Esther K Bowen

        An old woman, her curls of white hair half-bound and left to fall past her shoulders, approaches.

            “You want a tale?” she asks. “You will find mine quite like the storybooks.”

            Without invitation, she sits and holds out a hand for you to shake.

            “Sybil Gallagher,” she says. Rings adorn her fingers. Her well-made coat shows wealth. She leans back. Her eyes shine.

            Years ago, sea travel was even more dangerous than today, for corsairs from the eastern continent attacked undefended ships, and pirates seized loot. Central commissioned my father, a fierce sailor named Michael Gallager, to put an end to these dangers. He began to decimate the pirate ranks in short order, hunting without mercy. Yet, his biggest challenge lay in stopping the corsairs.

            Many believed these fiends untouchable. They stole treasure, enslaved crew, and burned ships to the waterline. In those days, Bradig and the surrounding towns were still young and relatively undefended. The colonist ships of the first decades were filled with civilians, and peacekeepers were few. They had sent people to build, grow, and plant, to raise a new civilization. They were filled with hope for the future.

            Yet others did not carry that vision. Their coastlands built an alliance on plunder and oppression. They controlled the gold mines of the eastern continent and, once they grew strong, relied on corsairs to plunder any who did not pay tribute.

            Bradig, with no way to defend itself, agreed to their tribute. Some of the smaller towns were not wealthy enough to meet the payments, and these paid in lives. At first, they quietly sent the children no one would miss, orphans and runaways. But soon, even this was not enough to keep up with the demands of the corsairs.

            Bradig called Central for help, and they sent an answer in my father, Commander Gallagher. He was already making a name for himself as a pirate hunter, and his promotion came with the mandate to remove the corsair threat.

            And that is where I, Sybil Gallagher, enter the story. I had just finished my final year of school and applied to travel to Central to attend the navel academy. I planned to join my father in his struggle against the corsairs, but I did not know how soon the chance would come.

            I was sound asleep, when a hand pressed firmly against my mouth. In the shadows of my room, my wide eyes saw an open window and the outline of three men. They had entered noiselessly. I struggled against their rough hands and tried to bite one. But they, with silent efficiency, produced a needle and slid it into my arm. After that, I knew nothing.

            “How long will she be out?”

            I groaned.

            “She’s coming around.”

            I jolted awake. I sat in a cramped space of steel gray, still dressed in the tee shirt and shorts I had worn to bed. Thank goodness I had not chosen something more scandalous. I looked up toward the voices. One was an older man, dark skinned, with black hair turned white at the temples. The other was younger, tall and blond, with freckles scattered across his nose. They wore civilian clothes rather than uniforms. My chest constricted in terror and I could hardly get a breath. The corsairs had found me.

            The young one said. “Calm yourself. We won’t harm you.”

            I was more fully awake now, and realized these men had the look and language of my own countrymen. Yet, I still was not out of danger.

            “You’re pirates,” I said.

            The young one grinned and gave a mock bow, “Kol Statham. Captain of the Tempestua. And this is Emanuel, ship’s doctor.”

            “Is this about my father?”

            Kol leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe. “While your father has sent many of my competitors to the gallows, I bear him no particular animosity. The fox runs and the hound chases.”

            “Then what do you want with me?”

            “The corsair states hired me to keep you safely out of the way while they negotiate with your father.”

            Fury exploded inside me.

            “I’ll see you hanged,” I screamed.

            Kol laughed, which made me hate him all the more.

            “Such violence in unbecoming from one so young and pretty,” Kol said. He looked at Emmanuel as if they shared a private joke at my expense.

            “You can’t be more than a year older than me.”

            “And yet, I’m captaining a ship and you’re a hostage.” He shrugged. “I’m sure the closet will be uncomfortable; my ship has no fine brig like your father’s. On the bright side, you won’t be there long. Just enough time for me to fulfil my contract. If your father behaves, you will be returned to him safely.”

            “And if he doesn’t?”

            “Let’s hope he does.”

            With that, Kol shut the door.

