Stede swung his sword at the nearest British officer, knocking the man to the ground. Izzy's lessons had clearly had an effect, Stede would never have been able to do that a few months ago. He stabbed at another solider, and he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as the man joined his companion on the sand.
"Stede!"
Stede turned to see Zheng fighting a large group of soldiers all at the same time, somehow managing to hold them all back with just her sword,
"Help!" She shouted.
Stede raised his sword and charged at the group. He swung at the man closest to him, but the man raised his sword to meet Stede's, blocking Stede from stabbing him. Stede tried again but once more he was blocked. Stede pulled back and made as if to strike again but then he saw the soldier's eyes flick to something just over Stede's shoulder. Stede looked around just in time to see another solider charging at him. Stede shrieked and ducked out of the way, narrowly missing being beheaded.
The first solider used Stede's distraction to take another swing at him. Stede quickly raised his sword to block the attack, but he was now on the back foot, he managed to meet the man's sword with his own, but it took all his strength to use his sword to push the man away.
Before Stede could mount his own attack, the second solider went to strike again. Stede threw himself to the ground to avoid the swing. He raised his sword above his head in an effort to protect himself, but it was clear he'd lost this fight. Maybe he'd been optimistic when he'd thought Izzy would be impressed with his sword work.
One of the soldiers took another swing at Stede and succeeded in knocking his sword out of his hand. The soldier raised his sword into the air once more and prepared to strike again. Stede screwed his eyes shut. He was going to die. He was going to die, and he was never going to see Ed again. Oh god, the last thing he'd said to Ed was calling him a coward.
Suddenly, something heavy dropped on top of him. Stede opened his eyes to see both of the British soldiers slumped over in his lap and Zheng standing over them with her sword raised.
"Get up," she said before spinning back around and stabbing another solider.
Stede pushed the men off him and got to his feet. He reached for his sword but just as he wrapped his fingers around the hilt, he felt the touch of a cold blade press against his throat.
"Drop it," the man holding the sword hissed.
Stede let go of his sword and slowly raised his hands.
The man lowered his sword from Stede's neck to press it into his back instead.
Stede looked over to see Zheng, still in the midst of fighting a whole gang of soldiers at once. She was about holding her own, even against a dozen men, but Stede could see more soldiers running over to her. Zheng may be tough but even she couldn't single handedly take on an entire army.
Stede made to reach for his sword, intending to run to Zheng's help, but the moment he started to lower his hand the solider behind him pressed his sword hard into his back, "Don't you dare," he hissed.
A solider finally broke through Zheng's defences and took a swipe at her shoulder. She let out a shout and dropped her sword, her other hand flying to the cut the soldier has made. Several men surged forward and grabbed hold of Zheng. One of them wrenched her arms behind her back, causing her to cry out in pain again, then dragged her over to Stede.
Another solider took hold of Stede's arms and pulled them behind his back too.
"March," one of the soldiers ordered,
"Where are we going?" Stede asked as they were pushed forward,
"To join the others,"
"When you say the others…?"
"Every other pirate we've rounded up in this sorry place."
That wasn't confirmation that his crew was alright, but it meant there was a good chance they were.
Stede and Zheng were led away from the beach and towards Jackie'z.
"You're holding everyone here?" Stede asked in surprise, but none of the British officers dignified him with an answer.
The solider leading the way pushed open the door and shoved Stede and Zheng inside. Several of the British men looked up as they entered the room.
"Stede!"
Stede turned to see Prince Ricky standing up from a table, his arms held wide. He'd gained a porcelain nose since Stede had last seen him. Well, that confirmed what had happened after Jackie had caught him, not that Stede had had much doubt.
Behind Ricky, Izzy rolled his eyes. Why Izzy was sat with Ricky instead of with the rest of the crew Stede didn't know,
"You know this prick?" Zheng said,
Stede shrugged slightly, "We've met but I wouldn't necessarily say I know him,"
"You did introduce us to him, Captain," Pete called out from the bar,
"Ok, that's–"
"This guy is responsible for this," Ricky tapped his nose as he made his way over to Zheng and Stede,
"That's not fair," Stede said, "You wouldn't have gotten caught if you hadn't tried to leave a calling card,"
Izzy scoffed.
"I can't believe I went into business with that guy," Zheng said,
"You went into business with him‽"
Zheng's head snapped up to glare at Stede, "So did you!"
"Ah, but we got out before he blew up our ship," Roach chimed in.
Zheng turned to scowl at Roach but before she could reply Ricky clapped his hands,
"As fun as this is, you can continue your argument in the cell and leave us to our drinking and our stories."
The men holding Stede and Zheng pushed them forward,
"Wait!" Ricky cried, "Take Mr Hands back as well."
Another man grabbed Izzy's arm and hauled him out of his seat.
Stede looked over to where Pete and Roach were working by the bar. Jackie was also there, pouring out what looked like glasses of brandy, however, something about it was off. The colour wasn't right. It was too light. It looked like when his cousin Phillip had watered down his brandy to try and make it last longer. "You might want to find a new brandy supplier," Stede said,
"What?" Jackie cried,
"Your brandy looks like it's been watered down, or at least, something's been added to it,"
"How dare you! Jackie only serves the highest quality brandy," Jackie went to pour another glass, but Ricky caught her arm. He reached out and picked up one of the glasses of brandy. He went to sniff it before stopping short, remembering his lack of a nose. He scowled and thrust the glass out to one of the men sat at the nearest table, "Smell that," he ordered.
The man sceptically raised an eyebrow at Ricky, but he dutifully took the glass and brought it up to his nose, "Smells like brandy," the man said,
"Drink it,"
The man sighed dramatically before downing the brandy. "There-" before the man could get another word out his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward onto the table.
Ricky turned back to Jackie with a smile on his face, "On second thoughts take them all down to the cells,"
"Dammit Stede!" Jackie shouted as her arms were pulled behind her back,
"Sorry! How was I to know you were poisoning them‽"
"Did you think I was just going to let the British navy take over my bar?"
Stede looked guiltily down at the ground as the group were shoved down some stairs and into a dingy basement. He glanced up and saw the rest of his crew standing behind a set of large rusty bars. They all looked up when the door was thrown open and Archie quickly dropped the piece of fabric she had wrapped around one of the bars. One of the soldiers reached out and snatched the material, "Nice try,"
"Hey!" Lucius cried.
Stede turned to see Lucius was standing there in just his smalls, clutching a pair of trousers, "What happened to you?"
"Well, we got captured and locked up by the British,"
"No, I meant what happened to your clothes?"
"They were sacrificed to a worthy course," Jim said as one of the soldiers opened the cell door and pushed the group inside.
Zheng hurried over to Auntie and knelt down in front of her,
"She's injured," Olu supplied. Zheng turned back to the guards on the other side of the bars, "She needs help," she said, "She needs a doctor,"
One of the soldiers scoffed, "Why would we waste out medical supplies on you lot?"
"She could die!"
The solider shrugged, "You're all due to be hanged anyway, what difference does it make if she bleeds out instead. Outcomes still the same,"
Zheng let out a gasp of despair and fell into Olu's arms.
Stede collapsed against the wall behind him. His thought earlier had been right: He was going to die, and he was never going to see Ed ever again.