Black Sails and a Yellow Muslin Dress

Sing Me No Lovesongs

TV Shows » Black Sails » Black Sails Author: martykate

Cathy watched Silver disappear into the brothel. The man had a talent for being inconspicuous when he needed to be, she granted him that. She hoped he was also good at hearing things he wasn't supposed to.

The quiet of her rooms beckoned her. She climbed the stairs, listening to the breeze rustle the palms, wishing she could escape to her waterfall and let the world disappear around her. That was a luxury she could not afford at the moment. Would she ever be able to live that quiet life she so wanted, or was it truly as Ned Low had said, if she did attain it, she would tire of it?

She opened the doors and the windows, letting the air blow through. The hottest part of the day was approaching, people would seek the indoors, coming out again in the evening when it cooled, and a breeze came in off the harbor. Her rooms were cool but she hated being constrained by four walls. Charles would grow impatient with her when she would leave him in the afternoons, but she had no inclination to remain in that dungeon he called his room.

She looked towards the fort, wondering what he was up to. There were no regrets for her in leaving him, she should have done it a long time ago. How had he held that much influence over her, anyway? She'd run away from strict parents, only to find herself under the thumb of Flint, who had become her in loco parentis. Charles had seen like freedom at first, it had taken her a long time to realize he had wanted to keep her completely under his thumb. She had escaped him, once; now, at least, she had somehow managed it again.

"Never again," she thought, "Never again. I blinded myself to the truth, but my eyes are open now. Poor Eleanor, so blinded by love? Loyalty? Gratitude? How long is it going to take for you to open your eyes."

A knock at the door drove her out of her reverie.

"I think you better come and see this," said Silver, and she followed him to the bordello, wondering what had happened.

Vane, Rackham, and Anne Bonny were walking together like old friends. "Son of a bitch," she whispered, "What's happened here?"

"Well," said Silver, "All is apparently forgiven. How that came about I do not know. I suppose the element of mystery would be our friend Max. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet, but..."

"No, Silver, this is something I have to take care of. Max is always plotting, but this is something even I could not have predicted. Tell my brother, this is not good news. Rackham is a captain without a ship, and I'm dying to know whose ship he plans on taking to remedy it."

"By the itching of my thumb, something wicked this way comes." She put her hands on either side of her head, and squeezed her eyes shut. Thoughts were swirling madly inside her head, and she couldn't make them stop. "Talk to Max". No, Max might not want to talk. "Make her talk anyway."

"Talk to Vane." No, I don't want to end up in his bed, and somehow that is what would happen. He'll use sex to show me he can still control me—even though he can't. And I don't want him to find out what Low told me. But he's up to something, I know, I always know. I can read him better than Eleanor, even when my love for him was blinding me, I could always read the truth in his eyes. He wants what my brother wants, he wants to rule the island, the trouble is he can't. Flint's wiser, Flint can see what's coming, Charles only wants the easy way out.

"I'm going to talk to Max," she said out loud, "I think she traded a secret for the reconciliation with Rackham and Bonny. That's got to be it. I'm going to the brothel to talk to her. Go find my brother and let him know."

"Oh no, I'm your watchdog upon pain of death. I'm not to let you out of my sight," Silver grinned, that ingratiating smile of his could either humor or irritate.