What It Is To Command

Silas rubbed her shoulders briefly as the ship began to move back from where it was harbored. The misty shore and docks soon became like a tiny speck on the horizon as the sun rose. “If you can get us around the horn quickly darling there is a chance we’ll make it to take that ship,” he said then shifted her braid to kiss near the back of her neck. He liked to make her skin prickle and he reached under her coat to palm her left butt cheek. “I want more of this later,” he said plainly. They had both fallen asleep last night due to how much they had drank then rose late to get to the docks. They were late in coming but there was still a chance they could make it if they were quick. “I need to plot our course when we reach the Western coast, the ship is yours,” he told her as he kneaded her behind then withdrew up the steps to their cabin. The ship was hers but her body would be his tonight, that much was clear.

A few men chuckled near the rear front running sail rigging. It wasn’t tight at all and they weren’t the only ones who seemed to relax once Silas disappeared. Reggie was eating below decks and Bale was on the wheel. It would be up to her to set things right if she wanted to catch that ship with French gold on it. The dukes payment for his ore but they needed to quickly move south and west around the southern edge of the continent to catch the favorable winds that would carry them Northward again to capture her prize.

Emma couldn't remember all of the night before, but she certainly remembered learning that Nathan would have another shipment coming very soon. She wanted that ship...she wanted it and she was going to take it. Nathan had used her as a pawn in his game. He had never loved her or even cared about her. She had meant nothing to him except in getting what he wanted. The only thing she intended to thank Nathan for was for introducing her to Silas, the man she loved and would spend the rest of her life with...while they continued to take his money. She could almost see the shocked look on his pudgy face and it made her grin from the mere thought of it. Oh Nathan would pay alright. He would pay...and pay...and pay.

That morning was misty and she was anxious as the ship finally pulled out from the dock. They were late in leaving and she knew they would have to make up time. She listened to Silas, or at least tried to, as she felt his hand on her behind. Things between them had been anti-climatic the night before as they both had passed out. It had been clear in the morning that they had started to remove one another's clothes, but nothing had happened past that. She wanted Silas...but at the moment she wanted the gold more.

The moment Silas disappeared into their cabin Emma turned to look at the crew. The sails had gone lax and the men appeared complacent in their duties. Well, Emma wasn't going to stand for that...at all!

"Hey!" she yelled loudly at them to get their attention. "Get these sails tight NOW! We are going after another one of the Duke's ships and I WANT that gold. Any man, or woman," she said eyeing Nels, "who does not get to work IMMEDIATELY will be taking a swim back to shore. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Several men looked at one another in indecision when she began talking, but it was only for a moment when she barked loudly at them before they hustled too with a will to do what she said. As a result the ship began to catch the wind and it lurched forward at full speed Southward. The continent was still barely in view with a looking glass she saw. Silas had given her his in full view of everyone as a minor ceremony of a sort as to exchange the mantle of the Captaincy to her. He was doing alot and taking a great risk for Emma and he hoped she knew that. Her failures would become his own and so he needed her to succeed at all costs.

Stone and Crow’s ships were faster than the larger Brig and they had moved past them a while ago and were barely in signaling distance now. She noticed 2 other ships behind them, Armed Frigates flying English flags. Warships or scouts she could not be sure. She’d have to modify her heading to be sure they were following or just traveling the horn as they were.

Emma knew that Silas was taking a big risk for her and she didn't want to let him down...she wouldn't let him down. She would succeed because she had to. She used the spyglass Silas had given her to view her surroundings. She could see Stone and Crow's ships way out ahead of the Flying Wolf. However, she also noticed two ships behind them. She could see the English flags and became concerned that perhaps they were following them. She would not order an attack unless she was certain of their intentions. Instead, she began calling out orders to the men to adjust their heading, while keeping a close eye on the two English ships behind them.

After what seemed like forever the 2 ships seemed to begin to fade to her port side to head south. The wind that blew across the ship was damn and cool, the saltiness of the spray was strong in the air and the deck became slippery. Most men were bare of foot due to that save reform those who had more experience and were used to the coldness of the deck. The shop bobbed up and down as they moved around the horn. She knew sh’s need to keep their speed up until just before dusk to get past it or they’d be slow in going tomorrow morning. 

At lunchtime Reggie came to replace bale and he nodded to Emma to get something to eat if she wanted. Silas was still looking at the changes in the new maps and he would want to discuss them with her when she was free. 

Down in the mess Nels was there and several other sailors were talking about about women, of course. “You lads wouldn't even know where to put it if’n there wasn’t a woman to show ya!” She said and the men laughed. Quint sat near her, his. Owl steaming with the hot chili that was made. It smelled sharp but it made her mouth water just the same. “Most men know where ya put it wench!”

