Queen of The Sea

Prologue

Bright moonlight shimmered off the dazzling sea. Pure lights of silver and white seemed to dance upon the ocean as it moved and swayed in the dead of night. Though it wasn't as dead as one had expected.  A young maiden with brown hair braided down her back stumbled along the beach. She stepped quickly over the wet sand, sinking slightly under the her weight. She was draped in flowy white fabric, and no shoes upon her pale feet. Cries of an squirming infant could be heard from the mess of blankets that the lady in white held.  The woman looked frail and weak, and the infant was no doubt older than a few weeks. Trying her best to hush the crying baby she carried on her way down the shore line. Then, with no warning, the woman stopped. She turned to face the ocean, the light reflecting the off the sea was almost blinding to the woman. Her eyes were amber in the day but almost pitch black in the night, but they were no longer colored, but dulled. 

The woman was ill, very ill. Too ill to even walked and too ill to tend to a newborn. No money, nor home to rest in, no husband to care for the baby after her death, no hope left for the maiden and her child. She wished to return her child and herself to from once she came. The ocean. The cold waves lapped at the bare feet of the woman as she stood facing out towards the seemingly endless sea. With each wave that receded from the beach, the woman drew herself further and further away from the safety of the beach, the crying infant with wailing in her arms. So caught up in her own world, she didn't notice the woman in brown leather suit and a black tricorn on her mess of black hair. The woman had come from a ship, docked in the nearby town. She was strolling the beach when she saw the young maiden.

"Aye lass, what are you doin'? With the child?" As the woman with messy black hair spoke, the lady in white stopped. Slowly she turned around to face the woman who had spoken. Grief swirled in her weak amber eyes.

"I'm taking her with me, we have nowhere  to go and she'll die with me regardless..." The sickly woman said with a rough and raspy voice. Pain seeped through her words, giving the lady in brown leather soft eyes and a softer heart. 

"Give her to here, lass" She reached her hand out to the woman in white. The woman stared her down and shielded her baby away from the strange woman. "She should live." The woman in brown leather said. She stepped into the receding waves, moving closer to the woman and her infant. "Give yer child a chance, lass." Yet, with each step the woman took closer to the young mother, the maiden in white stepped back.

"N-no..." The lady finally said, voice quivering as the sound of soft waves surround them. "She's better off with her mother." She protested. After she spoke, she glanced down at her baby. A daughter, born with pale skin and brown hair, the infant threw her arms up helplessly as she cried out loudly. 

"Come on." Stumbling closer, the waves making it harder to sat as the woman in white retreated deeper and deeper in the ocean. "Give 'er here." She said softly. The lady dress in the white cloth hesitated for a moment, the waves tugging her further and further out. She held the infant out towards the woman. What else could she had done? They both would have died. The woman in white had no idea what would happen to her child after but she trusted this woman slightly. Maybe she was a mother herself, or would help her daughter find a home. Without another thought, the lady in the leather suit took the baby from her arms and cradled. "What is the name?" 

"Leona... Leona Crabnet..." With those final words, the woman in white let the ocean pull her into its depths. The one remaining woman turned away from the ocean and walked back onto the beach, never taking her eyes off Leona. Leona had stopped crying when she was placed in the woman's arms. The baby looked up at the woman and reached out towards her, grabbing a piece of hair that draped over her shoulder. The lady in leather smiled at the infant, a feeling pf warm overcame the woman as she looked into the soft brown eyes of the child.

As the woman in leather and the baby entered the ocean-side town, strong odors of whiskey and horse stung her nose. Many people walked in the streets, even in the late hours, but most of the people were thieves and wenches. The woman clicked on the stone path as she made her way down to the docks were her ship lay. She did her best to hide the baby, who was still wrapped up in the blanket as she climbed aboard a large ship. 

"Ahoy! The cap'ns back!" An eager voice called from the ship as she made her way up the ramp. The main deck of the ship was lit up with oil lamps and some candles. Some of the ship's crew were drinking heavy rum and singing old pirate melodies, while the others washed the deck or practiced combat. When the crewmate announced her arrival, the crew turned to look. 

"Oi Cap, what'cha got there?" One of the older shipmates commented as he saw the bundle in the captain's arms. By now, Leona was fast asleep, curled up tightly in the blankets. 

"A child." A silent gasp echoed through the crew as she announced the child's presents.  She carefully removed some of the banket to reveal the chubby face of the infant. 

"Cap'n Ira, where'd you even get a baby?" A man dressed a loose tan short and dark trousers walked over to Captain Ira. His name was Paxton, the first mate on the infamous pirate ship The White Squid. "Did you steal it for a ransom?" The man questioned.

"Her mother drowned herself. I wasn't 'bout to leave the child to starve." Ira said. She studied the faces of the people around her. 

"Is it wise to bring a child here on the ship Cap?" Paxton asked. "Are you goin' to keep it?"

"'It' has a name. Her name is Leona Crabnet. Aboard this ship she is one of us. We shall raise her as one of our own. Got it?" Captain Ira asked as she searched for any unwilling faces. "We may have been left by our own families, at least we can do is give her one." She said.

"Why the soft heart cap'n?" Another man asked. It as true, a kind heart was not a normal thing upon the White Squid. Ira shot a deadly glare at the man that had spoken. 

"I don't know. You wouldn't understand if ye wasn't there. The baby was wailing." She said. "Now, ye all have duties, get to it." With the dismissal, Captain Ira made her way across the main deck and into the Captain's quarters.

The walls was decorated in with maps, another with other pirate flag that Captain Ira had taken as a trophy after she defeated enemy ships. A small desk was placed in the center of the room. Sprawled out on the wooden desk were gold coins, and a map or two. Alongside the papers, was a dagger and a handgun that was owned by the Captain herself. To the right or the door was a bed, made of wood and for blankets, were skinned animal hides. Ira wasn't expecting to adopted a baby, so she did her best to prepare.  Having little t no resources, Ira did the best she could, making a small crib out of an empty barrel and placing on the left side of the Captain Quarters. 

With that, Ira was exhausted, almost drifting off to slumber as she placed baby Leona in the makeshift crib and looked down at her. She was sleeping peacefully, the gentle rocking of the ship must've lulled the child to sleep. She looked innocent, but the life she was going to live on the White Squid would make her far from it. Ira smiled gently and turned to go to her own bed and sleep. Tomorrow Captain Ira and her crew would set sail across the vast ocean, never knowing where they might end up. Ira thought about how Leana would react to life of a pirate.