If you like it, please, please do leave a review! They help me to continue! :D

VVVVVVVVVVV

TWO

Alice flung herself out of bed, a shaky hand reaching for her housecoat, which was draped over her trunk. She threw it on, managing to tie the sash before she yanked open her door and pattered in her bare feet up the stairs. The cool breeze hit her face and rushed through her hair as she arrived on deck. A deck that seemed lit by the fires of hell.

The rigging sails and masts were bathed in deep, orange light that flickered like the eyes of a cat in the night. Heat billowed over her, and she swung to face the starboard side. Her eyes widened.

Framed against a night as deep as ink, a three-masted frigate sat dead in the water, listing to its port side. One mast was broken, its sails dragging in the water, and the upright sails were aflame. Great pieces of the railing had been blasted off, and gaping holes, like gunshot wounds, peppered her flank.

Desperate shouts issued from the burning deck. Alice clutched her housecoat around herself as seamen darted back and forth in front and behind her, barking to each other about lowering the dinghies.

A flicker of movement caught Alice's eye—a bald-headed, bearded man grasping a shred of rope atop the poop deck of the burning ship. He cupped one hand around his mouth and cried:

"Please hurry! We are taking on water!"

"Patience, man!" Captain Kerbeck roared, sweeping past Alice as he pulled his hat down over his stern brow. "We will be there in minutes."

"We don't have that long!" came the hoarse answer. "She's sinking!"

Alice's gut clenched, and suddenly it was hard to breathe.

They told me you had been to her,

And mentioned me to him;

She gave me a good character,

But said I could not swim…

Captain Kerbeck gave the command to lower the boats down into the water. As the pulleys squeaked and groaned, the captain buttoned his blue coat and called to the man across the way once more.

"Are there any other survivors on board?"

"Yes, sir—the helmsman has been shot in the shoulder and is lying by the wheel!" the bald man shouted. "And the textile man is somewhere below—he wouldn't come out!"

The captain straightened.

"Go below and get him!"

"I cannot, sir!" came the answer. "I've been hit in the leg—and the water is already deep down there!"

"He is probably dead, anyway," the captain muttered. Then he addressed his men—ten of which were in two boats already on the water, and three more were in a boat ready to be lowered. "Bring back the bald man and the helmsman and get off that ship."

"What about the textile man?" Alice gasped, stepping up to him. He turned to her. She could not see his eyes for the shadows, but the dark lines of a frown formed on his brow.

"Miss Kinglsey, kindly return to your cabin."

"But he said the textile man was below, he can't just—"

"Go below, girl," the captain snapped. Alice clenched her jaw.

"Captain Kerbeck," she said coolly. "I will be hanged if I allow you to speak to me like that, no matter the circumstances." And she swept past him, straight for the boat that was only halfway lowered.

"Miss Kingsley—" the captain tried, following her. "Miss Kingsley, it is very dangerous. You must not—"

She ignored him, climbed over the rail, slid down and dropped into the boat. Her feet thudded against the light wood. The men inside yelped, the boat banged against the side of the ship, but she quickly sat down and the swinging stopped.

"Keep going," she ordered to a wide-eyed sailor. "The ship is sinking, after all!"

The men shot a few helpless glances up at their captain, but aside from his mouth tightening, he showed nothing on his face.

"Go!" he barked, waving an arm. "The other boat is halfway there."

And so they kept lowering, and the bottom of the boat met the rocking waves of the pitch-black ocean. Quickly, the men took up the oars and began to paddle.

As they neared the broken ship, the roar of the flames grew louder, and the heat blew back Alice's hair. The reflection of the blaze danced across the water, making it seem as if they were drifting across a lake of fire. The scent of gunpowder lingered in the air. Alice grew cold. What had happened to this ship?

"Thank God! Oh, thank God!" the bald man cried as they drew near to one part of the flank that was not burning. The sailors leaped up the side, using the handholds.

"Stay here, miss," one of them said to her.

"You stay here," she retorted, jumped past him and clambered up to the tilting deck, ignoring his stunned look. She crawled over the railing in time to see the bald man, his head glistening with sweat, limp toward them across the angled deck.

"The helmsman," he panted, pointing behind him to the aft part of the ship. "I tried to lift him, but…" He trailed off, and swayed. One of the sailors grabbed him.

