Abrielle jumped out of the boat and into the knee length water. She and Alfonso pulled the boat to shore, and stood beside it as Alejandro Maestas stepped magnificently onto the beach, saying, "I claim this land in the name of Spain and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella!"
A short applause went up among the men, and a flag was set up. The sun was setting, and the whole scene made a grand picture. Alejandro Maestas began dictating the layout of the to-be settlement while he sent out one of the men to investigate the land. Abrielle waited for the next boat to come with the shelter they would set up for this evening. None of the men knew her as Abrielle, however. To them, she was Carlitos, the short young man from England.
It had been difficult to hide her sex from the men, especially since she had shared a ship with them for nearly 3 months. It hadn't been hard to look like a man; she was small breasted and had few womanly curves. It had been harder to maintain the guise while living so closely to plenty of men. She had succeeded, despite the difficulties, and the men still believed her to be one of them, a man. Well, most of them believed her to be a man. Dominique Cano, a fellow crewmate, had discovered her halfway through the journey. Luckily for Abrielle, he was an honourable man and a good friend.
Abrielle/Carlitos helped some of the men set up tents. Most of the crew was going to sleep on the land, while Señor Maestas slept in his chambers on the ship. Abrielle couldn't wait to be off the ship. At that moment, nothing appealed to her more than sleeping under the stars. She took a deep breath. Well, maybe a bath would be nice.
Dominique had found her, one day, adjusting the breast band she wore to flatten her chest. After the initial shock had worn off, he had become a good friend. He stuck up for her when other members of the crew would pick on her, and he had helped her keep up the disguise. Dominique was the first true friend Abrielle had ever had.
The sun had set, and most of the crew were curled into their blankets, sleeping. Abrielle stayed awake, waiting for the chance to slip off and explore. Hopefully she could find a nice stream or pond to bathe in, while she was at it. As the snores rose up around her, she slipped out of the blankets and wandered into the trees.
It wasn't long before Abrielle had found a spring. After a swift look around, she quickly stripped out of her clothes and pulled the hair tie out of her shoulder length hair. She jumped into the spring, and luxuriated in the lack of grime and sweat. After she had been scrubbing her skin for a while, she decided it was time to go back. Abrielle climbed out of the spring and began to put on her clothes. As she pulled her shirt over her head, strong arms grabbed her from behind.
Quauhtli, the high Tecuhtli, favourite of the Huey Tlatoani, Ahuitzotl, led his warriors through the trees. He watched the strange pale men sleep, analyzing the threat. Their large city-boat sat in the water, not moving. Smaller boats were pulled onto the beach. Quauhtli would report these men to Ahuitzotl. He signalled his men to return, but a movement caught his eye. One of the pale men had stood up out of his blankets and was moving into the trees just left of them.
Quauhtli gestured his men to follow him as he stalked the stranger. His hand shot up to stop his warriors as the stranger stopped in front of a spring. His breath caught when the stranger took a cursory glance around him. Then, suddenly, the pale man started stripping down. Quauhtli was stunned when he saw that the pale man had the anatomy of a woman. A strange band was wrapped around her breasts, and she pulled out the string tying her pale hair. She splashed into the spring, and Quauhtli could hear a little sound of delight. He watched her intently with both fascination and confusion.
She had boyish shape, not particularly curvy and a lack of normal womanly beauty. But it was dark, and the little that Quauhtli could see, he desired. Already he had made up his mind, and as he told his men that they were taking the pale woman as captive, she stepped out of the spring and began redressing. As she put on the strange breast band to flatten her chest, Quauhtli and his men moved surreptitiously towards the woman. As she pulled on her odd shirt, Quauhtli grabbed her from behind, prepared to clamp a hand over her mouth if she screamed. She did not.
Instead, after the initial shock had worn off, she twisted swiftly and freed herself from his hold. Before he could grab her again, she rapidly swooped down to her clothes and pulled a knife out of the pile. The pale woman pointed it at him, crouching into a defensive position. Quauhtli was surprised at her courage and her speed. Closer to her, he got a good view of her face. Large, pale eyes sat above a small, pointed nose. Her lips were smaller than average for his people, but still pleasantly sized and shaped. As she stared coldly at him, Quauhtli said, "Lay down the weapon; there is no use in resistance."
The pale face showed slight confusion, and she kept the knife held between them. She didn't say anything, so he took a step towards her and said, "D not resist me, woman. Your struggles will be useless."
She looked at him warily, and said something in a strange tongue, though the intent was clear. She was not going to give in willingly. Quauhtli took another step towards her, then another. When he was in reach, the pale one's arm swung up with the knife aimed for his throat. He caught her wrist and quickly seized the knife from her, throwing it to the ground, but her struggles were far from over.
Her foot lashed out as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward, tripping him. His grasp never loosened, however, and he pulled her down after him. As she hastened to get to her feet, he rolled over and threw her back to the ground, getting to his knees. Her arms were quickly pinned to her side, and as she spit out a word that Quauhtli could only presume was a curse, she folded her legs in and kicked her feet into his stomach. This time, his hold did not last.
As Quauhtli tried to find his breath, the pale one launched to her feet and grabbed the knife, but before she reached him, one of his warriors grabbed her. She hadn't noticed his men from their cover, and she let out a loud shriek before a hand clamped over her mouth. Quauhtli cursed as he got to his feet. Coyotl, Quauhtli's second in command, held the pale girl. Her shirt was long on her, and fell mid-thigh, giving her decent covering. Quauhtli motioned his men to bind her, "Do it quickly, her people may have heard the yell."
And they drug the pale one behind them, her muffled voice heard through the makeshift gag, headed promptly to the great city.
