as if he'd just entered his cabin and found a mountain of treasure waiting for him. "That. was. awesome." He got out before collapsing against the front mast. The crew cheered at the sight and Madi ran at once to her savior's side with Dobby popping into existence next to her with a box of medical equipment. Her worry was clear to see as she fretted over the captain but her hands were sure as the bandages were laid out and the wounds cleaned.

Between her expertise, and the elf's magic, he was patched up in no time and feeling no pain at all as he slid his swords back into the wide sash he'd wrapped around his waist for the purpose. "Thank you, both. I'll be at the helm."

As the Brit moved off, Barbossa took note of the slight swagger developing in his stride that meant he was finally gaining his sea legs. He was about to head on over to inspect the progress of the rigging crews when Adewale and several other freed slaves made their way over to him and led him to the railing.

"Barbossa."

"Adewale."

"We are following that Hornigold man to Nassau, yes?"

Barbossa nodded to the ships ahead of them whose wakes they were riding easily through. "That's right. We'll give the crew some time on shore, gold to spend, and set up a presence in the developing Pirate Republic while we plan our next hunt."

"Hm, good." The others nodded, though it was clear they had something on their minds.

"There something ye need to bring up with me?"

The others shared a look before pointedly taking note of where Madi was on the deck as she made her way back down to her infirmary on the second level. Clearly they were making sure she wasn't close enough to overhear. "The men and I were hoping to do something special for the captain for saving us from bondage. Hornigold's man, Teach, mentioned that Nassau had some very interesting facilities, and we were hoping to use some of our share of the gold to purchase a gift for Captain Harry upon arrival."

"That be mighty thoughtful, Adewale." Barbossa noted. "What did ye have in mind?" When the larger man explained the crew's intention, the older man couldn't help but laugh out loud with mirth. Oh yes, Harry would certainly enjoy that gift. Who wouldn't?

It took about a day to reach their destination and when they did, it took all of Harry's considerable willpower not to stare and salivate at the location laid out before him in the bay. A pirate colony. A real fucking pirate colony lay before him and it was a dream come true. The cove that the Freedom and Hornigold's ships pulled into was a bustling hive of activity with dozens of vessels either offloading pillaged cargo, or loading it back up to be sold in other ports for a profit. On the beach were visible several paths leading up to either a lush forest and large fort or an impressively sized town for the limited scope of the island's size. It was everything the wizard had dreamed of since he was a small child hiding in the library and imagining a life of adventure.

"Are ye alright there, lad?" Barbossa asked as he made his way up to him. The helm's wheel seemed to be the captain's favorite place, as it was there that he could always be found if someone went looking.

"Aye, I'm just enjoying the view." Harry spun them level in a free space and with a quick command a couple of crewmembers dropped the forward and rear anchors to hold them in place. "I always dreamed of this place in its prime."

"Is it holding up to yer imaginings?"

"That and more, Hector. That and more." as Harry spoke, a loud hoot caught his attention, and he looked up just in time to catch Hedwig on his arm. She dutifully held out a letter for him on her claw and then hopped on over to his right shoulder. She seemed to get the whole 'pirate bird' thing without even needing to be prompted.

"What's that?"

"Oh, I sent Hedwig over to the Marianne to ask when Hornigold and the other colony founders would be willing to meet with me."

"Hornigold actually named his ship the Marianne?" Barbossa inquired. "Didn't Black Caesar say that was the name of his third ex-wife? The one who tried to unman him with a spoon?"

"Apparently the man has a unique sense of humor. Anyway this says they can meet us tonight somewhere called Guthrie's Pub, so that gives us plenty of time to show our crew a good time beforehand, eh?"

"Sounds like a plan. I think a few of the men have a surprise for you too, lad."

"Really?"

"Yes. How many should we leave behind to guard the ship?"

"None."

"None?"

"None. Dobby!" The elf popped into existence before them and Harry asked, "Would you be okay with staying here and watching over the ship?"

The little being bobbed his head happily. "Yes, sir, Captain Harry, sir. It be giving Dobby time to clean out the infirmary. Ms. Madi be refusing to let Dobby organize the shelves the right way." He huffed dramatically at the perceived sillines of humans.

Harry winced at the thought of messing with a healer's territory in any regard. "Might wanna hold off on that one, buddy. Say, is there anything you'd like me to pick up for you on the shore?"