"Get him onto a boat!" another instructed. The ship groaned beneath their feet, and one of the still-upright masts creaked. Alice grabbed one of the stray lifelines to keep herself from tipping.

Two sailors assisted the bald man toward the railing, and the others rushed across the deck—littered with the bodies of dead men—to where the helmsman was supposed to be. Alice froze as her gaze drifted over the carnage. She swallowed hard.

"Sir," she said, her voice cracking. Forcing her muscles to work, she whipped around to face the bald man. "Sir, where did you say the textile man was?"

He blinked listlessly at her, on the edge of consciousness.

"Aft, and below," he managed. Alice did not wait. She clawed her way aft, ignoring the bodies, using the remaining lines and the railings to keep herself from slipping overboard. The masts above her groaned like a man who has been stabbed, and the heat smothered her—she felt as if she was inside an oven.

She knocked a broken door aside and caught herself before she fell down a leaning flight of stairs. Bracing both hands on the narrow walls, she called down into the darkness.

"Hello? Hello, is anyone there?"

She heard the slapping and hissing of water in reply. A great shiver ran through her. What was she doing? She could not possibly go down there—it was surely full of water. She needed to turn around and get back to the boats…

She gave me a good character,

But said I could not swim…

"Hello?" she tried again. The ship moaned once more. But then, something caught the edge of her hearing. She went still.

It was a voice. A voice, down below. She bit her lip and plunged downward, steadying herself with both hands. Her feet thudded on the wooden stairs.

She plunged into cold water, knee deep. She yelped and jerked back. Her eyes darted around her. It was almost completely dark…

Except, at the end of an almost completely sideways hall, a little light flickered.

And a low, tight voice murmured.

"If I or she should chance to be

Involved in this affair,

He trusts to you to set them free,

Exactly as we were."

"Ho, there!" Alice yelled, stumbling forward, one foot on the floor, now, and one foot on the wall. She came to another door, and kicked it aside. Her eyes took in the contents of the room in an instant.

A lit lamp hung from the ceiling, completely askew. Reams of brilliant fabric were strewn all over, most of them on the floor and beneath two feet of water. Two trunks hung open, and one cabinet stood, leaning back against the wall that was most tilted. And on the other side of it, as if hiding behind it, Alice saw a figure.

Barely a shoulder and an arm, and a white hand, grasping something. She splashed forward, her footing uneven because of the spilled goods, and she pushed the ajar cupboard door out of her way.

A man stood there, his black hair hanging in his eyes. He had handsome features, from what she could see, but his head was bowed and shadowed. He wore a dark coat and trousers, and his arms were wrapped tightly around a tall ream of scarlet fabric.

The ship gave a mighty shudder. The man's arms tightened around his fabric.

"Sir? Sir, you must get out of the ship. It's sinking," Alice said. The man said nothing. It was then that Alice realized that the entire right side of his face was covered in blood—and the door of the cupboard bore the same. He had hit his head.

"Oh, no," she whispered. The room shifted. She stumbled. Water rushed in, slithering like snakes around her thighs. There was no time to waste.

She grabbed his hand. His head jerked up. Black eyes, deep and brilliant, met hers. His lips parted, and his brow twitched.

"Please, you really must come with me!" She squeezed his hand with both of hers and pried it off the fabric. He resisted, for one horrible moment, and Alice knew she could not fight his strength.

And suddenly, his hand softened. He stared down at her pale fingers, holding them in his like he would a delicate saucer. And then his eyes flashed up to her again, searching. She grasped his hand hard and tugged.

"Come now!"

And he yielded.

He dropped the fabric and tumbled after her as she pulled him across the nearly sideways room. Water came up to their waists now, and she was almost swimming rather than walking. The darkness threatened to drown them as she kept hold of his slippery hand. Salt water splashed in their faces.

The lamp behind them went out.

And then the ship keeled over.

Alice screamed as the hallway fell sideways, sending them thudding onto their shoulders. The next instant, water flooded over her head and spun her around, crushing against her chest.

Her head smacked against the upside-down ceiling. She sucked in a reflexive breath and salt water plunged down through her lungs. Her vision blurred, faded.

The last thing she remembered was two strong arms wrapping around her and tugging her upward.

TBC