            A dim light overhead kept me from total darkness. I was unbound, but Kol was right about this being a closet. I could stand or sit if I tucked my knees to my chest. My prison was a narrow gray box on the open sea.

            I was not about to let myself be used as leverage. The door was locked fast. I took inventory, but had nothing with me except my clothes. I frowned. There was no way out until someone opened the door.

            Fortunately, I did not have long to wait. After perhaps an hour, the door cracked open. A male voice said, “I have some food. Don’t try anything.”

            I composed myself to look as helpless as possible.

            The crewman opened the door and held out a bowl and a bottle of water. I reached for the bowl, holding sausage and reconstituted scrambled eggs. My stomach growled. This was no time to think of food. I smiled my sweetest smile.

            “Thank you,” I said. “I’m starving.”

            When he set the bowl in my hand, I threw it in his face. He cursed as I dove past and down the narrow corridor. I raced up stairs to the patch of sky and sunlight above. Emerging onto the deck, I looked left and right. Men hurried about, working. The Tempestua was smaller than my father’s ship, but still big enough to use small boats. That’s what I needed. If I could launch one, I could make a run for shallow water where they could not follow.

            I darted to the side of the ship, moving easily with the ocean swells. I had grown up on the sea and knew the rhythm well. Crew shouted, but I paid no attention. Where were the boats?

            I saw one, a small motor boat, lashed down for travel. It was perfect. At the same time, a strong hand closed around my arm.

            “Nice try,” Kol said. “But where exactly did you plan to run?”

            I spun on him, adrenaline coursing through me.

            “Anywhere,” I said. “Anywhere but here.”

            “You act like you have a say in the matter,” Kol said. “I understand why a rich girl from Central might think that. But let me make this clear.” His blue eyes narrowed. “You are not leaving this ship until your father negotiates with the corsairs.”

            I glared back. How dare he think he know me?

            “Let me make this clear, pirate. I will do whatever Providence and cunning allow.” I tried to pull away but he held me firmly. “You think might enables? I will oppose you every second I draw breath.”

            “Might and fear run the world, Miss Gallagher. Struggle if you must. Just prepare to lose.”

            He pulled me across the deck, back toward the stairs. I allowed myself to be led, not resisting, hoping to lull him into relaxing his grip. I knew I could not make it off this ship now, not even if I broke free from his hold. There were too many men about. Yet, I had to do something. The corsairs were brutal and merciless. No one had dared stand against them until my father. If they used me to force him into some kind of agreement, their terror over the coastlands would be complete.

            Kol had me go down the steps first, with himself behind. I stepped carefully, pretending to be more unbalanced than I was. I waited until he was halfway down, foot raised between two steps. I wrenched my arm away from him as hard as I could.

            He did not let go, but the move threw us both off balance. We tumbled down the remaining few steps. I landed on my back and Kol caught himself before he fell on top of me. I threw a punch at him. He dodged out of the way. He tried to stand, and I kicked his leg.

            Real anger flashed across his face, and I knew he was done treating me gently. In a second, he had me pinned to the floor, arm twisted above me. Pain shot up to my shoulder, but I gritted my teeth against it.

            “I will not be your hostage,” I screamed.

            Somewhere above, I heard laughter. The crew found this amusing, but that only fueled my determination. Kol did not laugh. He pulled me to my feet and shoved me back into my cell.

            Only then, did he shake his head. “If I’d known you’d be this annoying, I’d have demanded double the money.”

            “You will regret involving yourself in this affair,” I said. “Corsairs are merciless, and so is my father where pirates are concerned.”

            I wanted to rattle his confidence, but Kol said, “I know my enemies better than you, Miss Gallagher.”

            I grew quiet. Pirates were brutal criminals who took life without mercy. Yet, this man was no older than I. I saw a difference between his eyes and the eyes of the ruthless men who received justice at the end of a rope. His face had a kind of hardness to it; I had no doubt he had killed men. Yet, he did not have the vacant darkness of one whose crimes have washed away conscience. He was still someone I could reason with.

