Sounds of the town’s bells could be heard as the ship neared the docks. The alarm had been called. The pirates were back. It didn’t matter what flag they flew under, the fact was, they had returned, and all hell was about to break loose. Elizabeth hurried to the lower deck and joined her men.

“Cannons stand ready,” she ordered, remembering all the times they had confronted enemy vessels at sea. “Don’t fire unless I tell you.”

The ship neared the port, and Stormy called the captain up to the wheel. Every ship in dock had been readied and prepared for battle if necessary. On the docks stood a group of men with rifles, in the center the mayor and his wife.

“Orders, captain?” Laddie asked, stepping to her side.

“Bring Maggie up here,” she said, bracing one of her booted feet against the top of the railing and leaning against her knee, arm resting in front of her. “They won’t fire unless they’re provoked. Let’s give them what they want.”

Laddie left her side and hurried to the girl, returning a moment later with her in tow. She stepped to Elizabeth’s side and frowned. She hadn’t expected this sort of welcoming. She had thought, though naïvely, that she would simply go home and tell her parents she was back, and everything that had happened. She was also afraid, that her parents would be angry with her for being kidnapped in the first place.

“I’m scared,” she whispered to Elizabeth, who smiled reassuringly to her.

“Don’t be. They’re here to make certain you’re safe. Just think, you’ve become popular overnight. Everyone will want to talk to you. What do you think you’ll say to them?”

Maggie looked up to the woman and frowned.

“I’ll tell them the truth, of course,” she answered. “I’ll tell them what happened, and how you saved me.” Elizabeth only nodded, looking back to the sights ahead of her.

“Do you have any sisters?” Maggie asked suddenly, causing the dark-haired woman to look at her in surprise.

“I only had brothers, but they died in the colonies. Why?”

“I don’t have any sisters either, but I’d like to think maybe you’d make a great one. If you ever come back, please stop by and say hello.”

“Count on it,” Elizabeth smiled back, then turned and focused her attention on the matter at hand.

The next few minutes were played out in unbearable silence. The ships facing them were poised and ready for combat, as was hers. The crews were shocked when they caught sight of the attractive woman standing next to the girl, sword strapped to her hip, long dark hair blowing freely in the breeze.

Stormy pulled the ship into port, and Elizabeth ordered the sails trimmed and the anchor dropped. Once the ship had settled in the water, she turned to the swollen faced, frightened girl next to her and asked softly if she was ready. Maggie nodded, walking beside Elizabeth down the stairs to the railing and waited patiently for the gangplank to be dropped.

Maggie held Elizabeth’s arm tightly, her parents edging cautiously toward the pier. With an air of dignity and the cold stare of years of training, Elizabeth descended the walkway, Maggie, Stormy, and Laddie following close behind her. She walked straight to the mayor, ignoring the eyes that stared at her and comments whispered by those around her.

“Your honor,” she said, nodding her head slightly. “I have something I believe belongs to you.”

She motioned for Maggie to come forward and was surprised by the girl’s reluctance. The thought that she would turn against them, in the face of her father, became visible and Elizabeth looked back to her men, exchanging glances of knowledge.

“I believe there is much to discuss,” Elizabeth added, once Maggie was safely in her mother’s arms.

Immediately, a group of men approached them, rifles raised and pointed directly at her. Stormy and Laddie both stepped back, retrieving their swords from the sheaths strapped to their hips. Elizabeth raised her hand, preventing her crew from advancing from the ship and on to the waiting crowd.

“Is this the thanks we get for returning your daughter to you?” Elizabeth demanded, anger etching her tone.

“Where is that bastard captain of yours, the one who stole her and did this to her?” the mayor demanded, stepping in front of the guns, indicating a fatherly hand toward the bruise on his daughter’s face.

“I am captain of the Sea Heart,” Elizabeth commented, addressing her ship for the first time by its new name.

“Don’t lie to me, wench,” the mayor demanded. “Where is he?”

“If you are referring to Blade, he’s dead. I am captain of the Sea Heart, and it is to me you will address your questions.”

