Treasure of the sea |Lesbian story|

CHAPTER XXIII

Arenis lifted one arm and wiped her forehead with her shirt sleeve. Her slightly sweaty face glistened in the morning light. Our lesson had just ended and she ordered me to relieve Quinn, who was working the lookout shift. I nodded and headed for the mast. Unlike Quinn, I wasn't bored hanging out on the lookout. It was as if I had everything under control there, the sky, the sea, the Black Star... Nothing escaped my sight. I watched the men working and talking to each other. Arenis had disappeared below deck. She did not appear for the rest of the morning. There was Dinnington leading the ship on the bridge. Around eleven o'clock, a thick, grey fog rolled in all around us. I kept my eyes wide open, though I could hardly make out anything through the thick fog. When I looked to the east, I noticed a shadow growing larger and more distinct.

A ship.

"A ship to the east!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, leaning over the railing and turning my face downward.

The crew heard, and they all turned toward the unknown ship. I tried to catch a glimpse of its flag, but the fog was too thick. At that very moment, I saw Arenis step out. A hard expression had spread across her face. She climbed the steps two at a time until she came to the side of Dinnington, who released the helm and handed her a spyglass. She opened it and pointed it in the marked direction. She looked through it for a few seconds and then... smiled.

"Open your ears, all of you!" cried the Captain. "It is a Spanish schooner, bound for Spanish colonies. She's definitely easy prey, considering we've got the wind in our favour and a war frigate. So here's what we're going to do: we're going to board that ship, plunder her to the bone, and fill our pockets with the loot!"

Everyone raised their hands in the air and cheered. With my heart in my throat, I quickly descended from the lookout, so fast that I almost fell. The sweat on my palms made me slip. I grabbed hold of the rigging and tried to pull myself together. I took a few deep breaths, then resumed my descent, and, with a leap, landed on the deck. I headed for the bridge, where Arenis was issuing orders left and right, shouting loudly for all to hear. The schooner was picking up speed, had changed course and was trying to escape the Black Star, taking advantage of the fog bank.

"Captain, is this action really necessary?" I asked, breathlessly.

"Miss Adler, what do you mean by that?" She stared at me, squinting. It was a dangerous look, yet I ignored it.

"I mean, haven't you gotten rich enough off my family's money already? Why risk the lives of your men for a Spanish schooner?"

Arenis huffed. "You're so diplomatic. Are you trying to avoid confrontation?"

"As a matter of fact, I am, yes. The hold of this ship is full enough as it is, Captain. Whatever's on that ship won't necessarily fit on the Black Star."

"My dear Miss Adler, I have no time for small talk now. I suggest you stop talking and get below deck. You are not yet ready to fight, so I am ordering you to stay there until the boarding is complete. Do I make myself clear?"

"Captain, do..."

"Do I make myself clear?"

I petrified. "Yes..."

She lifted her lips and faked a smile. "Excellent. Off you go, then."

I did not obey the order. I remained on deck to watch the pursuit of the schooner, which lasted at least half an hour. When we began to approach, and it was clear that the Black Star had the schooner in her grasp, the schooner surrendered, raising a white flag to avoid being fired upon. Then I could see the confusion on the deck of the merchant ship, which reigned supreme. I followed with my eyes some men who climbed some on the aft deck, some on the foredeck, desperately looking for a way out, a place to hide. I could hear their screams, their calls, their terror.

The Jolly Roger, above me, was flapping in the wind.

I had become this now.

I was part of the pirates, those pirates who struck terror in anyone who laid eyes on them, anyone who laid eyes on that black flag. The white skeleton mocked them all, mocked their pathetic attempt to escape.

The pirates had armed themselves to the teeth. Arenis had a pistol and cutlass on her belt. The Black Star came alongside the other ship. Ropes were cast and gangplanks laid out. Arenis was the first to board the schooner, with that proud and intimidating bearing that caused a sense of unease in anyone who looked at her. She shouted something in Spanish, which I did not understand. Soon after, however, a man came forward, whom I understood to be the Captain of the ship. The two of them argued for a few minutes, and then Arenis motioned for her men to go down into the hold and take whatever was there.

The Black Star had suddenly emptied. Most of the pirates had boarded the enemy ship. I was left alone, there on the deck, watching what was happening. I could feel the cold sweat sliding down my back, my heart racing. I wasn't calm, even though the situation seemed under control. I wanted us to leave as soon as possible. I hated feeling in danger.

All of a sudden, a shot.

Oswald the Short fell to the floor, with a hole in his forehead and blood spurting from all sides.

There was a moment of stasis, then, sabres and guns were drawn, and the clash began. I heard cries of pain, bodies smashing to the ground, blades ripping into flesh. I stood there staring at the whole thing, so shocked that I couldn't even look away. Suddenly, I heard a bullet whizzing right over my head and that's when I came to my senses. I ran below deck, where Arenis had told me to stay to escape the battle.

I locked myself in the common room and moved away from the windows. I was so scared I couldn't sit still. I was waving my arms, moving up and down, my eyes darting all over the place and straining my ears, trying to figure out what was going on, who was winning.

The sound of battle was violent. It lasted for some time, until even the last gasp of suffering was muffled. I did not leave the room. I didn't have the courage. The whole situation awakened in me the same fear I had felt that day...

I expected to see the door open and Spanish sailors step through the threshold. What would they have done with a pirate? Hang me? Would they have pointed a pistol at me and killed me on the spot?

When the door opened, my heart missed a beat.

"Miss Adler!"

It was Naade. His tunic was all bloody, but it didn't seem to be his blood.

I pressed a hand over my heart and tried to get the beats to slow, to no avail.

"You are here... Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

"What happened?"

"It's all good. We beat them."

"Why did they attack us? They had surrendered..."

"A trap," he explained. "But it's all right now. Why don't you sit down and try to calm down..."

But I paid no heed to him. I overtook him, and with long strides I went up on deck again.

Outside, I saw the carnage. Corpses covered the deck of the schooner. Scarlet blood gleamed in the sunlight and dripped between the wooden planks.

Oswald the Short and a pirate named Dawson had lost their lives, many others had been wounded, but it was clear that the Spaniards had got the worst of it, as they had been brutally annihilated.

They had spared no one. They were all dead.

I leaned forward and threw up.