Chapter Text
Zelda leaned against the railing at the bow of the ship, watching it slice through the water below and trying to make pictures out of the foam in its wake. It wasn’t as though there was anything else to do.
She’d been on the merchant ship Azul for five weeks now, a little over halfway into their journey to Boston, and what she wouldn’t give to sit on a surface that wasn’t moving, eating one of the little cream cakes her sister often served with afternoon tea, a book in hand as she basked in the sun of their afternoon parlor.
A pang of homesickness stabbed at her heart, and tears pricked her eyes, ones she fought off with a shake of her head. Useless. It was useless to pine for a house, one she knew she wouldn’t step foot into while Lord Blackwood hunted for her. It was nothing more than a collection of bricks and stones; surely it didn’t warrant tears being spilled.
But the people in it…
Her sister, who was best friends with the staff, spending most of her time in the kitchen baking something and humming incessantly. Sabrina, who always ignored her sharp reprimands to walk like a lady as she came rushing down the stairs, pounding footsteps echoing through the house. Edward, who…
Well, maybe she wouldn’t miss Edward as much. He was the one who handed her off to Blackwood in the first place, like some prized possession to be traded.
The anger sitting in the pit of her stomach staved off the tears, but it was dulled with homesickness, a deep ache that made her chest feel like it was caving in on itself. It felt unending, this ache, and the knowledge that it would be years before she could possibly go back home only made it worse. The only thing keeping her from teetering off and into pure despair was the thought that maybe in a year she could go back and visit, as long as the right precautions were taken.
A gust of wind pulled at her hat, and she clapped it back on her head, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. Confident that no one was watching, she discreetly tucked any loose strands back in until all evidence of her long hair was hidden. Satisfied, she tugged the hat firmly into place, praying she wouldn’t have another close call like that; with four weeks left on the ship, it was doubtful.
Knowing Faustus would look first at the logs of passenger ships, Zelda had opted to sail to the New World on a merchant’s vessel, and given the superstitions held by long-time sailors about women on ships, she’d disguised herself as a man under the alias of Jon Smith. It was a dreadfully fake name, but with the amount of gold Zelda was willing to pay not only for passage but to keep any record of her off the logbooks, the captain wasn’t asking many questions. Though her small stature and lean limbs didn’t lend much authenticity to her lie, she was quiet, kept to herself, and helped in the kitchen to make their rations somewhat edible, so the crew at least pretended to believe her story.
The ringing of a bell broke Zelda from her thoughts, and she turned towards the deck, looking for the commotion. Men ran erratically in every direction, shouting orders and questions as chaos broke out, and through the din, Zelda just managed to hear the lookout’s message:
“Pirates!”
Her mind turned the word over again and again but refused to process it. Pirates. Whatever would they be doing all the way out here? From what she’d heard Edward say, pirates were notorious for sticking within a week’s journey of land, having better luck at finding ships to raid there than out in the never-ending expanse of the open ocean. The Azul was weeks away from any shore, so how could they have possibly run across pirates?
A particularly loud shout spurred her into action, and she rushed down the steps of the bow to the main deck, fighting her way through the throng of panicked men to the stern where she’d spotted Andrew, one of the crewmembers she’d become familiar with over the weeks.
She cleared her throat. “Andrew!” she called over the din, pitching her voice lower.
He looked up, and seeing her, stepped closer, pulling her over to the railing with a hand on her shoulder. “Jon, you need to—”
“What’s happening?” she interrupted, not interested in anything except for her questions being answered. “You can’t seriously mean pirates?”
He glanced nervously at the horizon, but Zelda couldn’t see anything where he looked. “Red sails have been spotted, and they’re gaining quickly.”
“What do red sails have to do with anything?”
His eyes were full of dread as he spoke. “There’s only one ship on the seven seas that sails under red, and that’s the Demoness.”
“The Demoness?” she repeated. A terrifying name, but one that sounded like it belonged in a storybook, not here in reality.
Andrew nodded, glancing out at the water before continuing. “She sails under Captain Lilith, a bloodthirsty woman who’s sold her soul to the devil to be immortal – never aging and impossible to kill.” He swallowed hard, eyes darting again to the horizon. “It’s said she slits the throats of innocent men and uses the blood to dye the sails.”
Zelda chewed on her bottom lip. She imagined pirate tales were often exaggerated, but if this Captain Lilith had the reputation of being in league with the devil, then she must have done something to warrant such a status. Something she might be about to experience.
She looked to the horizon again and gasped. Where nothing had been visible to her before, there was now the distinct outline of a ship, drawing closer with each passing second, and the sails that billowed in the wind were as he described: blood red.
Andrew let out a slow breath and looked over Zelda, who stood a full head shorter than him and weighed at least five stone less. “You’d better get below decks.” He bent, pulling a dagger from his boot and handing her the hilt. “This isn’t gonna be pretty.”
Slowly, Zelda took the dagger, holding it gingerly. Its weight felt awkward in her hand, deadly, but between that and her bare hands, she’d take the dagger. Giving Andrew a grateful look, she turned towards the stairs leading below deck, fighting her way through the chaos.