“I will not speak with a pirate’s whore,” the mayor shouted.

“She’s not,” insisted Maggie, hurrying to her father’s side. “She speaks the truth, I was there. Captain Blade tried...I mean he wanted to...”

“Easy love,” Stormy insisted softly. “I think they know exactly what he intended.”

“But she saved me, Papa. She fought the pirate and won, and then she cut his heart out, right there on the ship. She’s a hero and the new captain. Please, Papa, she saved me.”

“As I said, sir,” Elizabeth repeated calmly. “There is much to discuss.”

The mayor listened to his daughter then looked to the woman in front of him. A female pirate? A female captain? Was it possible? Women had always been considered a bad omen among sailors. Very few would sail with one unless they were paid passengers, and even then, listing them on the manifesto was considered bad luck.

“May I suggest we retire to the tavern?” Elizabeth added, glancing back to Laddie. “Secure the ship and make ready to sail at first tide, then assign shore leave parties. Come join us when you’ve finished.”

“Aye, Captain,” he answered, slipping the sword back in its sheath and marching up the gangplank to the ship.

She looked back to the mayor, but he remained where he was, staring at the woman in disbelief.

“We’ve had a very long journey, sir,” she commented again. “Either join us or move aside. I have little patience left for your ignorance.” She stepped around the man, then smiled as Maggie ran to catch up to her, hearing the gasps of astonishment from the crowd.

“I’m sorry I didn’t speak sooner,” Maggie stated softly. “I was so scared they would do something.”

“Not to worry, child,” Elizabeth replied, walking with her to the tavern, ignoring the eyes that followed her. “The day’s not over yet.”

It was earlier than normally accustomed for the tavern to serve guests and the room was deserted as they entered. The smell of cheap whiskey and whores reeked among the walls, the musty smell of the ocean lingered in the air and the floors felt sticky underfoot. Elizabeth didn’t care. For the first time in her life, she felt she actually needed a drink to calm her nerves and soothe her wounded ego.

The mayor had insulted her deeply, and nearly suffered the wrath of her sword for it. The choice to come here, however, was probably the best one she could have made. At least she bought them time, and her ship was still standing.

The owner of the tavern was among those who followed Elizabeth and Stormy into the bar. He wasn’t used to serving women drinks, other than those who worked there, and he wasn’t certain if he liked it now. He hurried behind the counter and looked to the pirate captain, debating for a moment whether to refuse her service or not. His eyes fell to the weapons on her waist and chose his life over his standards, little as they may have been. He set a bottle of whiskey on the counter and began pulling out glasses. Elizabeth took three glasses and the bottle before turning back to the owner, her steel cold eyes locking and challenging the old brown ones that looked at her through a pasty complexion.

“My young friend here will have a drink as well,” she told him, indicating an eye toward Maggie.

The blonde smiled, looking at the whiskey bottle. She’d never tried alcohol before, and she was anxious to see what it was like. Elizabeth however, had no intention of being the one to corrupt the girl’s morals. Hell, she’d just killed to protect them, didn’t she?

“Coffee,” she told the man, grinning at the disappointment visible on the girl’s face. “You can wait until you’re twenty-one.”

“How old were you when you started drinking?” Maggie asked.

They turned away from the bar, their eyes catching the curious crowd gathering inside the tavern. Elizabeth smiled a wicked grin as she followed Stormy to a table, looking from the mayor than to his daughter.

“Eleven,” she answered honestly. “But I was raised a pirate, remember?”

“It helps kill the pain, after you’ve had the taste of an enemy’s blade,” Stormy added, sitting down and pouring a glass of the dark liquid, then swallowed it quickly.

“Oh my,” the girl exclaimed, her eyes wide.

The image of Elizabeth, head to head in combat, especially after what she had witnessed yesterday, was unbelievable.

“Have you ever been injured?”

“Only once, when I was fifteen,” Elizabeth replied, gulping down her whiskey in a single swallow before pouring herself another glass, ignoring the gasp of the tavern’s occupants as they watched her.