            “What have they paid you?” I asked, my voice falling to a whisper.

            “More than you can afford, Miss Gallagher.” He smiled widely and his nose crinkled. I was sure many a girl had been charmed by that smile. I noticed it did not reach his eyes.

            “I spoke truly,” he said. “No one will harm you here.”

            “Yes, you will,” I answered, dread creeping over me. The realization of my only option should escape fail. “I swear to you, pirate . . .” I hesitated, feeling the distance the word put between us. I locked my eyes onto his. “I swear, Kol Statham. I will throw myself into the sea rather than remain a hostage.”

            His smile faded, though he kept his voice light. “That seems a pointless sacrifice, Miss Gallagher. Especially after all the trouble we took to bring you here quietly and without bloodshed.”

            “I applauded you for the very low bar of not murdering innocents.”

            “Few are truly innocent, Miss Gallagher.” He leaned forward. “Why risk your neck?”

            I started to shake my head, but saw in his face the question was sincere. He had expected a frightened girl. He did not know my rage.

            “Do you play chess?” I asked.

            This elicited the ghost of a smile. “No, rich girl. I play cards.”

            “My father taught me,” I said. “And I would rather die than be used as an enemy gamepiece.”

            “You’re serious.”

            “Consider yourself warned.”

            He pushed me gently into the closet and the lock clicked into place as he closed it. But not before I saw I unsettled him. Good. His unease was not a necessary part of my plan, but it helped. He had not noticed me snatch the key from his pocket when he manhandled me to the ground. Once night fell, I would be gone.

            Besides, I had spoken truth. This was far bigger than me. The future of our colony might well be determined by how I conducted myself. I closed my eyes, searching for strength to keep my nerves in check. I remembered the way my father’s face changed when the mayor of one of the small towns told him what they had done to keep the corsairs at bay.

            “What?” he had demanded, his voice low and deadly. The man cowered before him. My father was an imposing figure at his best, even more so now, in his sharp uniform and a thunderstorm across his face. “You gave them your people?”

            “We did not have the gold,” the mayor stammered. “After the sick time there were so many abandoned children. We couldn’t care for them. It was the only option.”

            He recoiled from my father. “I didn’t make the call. The other mayors, they did it too, said it worked, was the only solution.”

            “What towns?”

            The mayor stammered off a list of some of the smaller towns along the coast. I dutifully wrote them in my notes in case father needed the information, though I knew it was already burned into his mind.

            “What were their names?”

            “Wh—were?” the mayor said. “Most are still mayors, though I think one passed—”

            “The children!” my father roared. “What were their names?”

            “I—I—I didn’t keep records.”

            Somehow, without realizing, my father’s mission had become my own. Never again would our people be sold to keep peace. We would stamp out this evil along our own coasts and across the sea until the blood of the ones we had abandoned was repaid and no one would suffer again.

            With firm resolution coursing through me, I waited. Hours passed. Finally, I unlocked the door to my cell. The hall was quiet, most of the crew asleep. I creeped down the hall and up onto deck. Thick clouds hid the moon. A dark night.

            Still, the pirates would have someone on watch, as well as instruments, so I moved as stealthily as I could to the boat. Lowering it into the water was not as quiet as I would have liked, and twice I froze, holding my breath, sure my scheme would be discovered. No one came.

            I dropped into the boat and unmoored it from the larger ship. I knew better than to start the engine, though everything in me wanted to run. Patience was key to winning many a battle. I floated silently adrift, while the Tempestua sailed farther and farther away. Once her form faded in the darkness, I nearly cried with relief, though I knew I was far from safe. The Tempestua could overtake the small boat easily, and I had to find a way to return to land and send a message to my father.

            I looked up, but the overcast sky gave no starlight by which to navigate. I could assume the Tempestua had been traveling east, away from Bradig and toward oceans controlled by the corsairs. It was a big assumption; they wanted me out of the way and any direction would serve that purpose. Still, it was a better guess than anything else. I started up the engine and sailed the opposite direction of the Tempestua’s course. Once the sun rose, I would get my bearings more easily and make for land. Now, I just needed to get away.

