Things did not go as planned.
At first, the audacious strategy of pretending to be a damaged passenger ship full of fancy folk seemed to work a treat. The Osprey, seeking a chance to get in good with a ship full of nobles heading towards Barbados, slowed and came up alongside. Stede's wardrobe once again came in handy as several members of the crew posed as noblemen with deep pockets who might give the privateers a reward for their service.
For the plan to go off, Stede just had to be Stede. He charmed and set the privateer captain at-ease and convinced him that they were no threat. So they set up the gangplanks and dropped anchor in preparation for assisting with repairs. Just as they planned.
The ambush started soon after, also according to plan.
What none of them counted on was the fact that the pirate prisoners in the hold took the distraction of the rescue to stage an escape, and they had no reason to think that the crew of the Revenge were on their side.
After that, things went off the rails.
The deck of the Osprey was chaotic as the Revenge crew, half of whom were wearing Stede's silks, fought with the privateer crew and the pirates who'd managed to escape from the hold.
Ed, who was not known to keep his head in the heat of battle, was having a hard time not slashing out indiscriminately at anyone not his own crew. That was made even more challenging by the fact that many of the escaped pirates saw him as a direct threat.
The Revenge crew tried to concentrate their attacks on the privateer crew, and Ed spotted Oluwande talking down a cluster of pirates, then teaming up with them to secure the ship's guns. He also spotted Jim moving around the fringes of the battle, delivering strategic dagger attacks on anyone coordinating the privateer's resistance.
Black Pete scrambled around the side of the deck. Ed distinctly heard the sound of silk ripping. The man then had to suffer the indignity of fighting a bloody battle with his ass hanging out.
"Look, I need to find your leader! We're here to help!"
That was Stede's voice.
Ed tried to fight his way through a thicket of privateers and escaped pirates, but he kept getting shoved and jostled, or he had to snarl in someone's face and brandish his blade. Or, in the case of a clear privateer, simply gut the man and move on.
By the time he made his way through the chaotic tangle of blood, silk, and human filth, it was just at the moment an escaped pirate pressed a cutlass up to Stede's neck and grabbed him by the back of the hair.
"Get your fucking hands off him, you writhing maggot," snarled Ed with fury that rose up from the pit of his stomach. It was loud and intense enough that the clang of swords and cacophony of battle suddenly ceased.
The crowd parted, leaving nothing but air between him and the man that held Stede captive.
Rage hummed through Ed's entire body. He wanted nothing more than to cut the man's extremities away bit by bit for daring to lay a hand on Stede. But unlike in the past, he felt he had control of the Kraken - that it would do his bidding.
And what the beast inside him wanted most of all was to protect his man.
Ed let the dark mask fall over his eyes. He stepped forward, footfalls thundering against the deck.
He saw a flicker of fear in the pirate's eyes, and a moment where he seemed to put together just who he was faced with. But the man stood his ground and even pressed the sharp blade a little tighter against Stede's throat.
YOU ARE READING
The Accidental Seduction of Edward Teach by Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate
Fanfiction"Well, that's that, then. I know he's your friend, Ed, but he was a toxic influence on the crew. And on you as well," Stede declared. Something about those words stung Ed just a little. He wasn't not-not himself with Jack. It was just that being aro...
