"Are ye alright?"
Emily feels Alex's worried eyes on her as he speaks. He always seems to be worried about her. It is getting annoying.
"Em-"
"I'm fine, Alex."
"Not, ye're not." He replies matter of factly, pausing in his own work in order to properly turn to her.
She is one of at least three others attempting to secure a loose sail. She had hoped that she'd be able to remain a bit more stoic, but the way Alex is eyeing her hands makes it obvious that she has failed at this.
Either that or he just knows her far too well.
He comes up next to her and grabs the rope firmly in his own strong hands, giving her little choice but to let him take over. She doesn't put up much resistance, anyways. Her hands fall away from the rope. She looks down at them, red and a bit raw, and lets out a small growl of frustration.
Alex finishes what would have been her job, tying down the rope with the efficient ease of practice.
"What were ye expectin? It takes time to get used to this kind of work." He leads her off to an unoccupied area and grabs her hands, inspecting them.
"It's not as though I don't know what hard work is."
"I know that. S'not as bad as it could be. Ye just aren't used to workin with the ropes like this is all."
She snatches her hands back with a roll of her eyes.
"I know that, you're the one that seemed worried."
He grimaces.
"No need to bite me 'ead off. What's with ye anyways? Everytime I try to help ye at all…"
"I don't want anyones help! Tell me how to do things, that's fine, but stop treating me like I'm so fragile."
"Beg pardon, I thought I was bein a friend."
"Yes, well, it wouldn't matter so much if you were the only one."
He gives her a confused look.
"The Captain. She's been trying to 'protect' me from doing anything interesting from the moment I came on board."
"Interesting? What are ye talking about?"
"Two days ago when we made port in Tortuga, perfect example. She ordered me to stay here with the cabin boy."
The cabin boy who is a small, scrawny, eleven year old orphan that the Captain had apparently found and taken on out of pity.
"Did ye really want to go ashore there?" He chuckles.
"Maybe I did. I don't know. It just would be nice if she didn't treat me like I'm different somehow."
"Well..."
Emily opens her mouth to say something else, but is cut off by another crewman, who scolds her and Alex, telling them to get back to work.
She avoids Alex for the rest of that day, out of sheer annoyance more than anything else.
How long does She plan to keep this up? She can't keep me here in the brig forever, can She?
Well, of course She could, but that wouldn't serve Her purpose forever. He is really bound for the Locker, that he knows for certain. He wishes She would stop and let him talk. For that matter, he wishes he could actually get something to come out of his mouth whenever he was in Her presence.
But She terrifies him.
A storm is brewing again outside, but as usual the Dutchman herself seemes to pay no mind to it; he knows it is storming more by the rain and thunder than by the movement of the ship being tossed around on choppy waters.
The ship does start to groan and creak, though, and he can tell by the cold shiver that runs down his spine that She's come out of Her cabin.
He jumps when his father and several other crewmen come walking into the room. His father hands a set of keys to the man next to him.
"It's time." Bill says simply, looking pained as the other crewman unlocks Will's cell and drags him out.
Emily can feel her heart pounding in her chest. A mixture of fear and excitement has her feeling a bit lightheaded, but also all the more ready to face what they are about to.
A ship has been spotted, a fat merchant vessel, no doubt full of cargo. It is the first vessel they've seen in the few weeks since Emily has been on board that looks to be worth raiding, and the Captain has ordered them to head straight for it.
Emily has never been on a ship that's gone looking for trouble like this. What would her father think of her now, dressed like a pirate and armed like one too, helping to load a cannon and fire on an innocent ship? Would he be ashamed of her? Or would he be proud?
She forces herself to focus on the task at hand as they come up along side the merchant vessel. The Captain waits for what seems like forever before finally giving the order to fire.
Emily lights the cannon as she had previously been shown, then jumps out of the way just in time to avoid the kick back as it fires. The Sea's Queen fires three more shots before the merchant begins firing back. Emily freezes when a bullet from someones musket whizzes right past her head.
She lights the cannon again, steps out of the way just in time, manages to lift a cannon ball and hand it to one of the boys loading the gun she's been working with.
Alex grabs her by the arm and pulls her over to the railing where several other crewmen have already crossed over to the other ship, swords drawn.
"Ye said ye wanted to do somethin interestin!" He shouts over the gunfire when she gives him a questioning look. "Just do me a favor and don't get yerself shot!"
She raises her eyebrows at him and shakes her head before turning towards the railing and drawing her own sword. Alex grabs a rope, slips an arm around her slender waist, and pushes off the railing before she can say a word about it.
And I'm going to stop there, because I can. Don't worry, the next chapter won't take too long, I just think it might make this mini action scene more interesting if I draw it out a bit.
Reviews are always to AngieRosie and imusic247 for reviewing my last chapter. :)