A/N- Hello all! This is my longest chapter so far and has actually been one of he most enjoyable to write. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, it really means a lot to see that people are enjoying my story. Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 12
Constance was sat on her small bed, gently plaiting her hair and tying the silk ribbon into her hair, a ribbon she had found back on her bed which she swore had not been there before. To anyone she would look quite calm but as her fingers ran themselves through her hair, she was waiting with anticipation for any noise to occur from above. For over an hour she had heard only the occasional shout and movement from above and was suspicious by the lack of noise. She had been expecting chaos to have broken out by now and she felt guilty for feeling slightly disappointed.
But her disappointment didn't seem to last long as all of a sudden, a loud bang followed by several others rocked the large ship. She squealed but not with fear, rather with excitement. She listened as loud voices from above were shouting commands. She assumed that it was in Spanish although they were quite muffled. The loud crashes of canon fire came again and again and she was in awe of how alive the ship felt. Putting on her shoes, she was just about to get to the door when there were several louder noises from above, followed by an assortment of screams and shouts. Stepping back from the door, her eyes widened as she heard the clatter of swords. She gasped as she realised that there was actual fighting occurring above her.
A sudden knock to her door caused her to jump and she was no longer quite so excited at the whole situation. Opening it tentatively she saw the face of Santos, his uniform was stained with a dark red liquid and she gasped.
"Oh my god! Are you ok?" She cried. She was pushed back into the room and Santos shut the door behind them.
"It isn't my blood." He panted. "I have been ordered by the Captain to keep you safe. Some pirates have managed on get on board". He rested against the door and she grimaced as she heard more shouts and screams, rather agonising ones at that.
"However, I need you to stay here for a bit and not to open the door to anyone. I will send someone to stay guard at the stairs so you should be fine". He said quickly.
"I thought you were supposed to be keeping me safe?" She asked, her nerves getting the better of her.
"It sounds like more have managed to get on board, I will be more helpful upstairs. Please just keep yourself safe for now. Someone will be here soon". And with that she watched him rush away and she closed the door immediately. Grasping her chest, she couldn't believe what had happened. Her thoughts went to the Captain and she found herself getting worried.
"I'm sure he is fine". She whispered to herself, not quite sure why she felt so concerned for his safety after he nearly shoved her off the ship.
Canon fire was repeatedly going off and Constance bit her nail as she waited for it all to end. She had expected a small battle and that to be it. She did not even consider the possibility of the pirates managing to get on board and fighting the crew. Although she may have still been quite naïve in regards to naval warfare. After all she was relatively new to everything. She didn't quite know how long she had been waiting but a noise outside her door caught her attention. Although the noise of canons and shouting filled the air, the noise outside her door was unfamiliar. It sounded like…gurgling.
Internally she debated on what to do. She was told not to leave but she couldn't help but want to look. The gurgling suddenly went silent and she started to get a bad feeling about what was outside her door. Deciding to risk it, she very slowly opened the cabin door. At first, she didn't see anything and she looked down the corridor with furrowed brows. But as she looked down she felt physically sick.
There, right outside her door, was the body of a young officer and his throat was slit. The gurgling noise made a lot of sense now and she had to cover her mouth to stop her shouting in alarm. Whoever had done this may have still been there. Not wanting to stay in the room much longer, as she assumed that the pirate responsible for this thought that he was guarding something special, she awkwardly stepped over the body.
Looking down at the young man, she tried not to cry. She was not used to death yet and it was still quite a shock. Lowering herself down, she managed to shut his eyes, although the image of him staring up at her was something which would stick with her for a long time. She was surprised she had not heard him outside her room in the first place.
Knowing that she was no longer completely safe, especially since her guard was dead, she took the young man's sword. Constance had never held a real sword and it took her a second to get used to the weight but she was accustomed to play fights with wooden swords as a child with her younger cousin. She did realise that playing a game of sword fighting was a very differently affair than actually fighting for her life, but she was trying to be optimistic.
Slowly walking down the corridor, she could see the stairs ahead and the shouts were getting far worse. She didn't really want to go up and feeling well out of her depth in her current situation, she turned around and came to the conclusion that hiding may be a better option. But as she turned, there at the bottom of the corridor was a figure of a man. He seemed to be smiling at her and she felt herself step backwards as she saw the sword in his hand and the blood that seemed to be dripping from it. She had no idea why he was down here but she had the feeling he had killed the young officer who was now lying lifelessly in a pool of his own blood. She stared at him and had little time to debate her next move as he was suddenly charging at her.
Screaming she ran up the stairs to the top deck, no longer giving a damn about the chaos which was going on above. As she appeared on deck, she immediately ducked as a sword came flying in her direction and she watched as Santos struck a pirate down in front of her. She didn't stick around to watch was going on as the man who had been chasing her was suddenly on the deck as well. He seemed pretty hellbent in attacking her as he managed to nearly hit her. Feeling rather hysterical at the bizarre situation, she allowed her survival instinct to kick in and swung at the pirate, causing their swords to clatter loudly. Laughing, she couldn't believe what was going on and she was pretty impressed with her defence skills.
