Chapter 5

"Miss! Are you awake? The Captain has requested your presence".

Constance woke with a start as the banging upon her cabin door became louder followed by a muffled voice calling through the wood. Jerking upwards she threw herself out of the bed hurriedly and collected her dirty clothes from beside the now dirty bathwater and placed them on the side in a somewhat neat fashion. Without so much as a glance at her reflection, she proceeded to open the door to find a kind looking well-dressed officer staring back at her.

"I'm sorry sir for the delay, would you please allow me one moment to sort out my appearance". She asked gently, her eyes blinking rapidly. The young man blushed as he stared at her.

"Of course, my apologies". And with that she closed the door and quickly ran her fingers through her hair. She had nothing to tie it up and gave a sigh of frustration but instead took to plaiting it for the time, hoping it would stay in its position until she could request a ribbon of sorts. As she could recall the Captain had rather long hair and he wondered with a soft giggle if she could ask to borrow one. For some reason the thought of them doing their hair together made her laugh even more and it was only when the officer outside asked loudly if she was ok that she realised that she must have sounded absolutely mad laughing to herself. Regaining her composure, she straightened out the creased shirt and opened the door once more. The officer told her that someone would come to take the bath out of her room and to take her clothes and she thanked him in reply.

She was escorted back up the stairs and now that it was daylight she could observe the ship which had saved her. It was a very large vessel with a substantial crew which was not totally surprising for a Royal naval ship. The officers ignored her presence and she took in how clear both the sea and sky was. It was as though the storm of her past had been long gone and she allowed herself to smile as a small breeze kissed her pale skin. The officer escorting her gained polite nods from his busy comrades and in no time, she was back again at the two large doors to the Captain's quarters. The officer knocked politely and pushed the door slightly ajar, ushering her in.

As she entered there was no one in the cabin and she looked around. Confused, she walked over to the desk and slowly observed the area. Seconds later, the tall figure of Captain Salazar emerged through the same doors as she had just been pushed through. He looked tired and slightly angry, something she hoped she had not caused. Deciding to stay on his good side, she stayed where she was waiting for his approval to sit.

"Good morning Captain". She spoke quietly and lowered her head slightly. She heard him walk closer and looked up to find him staring at her. His jacket was back on, and his medals looked polished as though he had spent time individually cleaning them. His presence was rather intimidating she thought but tried to keep eye contact with the stern looking Captain.

"Good morning as well...please have a seat". He said whilst pulling out a seat which was now opposite his desk. She sat down as gracefully as one could when they were in oversized clothes and felt his hand stroke her shoulder for a brief second before it was gone. She could not see his expression until he was sat opposite her, with his elbows on the table and his fingers laced beneath his chin. It was as though he was inspecting her.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked formally, his eyes never leaving her own.

"I did thank you. I have remembered some minor details of my past but nothing which you would find of particular interest". She stated. In reply he leaned forward marginally and a smile graced his lips. However, this was not a gentle smile, it was laced with intrigue and something else she couldn't quite figure out.

"Oh I am indeed interested to hear your story. It may help you remember as to why you were on a pirate ship". He growled the last part and Constance felt her back straighten under his now hateful glare. She was beginning to get the feeling that the Captain somehow thought she was related to the pirates.

"I do hope you understand that I was not aboard that awful vessel through my own desire Captain. From what I can recall I was in a cage and my captors are the reason I ended up on your ship so bloodied. So, I do hope you will keep that in mind. In regards to my memories I have come back to my senses. I am from the family of Ashworth in England and I intend on making it back to land and travelling back to be with my family. I have no recollection of how I ended up on the pirate ship but considering my background I can only suppose I may have been travelling by ship and was taken. I'm sorry I cannot offer you nothing more but in terms of a pirate, I'm as much as one as you are. Yet I do remember what hit me, it was an odd-looking compass which was broken. The pirate however was quite desperate to get hold of the blasted thing. So much so I recall he allowed me out of my prison. Make of that as you will". She finished rather defiantly. He appeared to consider her words and nodded slowly.

"A compass…" he pondered and then snapped out of his thoughts "I am inclined to believe you. My apologies for doubting you". He murmured. She watched as he slowly moved his eyes which were now focused on the models of ships which were on their sides. He looked frustrated but did not comment on what he was annoyed at. The silence carried on for a few more minutes and Constance decided that if she was to be on the ship for a week then it was better if she acquainted herself with the man in charge.

"I take it that you hunt down pirates then Captain". She stated, her eyes glued to his facial expression which visibly changed when she mentioned the word 'pirates'.

"I am indeed. I have been working to rid the sea of such a plague". He replied, his eyes now on her.

"And how is that going?" she asked politely.

"Rather well. In fact, it was going very well until some managed to escape. The very same that had left you in fact". He snapped the last part and Constance suddenly realised why the Captain seemed so irritated. Her rescue had obviously allowed her captors to escape and by the sounds of it they had indeed got away. She was surprised that he was showing such frustration now when the previous night he had seemed so much nicer to her. She supposed asking for some hair ribbon was now out of the question.