Sudden terror gripped her stomach as she started down to the cabins What good would hiding even do? If the pirates boarded the ship, they’d search every corner for valuables and likely find her in the process. And even if she did manage to hide, what would she do then? Would the pirates take the ship, leaving her to play a game of cat and mouse for weeks until they made it to port? Would they sink the ship just for the fun of it, leaving her to drown? Would they set the ship adrift, leaving her alone and at the mercy of the winds?
Zelda bit her tongue against the threatening tears. No, she would not think that way, not yet. Something would work out; it had to. She couldn’t die like this.
The sleeping quarters consisted of rows of bunks fixed to the walls, with large chests fixed to the floor for crewmembers to store what little belongings they had. Walking to the last row, Zelda managed to wedge herself between the bottom bunk and chest, tossing burlap over the edge of the bunk and herself. If pirates did come down here, she hoped they’d be too preoccupied with rifling through the chests to notice her.
Seconds seemed to last an eternity. She could hear the muffled shouts and crashes of chaos on deck, but somehow the sound of her own shaky breath was deafening in comparison. It was mostly dark, the cabin having only a few small windows, but the stray beams of light that made it through the burlap above her glinted off the dagger she held in her hands, looking miraculously like starlight.
The ear-splitting boom of the enemy’s cannon sounded, and Zelda jumped, a yelp building on her tongue. She bit it back and strained her ears, trying to tell if the ship had been hit, but couldn’t hear any water rushing in. Maybe the pirates had missed… or simply hit the other side of the ship.
Seconds passed, or was it hours? Zelda couldn’t tell; even her heartbeats seemed to last days. But the noise above was reaching a fever pitch, and the loud thump of boots dropping to the deck followed by the clang of swords made her suck in a sharp breath – they’d been boarded.
The sound of clashing swords continued, and soon inhumane screams pierced the air. She grit her teeth and began counting her breaths, trying all at once to block out the noises and desperately listen for anyone coming down the stairs.
Somewhere around her nineteenth breath, the sounds of fighting died down, and the ship fell quiet.
Eerily quiet.
There were no footsteps, no swords, not even the crashes of things being rifled through. Could they have left? No, that wasn’t possible; they couldn’t have gone through the cargo by now, and why else would they raid a merchant ship? Just for the fun of killing, her mind supplied, but she pushed the thought aside. Even if the pirates had raided them just for pleasure, what was the logic of leaving valuable supplies behind?
Zelda waited, and still, nothing. She waited longer, until her legs were asleep and her shoulders cramped, but no sound from up above.
She slowly crawled from her hiding spot, wincing as the blood rushed to her legs. Standing in the middle of the cabin, she still couldn’t hear anything, so she took a cautious step towards the door, thinking maybe she’d hear something if she was closer.
The trapdoor at the top of the stairs burst open, bringing with it a blinding ray of light. Zelda scrambled back, but it was too late — whoever was there was already halfway down the steps, and they must have seen her by now. With nothing left to do, she held the dagger out in front of her, pointing it menacingly at the descending stranger.
The person stepped out of the glare of the light, revealing a wild mane of hair half-tamed underneath a captain’s hat. Lilith, Zelda remembered, and swallowed hard, thinking of her supposed deal with the devil. Her eyes darted to the sword and dagger in her hands, the gun on her belt, the knife in her boot, and Zelda felt her knees go weak.
Her arm had begun to drop, so she raised it again, determined not to look as scared as she felt. Lilith smiled at that, showing far too many teeth, and sheathed her sword with almost a pitying look, putting her dagger in her dominant hand.
“I’ll make this a fair fight, lad.”
It was either die rooted to the spot or die fighting, which meant Zelda only had one choice. As quick as she could, she ran towards the captain, slashing with her weapon.
Lilith sidestepped easily. Zelda stumbled but caught herself, whirling around to face the captain only to see her laughing, as if this was nothing more than a game of cards to her.
“You’ve got fire, boy,” Lilith commended. “Come quietly, and I’ll make you a part of my crew.”
Despite herself, Zelda ran at the captain again, not appreciating being toyed with like a mouse just before it’s killed by the cat. Again, she sidestepped, and Zelda braced herself from stumbling, but before she could turn around, an arm caught her waist, and she found her back pressed up against the captain, bodies molding as Lilith held her with an iron grip.
Zelda squirmed, trying to reach back and stab Lilith with the dagger, but the captain caught her wrist easily before pinning her other arm, trapping her further. She squirmed harder, trying to stomp on the captain’s feet.
She caught the toe of her boot, and the captain growled in her ear, tightening her grip. Zelda thrashed as panic set in, so much so that she barely noticed when her hat fell off, sending her hair tumbling down her shoulders.
A curtain of red obscured her vision, and she froze, unsure of what the captain’s reaction would be. Hiding her hair was the one thing that allowed her to pass as a man, and now all it would take was one quick glance for Lilith to see she was a woman.