"Master would willingly get Dobby a gift?"

"You're my friend, Dobby. Of course I would." The wizard had to stop talking for a moment as his little pal leapt onto his knees and wrapped them in a hug for a few moments before eventually releasing him.

"Dobby would like a new pair of socks and a pig. The crew says they not be having it before and it will be fun to let them try something new!" The elf began to hop in place with delight at the thought.

Laughing lightly at his antics, Harry answered, "That's easy, bud. I'll have those for you when we get back."

And so it was that the crew of the Freedom stocked themselves up with gold to a man from the hold, loaded themselves up into the ship's boarding craft (that managed to fit a lot more people each than should have been physically possible), and rowed themselves to shore. Upon landing on the beach Harry instructed them all to return by morning at the latest and the crew went their separate ways. Some traveled along the beach to take in the sights, others went into the forest for who knew what reason, some went to gather supplies, and a few started traveling with Harry and Barbossa up the street into the town itself. Madi made to go with them but for some reason several of the other women quickly took her arms and dragged her away, giggling all the while. Strange.

The wizard was just trying to decide where to go and explore first when his first mate pointed to a particular building ahead.

"Captain, that sign do be saying Guthrie's Pub. Perhaps we go and check it out before tonight to get the lay of the land, as it were?"

"Good idea, Hector."

As Harry led the way inside, Barbossa stealthily gestured to Adewale who smirked and took his men with him back off into the town. Thanks to the suggestions of their first mate, they had a surprise to set up.

Inside the pub was dimly lit with several tables spread out across the space and a wide bar stretching across the entire back wall. Behind said bar was a severely attractive blonde woman with her hair tied back, and sat in front of her, likely placing his drink order, was a surprisingly well dressed fellow with an upper crust English accent.

"Yes, I'll have whatever fine brandy you have on tap and- why hello there." The man proclaimed happily to Harry as the younger man took a seat next to him, making sure not to ruffle the clearly expensive frills on the other man's cuffs.

Harry said nothing, merely alternating his gaze between the woman and her patron.

A bit disconcerted by the lack of response, the man tried again. "I-I say, hello there." Still no response. "I-I am Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate, don't you know, and I'm relatively new to this fine island. Might I make your acquaintance?"

Instead of answering, the wizard looked at the woman and raised an eyebrow. She got the message well enough as she said, "My name is Eleanor Guthrie. I own the place, and if you're a pirate like you look, then you'll want to be a bit more cordial. I don't tolerate chaos in my pub."

Harry nodded his understanding before gesturing to Barbossa.

"This be Captain Harry, or Silent Harry as some do be calling him, and I be his first mate, Hector Barbossa. We're meeting Captain Hornigold here tonight, so we thought we might have a drink first and do some exploring."

Eleanor raised a brow at that piece of information. If the new guy was meeting with Hornigold personally then he had to be something special. In fact, the man himself had ordered several kegs to be brought out later that night for a big announcement, perhaps this man was a part of it? "What can I get you?"

"As I said before, brandy." Bonnet declared happily.

"Ale." Barbossa ordered.

"Rum." Harry answered, having always wanted to try the stuff.

The drinks were served, the men enjoyed their confections, and all the while Harry and his first mate listened to Stede carry on about his 'adventurous' travels across the sea to reach Nassau. If you could call avoiding a series of obvious English patrols adventures. Apparently he'd been a wealthy plantation owner who had felt the call of adventure in his middle years and had thus purchased himself a ship (a rarity for pirates), procured a crew, and sailed off into the unknown for his own chance at high seas infamy. Of course Harry already knew all about this from his readings as a child, but it was still fun for him to hear the tale straight from the horse's mouth. He seemed a pleasant enough sort so he made a mental note to remind the dapper man to stay the hell away from Cape Fear River.

