Winds of Fate [Books IV - VI]

Chapter 184: Penance

Present Day
Dusk
The Queen of Sparta

All day long upon arriving back to Sparta, Eleanore has thrown herself into the preparations for the night. Some leftovers she and Obbie made into a sumptuous pork stew, while Dante and Vic made batches of bread and Aggy takes care of the olive oil and butter, as well as fetching different herbs and spices they need from Havana below. James and Ben has rallied the men to make their ship presentable and to hide all weaponry safely, in a way that even the British forces will not be able to estimate their strength and thus prepare.

Meanwhile, Gunther, Boomer, and Ulric all help source other ingredients from the city, like chicken and fish and extra beef, and it is Maurice who mentions a Cuban dish they should never forget to cook. In her quest to learn more about her heritage, Eleanore leaves Obbie for the meantime to join Maurice and Jay into one of the places to eat in the city. They bought the all-important dish: rope vieja. And, they also got to ask the abuela how to make it. However, there is no more time left in the day to replicate the tasty dish, so they bought another serving and determined to serve primarily to the honored guest before the rest.

In the midst of it, she cannot remove at the back of her mind the young boy and the downcast village of her distant relatives. Now, Eleanore has washed the grime and smells of the galley from her and stands in the middle of the cabin half-dressed in her undergarments—a soft satin and cotton bodice and stockings. Two different sets of outfits are laid on her bed. One consists of a beautiful blue jacket filled with patterns of cornflowers and daffodils, with a matching simple cold deep sea-colored skirt over white layers. The other is one of her Captain's ensembles: a snug pair of trousers, brown vest, and ruby officer's jacket with white trim and golden buttons and epaulets—very similar to that of British Navymen. She sighs. "I am the Captain here, though."

And Neville needs to be reminded of it.

Stowing the dress away, she puts on the Captain's suit. "And the hat!" Eleanore happily skips to her trunk, one Anton bought for all her dresses, and picks a tricorn with red and white feathers. She runs her fingers over them, a sigh escaping her lips as she recalls her not-so distant past as a pirate. Pirate Queen...

It was a cruel life... I don't want to go back. Eleanore winces. "Good-bye, Pirate Queen." She beams and sets the hat atop her head, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. "Hello, Eleanore Smith. It's been long."

She smiles.

A knock comes.

"Come in."

The familiar weight on the knob and swing of the door makes her heart flutter still. Anton steps in, but he yawns first before speaking. "Are you ready, darling?"

"Darling!" She exclaims, startling him. "That's new. I only call you that before—"

He smirks. "Hurry up then, sailor." They both chuckle, and Anton concedes. "Eugenie wants your opinion on the flowers. I told her you would find her arrangement and choices pleasing either way and that Neville does not even deserve that welcome—"

Eleanore frowns. "Anton."

The Captain raises a hand. "But she insists you see it." He looks at her feet. "Our men opted not to have tablecloths." When she laughs at that, Anton snorts. "A pansy coming here doesn't mean we are like him and his lackeys all of a sudden."

"Oh, Anton. Alright, I'll go down to see what she did." Eleanore puts her boots on. "I hate tablecloths too! I used to wash them for the St Johns. Horrible! Especially when meat blood stains them. Argh!"

For some reason, her husband finds this all amusing and wistfully glances at her. "I think I like this change."

She blinks up at him.