“You, little Maggie,” Stormy said, making everyone in the tavern gasp again, at the friendly title he referred to the girl, “are looking at the only person I’ve ever known, who can stand against four men twice her size, and win.”

“Is that true?”

“Absolutely. The stories I could tell you about the fights Captain Lass has been in would curl your toes. Funny though,” he added, knowing full well what kind of impression he was giving the crowd. “She’s only been wounded the one time.”

“Will you teach me?” Maggie asked, shocking Elizabeth into spitting her whiskey from her lips. She coughed and sputtered, then looked at the girl in surprise.

“Why in God’s name would you ever want to learn to fight?” she demanded.

“Don’t you think a woman should be able to defend herself?”

“You have a father to do that for you, and someday a husband. You won’t require a sword.”

“But you had a father. Wasn’t Captain Blade your father?”

Elizabeth froze. She had never in her worst nightmares imagined that man as a father, especially her own.

“So, you’re the bastard spawn of a cutthroat?” a man stated, standing next to the dartboard, his brown teeth smiling through weather eaten lips.

Elizabeth reached for her knife, and in one quick movement pinned the loud mouth’s hand to the wall before he could remove the darts from the board. The man screamed in pain, and the crowd gasped in horror. Elizabeth walked with deliberate slowness toward the man as his two companions slowly backed away. Her appearance was that of a wild animal about to prance on its trapped prey. She reached up with one hand, staring a hidden challenge to the man who stood a good foot above her and brutally ripped the knife from his bloody hand. She wiped the blade on her pants as he crumpled to the floor in pain, then turned and glanced back to Maggie.

“My father was killed in America by Indians. The only blood Blade and I shared, was what I forced from his worthless gut yesterday.”

“I’m sorry,” Maggie said, suddenly very pale.

She hadn’t intended to upset Elizabeth, and now she was afraid for her safety. Elizabeth walked back to the table. She could feel the girl’s fear, and smiled, glancing back across her shoulder at the man on the floor, still cradling his hand in pain.

“Apology accepted. I don’t think I’ll have to repeat myself.”

“Your drink, Captain,” Stormy said, his face void of emotion as he handed her the cup she had moments before abandoned.

Elizabeth swallowed the entire amount again then poured herself more, ignoring the grey eyes that scolded her. She had known Stormy long enough, to know his silence spoke volumes.

“Come, sit down,” she ordered the mayor and his wife, who stood cowering behind him. “I believe there are some questions you would like to ask.”

Elizabeth sat tipped back in a chair for the next forty minutes, answering the mayor’s questions to the best of her knowledge. Laddie joined them a half-hour earlier and sat listening to the story and answers she supplied them. She told him all that she knew. Blade had stolen the girl in the middle of the night, had driven the ship out to sea at a deadly pace. She ended with the fact that he tried to rape Maggie, who in turn managed to escape his cabin. Mrs. Littleton looked positively ill, but Maggie recovered her embarrassment to relay the gory details of the battle between her savior and the thief.

She told them of the standoff, and the fight itself then told of Elizabeth beating Blade, cutting off his arm and ripping his chest open to retrieve his heart. With those pictures in the minds of those listening, gasps turned to gags, when even men left the bar to expel the contents of their stomachs in the street. Elizabeth glanced at Stormy and Laddie and grinned slightly, then looked back to her number one fan.

“I think perhaps you should have chosen your words more carefully,” she scolded the girl, swallowing the contents of her glass than refilling it yet again.

The occupants left standing continued to listen with interest. Not only was Elizabeth beautiful, but she was deadly with a blade and drank as well as any sailor they had ever seen. The mayor didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t sure if he should be appalled, or thankful. This strange dark-haired woman had rescued his only child, brought her home to him, and now had the entire town running for air. And to think it was barely one o’clock in the afternoon.