            For a few minutes, I sailed into the night, breathing in the beautiful scent of the sea and freedom. Then the motor sputtered and died.

            “No,” I said. “No. No. No. What’s wrong.”  

            Its fuel was gone.

            I screamed into the sky. Kol Statham had emptied the boats of fuel to prevent my escape. I quieted and tried to think. What options remained? I didn’t have many. At the moment, there was nothing to be done but float in the middle of the ocean and hope the next ship I saw was not the Tempestua.

            If it was, I was not going to let them take me. With that grim thought, I became very calm and practical. The boat had some emergency rations. I tore open one of the packets and ate and drank, as I was quite hungry. I turned the wrapper over and found a waterproof pen.

            Dearest father, I began in dark ink on the silver foil of the wrapper. I’m sorry.

            The words stared back at me. I had no idea where I was. If we had sailed far from shipping lanes, I may never be found.

            No. Kol and his pirates would have a better plan than that.

            As if summoned by the thought, I heard the motor of a boat approaching. I was not surprised when Kol pulled alongside my stalled boat in his own, fueled boat.

            “Do you know you’re sailing directly toward the corsair coastline?” he called cheerfully.

            I didn’t answer. I was too furious to speak. Through the haze of anger, a thought emerged.

            His boat had fuel.

            Kol stood and pulled my boat close so he could rope them together.

            “I swear you’ll make me chain you up before you quit,” he muttered under his breath.

            “I don’t care what you do to me. I will never stop fighting you.”

            He held out a hand to help me into his boat. I looked up at him. His eyes studied my face, as if there was something about me he did not understand. Why was he so confused? I had made my position clear.

            I took his hand and stepped daintily into his boat. My hand curled into a fist. My father had taught me how to defend myself. I spun, putting my whole body into the movement and punched him across the jaw. His head snapped back, and he lost his balance. The boat rocked, and I fell forward. I turned my stumble into a shove. Kol’s leg caught on the side of the boat, and he fell back into the boat I had previously occupied. He started cursing.

            Both boats pitched wildly, held together by the rope. I regained my balance on my knees and went to untie the knot that held the boats together. Let Kol be left at sea with no fuel.

            My fingers felt the rope in the darkness, but it was lashed expertly, far tighter than I could unbind. I needed a knife. One problem at a time. I scrambled back to the motor. If I could get the boat moving, one would naturally drift behind the other. Then I could find something sharp to cut them free.

            Before I reached the motor, Kol jumped back into the boat. I spun, but he was too quick.

            “I’ve had enough of you,” he said, yanking my hands behind my back. He bound me tightly, and my feet as well. Then he deposited me back in the empty boat.

            “You can sit here and get towed along behind, since you are so determined to make this difficult.”

            I started to cry, and hated myself for it. Helpless anger mixed with despair. I had done everything I could think of. Nothing had worked. The pirates would never let me escape.

            “No need to be dramatic,” Kol said, though he frowned at my tears.

            I choked back sobs, trying to calm my voice. Trying to stop tears spilling from my eyes.

            “Where do you come from?” I asked quietly.

            Kol’s eyebrows drew together.

            “You’re from my own people,” I pressed. “Bradig? The western coast? Not Central, I would say.”

            “Why do you care?”

            I wanted to call him out for betrayal of his country, but something in the way he spoke stopped me.

            Instead, I asked, “Why would you reject your people?”

            He turned away.

            “Like I’m telling the pirate hunter’s daughter anything about myself.”

            With that he started the engine and pulled forward, towing my boat behind.

            I began to cry again. Not sobs, but tears ran down my face all the same. I had failed. My father would not surrender his mission for me. I believed that. He knew stepping down or making a deal would seal the fate of perhaps thousands of innocent lives. Neither he nor I would be able to live with that cowardice. Yet, how could I allow my enemies to put that choice before him, to wound him so deeply? There was one more action I could take. One more chance at escape.

            “I’m sorry, father,” I whispered.