As the poncy blonde continued to rattle his tale, Harry started looking over the other patrons and soon took note of something that made his mouth go remarkably dry. A beautiful redheaded woman with fair pale skin and piercing blue eyes sat at a table with a boorish looking man that seemed to be her husband based on the ring on his finger. She was dressed in a fine green dress with a pistol strapped to her waist, and based on her posture, hating her proximity to the person beside her. A few seconds later it wasn't so hard to see why, as he shoved her shoulder roughly and moved off across the room to where a few scantily clad women were lounging around a far table. He conversed with two of them for a moment, passed over a few coins, and then left the pub entirely. Had a married man just hired two prostitutes in full view of his wife? His redheaded, armed, and impossibly angry looking, beautiful beyond measure, wife, who seemed to be about the wizard's own age. This was remarkably familiar, so familiar in fact that Harry was trying like hell to swallow the rum that had remained in his mouth after his last sip. Could this be 'her'? According to the stories she killed her husband after doing just this and starting her career of piracy. Perhaps he could 'intercede' here and fulfill one of his greatest fantasies, but he had to be sure.

Turning rapidly back to the bar he waved over Ms. Guthrie with a finger.

"Yes, oh so Silent Harry?" She snarked, earning a grin from the young pirate. He decided he liked her.

"Who is that woman over there?" He gestured to the redhead who was still visibly seething.

Eleanor gasped, this was the first time she'd heard Harry's voice, and it was a distinctly pleasant English baritone. Shame he didn't use it more often. "She's a newcomer here, but I think her name is Anne Bonny. From what I hear she's been trying to get accepted on a pirate crew for the last couple weeks but hasn't had any luck."

"Thank you, Ms. Guthrie." Harry placed a silver mark on the bar for a tip and turned back around on his stool.

"What are ye thinking, lad?" Hector asked, already able to recognize the gleam in his captain's eyes that meant his mind was working a mile a minute.

"I'm thinking we're about to have a new knife-hand on the ship. Hold my spot."

As the lad hopped off his stool and made his way over to the woman's table, Barbossa couldn't help but laugh. He knew a fiery woman when he saw one, so if Harry succeeded, then he had a feeling life on the ship would get a hell of a lot more interesting.

Meanwhile, Harry was experiencing a sense of deja vu as he pulled out a chair and sat down across from the angry woman.

"The fuck ya want?" She growled, earning no reply. "I said what do ya want?" Nothing. "Oh I get it, ya saw John moving off and thought you'd just come over here and rub it in me face that me man is leaving with those harlots? Well I'll let ya know right now that we ain't like that." Still nothing. She placed her hands on the table, meaning to shove herself up and leave, but was stopped by a long knife sliding across the surface to her hand from the stranger.

"What do you want?" Harry finally spoke.

"Huh?"

"What do you want? With this life? You married John not out of love, but necessity. Your father was dying and he was going to marry you off to a snotty lawyer twenty years your senior as his final act. You needed to get out, so you convinced that sack of shit John that you had wealth, tricked him into marrying you, and used his small craft to escape the colonies to Nassau. You haven't even consummated the union have you?"

Turning paler than a ghost, Anne rasped out, "How could ya possibly know all of that?"

"That's not important right now. What is important is that your 'husband' has been getting drunker, and spendier, and he's been dragging your name into the muck. I'm willing to bet he's been getting a lot more forceful and pushy lately too now that he knows his promised windfall isn't coming. What are you going to do about it?" He looked pointedly at the knife once more, and smiled as the woman took it in her hand.

Pointing the tip at him she asked, "You'll still be here when I get back? This isn't over, ya hear?"

"I wouldn't dream of going anywhere, my dear." Anne hurriedly bustled out the door, and Harry experienced a full-body shudder in her absence. Up close she was even more beautiful than he'd imagined, and that Irish accent of hers was entrancing. He could see why she was considered one of the great beauties of the pirate age, and no one had scooped her up for their own crews yet which meant he was the first! He wouldn't deny that some of his 'personal' time in his early years was spent imaging himself and Anne Bonny together, so he was pretty gung ho to latch onto her before anyone else could.

The redhead returned a short time later and dropped the dripping, crimson, blade onto the table before him and retaking her seat. The entire front torso of her dress was dripping with what Harry assumed was her former husband's life-blood. "What was that for?" She wanted to know.

"An audition of sorts." Harry leaned forward and steepled his fingers together. "How would you like to join my crew?"

Anne grew very still. "I've asked to join no less than eight different crews since arriving here and not a single one has taken me seriously. Now ya show up out of nowhere, know things about me no one could possibly know, push me to finish off my deadweight, and then offer me a spot amongst yer number? This makes no sense."

