𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 | 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐜

𝟏.𝟑 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚

Frederick gaped, at loss for words. He closed his mouth, but dropped his jaw once more once he finally noticed Anne. "What are you wearing?"

"Do you want these sailors trying anything with your sister?" Kidd rhetorically asked. "No? Then meet your brother: Andrew."

"Andrew." Anne felt the shape of the name on her tongue. Something about it made her smile, a thought she quickly chastised while straightening her posture. An action that Kidd quickly corrected.

"Slouch," the captain instructed. "Walk with a bit of a swagger, less with your hips and more with your shoulders... Just follow De Soto's lead and you'll be fine."

Without another word, Kidd turned on her heels and strutted down the alley back toward the docks with her head held high in confidence, leading her small entourage of three. Although they received a few looks, none of the sailors dared whistle at the scarlet-clad pirate captain. Too many had lost their teeth and fingers, much less their riches and booze, to the pirate captain over the years from making such a mistake.

De Soto winked in the general direction of a few sailors while swiping some unattended doubloons left out on the counter of a vendor cart while the merchant had their back turned for less than a second. Frederick's nose wrinkled and he quickly looked over his shoulder with a fearful look, but De Soto quickly corrected the action by forcing his head forward. "Never look back toward the crime, Príncipe. That's a sure way to get caught."

Frederick slowly nodded his head, but maintained his sheepish disposition that had returned the second they'd stepped foot outside the tailor's shop. Even though he'd mostly cleaned up, he already felt filthy walking through the grimy streets brimming with disease-ridden sailors and thieves. He closed his eyes, wishing to be home by time they opened, but those dreams were crushed as Anne slung an arm over her brother's shoulder with an excited look beaming from her face.

"This place is so intriguing!"

"If by intriguing you mean unhygienic and licentious, then yes, I agree." Frederick gently removed his sister's arm from around his neck. "Now would you stop bounding around like a hare at a foxhunt and behave like a proper lady, Anne?"

Anne cleared her throat and puffed out her chest. There was a playful look in her eyes as she contradicted him, "But I'm not a proper lady, anymore. I'm a sailor."

Frederick laughed then covered his mouth to conceal the bold sound. He wiped a false tear from his eye, playing along before he realized that she wasn't really jesting. His expression fell and  deadpanned. "Anne. These ruffians have kidnapped us and are now holding us for ransom. Don't go getting any ideas of nonsense stuck in your head that this is some grand adventure. This is my worst nightmare come to life and as soon as we find a port with naval officers, we are amending this situation and those scoundrels will be hung for treason. I'll see to that myself."

"Okay..." Anne slowly nodded her head. "But until then, I think it's best we play along. So for now, I'm your brother Andrew: sailor and swordsman extraordinaire."

Frederick frowned. "If you're going to lie, at least make it believable."

Anne pursed her lips with disdain. "How is that not believable?"

"Anne—"

She cleared her throat.

"Anne!" Frederick reiterated. "If we're alone I'm going to use your proper name, not some indecent pseudonym. Now. You've never held a sword in your life, much less toiled aboard a ship at sea. Not to mention the point of your disguise is to keep a low profile, not draw more attention to yourself."

Anne pouted, crossing her arms. "Fine."

"Keep quiet," Kidd interrupted their conversation as it digressed.