Pirate's Life For Me....

Randy Dandy-O!

  She was quiet, simply staring at me before she pulled some parchment from her pocket. Unfolding it, she then read aloud what was written.

  "'I, Deana Blake, do hereby plead guilty to the charges of treason and high seas piracy. I understand that the sentence for my crimes is to be hanged by the neck until dead. It is my hope that in exchange for this plea I might be spared the humiliation of a public trial, and that my execution be carried out....privately and mercifully.'" She calmly lowered the paper and looked back at me. She then placed it on the table.

  "At noon tomorrow, you'll be transported under guard to the bay, where you'll be boarded onto the Shark and sent to London to face a Court of the Admiralty. Agree to this plea, and the governor will endorse it. We'll see to it that it is heard favorably, and your experience in London will be short and dignified. Refuse to sign it, and your experience will be anything but."

  "You came down from your tower to ask me to beg for mercy? What a fantasy this must have been for you." I licked my lips, feeling the sting from the cut on my bottom lip. "Well, even if I did sign that, we both know it's not me you're really after. The victory would be empty as you seemingly don't give a fuck about my piracy or my treason. No, I know what really angers you, and the fact that the one that did it isn't even in this cell must piss you off." I smirked. "And let me guess, the only crime of his you really care about....it's not even one of the reasons Rogers has a bounty on him, is it? Is the murder of Richard Guthrie anyone else's concern other than yours?"

  "He's a fucking coward." Eleanor shook her head. "When Charles Vane takes something from a man, he looks him in the eye and gives him a chance to deny him. It's all bullshit." She said while stepping towards me. "It was always bullshit. He stole my father from me in the dead of night like a rank fucking cutpurse, and he did it because he wasn't man enough to face me, to show himself. So he found the lowest, cruelest, weakest deed imaginable and acted it upon an innocent man with whom he had no quarrel....knowing that I had finally begun to build something with him that I was finally able to see good in him." Eleanor looked like she was close to tears.

  "He was a shit." I popped off.

  "What did you just say?" And she looked at me as if I had slapped her....again.

  "He was a cowardly, selfish, treacherous shit who cared only for himself and for you not at all." I rose my brows. "You know this. Then suddenly he walks back through your door, tells you he can give you all of the things you want, tells you Charles is your enemy, and, just like that, his love is sacred, and Charles was but an inconvenient obstacle to your ambitions." I scoffed.

  "He didn't deserve the shit you put him through." Leaning my head back against the pillar, I kept eye contact with her. "You may think what you like of him, that he's some villain to your story, but that won't make it true. He really did love you, as did Max even, and yet....here you stand....sided with Governor Rogers while trying to kill a man that did so much for you when you gave him hardly anything in return other than pain, heartache, and sorrow." Slowly blinking, I shifted where I sat to find a more comfortable position. "He's no doubt pissed at me now, but I'd rather that than have him in my place facing you and your delusions."

  "Goodbye, Deana." The blonde walked to the door.

  "....He betrayed you, ya know?" I said as she was reaching for the handle. "At first, he begged Charles for mercy. Then he promised to make him rich. But when he realized Charles wasn't after those things....he promised to deliver you to him. Promised to exchange your life for his. That is who your father was, Eleanor. And you know it's true." I watched her from the corner of my eye before she turned on her heel and walked towards me.