"It does if you are me." Harry smirked in what he hoped was a charming manner. "I have what you might call an eye for potential, and I think you can be something big if given the right freedom and opportunity. Join my crew and you'll have plenty of both. Who knows, I might even tell you how I know those things about you."

Anne thought the offer over for a minute before shrugging and nodding. "Alright then, not like I have any other prospects."

"That's the spirit." Harry slid the knife back over to her. "Keep that, you're bound to have more need of it before too long." He reached into his vest and pulled out a small purse weighed down with gold coins that he tossed over to his new crewmate. "And take this."

"What for? I aint earned that yet."

"Call it an advance. Get yourself cleaned up, buy some new clothes," he gestured clearly to her ruined dress, "and outfit yourself with some weapons. The Freedom is my vessel and it's docked offshore, so you can meet me back here tonight and I'll lead you back."

"Aye, Captain." Anne grinned before snatching up the offered items and taking her leave. This day had not gone the way she'd expected, but she was finally starting her dream of freedom and adventure. The dream her father almost destroyed by turning her into a fucking clerk in his office before trying to marry her off like a piece of property. Well, strange man or not, her new captain didn't seem inclined to hold her back that same way. Perhaps things were finally looking up for old Anne Bonny?

Sitting back at the table, Harry couldn't help but groan, it should be a sin for a woman to look that good walking away from him. That groan was quickly cut short however as he found himself pulled to his feet and crushed into a side hug by Adewale.

"Ade, where did you come from?"

"Town, Captain. The men have organized a little 'thank you' for saving them and I'm to bring you to it right away."

"You know they didn't have to get me anything."

"Yes, and so do they. They wanted to, and it's the prerogative of free men to spend their money on the things they want, now come on." Adewale waved a smirking Barbossa goodbye and practically dragged his captain out the door. "Put this on first." He handed Harry a leather sack.

"Seriously?"

"Do you understand the concept of a surprise?"

For the second time that day the wizard found himself groaning as he dutifully slid the sack over his head and allowed himself to be dragged blindly further up the street, and into a rather upscale building far and away from the slough of the poorer districts below.

Adewale only stopped once to nod to the incredibly pleased mistress of the establishment before bustling his captive up the stairs to the third floor and stopping before a very particular door. Half of the men and women of the crew were waiting with smiles on their faces and bated breath as the hood was removed.

"Hey everyone." Harry said as he blinked his eyes several times to adjust them to the light once more. "What's with all of this?"

"A gift." Two of the women giggled at a private joke before opening the room door and pushing their captain inside by the chest. "Enjoy!" As one they released him and slammed the door closed in his face.

For a moment Harry wondered what that was all about, until he heard a multitude of giggles behind him and slowly turned around. What faced him was a room practically filled to the brim with naked women smiling warmly at him with arms opened wide in invitation. It was now 'very' clear just what his 'gift' from the crew was.

"By the gods, I love my life." Harry declared before diving into the crowd to the chorus of womanly cheers.

Several Hours Later

Madame Mortentia entered the recently vacated 'best' room in her brothel (the new crew on the island had been very clear that was what they wanted) and found nearly half of the girls in her employ splayed out all over the floor, groaning with clearly remembered pleasure and smiling dopily to a girl.

"What the hell happened here?!" She'd thought it a jest when the newcomers declared they wanted to give their captain a 'room full of flesh to enjoy', after all, what man could please that many women, let alone himself, before passing out, but this was just ridiculous.

"T-T-That man," Max, her best earner, and the personal escort to Lady Guthrie, said, "is not a mere man."

"No," Serena, a blonde from the Carolina's agreed, "He's a god."

"T-That tongue…" Yzma, a dark skinned lass from Spain, groaned with remembered ecstasy.

That Night

Harry, seeing Adewale with Barbossa at the bar at Guthrie's Pub, wrapped the big man in a bearhug and proclaimed, "Best! Gift! Ever!"

Chuckling merrily, the big man pulled his captain off of him and replied, "Aye, the crew thought you'd enjoy it. Now the Guthrie woman mentioned that the others are already here and waiting in the back room."

"Perfect. You two are with me, and let's go let them meet their king."

"King?" Both men intoned questioningly.

"Well, maybe fellow lord for now. They can declare me king when they see how all the advancements I intend to bring to this place pan out."

