They stared at you with a terribly confused expression on their face.
"Captain, who be...the wench?" one of the sailors asked tentatively. So was wench just the term for 'girl' here or something, 'cause either everyone was utterly rude to women, or it was just their language.
He didn't answer. He shoved you out onto the deck, having just boarded his loading pirate ship, and you were so scared, you could barely swallow. You had your wrists tied behind your back, which he had harshly and tightly done just before you entered the dock. Your gaze darted around nervously.
"Another recruitment she be?" another asked in a small voice.
"No," he said, "I wouldn't have any female pirates on my ship."
Uh...should you be offended? He hadn't emphasized anything about the phrase, so maybe he was saying that pirates weren't fit to be girls, or girls weren't fit to be pirates.
The other pirates, all looking terrifying to you, started to gather near to see what the Captain brought back from town that day.
"But you swore that you never be gettin' a cabin slave," another reminded him. "Or take hostages."
"She is not a recruitment, slave, or hostage," he said. "Rather, I find her more of a...guest." He looked back at you with that look.
"Which be why she be tied up?" one muttered.
"A guest you be with after you be comin' back several pounds a' gold lighter?" another said suspiciously.
"So you be buyin' your special guests now?" yet another spoke up.
"Avast!" he boomed. They shut up immediately. "I have told you not to question my authority, unless some of you wish to stay here in Davy Jones' locker in the scurvy bay!" He glared them down, they cowered under his gaze, and he lowered his voice to a normal tone. "She is a guest servant. Not a slave, or a hostage, or a recruit. She is a servant."
One of them opened his mouth to ask something, but thought the better of it.
"You will not tease or taunt her. You will treat her as kindly as a recruit. You will not force her to do anything against her will. The cabin slave policy applies to her; no one may touch her. You may ask something of her, as she is here to serve, but if she doesn't think that your order to her is necessary, she may tell you to check with me before she does it. I am the only one who truly gives her orders. Is this clear?"
"Yes sir, Cap'n," they all said simultaneously.
"You will treat her kindly and respect her?"
"Yes sir, Cap'n."
"You will accept her orders come solely from me?"
"Yes sir, Cap'n."
"You will protect her as your fellow recruit?"
"Yes sir, Cap'n."
He looked over his crew. After a long pause, and hardened tension, he said, "Good." He looked right at you. "And you swear to follow my orders?" he asked you.
You tried to swallow, but your throat was too sore. What might I be agreeing to...?
"Answer me!" he demanded.
"Y-Yes sir, Captain!" You exclaimed in fear with no hesitation. Darn it. You thought. You'd spoken out of fear. Not that refusing would've done you any good, an agreement to be his slave wasn't a promising thing.
"Excellent," he said, calm once again. "Now pull up the anchor and break from the docks. Lower the sails, weigh the anchor, pull up the plank, and set our course due east!"
"Yes sir, Cap'n!" they exclaimed, and ran straight to work.
Then the Captain turned thoughtfully to you, observing you, studying you, as if you were his new toy. A new trophy he was awarded. A valuable pet he bought in the bay trading post. A tool for his pleasure. Something you might as well be. "Hmm. As for you..." he started, and paused to wonder what to make you do first. "Stay right there. Don't move."
You shifted a little bit in your position. Was he just going to make you...stand there?
"I said, don't move," he snapped, and you stiffened. He gave you one last look, then whisked around and headed to the wheel, giving it a good hard turn away from the docks.
And you stood there, watching out of the corner of your eye as the land on the horizon shrunk.
And somehow, the sight of that awful place disappearing brought tears to your eyes.
Maybe it was because leaving it behind made you feel so secluded out on the ocean, under a powerful young stranger's command, a stranger who know who you truly were.
Or maybe it was because you had a terrifying gut-feeling that this place was somehow more awful than the last.
The Captain, having set a straight course, walked back up to you after the land had disappeared, swallowed up by the sea. He was so close to you that you could smell his rank breath.
"Already miss the land?" he asked rhetorically. You didn't reply. "Then this is going to be a rather tricky adventure for you, isn't it?"
You blinked a few of the tears away and resisted the urge to wipe them off your cheeks, not wanting to be seen crying like that.
"Now...where to start on you?" he wondered aloud. He couldn't help but glance you over again. "I know." He smiled. "You. In my cabin. Now."