“Well, Miss...Lass was it?” the mayor began, hearing just about all he could stomach. “I believe I owe you a great deal of thanks. It sounds as though you not only saved my daughter’s life, for which I am indeed grateful but managed to rid the world of a barbarian. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Your thanks are payment enough,” Elizabeth said, sitting her glass down and standing, surprising all who watched her with her steadiness and grace, especially after downing seven glasses of whiskey. “And it’s Captain Lass, not Miss.”

“I apologize,” the mayor replied with a slight blush to his pudgy cheeks.

Turning to see his servant hurrying into the tavern, carrying a brown wrapped package, he stood and accepted it, before handing it to Elizabeth.

“You said my thanks were enough, yet I feel it only right that you be given the reward I promised for my daughter’s safe return. I believe there is also a reward on Blade’s life as well.”

Elizabeth stared at the package before accepting it, handing it over to Laddie unopened.

“I didn’t bring your daughter back for a reward, but I will take it. I’m not stupid.”

“If you didn’t bring Margaret back for the money,” Mrs. Littleton asked at last, “Then why did you? It’s not like pirates to return their prisoners without demanding a hefty profit.”

The room fell silent at the look Elizabeth gave the older woman, pinning her with her dark blue eyes, much the same as she had pinned the man to the wall with her knife. Elizabeth took a step closer to the woman, looking her squarely in the eye.

“I am not a pirate, Madam, I am a mercenary, and I returned your daughter because I didn’t want history to repeat itself. I was fulfilling a promise I’d made a long time ago, nothing more.” With that said, Elizabeth pushed her way past the crowd and walked steadily toward her ship.

“What was that supposed to mean?” Maggie’s mother asked in a small voice as she began fanning herself with her gloves.

“The captain and her mother were Blade’s prisoners’ years ago,” Stormy said, coming to the defense of his friend and leader. “What nearly happened to your daughter, did happen to her mother. The Lass had to live through her mother’s daily tortures by Blade’s hand, and eventually her untimely death.”

“Oh, dear God,” the woman gasped, pulling her daughter into her embrace.

“She made a promise to her mother that no innocent woman would suffer at Blade’s hand again. You not only owe her your thanks, but you also owe her your daughter’s life. Feel fortunate she’s merely accepting your money as payment.”

Stormy and Laddie walked back to the ship, leaving the crowd standing silently in the bar and the street. He was angry that he had allowed them to upset Elizabeth but angrier that he had felt it necessary to explain her position to them. She was the woman who saved their precious daughter. That should have been enough for anyone to say thank you.

Later that afternoon, a messenger was sent to the Sea Heart, as Elizabeth had coined her ship, extending an invitation to the captain and her officers to visit the mayor for tea. Elizabeth accepted the message, then looked to Stormy in surprise.

“What does it mean, invited for tea?”

“You’ve got me on that one, Captain,” he replied, looking to the messenger for an answer.

The man quickly explained the situation, fighting the urge to laugh as he waited silently for a reply. Elizabeth didn’t feel it right to decline the invitation, yet wasn’t about to neglect her work, or ship, for such a trivial reason.

“Tell the mayor I thank him and his wife, yet I have too much work to do.”

Turning away from the neatly dressed man, she started to walk back up the stairs to her bridge. She stopped and looked down across the railing as he began to leave.

“You may tell the mayor, he’s welcome to come aboard to visit, but he’ll have to bring his own tea. The weakest drink we have is coffee.”

Stormy watched the man leave in astonishment, then turned to the woman with a smile.

“I’m beginning to think you enjoy shocking these people,” he told her.

“’ Course she does,” Laddie said with an amused chuckle. “And don’t tell me you don’t think they deserve it? Fancy pants like that, need to be shocked every once in a while. Who better than a pirate captain?”

“Indeed,” Elizabeth answered with a relaxed smile. “Who better than me?”

“You two are just as intolerable as you always were,” Stormy scolded. “What we could use around here is a little less fun and a lot more discipline.”

Elizabeth frowned as she listened to her friends tease each other.

“Don’t mind him, Lass,” Laddie said joyfully. “He’s just jealous. He wouldn’t know fun if it bit his ass.”