The other men clearly wanted to ask about their leader's newly revealed intentions, but were forced to fall in line as the man in question went strutting off behind the bar and into the aforementioned back room. Inside was a large circular table with six chairs and four men seated with more at their backs. Two seats remained open, so the first was the one Harry took. His first mate and quartermaster fell in to stand behind him.

"Took you long enough." Hornigold spoke jokingly from his position sat across from his latest guest before promptly standing to make introductions. "Everyone, this is Silent Harry, captain of the Freedom, and thanks to his generous sharing of the Spanish treasure fleet, and ownership of a vessel that could knock most of ours out of the water without much effort, he has joined us here at the Head Table. Each of us commands enough men, wealth, or destructive power to hold influence on this island so no one should doubt Harry's qualifications to be amongst us."

When no one argued he continued, moving around the table to point people out. First was a younger man, perhaps five or so years older than Harry himself. He had the shadows of stubble on his chin and long lank hair held back with a blue bandanna. "This is Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl and his first mate James Flint." Flint, from what Harry could see of him, was a man in his thirties with a defined widow's peak and dirty blonde hair pulled back into a low tail. There was a distinct look of pride in his eyes that put the wizard in mind of former military service.

"Pleasure to meet you." Sparrow nodded.

The first man carried on down the line, "Captain Vane of the Ranger and his first mate Jack Rackham." Vane was shorter than the others present but he made up for the difference by being a literal brick of muscle. Rackham was thin, wiry, and he wore some of the most expensive clothing the Brit had ever seen. All he got from them was a head nod.

"Henry Avery, captain of the Charles II and his first mate Billy Bones." A grumble of acknowledgement came from the newly named captain. Henry Avery had a particularly bloody history as Harry recalled, but he looked like a bald plantation owner to him more than a warrior of the sea. His raised chin certainly gave him the right measure of haughtiness.

Finally, Hornigold stopped at the last empty chair, "and this…. Is for Captain Edward Teach, or as the men call him, Blackbeard."

Behind him, the man in question openly gasped. "Huh?!"

Hornigold turned and smiled at his friend, "We're already adding one seat to the table, why not another as well? You've certainly earned it, you have the respect of the men, and that ship we captured last month is finally refurbished enough to brave the open seas once more."

The bearded man smiled wide, put his hat back on his head, and took the proffered seat as his former captain reclaimed his own. "Now introductions have been made and the Head Table has been updated, we can get down to business."

"And what business is that?" Avery wanted to know.

"The use of the Spanish gold. Harry and I have taken more than we could ever spend in our lifetimes and we still have much left over."

Sparrow said, "Seems obvious to me. We give it to the men and let them enjoy being rich for a few weeks until they spend their shares completely on drink and women. Should raise morale at least."

Avery intoned, "Idiot. We should use it to buy more ships and set up a legitimate trade practice on the side."

Vane added, "If we're getting more ships then we should train more hunter crews to bring in more loot."

The group argued heavily on the subject for several minutes until Hornigold suggested, "I would be interested to hear from Silent Harry. It is his score after all, surely he has ideas for where the money could best be used."

All eyes turned to Harry, and he waved Barbossa over to whisper in his ear. It was more important than ever to maintain an aura of mystery around such larger than life figures.

"My captain do be saying that the gold should be invested into Nassau, but not in businesses or trading ships."

Avery sneered at that remark, "And what would a 'boy' such as him know of investing, hm? He should leave this decision to his betters."

Barbossa grew very still, Adewale tensed, and both men backed slowly away from the table. That word again, both knew how much their captain hated it. And it seemed they were right to worry as the air began to grow very cold, and Harry's eyes flashed out from beneath the brim of his hat.

"Say that again." His voice was a whisper that carried across the table to the bald man.

"I beg your pardon." Avery huffed with self-righteous indignation at being called out. "I say the youth of today have no knowledge of when they should man their own fields and respect their betters. The very idea of a boy like him deciding how to use such wealth is laughable when wiser men like us are on hand to do so. I say again-" His voice cut off in an instant as his eyes grew wide and his hands shot up to his neck, as if trying to remove some invisible obstruction.