Emma continued to keep an eye out on the two ships behind them, but at the same time she continued to call out orders to the men. Much to her relief, the two ships slowly began to head south and Emma felt she could relax a little. Finally, they began to move around the horn and Emma made sure that the ship maintained its high speed.

Around noon, Emma began to feel hungry and knew that Silas was still looking at the new maps. She headed down to the mess to make up two plates, knowing that Silas would not yet have eaten. She could overhear the conversation that was taking place and it took all of her effort not to roll her eyes. She did, however, finally turn to look at them all.

"Less talk more eating so you all can get back to work. If we lose this ship I will not be happy," she said before taking the tray and leaving the mess. She walked up to Silas' cabin and knocked on the door before walking in.

"I thought you might be hungry."

No one gave her an backtalk but she knew they were looking at her back and would start up again after she left. Silas was leaned over his desk and held a protractor as he measured distances. He looked up and smiled over at her. “Aye, for my wife,” he said playfully. He winked at her. “Two new ports are under construction here,” he pointed on his map. It was the west coast of Great Britain. “We can harbor there tomorrow for a day and resupply before making our hunt for the French ships with your Duke’s Precious Gold,” he said. “You never talk about him much, what kind of
Man is he? Is he intelligent?” He asked

Emma grinned a little at Silas as she put down the tray. There was already a pot of tea so she began to prepare two cups while also looking closely at the map Silas had spread out on his desk. She listened to Silas and nodded at this suggestion of resupplying at one of the new ports along the Great Britain coast. When Silas asked about the Duke she shrugged a little before handing him a cup of tea.

"Yes, he's intelligent and also cunning. He wants what he wants and nothing will stand in his way. He's also a liar and terrible in bed," Emma added with more than a little hostility in her voice.

Silas was taken aback by her tone.”I think maybe you have a grudge against him. To be used by the man who took your virginity. But I think I was the first to make you cum,” he said as he looked up from the map at her silky hair. She still looked down at the map. “Remind me never to make you that angry...come on I want to fuck before lunch,” he said as he got up to kiss her cheek then straightened and began to take his coat off as he headed toward the bed.

It wasn't a long drawn out moment he went hard and fast from behind and they actually came together. They ate in bed and she played with his cock with her toes as they sat up on their elbows with their bowls. “What happened to your father?” He asked out of the blue.

Emma certainly did have a grudge against Nathan. She had been used and tossed aside like she was nothing. Well, she was going to prove him wrong about that. He was going to wish he had never taken advantage of her and she wished she could see the look on his face when he realized she was working with the pirate who had kidnapped her.

A short time later she lay in bed with Silas while they ate lunch. His question about her father caught her rather off guard and for a long moment she didn't speak. She hadn't thought about her father in weeks and a rush of guilt came over her. He was probably beside himself with guilt and worry and didn't even know if she was alive or dead.

"After my mother died he became horribly depressed and began making bad investment decisions. He quickly racked up large amounts of debt and thus had to begin selling off parts of our estate lands. He thought that my match with the Duke was a good one, though I found out that the Duke was giving my father money in exchange for my hand. He didn't know about the Duke's plans...of that I am certain. In his heart he wanted what was best for me and believed the Duke truly wanted me as his wife. I just realized that he doesn't know if I am alive or dead. I must write to him to let him know I am alright. I...I miss him."

They didn’t encounter any more ships and silas showed her how to use the compass and protractor. Astrology was harder and navigating by sextant, harder still. The ship was harbored near the coast, not near any port though so there were no lights which made the stars easy to see. He appreciated Emma’s patience though. It wasn’t an easy concept to be sure and he wasn’t exactly certain how much she was picking up. She snapped at him twice when he asked her to do something he had already explained however. Luckily no men were near them though save for Nels who chuckled at them as she sat with a bottle of rum near the barrel stay.

“How’s bout a fuck Cap’n?” She said drunkily and it wasn’t clear who she was asking. “Are you drunk while on watch?” Silas asked. “Yah I am...an I wanna fuck you, Emma...don’t matter ta me none. I figure ya owe me...both ya do an I wanna sleep good tonight,” she said and fell back onto her elbows then chuckled as she sat back up. Emma saw that he was getting angry and he had kicked a sailor half to death when he had been drunk while on watch. She saw his leg twitch at Nels too. “How do i owe ya?” he asked. “Cuz I looked out fer her! Protected her, trained her! An what do I get fer it? You're gratitude? Fah!" she scoffed. “Why you!” He began, his anger apparent now.

Emma wanted to learn all she could, but navigation turned out to be quite difficult, especially by stars. She tried her best to remain patient and asked many questions, but she felt frustrated and ended up snapping twice at Silas, though she didn't mean to. She was tired and still somewhat hung over from the night before and extremely angry at Nathan. She knew she couldn't let this anger cloud her judgement however. But the more she thought about Nathan and what he had done the angrier she became.

