The Starboard Side

Chapter 4: Captain Hayze

"Care for a drink, girl?" the Captain asked Naida, wrenching the cork off a bottle of rum with his teeth.

Nadia stared at him for a moment. "Um... no, thank you."

A look of surprise came across the captains face, and he set the bottle down on the desk. "Never met a woman who wasn't fond of the drink," he said, leaning back in his chair.

"You mustn't have met many women then," Nadia said bitterly. "Why did you want to see me?"

 "I wanted to discuss the terms of your release." he beckoned to a wooden chair on the other side of the desk, and Nadia sat down gracefully. "Smee, you can go now," the captain continued. She heard the cabin door shut behind her, and she turned her head. Smee was gone, and now it was just her and the captain.

"Now, I haven't introduced myself," the captain went on. "Captain James Hayze. What do they call you?"

Nadia thought for a moment. She wasn't sure if she should give the captain her name. If she did, and he realized that she was a wealthy noblewoman, he would likely ransom her and take her back to her husband. That was the last thing she wanted.

"Nadia," she replied. 

"No last name? Pitty. Could get some useful information out of a last name."

Nadia was getting frustrated. This was certainly no way to treat a woman. "Get on with it then," she said, a stern look on her face. "Where do you plan to release me?"

"Well, we most certainly can't take you back to Longdale. You'd tell everyone about my ship and it's weaknesses," Hayze said, picking up the bottle of rum once more. "But I could take you to a place where everyone already knows my weaknesses."

"And where might that be?" Nadia asked.

The captain took a long swig of rum. "The hidden port of Libertalia. Pirates only. Most pirates don't go to war with other pirates, so we generally don't care about the sharing of weaknesses. Could expose us to a nasty prank, but nothing more. They'll know how to take care of you."

This was outrageous. Nadia had planned for a fresh start at a normal life. This did not include living in a hidden pirate port permanently. Sure, her husband wouldn't be able to find her, but she would be miserable. She was not going to let this happen.

"What if I promised to keep my mouth shut?" she asked.

The pirate let out a short bark of laughter. "I don't do promises. Promises are just lies concealed within more lies. If I lived off of promises, I'd be rotting in a jail cell right now. You're out of luck, love."

Nadia sighed. This man was a hard man to negotiate with. She realized that if she wanted to get her freedom, she would have to demand it. "I'm not going to some secret pirate harbor."

The pirate propped his arm up on his desk and placed a hand on his bristly chin. "I'm afraid that's not really your decision. I brought you here to tell you where we're taking you, not to ask where you wanted to go. Unfortunately, it will take six weeks to get there, so that means we're stuck with you until then. Have fun."

Nadia's jaw dropped, and a look of surprise and anger appeared on her face. She began to say something, but Hayze cut her off. "Oh, by the way, you are free to explore the ship. You can't escape anyway, so there's no point in locking you up." he went back to examining the charts spread across the desk. "It'd be an incredible waste of time."

"Why did you even bring me aboard?" she asked bitterly. 

"So you wouldn't identify us as the pirates who stole from the jeweler or raise an alarm. Was a little late for that, though. Almost got us caught." He took another swig out of his bottle.

Nadia snapped her jaw shut, held head high, and stood up. "Well, fine by me," she said angrily. "I'll find a way off of this ship soon enough." 

With that, she stormed out of the captains quarters and onto the deck, greeted by the gray light of the cloudy morning. There must be some way to force him to take me somewhere else, she thought. There must be. She trudged over to an empty cask and sat down. She placed her head in her hands, watching the crew go about their daily tasks. She thought about the maid who helped her escape Longdale. Wendy was her name. She wondered what was happening to her now. Her husband must have found out about her secret assistance. For all Nadia knew, she could be wandering the streets scavenging for food right now. Maybe Wendy's situation was better. Maybe starving on the streets was better than being imprisoned on a pirate ship.

That moment, an idea struck. As she watched men carrying casks and pulling ropes, she noticed that each of them had a cutlass tied to their belts. They were relatively short, curved blades that looked sharp enough to cut through wood. They were obviously well cared for and polished, as they had no sign of deterioration or tarnish. The one thing that Nadia hadn't tried with the captain so far was threats. If she could get her hands on a cutlass, she could march into the captain's cabin and order Hayze to let her go. She hadn't handled one before, but how hard could it be?

She stood up slowly and examined the crew members, looking for a man who seemed unathletic and slow. She spotted one man, short and spindly, with a long gray beard that extended to his belly button. He wore brown trousers and a brown, buttoned-up jacket, along with a Monmouth cap that covered his head. He was very old, and his face was riddled with creases and wrinkles. He was busy tying a rope nearby. Nadia felt guilty about stealing from the elderly, but this man was still a pirate, despite his age. 

She would have to be extremely swift. In a matter of seconds, she could either gain her freedom or end up in the hold of the ship. Again.

(Enjoying the book? Feel free to vote! If you enjoy my works, please support me, and follow me for updates! )