As everyone present stared on his face began to grow increasingly red and purple before his tongue shot out of his mouth and his head began to pitch at a weird angle. Though his mouth continued to gape and gurgle not a breath of air was released, and before long it came to an end. Whatever invisible force had been holding him up was released and his lifeless body came crashing down onto the table.

All eyes turned back to Harry who was slowly pulling his hand away from the pistol strapped to his chest. Levitation spells truly were versatile. "I really hate being called a boy." His voice was chilled rage incarnate as he waved Barbossa back over to him and whispered once more in his ear, returning to his former method of communication.

"Right then, this unpleasantness aside, my captain has some ideas for the island going forward."

The best dressed man amongst them spoke up then, "Are we just going to ignore the dead captain on the table here? Or the fact that Silent Harry clearly used magic to do him in?"

Vane decided to answer his first mate for the table. "Henry had it coming. You insult another captain like that you should expect repercussions. Plus, I personally never liked him much anyway." The others at the table nodded their agreement. "His ships and assets will be redistributed amongst our ranks for best use. As for magic, what of it? It's not like we haven't seen it before."

"Truly?" This amazed Barbossa who had not seen the like in his many years under the mast.

"Aye." Blackbeard spoke up. "The sees are a magical place, prone to much mystery and sights beyond the reasoning of normal men. We've all seen things that defy mortal explanation. Black Caesar is a shaman amongst his people and the things he can do are bloody fantastic."

"That aside, you mentioned Harry had thoughts on how to use the gold?" Hornigold tried to bring the meeting back on track.

"Aye." Hector looked to his captain once more who gave a nod. "He says that what pirates have built here is a paradise, but at present it do not be one that can be sustained. Eventually the English will come back for their island and they'll be bringing civilization with them. Harry wants to use the gold to upgrade Nassau's defenses. Vastly upgrade them. And that since you do be knowing of his magic, there are magical advancements and protections he can bring as well."

Leaning forward Harry spoke for himself once more, "This is the Pirate Republic, and I will make sure it lasts."

The others shared a long look before nodding as one. "We're listening."

Two Hours Later

Anne returned to Guthrie's Pub with a fresh skip in her step. For the first time in years she actually felt free, as if the future laid out before her was finally the one she was supposed to be living instead of one that had been chosen by others.

Her afternoon had been quite eventful and productive. She'd met a captain that actively wanted her on his crew, murdered both her cheating husband and sham of a marriage in the same knife slash, and had gone on a massive shopping spree.

Now here she was, fully kitted out and with two trunks of further clothing and tools being sent back to the Freedom. After so long under pirate occupation the stores knew well how to send things to ships and make sure they weren't stolen in transit

Captain Harry had said to clothe and supply herself so that is exactly what she did, and the end result was telling if the number of lustful and envious glances she was getting were anything to go by. Her new outfit consisted of tight pants, leather boots that reached to her knees, a crimson sash around her waist, a buttoned shirt with a frilled collar that was opened enough to display a generous helping of her ample breasts (she knew she was attractive and she owned it) and over it all was a long black greatcoat in the style of military officer's dress. On top of that, her hair was held back from her face by a black bandanna and she had two pistols and a pair of long hilted knives at her waist. The moment she'd looked in the mirror with the full ensemble she'd practically fallen in love with herself.

It seemed the rest of the pub had as well, and the redhead found herself fending off more than a few overly forward offers for companionship. Please, as if any of these fuckers were worthy of her time.

All musing was put on hold however as the door to the back room opened and a group of men came out shouting for silence and attention. Anne noticed at once that her new captain was amongst them and standing beside Benjamin Hornigold as the blonde man took center stage and raised a document high for all to see.

What followed was a declaration that stunned her. She knew that Nassau was a haven for pirate activities, but to openly declare the small island a Pirate Republic under the leadership of the Head Table? And to create a goddamned constitution as well? Things were getting even more interesting than before.

Note: Interesting snippets I learned while researching the actual Pirate Constitution:

The Pirate Constitution

Article One

-Earnings on the ship will be distributed equally amongst the crew with small bonuses for the captain, first mate, and quartermaster.

Article Two

-Every man and woman aboard ship will have a vote in the affairs of the ship.

Article Three

-No sailor may be punished without the agreement of the crew. The captain is included in this article.

Article Four

-The captain may be deposed and replaced by a majority vote of the crew.