“Watch yourself boy,” Stormy snarled back up at him with a half-grin. “I may just have to keelhaul you here and now.”

“You haven’t the balls,” Laddie challenged back.

Elizabeth remained quiet for a few moments before turning and walking back down the stairs.

“Back to work, both of you,” she ordered going to her cabin and shutting the door.

“What was that all about?” Laddie asked as Stormy leaned against the railing.

“She’s had a hard couple of days,” he answered with a frown.

Laddie looked down the passageway to the captain’s closed door and nodded.

“A hard fifteen years, you mean,” he replied.

“’ Scuse me, Captain,” Gregory said, stepping through the open door to her cabin. “The mayor and his wife are here to see you.”

Elizabeth nearly choked on the coffee she’d been sipping for the past two hours. She had extended the invitation, but never once assumed they would take her up on it. She glanced up as the young man led the couple in, then stood and greeted them with as much dignity as possible.

“Forgive the mess,” she told them, gathering together the charts and maps she’d been working on. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

“You did tell our servant to come for tea, didn’t you?” Mrs. Littleton asked.

Elizabeth bit back the laugh that threatened her composure. The older woman was standing in front of her, a teapot in one hand and a basket on the other.

“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d take me up on the offer. Not many people would.” She briefly glanced up as Gregory smiled, leaving the three alone and closing the door.

“And say we passed up the chance to see a pirate’s ship without being held hostage?” the woman asked, then blushed remembering herself.

“My wife often speaks without thinking,” the mayor apologized.

“Quite alright, sir,” Elizabeth replied, feeling the urge to tame the woman’s tongue with the steel of her knife. “I suppose there aren’t many who have lived to speak of the decor of a pirate ship. So, tell me,” she added, sitting back in her seat and extending her arms out. “What do you think?”

The two examined the room, blushing at the portrait of Blade reclining in bed. It wasn’t exactly what one would expect in a lady’s room, yet this wasn’t a lady, was she? She was a pirate, and the portrait made them suspect just how she kept her men disciplined and capable of making them obey so willingly. A few added favors from the captain, perhaps?

“It’s...unique,” Mrs. Littleton admitted with color to her cheeks.

“Sit,” Elizabeth demanded boldly, deliberately forgetting her manners.

If it was a pirate they wanted her to be, then it was a pirate she would show them. After all, fifteen years on board gave her enough examples for a lifetime of shocking people.

“Gregory,” she shouted, refusing the bell that was strung up to the outside. The one used by Blade to ring for service.

She rather enjoyed the surprised look the two exchanged by her tone. Gregory opened the door with a frown then smiled at the look of pleasure on his captain’s face.

“Send Stormy to me,” she ordered. “Do you need glasses for this tea?” she asked the two.

Mrs. Littleton shook her head, swallowing hard before speaking.

“We have our own, we also brought some crumpets.”

“Is that something that needs to be gutted before eating?” she asked, nearly exploding into laughter at the look on Gregory’s face, and the way he rolled his eyes upwards.

“Heavens no,” Mrs. Littleton blurted. “It’s a dessert, you know a sweet cake.”

“Ahh,” Elizabeth added, waving her crewman away.

“I checked into that reward matter, we discussed earlier,” the mayor began, eyeing the woman oddly. He wasn’t sure if he should take what he saw at face value or interpret another meaning to it.

“What reward was that?” Elizabeth asked, leaning back in her seat again.

“The one on Blade,” he frowned at the sudden change in the captain’s beautiful features.

She instantly went from looking content and light-hearted, to serious and determined.

“And what did you find out?” she demanded, sitting up and reaching for the cup of coffee still sitting in front of her.

“There is indeed a reward, more than fifty thousand pounds English money, and another put up by a duke for more than a hundred thousand pounds. It seems we weren’t the only ones who had reason to hate the man.”

“I’m not surprised,” she commented briefly. “So, what would you like me to do about it?”

“I’ve already sent a messenger to London with word of Blade’s death. The money should arrive within a month or two.”

“Pity we won’t be here that long.”

