10Book 1: The Seafarer
Song 2: The Sailor's Loves
The maiden, oh, the maiden oh.
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!
So early in the morning,
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!
A maid that is young,
A maid that is fair,
A maid that is kind and pleasant, oh,
So early in the morning,
The sailor loves the maiden, oh!
10 years later.
The air was cool and calm; the water raised the ship on the breadth of each wave and rolled it to the next. It creaked with the force but more from the crew scrambling atop its deck. "Stand in men! We have one hell of a fight ahead of us!" Another ship emerged from the edge of a fog, and about the large, rough rocks on the shores of the delicate isles. Each man took their station at the charge of a graying captain and his younger boatswain. They rushed through the ship and aided the crew as best they could, scouting the jobs left open. They each found a station, the captain at the wheel, the other at the sails.
As the ship emerged, as did its sadistic captain, a navy man, jacket pressed, hat in perfect order, he went by the name of Admiral Gar, but those that knew him called him cutthroat. He was ruthless and cruel, never taking prisoners, and never left a soul alive. He was as coldblooded as a crocodile, waiting to kill anything in his path. He stood like a king, on the edge of his ship and smirked as he met eyes with the captain of the other vessel. "I thought you died ages ago old man!" he yelled over the current and the gulls on the beach several yards back.
"It'll take more than one of your petty bullets, Cutthroat!"
"We'll see." he said just loud enough for the crew to hear and pulled out a flint-lock pistol from his coat. He pointed it at the captain and smiled. "You've become quite the problem old man; you've made the king very unhappy. So I suggest you prepare to be brought, but I don't really have to bring you in alive."
"You black-spotted wretch!" The boatswain stood firm, a pistol of his own in one hand and he stood in front of the captain protectively.
"Well now James, you'd risk your life for that old fool? What a shame. You used to be such a good soldier. Oh well, you're just in the way." He lifted his pistol and pulled back the lock, a man standing beside him put in the gunpowder and he aimed straight for James with little intent to not live up to his words. What he didn't expect, a figure on the mast stood in wait and as he loaded his gun and James tried to load faster, the figure decided to engage. "By the way, where is that little wench I keep hearing about? She's been causing even more trouble-"
"Not yet I haven't you bastard!" the figure leapt from the mast, and swung on a support rope towards Gar with such velocity it knocked him to the ground. The figure stood over him like a looming ghost. A feminine figure, long reddened blond hair and light blue eyes. Her wardrobe was one to be seen, tight, effective, and startlingly seductive. She placed a heeled boot on his chest and pulled the pistol from his hand with ease. "Wench eh?" She tossed his pistol over the side of the ship and looked up abruptly as she saw his quivering first mate holding a pistol of his own. She pulled a scimitar from a belt around her waist and pushed the unloaded pistol away with the sharp tip. When the young man dropped it, she placed the blade to his neck. "Run along." he complied without a word and she then pointed the blade at the admiral. "So this is the notorious Cutthroat eh?" she said with a smirk. As Navy men crowded her and began to pull out weapons she looked around her. "Now, now, boys we would want anything to happen to the admiral would we?" she pressed the blade to his neck, he looked worried, he didn't know this enemy and couldn't call her bluff.
"Do what she says!" he croaked and they looked at her, stopping.
"Now, throw them overboard." she said gesturing her head towards the edge of the boat. They looked at her strangely. "Throw the damn swords and pistols overboard you dogs!" she shouted and used her sword to point in the direction to make her point. When she did this though the admiral grabbed her leg, which shocked her and she stumbled backwards. The admiral managed to leap up and grab her by the neck; he grabbed her scimitar and placed it against her neck. She struggled, but stopped when she could feel the cold blade against her neck. James looked over at her and growled.
"That idiot." he looked at the crew for a moment and then began commanding the crew quietly, he had a plan, and as annoyed as he was at the young girl, he didn't miss a beat.
"What are you going to do now?" the admiral chuckled, "I might as well keep this one, seems feisty, just my type." the girl rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Just hurry up and get me out of here." she called nonchalantly.
James sighed angrily, "No, I think I'll just leave you there. You can have her admiral, she's pretty useless. Only good for screwing with. Women aren't worth the trouble."
"James you bastard!" she shouted over at him, "when I get out of here you're going to get it!"
"Yeah right you can't even beat me at checkers ya little witch."
The admiral looked on with confusion, and the captain looked back at James, "James, what are you saying?" he asked him quietly.
