1670, Caribbean Sea. She's the daughter of a legendary pirate. He's a Spanish captain. Their countries are at war. Their fathers killed each other. And they were destined to follow on their steps.
But sometimes destiny isn't written in stone: it's w...
The next day, Marina decided to head back to Tortuga. Chance or destiny brought the Phantom across two more merchantmen before reaching Cayona. Both ships surrendered like the first one, and the Phantom moored in Cayona bay with the hold full of plunder and a hundred very-happy pirates onboard.
Marina had hardly stepped on the dock when she fell in Cecilia's open arms. A peddler woman had sent word to Cecilia as soon as the Phantom showed up in the offing behind the reefs, and she'd dropped everything to come welcome her daughter.
Marina held her back tight, never minding about the people around them. After all, women in their family never cared about what people might think.
She stayed home for a whole week. She would've set sail again the next day, but she wanted to give her crew a chance to rest from the discipline she'd instituted, and to trade their share of the plunder. Until she grew just too impatient and asked Morris to summon the crew as soon as he could.
Which turned out to be the next morning. Marina got to the port early and was surprised to find them all waiting for her at the dock, not onboard. Until Maxó explained that nobody dared to board the Phantom without her permission, fearing her father's spirit would throw them to the sea. Marina swallowed her laughter and nodded, as serious as Maxó, and boarded the first boat to lead her men. As soon as they were all there, she went back ashore with Morris and Pierre, and spent the morning at the stores, buying all they needed to fill the hold for several weeks.
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Over the following months, Marina was able to convince Morris he didn't need to babysit her anymore and took the Phantom closer to the eastern Spanish colonies, crossing every route they knew. Many merchantmen followed the first one. Marina and her crew chased them all down and stripped them of everything valuable they carried. Now and then they would come across some fool who thought that half a dozen guns and some jibs were enough to escape the Phantom, and put up a fight while trying to leave the pirate ship behind. Smoking wrecks floating adrift was all that was left of them.
Marina wouldn't allow any kind of abuse inflicted on those who surrendered to her, but she didn't hesitate to fight back whoever tried to resist. For she knew her life depended on it. And like Wan Claup had said, not only her life, but the lives of all her men, because it was her calls that decided whether they lived through another day.
The pirates adored her. In a way, Marina was their child, their pearl. Even if she was a legal corsair, therefore unchallenged master of her own ship, she behaved as if they were freebooters. She shared their chores, joked with them, treated them as equals. She wasn't ashamed of her lack of experience, and she would often ask them about routes to sail or the best course of action. The pirates gave her advice gladly, proud to see her learn from them, and seeing her laugh made their day every time.
But when the time came for real action, she was the captain. Some said it was in her blood, others said it was the spirits of her father and uncle watching over her, and even whispering in her ear. Those closer to her knew it was instinct combined with attention and intelligence. Marina kept learning as eagerly as the first time she'd boarded the Sovereign. She got better with every day she spent at sea, and she was capable of applying everything she learned to different situations. Soon she could tell which ship would surrender with a single glance. And she made the most of the Phantom even better than those who had sailed on it under her father, like Morris, Maxó, De Neill or Jean.