“Where would you go? You’re welcome here, and with Blade dead, there’s no reason for you to return to sea. What would you do out there, anyway?”

“As you so kindly pointed out, sir, we are pirates...mercenaries if you will...pirates for hire. The sea is our lives. We’re, none of us, ranchers or bankers. It’s what we do, it’s all we know.”

“Yes, but you’re a woman,” Mrs. Littleton pointed out, preventing Elizabeth from answering right away, as a knock came to the door and Stormy stepped through. He noticed instantly Elizabeth’s set features and frowned.

“I’m well aware of my gender madam, but I’ve never had it become such an issue, until recently. Tell me, what is it about breasts that change a person’s abilities to perform a job? Do you think in order to be accepted in this town, I should have been born with a set of balls?”

“You sent for me, Captain?” Stormy asked, eyeing the couple who sat awkwardly staring at the woman.

“Indeed,” Elizabeth added, standing from her seat. “The mayor and his wife brought crumpets. That’s a sweet cake dessert I’m told, but I’m afraid I have work to attend to, so if you’d be so kind as to entertain our guests.”

Elizabeth bowed her head slightly, leaving the room and the three alone. She was anxious to see the work and get away from this town. She didn’t care much for the idea of being insulted every time she turned around, just because she happened to be a woman.

On deck, the work of mending the sails was well underway. The ropes were laid out to dry before being repaired and the sanding of the decks was nearly completed. The crew had managed to rename the ship, repainted the masthead, and repaired the railings. Within a few days, the varnish would be dry, the ropes repaired and the sails securely in place. Then they could leave this port and the insufferable people behind them and return to their home...the sea.

Elizabeth took up one end of the ropes, tugging it straight so it could be re-braided. She laid it out and began working on it, fighting more with her own hair, then the rope. Reluctantly, she reached behind her and began twisting the long dark tresses into a tight knot, then returned to her work. She was frustrated and angry and in desperate need of a diversion. The sounds of the ocean lapping against the sides of the ship were broken only by the sounds of whispered voices floating upon the breeze, by the curious observers on the docks who watched her.

Elizabeth glanced across her shoulder and saw a group of young women and men, approximately her own age, staring at her and talking behind her back. It was a very uneasy feeling, being stared at. In the past, she had merely faded into the background, looking like a boy and acting like a boy. She supposed she had spent so many years hiding, that now she was visible to the world, she had become self-conscious.

The sound of voices emerged from her cabin and she stood, looking back to the three as they walked out of her room. Thank God, she thought. At least now she could retreat to the quiet seclusion of her quarters. She continued to work, ignoring her guests as they approached her. She was too angry by far to pretend anymore. She just wanted the work finished, so they could leave port.

“Captain,” Stormy said, stepping up to her. “Mayor Littleton and his wife would like for you to visit them before we leave.”

Elizabeth stood and twisted around quickly. Who the bloody hell did they think they were? Her benefactors? She didn’t want their charity and she didn’t need any more reminders that she was a woman and should be acting like one.

“Have you forgotten there is a ship to ready?” Stormy stood back a step then straightened his back.

“No, Captain, I haven’t. It’s just that little Maggie is having a party and...”

“That’s incredible,” she snapped, glaring at the two older people standing nearby. “The little bitch barely escapes being raped, and now she’s throwing a party like nothing’s happened. That’s absolutely incredible.”

“But Captain,” Stormy began again, receiving the threat of her sword pointed at his throat.

“Not another word,” she growled angrily, shocking not only her visitors but those spectators on the dock. “Return to your station or stand your ground.”

“Aye, Captain,” he answered, turning and bowing to the older couple before heading off toward the crew’s quarters.

“As for you two,” she took a step closer to them, sword still clutched in her hand.

The mayor and his wife turned and hurried down the gangplank, leaving Elizabeth to stare after them. She slowly sheathed her sword, glaring at the group on the dock who immediately hurried away, leaving only her crew to wonder at her actions.

“Get back to work,” she ordered, returning to the rope in front of her.