"Just saying what's on my mind captain." he said with a smirk. The captain held a look of concern but said nothing else. "What good is a wench that can't pull her weight, what a useless little brat, you've held us back for all these years, you're like a damn monkey on my back!"The girl became angrier, her body tensing with rage and she gritted her teeth as if holding back. "What the hell we need you for, I'll never know. Just take her off our hands admiral, she's all yours, she used to be a prisoner of the navy anyway, just returning some lost merchandise."
With that the girl's anger had over flowed, she kicked back and managed to nail the admiral in his upper thigh, digging in her heel he had a momentary lapse and loosened his grip. She grabbed him and forced his abdomen into her knee. "You're dead James! You hear me! Dead!" She took her sword, and grabbed the admiral by the collar, his stunned crew did little to save him and she pushed him overboard. She gritted her teeth and grabbed the loosened rope that was barely hanging over the navy vessel. She grabbed it as best she could and swung across.
When she landed, she didn't hesitate and trudged over to James, and just before she could lift her fist to hit him she was stopped by two strong arms from behind her. "Let me go Big Guy, I have to deck him!" as the crew around her prepared to fire the cannons.
"Sorry Miss Rosalind, I can't let you." the large black man led her away from the deck and down into the kitchen where he did what he always did when she was upset, he handed her a mango, which she never bothered to peel or cut and she sat down and ate.
"That bastard, is going to get it, how dare he call me useless? And a whore? Where the hell does he get off calling me that?" She stared angrily at the wall and plotted just how she would get him back. She pouted like a child. "I save his and captain's life and I get called a wench and a whore! How dare he say anything about what happened back then! He knows that pisses me off."
"Perhaps that's what he intended to do Miss Rosalind."
"Damn right that's what he wanted, a death sentence."
"Maybe-" Big Guy was interrupted by a throaty sound, James stood there, brow raised and waited for Big Guy to leave, when he did, she simply glared at James.
"What? Come to torment me? Tell me just how much you don't need me, and how much of a useless whore I am!" she yelled and flipped her chair. She glared at him as if daggers were shooting from her eyes. "What the hell do you want!"
"You were being an idiot!"
"Oh, I'm an idiot after saving you and the Capt'n's life? The both of you would have been shot!"
"And you could have been killed!"
"Better me then the Capt'n!"
"Don't say that, the captain would never let that happen! Besides you know well how the captain sees you, you mean more to him than his own life!"
"What about you? How much do I mean to you James?" she said abruptly and he stopped for a moment and then grew angry again.
"You mean something to the captain, and the captain means something to me, and that's all that matters!" He stormed away and back on to the deck. Rosalind threw her mango to the floor and trudged back up on deck and towards the cabin hatch. She walked into her bunk room and leapt on the top. She laid there and looked at the ceiling angrily glaring as if it were the devil of the ocean, staring back at her. She mumbled to herself and attempted to go to sleep.
She heard the door, and still in a state of easy slumber she listened intently as the heavy, recognizable sound of boots trudged in and stopped in front of the bunk. James was a tall man, five foot eleven in the least, she'd never bothered to ask him, and he never shouted it off the top of the masts so it was only an estimate. He was still dwarfed by Big Guy whom she had in fact asked and he had announced proudly he was in fact six foot seven. Which was the tallest man she'd ever seen, he towered over every man on board and his intimidation factor gave him the upper hand. She could hear the boots shift and she heard several relieved groans of a man who'd worked his day. Had she been awake completely her eyes might have rolled or she might have made a silent giggle, she would remember all those times where within a day she had done more sailing than he ever had. He'd done nothing but mock her.
Big Guy had cut more potatoes, than seconds she'd seen him do work, and she would often make snide comments because she knew she could get away with it. Never to his face, but she never feared getting caught. As she fell into a deeper sleep, ignoring the distant rustling sounds, as her world faded into oblivion, she thought about the events of that day, and she left James in nothing but ill thoughts, as she always did, he knew just how to get under her skin and today was no exception. Out of all the irritating things he was, he was arrogant, and it was just that arrogance that drove her mad and made her want to make his life hell. On most days she succeeded and claimed the satisfaction of his aggravated ranting and his "silent treatment" when they prepared for sleep. She rather liked the silence; it only made her laugh at his struggle to not yell at her.
Late into the night she rose from the top bunk, easing down the ladder slowly and looking over at James, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see his chest rise and fall. She sat on the edge of his bed, sighing softly; she slowly placed a hand against his cheek, "Why are you such a bastard?" She whispered quietly to herself, pausing, "Why do I love you?" She felt him rustle and she pushed him over, knowing he could sleep through near anything. She lay in beside him, and curled up against him, falling to sleep quickly.
When he was sure she was asleep James opened his eyes slowly, he looked at her carefully. He brushed her hair from her face, "I don't know either." He smiled a bit and pulled her closer, going to sleep again.