Bloody Mary

Chapter Eight~An Upgrade

"Do you've any thoughts on improvements made to the ship, lad?" He finally asked, and felt quite satisfied when Marianna's head turned to pay complete attention.

"Me?"

"Aye, I didn't stutter, did I?"

She shook her head. "No, Captain. I was just surprised is all." Now Marianna furrowed her brow in thought, and cast her gaze to the build of the ship. The vessel could definitely use work in every place coin could pay for. The only real issues she could see were the condition of the hull, the masts, and the sails. Those could easily be fixed, and with coin to spare.

"Well?" Carlisle followed her critical gaze to his vessel.

"The sails, the hull, the masts. A crow's nest would be fairly useful, not to mention canons. A lot of them. Firepower is a must."

"That'll take quite a few Reales." He replied, but he could tell that Marianna spoke in truth. His ship was definitely something that needed work, even if they had to find some other method to get themselves the required coin.

"We have enough, and those necklaces could go for a pretty price. It was the Governor's daughter's dowry. We can afford to take only the highest prices."

"You stole a missing woman's dowry?"

"Well," Marianna found herself chuckling lightly at the irony of the situation. "She's obviously not putting it to any use, is she?"

Now Carlisle felt a grin of his own take form. When Marianna had introduced the plan to steal from the Governor for the first time, he thought it was quite a malicious plan for such an innocent boy, but now he realized that Marianna wasn't as innocent as she looked. He could see it in the glint in her eye, her secret desire to be the devilish one.

"That, my friend, is true."

Marianna found herself slightly surprised at the camaraderie between the two then. She'd risked her life for this man and his crew, and while once she would've been aghast at the thought of it, now she found herself relishing in it. It wasn't that difficult to see why Benedict would wish to drown himself in the dangers of battle, not difficult at all now that Marianna realized it wasn't so much a choice as much as it was an addiction. And perhaps they both had their different meanings to 'battle', given that Marianna had never held someone at sword point before, but she couldn't think of a feeling any better than doing good for the men of the ship.

"Aye." Now, not at all miffed by her passiveness, Carlisle began his silent retreat back to his cabin. "And Captain?" The call came as he was about to enter his quarters, and when he turned, he saw that Marianna had stood on her feet, balancing on the bow with surprising balance. "Mayhap we can find some additions to your Quarters, as well."

"Mayhap," Carlisle felt a prick of anxiety for Marianna, but it soon disappeared as she gracefully leapt back onto the deck and sent him a lopsided grin. Something deep within Carlisle stirred then, and he wasn't quite sure what. It was though, a reaction to the way the pirate before him had grinned at him, and the way his eyes lit up like fire. Hastily he retreated to his quarters, trying not to dwell on the emotions that puzzled him.

Marianna had watched the Captain as he left her presence, and couldn't keep the childish grin from her features. Something had struck her as well, directly out of the deep blue sea. A wave of unexpected, and unfamiliar feelings that gnawed at her belly.

That could very well have been her hunger, though. The grub on the ship was rubbish, to be quite frank.

Nonetheless, she did not let herself dwell on such emotions, and took her usual place below the ship's main mast in which she peacefully fell asleep by.