The arm around her waist relaxed slightly, and Zelda regained her wits enough to wiggle free. She ran blindly, only thinking to get away from the captain, but realized after a few paces she’d merely run further into the cabin, trapping herself. She whirled around, expecting Lilith to be right behind her, but instead saw the woman staring at her, eyebrows raised in surprise.
“You’re a woman?” Lilith asked slowly like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Zelda rushed her again, but the captain recovered quickly, grabbing the wrist holding the dagger and twisting. Zelda cried out, watching in horror as the dagger slipped out of her grasp and clattered to the floor before her arm was being twisted further and she was forced to spin around. Lilith caught her other wrist then and pulled them both behind Zelda’s back, holding them tight. Zelda tried to jerk from her grasp again, but the captain held firm, tying her wrists with a length of rope.
A firm hand clasped her shoulder, guiding her towards the door, but Zelda resisted, digging in her heels and trying to shake off the woman’s touch.
“Would you just walk?” Lilith chided, sounding more exasperated than anything, but Zelda didn’t listen.
Lilith huffed. “Gods above and below,” she grumbled before spinning Zelda around to face her. In one fluid motion, she bent down and was hoisting Zelda over her shoulder.
Zelda shrieked at the sudden movement, dizzy at the sudden upset to her equilibrium. “Put me down!” she yelled, squirming to try and throw her off-balance, but the captain walked on like she didn’t notice Zelda was even there.
The bright midday sun hit them as Lilith stepped onto the deck, Zelda’s eyes watering after being in the relative darkness of the cabin. Through her tears, she saw the vague form of a slumped body, a dark pool of blood underneath him, and she gasped, closing her eyes before she could see any more carnage.
They went up another set of stairs before the captain put her down. Zelda opened her eyes, bracing herself to see more remains of the apparent slaughter, but thankfully there were none where she was. Turning her gaze to the captain, she opened her mouth to demand what they planned to do with her, but she was already walking back down the stairs, gesturing to a tall, dark-haired member of her crew.
“Prepare the lifeboats for the prisoners. Let’s see if they can make it to an island alive.”
A chill ran through her blood – starving to death in a lifeboat seemed worse than a quick blow with a sword. A whimper came from next to her, and Zelda glanced over to see a few remaining crewmen of the Azul sitting bound as she was, heads bent in apparent prayer.
Looking back to where the captain disappeared, Zelda set her jaw in determination. Praying to God for mercy was the last resort, and Zelda would not make use of that just yet. Lilith had shown enough humanity not to slaughter her where she stood; if Zelda was lucky, she might be able to use that to stay alive.
Boots sounded on the stairs again, and the captain appeared once more, pausing at the top to gaze at them. Zelda heard shuffling as the other prisoners attempted to move further away, but she refused to cower before this woman, instead forcing herself to meet Lilith’s eyes when they landed on her. She grinned at that, seemingly intrigued, and sauntered over. Even as the captain knelt to look her in the eye, Zelda refused to give in, focusing on taking slow, measured breaths.
“I must say, I expected all of our treasure to be materialistic today,” Lilith remarked, still staring at Zelda. “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect you.”
“I come from a wealthy family,” Zelda blurted, surprising herself. She hadn’t come up with a full plan for how she was going to survive, but it was now or never. She’d just have to figure it out on the fly. “If you take me with you, you can ransom me for more money than you’d ever earn from raiding this ship.”
Lilith’s expression didn’t change, and her voice was flat when she spoke. “Is that so?”
Zelda nodded, hopeful that she had the captain’s attention. “They’ll pay whatever sum you ask for. I’m far too valuable to leave adrift.” Though, that wasn’t entirely true: while her family did have money, they didn’t have that much, but now wasn’t the time for semantics, she thought.
The captain smiled faintly and hummed, reaching out to touch Zelda’s jaw. “You’re valuable even without the ransom, precious. But it is a nice bonus.”
Zelda wasn’t sure what that meant, but kept silent, not wanting to anger Lilith now.
The captain stood suddenly and turned, yelling down to the deck. A moment later, a crewmember came jogging up the steps, looking at the captain expectantly, and she nodded towards Zelda.
“Take her to my quarters.” The crewmember — the captain had called him Abe — nodded, but before he could start towards Zelda, Lilith reached out gripped his arm, her fingers clearly digging in. “She is my guest,” she emphasized, giving him a hard stare. “I expect you to treat her as such.”
The crewmember shrunk from her as he nodded. “Yes, cap’n,” he said quietly. The captain let go of his arm, and he nodded once more before walking towards Zelda.
After a humiliating and harrowing experience involving having to walk across a plank while trying not to whimper, Abe gripping her waist to steady her all the while, Zelda was guided across the deck of the Demoness and to the captain’s quarters. The door was barely opened when he’d pushed her inside, and she couldn’t even whirl around to face him before the door was shut, leaving her alone and tied up on the strange enemy ship.
For the first time in what felt like days, Zelda allowed her shoulders to slump. Captured by pirates – whatever was she going to do?