This did not last for long as the pirate swung again and this time she wasn't fast enough to react. His sword scraped her arm, not too deep but enough for it to start bleeding and for her to release a cry of pain. The pain made her realise that she was not equipped in skill nor weapons for this. Deciding that her only other option was to run, she managed to lift the sword up again and prevented another incoming swing. Around her she was barely aware of the Spanish navy slashing down the pirates. The canons from both ships were relentless and the ships both rocked against one another by the sheer force of the bangs.
"Well I wanted adventure". She mumbled to herself slightly breathlessly. The pirate was still going for her and she was about to swing again when he knocked the sword out of her hand. She watched as her sword clanged against the wood below them and she felt her heart race in her chest. She was going to die. She was going to die on board a ship in the middle of the sea and that was that.
The pirate grinned at her and she lifted her arms up slightly hoping that he would take that as a sign of her surrendering. Another blast ripped through the air and caused rather a lot of wood to be thrown into the atmosphere. Using this to her advantage, Constance ducked down and grabbed the sword before lifting it up again and swinging at the off-guard pirate. Yet again her attempt was not enough and he effortlessly knocked her sword away once more. He had managed to back her up against the stairs going up to the stern deck and she slowly tried to ascend the stairs without being stabbed.
She watched as a second wave of pirates seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and for a second she glanced at the vessel next to the Silent Mary and realised that it was currently sinking. It explained why the pirates were all scrambling on board now. But her small moment of distraction caused her to slip and lose her grip on the sword. Closing her eyes, she grimaced at the incoming blow she expected from the manic looking pirate and braced herself.
But there was nothing. No pain apart from the sting of her arm and she opened her eyes wondering what on earth had happened. The pirate, who had grinned so psychotically at her was now looking like he had seen a ghost. She looked down and saw a sword sticking out of his chest and reeled back when he spat some blood at her from his mouth. Looking around, there stood the tall figure of a very angry and very disgusted Captain Salazar, who pulled the sword from the pirate's chest so effortlessly.
He made eye contact with her and she felt relief wash over her. Constance nearly hugged him, both happy he had saved her and that he seemed to be fine. Her moment of joy was cut off however as he suddenly threw her to the ground as a bullet flew past them. She looked up at him as he covered her body and had this been any other situation she would have blushed, but considering the mayhem that was going around them, her mind did not take into consideration their current position. He lifted her up, mindful of her arm which had caused her white shirt to be stained in blood and the gave her a harsh stare.
"I thought I told you to stay in your room". He shouted at her over the loud screams and bangs surrounding them. He was interrupted by a pirate who attempted to attack him. In a clean blow, he sliced the man nearly in half and then stared at he again as though nothing had happened.
"The pirate was down there with me! What else was I supposed to do?" She shouted back, ducking from another lot odd debris flying in their direction. He seemed irritated at her but pulled her close when a pirate was pushed their way before being killed by an officer. He dragged her up the stairs to the stern deck and she was able to finally get a clear view at what was happening. Most of the pirates looked as though they had been subdued or killed and there was still the occasional scuffle occurring. The pirate ship was well and truly defeated as it sank further and further beneath the water. She was still pressed against the Captain's side as he had yet to let go of her and she heard him shout a command at Lesaro to round up the survivors.
When everything had finally calmed down, the Captain had told her to stay put and she didn't disobey him. Whatever reputation he had got from hunting pirates, she was sure it was right. He looked impressively scary as his usually impeccable uniform was stained with blood and she wondered how many he had slaughtered in such a short time. She supposed she must have looked pretty awful herself with her own blood and more on her once white shirt.
Captain Salazar sauntered down the stairs and she couldn't help but feel her stomach turn at the expression on his face. It was the perfect mixture of pride and disgust and she was very glad not to be on the receiving end of it. He ordered his officers to move the five surviving pirates to the side of the ship and she watched as the tired officers shoved the defeated looking pirates in that direction. One of the officers was Lesaro and he looked quite well in comparison to the other officers, although there was a small amount of blood on his coat.
Captain Salazar stalked the deck, pacing up and down as though he was calculating his next steps. Out of nowhere he suddenly shoved his sword straight through the heart of a younger pirate and with a malicious smile, shoved him off the ship. He paced again and she could not hear what he was asking the pirate but he obviously didn't get the reply he wanted as seconds later the pirate was choking on his own blood and was pushed off the side of the ship.
Constance looked away knowing that he would only do the same to the other two and grimaced at the stinging sensation of her arm. She looked back again and was surprised to see some officers kill the other men and Captain Salazar coming back towards her. He was wiping his face with a handkerchief to remove any specks of blood and she couldn't help but be in awe of his presence as he got closer.
"You surprised me". He murmured when he was close enough. She raised her eyebrows in response.
"I could say the same about you. What surprised you? Oh! Also, an officer was killed outside my room" She added quickly, feeling guilty for not mentioning it sooner. He didn't reply but she swore for a second a flash of sadness flickered through his dark eyes. It made her wonder if he was really as monstrous as he appeared, after all they were his men and they seemed incredibly loyal. He started to shout orders at the tired looking officers in Spanish and he pointed at Santos and gestured for him to go below deck. She stood for a few seconds waiting for him to finish. When he had done, he turned back to her.
"I didn't expect you to fight back. It was….admirable". He murmured and turned his attention to her arm.
"Come, I will get you a new shirt and sort out your arm". She didn't argue and took his offered hand. She would wait till they were in his cabin to thank him.