"You could have quite easily have left me Captain". She answered back, not allowing him to make her feel guilty for being alive. Despite his rather stern demeanour she would not be made to feel intimidated. Or at least not as intimidated.

"I am an honourable man, I do not leave the innocent to die". He retorted. He still sounded upset at his situation and she watched as he got out of his large seat and made his way towards the doors.

"I am sure they could not have gone that far Captain. I will apologise for delaying your endeavour but I hope you can achieve your ambitions". As she spoke, she heard his footsteps getting closer until she could feel his heat from his body radiating behind her. He didn't speak for a few seconds and Constance hoped silently that he had not been offended by her words. Then, dangling in front of her face was a dark blue ribbon. She watched as it fell into her lap and quickly she moved her head to look at the Captain.

She was about to speak but he was already through the doors. When she heard them shut she let out a small laugh, wondering how he would have known about her wanting a hair ribbon. It wasn't long until the door opened once again and the same young officer who had escorted her appeared and ushered her forward.

"The Captain has said that you may have access to the ship if you are to keep out of the way of the crew and keep to yourself. You may stay here if you wish or come up deck for some air". He seemed shy and she smiled before standing up. Twirling the ribbon between her hands, she slowly began doing her hair until it was well secured.

"I would like to go up if that is aright. I have spent too long in the dark". The officer moved out of the way and held the door open to her. They walked side by side up the stairs and she shielded her eyes at the daylight.

"What is your name?" She asked as she reached the top step.

"Santos". He replied quickly and pointed to her which direction she should go to.

"I'm Constance". She replied and gave her his hand to shake, which he did so but a tad reluctantly. She supposed he was a bit confused by the whole experience and she wouldn't blame him.

She was allowed to have a walk around on the large vessel and tried her best to avoid getting in everyone's way. Although that was harder than she expected as the men appeared to be everywhere. Santos left her to carry on with his duties and she managed to find a part of the ship where men were not racing around like mice.

From her position, she sat down on the floor, no longer caring for what was proper. She was quite pleased with her position as she had a strategic view of the pretty empty landscape and of the men. It was her first time to really watch and acknowledged the world she had just been thrown into. Her eyes travelled from each of the men and watched saw Santos looking rather hassled with some rope for a while. As entertaining as that was, she moved her head and she felt her eyes drawn to the wheel and saw Lieutenant Lesaro looking rather bored as he occasionally turned the wheel. She supposed that today was one of their calm days where the men appeared to be tidying up after their last skirmish. There was the occasional piece of wood and what not on the floor but the crew seemed rather efficient at keeping the ship in working order. Although that was no surprise with someone like Captain Salazar at the helm. She hoped she would not be on the receiving end of the Captain as she got the feeling he was not one to be messed with. Speaking of the Captain, she allowed her eyes to wander and saw he was not too far from the wheel.

The Captain was looking through a long telescope at the sea. She snorted when she imagined him just looking at some water and then some more water. Collecting herself she looked back and her eyes grew wider when she saw his telescope pointed directly in her direction. She had never had an awkward moment between herself and a telescope before and she gave him an awkward wave, trying not to laugh at the odd situation. She watched as he moved his telescope away quickly and she was sure that he was smiling, despite being far away. 'Ha!' she thought 'He definitely saw me' she thought. But that made her furrow her brow.

"Could have waved back". She mumbled to herself and carried on looking at the sea, hoping to see anything interesting. It turns out an hour of sitting in the sun and watching the water was not only boring but it made her feel rather sick.

She was just about to stand up when the figure of the Lieutenant blocked her. He handed her a flask and took a seat next to her which she found quite odd. She gave him a perplexed look and he looked at her slightly exasperated. She tried not to stare too much at his eyepatch and instead focused on the object he had handed her.

"It is water. See". He said and took a sip. "You have not had anything to eat or drink". As he mentioned food she felt her stomach rumble and she couldn't recall when the last time she had eaten. No wonder she felt so sick. Taking the water, she took a long sip but was stopped by Lesaro's hand.

"You don't want to drink too much and make yourself sick. The Captain has invited you to dinner in his cabin tonight. He asks in the meantime if you would like to have some rest in your own quarters as he is concerned that the sun may not be the best for you to sit in for long periods of time". She nodded her head slowly and carefully stood up, suddenly feeling very light headed. Her vision went black for a few seconds and she felt an arm around her waist holding her up.

"I will help you". He said and took her arm, slowly walking her back towards her quarters. As she was being walked back she looked up to see the Captain and his telescope once again staring back at her. Smiling she nodded at him and gave him another small wave. She could have sworn that he lifted his hand up in reply but she put it down to her being dehydrated and hungry.

Once at her quarters she allowed Lesaro to fuss over her for a second and remove her shoes to get into her bed. He told her to rest and that he would send someone to collect her for food, in the meantime he would get someone to deliver her something to eat to keep her from feeling to ill. She smiled and thanked him and watched as he disappeared. Perhaps being on the Spanish ship wasn't too bad after all. Despite the Captain appearing rather moody at times, he seemed concerned for her health and it made her a bit more comfortable knowing that she was in no real danger aboard the Silent Mary.