That night, dinner was eaten in silence as Elizabeth stared at the plate in front of her. She sat in her usual spot at the table in the galley, along with Stormy, Swen, Gregory, Laddie, and Ching. Her anger had been burned off with the hard labor of the day. She was left with the embarrassment and shame her actions had caused.

These people were her friends, her family. Just because she couldn’t handle the embarrassment of being a woman, didn’t give her the right to attack the crew. Clearing her throat, she looked to Stormy. Apologies were never her strongest asset, yet there was no other way out of this mess.

“I’m sorry,” she said, nearly croaking the words. “I had no right to snap at you, any of you. I honestly don’t know what’s come over me.”

“I think it’s time we headed back out to sea,” Laddie said softly. “At least there, nobody questions you.”

“You mean you knew?” she asked, looking at them.

“We’d be blind, deaf, and stupid if we didn’t see how these people were treating you,” Gregory added.

“But that still doesn’t excuse my behavior.”

“The mayor offered to let you stay with him and his family,” Stormy began quietly. “Blade is dead. You’re free to leave...if you want to.”

The men sat staring at her, as she inspected their faces one at a time.

“Are you saying you want me to go?” She knew they were angry at the way she had treated them, but she didn’t think they were mad enough to put her ashore.

“You’re our captain, Elizabeth,” Stormy said, using her Christian name. “We vowed years ago if we lived to see the day when you sought your revenge, that we would follow you to the ends of the earth. Your skills are unmatched, even by us. We’ve known for a long time the day would come, that you would have to choose. But your mother wanted you to be with your grandfather. If you decide to follow her wishes, we will understand.”

“Why should I do anything my mother wanted?” she asked, her tone level and stern. “She left me at the mercy of that bastard. If it hadn’t been for you, I’d have followed into the sea along beside her. She took her life and an innocent child’s life. You tell me, why should I give a damn what she wanted? I hope she’s rotting in hell, right beside Blade.”

Elizabeth stood and left the room, returning to her cabin. She slammed the door hard before falling to the satin sheets covering the mattress. Her eyes closed, and she tried to slow her racing heartbeat, but when she opened her eyes again, she saw that same horrible portrait her mother had painted.

Anger could be your best ally or your worst enemy, Stormy always told her. Right now, she was fighting a battle inside herself that proved lethal. She stood on the bed and began pulling at the portrait until it gave free, tumbling her to the mattress with the weight of the portrait pressing down across her. She quickly regained her stance and pulled the large painting behind her as she dragged it out to the deck, and laid it face up. She then hurried back to the passageway and tore at the second portrait.

Following suit, she carried it to the deck and tossed it on top of the other. The crew heard the commotion from below and hurried up to see what was happening. They watched as Elizabeth disappeared into her cabin, returning a few minutes later with a fresh bottle of whiskey and Blade’s sword. She tossed the sword on top of the portraits, poured the entire bottle of liquor in the middle then stepped aside, tossing a match to the pile. She watched as flames leaped from the center and quickly spread to the outer edges, melting away the last images of Captain Blade.

Stormy held Laddie back, as he tried to stop her. He knew it was only the first step toward putting the past behind her and moving forward with her life. Elizabeth watched the fire burn hotter, then turned and left, allowing the crew to take care of it, or let it burn the ship down. She didn’t care which. She just wanted it to be done.

Once she had left the deck, her crew quietly dumped a barrel of water on the flames, watching them sizzle to a smoky cloud of memories. Each one of them wanted to do the same thing she had just done, yet nobody had the courage. They realized in an instant, that with Elizabeth leading them, they were free to be the men they always wanted to be. They were no longer tied to a madman, forced to watch his perversion or his brutality. They could leave if they wanted to or stay and follow the woman who had set them free.

Ching and Gregory pulled the smoldering blob of paint to the side of the ship and tossed it into the ocean. That was their answer. Goodbye to the past, and hello to the future. Elizabeth had shown them how to stand tall and proud. They realized as the waves took Blades portraits to the bottom of the ocean, they needed her as much as she needed them.

After all, they were family.