            Then I slipped over the side of the boat and into the water.

            My hands and feet were bound and I sank beneath the waves. I felt a grim satisfaction that, in the darkness, Kol would not know I was gone until he looked behind and saw I was not with him. By then, it would be too late. The water’s cold seeped into my bones. Sadness constricted my chest. I did not want to die. Yesterday, my whole life lay ahead of me. I wanted to learn, settle into this new city, fall in love, have children, see my father grow old.

            I suddenly panicked, as my body realized it could not breathe. I didn’t want to die. I tried to scream. Water filled my mouth. It burned my eyes, filled my nose. I kept sinking deeper.

            I tried to pray, but words wouldn’t come. Thoughts raced through my brain, too fast for me to catch. I choaked. Convulsed. The world went dark.

            Suddenly, I coughed up water, my chest burning. I lay against the metal hull of the small boat. Kol leaned over me, hammering on my chest. He cursed over and over, the rhythm almost like a lullaby.  I coughed again.

            “You,” he said quietly. He shook with rage. “You hold your life so cheaply?”

            My throat was raw, my mouth dry. Kol turned on a lantern, bathing us in a soft glow.

            I tried to focus on his face. The dusting of freckles across his nose blurred. He drew a sharp breath and propped me against the side of the boat. I did not resist.

            “Sybil,” he said. “Say something.”

            “You,” I tried, coughed. He frowned.

            I pushed the words out. “That’s the first time you said my name.”

            I tried to force a smile. My strength was returning, each breath rushed through me, clearing my mind and energizing my body.

            “You choose to die rather than be ransomed?” Kol said. His anger faded into something more like fear. Water ran from both our hair and clothes, forming puddles.

            “I told you,” I said.

            Kol sat facing me. “Causes are not worth dying for.”

            “I will not be used against my people,” I said. “You may have forgotten loyalty and honor, but I have not.”

            His face darkened. “Why should I care the fate of ones who turn a blind eye to the suffering of others? Who pay tribute in lives? Let them all burn by the hand of the evil they sought to appease.”

            You hypocrite!” I snapped. “My father ended the tribute. Your actions threaten to undo his work.”

            “Ended?” Kol leaned back.

            “Why do you think the corsairs are coming for us?”

            He did not answer, and I could not read his expression.

            “Please,” I said. I pushed myself to my knees, gripping the side of the boat to hold me steady. “Do not save me this time.”

            My voice trembled, but I steadied it. “If one more tribute is needed to end their barbarity, let me make the sacrifice.”

            Kol did not speak.

            I pressed on. “Tell them you killed me trying to escape. Keep your fierce reputation alive.”

            His blue eyes shone in the glow of the lantern. I stood. “Do not force me to serve their game.”

            “Don’t go back in the water,” he said quietly. “I’ll only pull you out again.”

            With that, he defeated me. Every chance to help my father and our people removed.

            “Then you are heartless,” I said.

            Kol was silent. I expected no response. No words of mine had reached him. He stared out to the long horizon where the black sky was turning gray.

            I sat down and watched the waves lap against the boat.

            “I had to be,” he said suddenly. I looked at him, but his eyes were locked on the horizon. “A boy sold by one people to appease another lives free by violence alone.”

            The wind blew his blond hair about his face. I opened my mouth to speak and closed it again.

            He breathed out a sigh. “If I return you to your father, will he hang me on sight?”

            My heart leaped with a wild burst of gratitude. Kol looked over, and seemed startled by the smile across my face.

            “A man with the location of the corsair fleet would be welcome anywhere,” I said.

            “My crew?” he asked.

            “Privateering is lucrative,” I replied. My mouth raced ahead of my thoughts. I was bargaining for my life and the life of my people, but I saw in his eyes it was a bargain he wanted to make.

            He smiled. This time I saw it mirrored in his eyes.

            I laughed as the morning sky brightened around us.

            “You know,” I said. “You would make a fine naval officer.”

            “And you,” he said, looking very much like he wanted to kiss me. “A fine pirate.”