Jewel of the Sea [Black Sails]

Chapter Three

(Alira)

I woke with a start as I heard someone trying to silence their steps and enter my tent. My hand slid around the hilt of one of the knives hidden under my pillow and I flipped to my feet as I heard the tent flap rustle closed behind them. As I was about to plunge my blade into my assailant, I froze as I recognized who it was, the first friend I'd made in Nassau, Billy Bones. Billy was a year or two older than me, he was taller than most men, not quite the giant my brother and Dimitri were, but appeared to have some kind of Scandinavian blood in him. He had a goofy grin plastered on his boyish face as he held his hands up for peace.

Billy was the boatswain or bosun on The Walrus, the ship captained by the Notorious Captain Flint. While Flint's name still struck fear in the hearts of many on the sea, in Nassau it was clear their seemed to be unrest on the ship, disputes were breaking out more frequently and his crew was starting to question and rival his captaincy. It seemed like any day now they'd call for a vote to depose him as captain, the man in the running was a snake of the man by the name of Singleton. I'd seen him a few times in the taverns, he was a violent drunk, an insatiable lecher and didn't know a damn thing about being a leader.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with a yawn as I dropped the knife onto my bed and walked over to a mirror I had hanging from one of the support beams of my tent. There was a small table with a clean basin and pitcher of fresh water so I could wash my face.

"You challenged me." He chuckled as he dropped into a comfy chair next to a trunk filled with some of my weapons. "Remember?" His dark blue eyes twinkled with laughter.

"To what?" I grumbled as I splashed fresh water on my face before patting it dry with a clean cloth setting next to the wash basin. My eyes flicked to the mirror before me and for a moment, I didn't recognize the girl staring back at me. Before we'd left for Nassau, I'd been pale, I was strong before but I'd gotten stronger through our many struggles. The girl staring back at me in the mirror had a sun kissed golden glow to her once pale skin making the color of my bright jade green eyes and my pale almost white blonde hair pop against the contrast of my darker skin. My muscles looked more defined. I barely recognized myself in the mirror, the girl staring back at me wasn't a girl, but a warrior.

"Before you left for your prize, you said you'd wipe the floor with me at a knife throwing contest." Billy pointed.

I smirked as I pulled my pale hair back and secured it with a bright jade ribbon. "You misunderstood then, it wasn't a challenge, it was a fact."

"Prove it."

Sighing, I ducked behind a small fabric partition to change out of my nightshirt. I slipped into a pair of form fitting black trousers and my steel boned black corset before throwing a simple dark jade cotton shirt over top. Stepping into my comfortable black boots with the trick blades in the soles, I reached for the mess of leather atop the screen that had various loops to hold a plethora of blades I secured one under my cotton shirt with concealed blades and attached another to my right thigh securing a small pouch filled with throwing knives before securing another over my cotton shirt that held my two curved medium sized blades.

"Let's go." I stepped out from behind the screen and smiled as Billy's eyes widened as he took in my battle-ready appearance.

"Are we going to war?"

I rolled my eyes and ducked out of the tent smiling to myself as I heard him scrambling to catch up with my quick surefooted strides.