It didn't help when Nels began to drunkenly laugh at her. Her anger then increased when Nels openly commented about wanting to fuck Silas. She knew that Silas cared for Nels, but this behavior was unacceptable. She could feel the tension between them all mount and she could sense Silas was about to lose his temper.

"Go to bed Nels! Now! You are not fit to keep watch and I don't want you in my sights right now! Leave...now!"

Nels cursed several more times but she did leave and headed down below the deck. Silas winked at her approvingly and they stayed up watching the stars for a bit longer before going to bed. She was awakened by Silas’s voice booming across the ship.

“Can we avoid them!?” he asked as he looked up at the crow’s nest where Bale was. He held a looking glass to his face once more than yelled down. “Not if we want to keep the wind!” Silas looked back at the cabin briefly. That’s not going to please Emma. Not one bit he knew. If they missed that payment ship she’d be very upset.

“Well, we’ll have to skip resupplying...Make ready to turn!” He said and men ran to the running sails to get ready to shift them as Emma came out of the cabin.

Emma remained on the main deck keeping watch for a while longer before heading to bed with Silas. She awoke several hours later with a start when she heard Silas' voice yelling up on the main deck. She quickly got up and put on her boots and coat before heading out. She looked at Silas, wondering what was going on. Judging by the little she had heard of the conversation between Silas and Bale things weren't going so well.

"What's going on?" she asked Silas as she swiftly approached him.

Silas glanced back at her arrival then forward again. He tilted his head toward her and he had a neutral expressionless face. “We’re going to try and avoid them...and it will cost us time,” he said. Her immediate scowl at that was...expected. He knew how badly she wanted to intercept The Dukes gold for his ore. And his dealings with France weren’t exactly kosher so England didn’t care that they kept taking it. But now, now they may not make it in time.

“We could just not resupply provided we don’t have to fight now. We have our 2 sloops ahead of us and that Frigate coming at us is pretty fast and well armed. We could use one to draw it out of our path but that means we’ll not have it for a fight later if it comes to it,” he said. “What do you want us to do?” he asked questioningly. She felt he may know what they should do so this was obviously a test, for her.

Hearing that they may not be able to intercept the Duke's gold was not what Emma wanted to hear. She scowled and looked none too happy, but she listened to Silas as he explained the situation they were in. She sighed and walked over to get a better look around them. She was quiet for a long time before speaking.

"We cannot not resupply. It's too big a risk and while I do want that gold I want us to be properly prepared. We need both of those ships. I won't risk lives unnecessarily."

Silas smiled and nodded. “You put the men and our ships ahead of your own personal feelings, that is very good but that’s not what we’re going to do. I’m signalling Crow to change his colors and bait them,” he said as if he were talking to her over tea and biscuits. “And then we’ll forgo resupply and intercept that ship,” he said as he looked at her. The surprise in her face made him smile. When she looked to be about to disagree with him he gave her an impatient look. “Well...give the order,” he said as if her pause had annoyed him. That and by having her give that order it the blame would fall on her if something happened. However their success would as well. Much to lose and also alot to gain.

Bale signalled Crow’s ship to engage after she addressed him, Nels and Reggie. They and the Secret were going to slip past them on their starboard side while Crow changed his colors and fired on them to draw them further out away from the coast that they were skirting. With them out of their wind they’d fly past them...in theory.

Emma was rather surprised by Silas’ decision to forego resupplying the ship and instead continue on to intercept the Duke’s ship. She opened her mouth to argue with him, but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. After a brief moment’s hesitation she gave the order. She knew that any failure would fall ultimately upon her shoulders and so she knew that she could not fail. She watched as Bale signaled to Crow on his ship and held her breath as the colors on the ship were changed. Well, there was no going back now. She took a deep breath before beginning to call out orders to the men on the ship. They would need to get past the frigate without having to fight in order to keep what supplies they did have.

Crow’s ship fired at the War Frigate and like he predicted it began to pull to the left away from their line. Strong ran through first but as they began to run parallel to them they began to turn. Emma saw the ship begin to turn back toward them and without anywhere to go they had 2 choices, take a possible shot or turn back toward their stern. He saw her thinking and he gestured for her to hurry up making the call.

Emma felt incredibly nervous. She wasn't nearly as experienced as Silas and now she suddenly had to make a difficult choice and very quickly. She knew she needed to decide now on what to do and finally, after one or two nerve-wracking moments, she made the call to turn back toward the stern. She quickly began to give orders, praying she had made the right call.

OOC-It's sometimes difficult for me to visualize what is happening without actually seeing it so I'm not sure if she made the right call or not...I just took a guess lol.

The shift shifted to take up position again behind the Frigate and Crow fired another volley into them. It was going to cost them a little time, time they didn’t really have but there was nothing for it. Crow maneuvered to front of them again and as the ship began to turn left again Silas ordered their ship to turn right. “Prepare to fire!” he shouted and several men scrambled toward the cannons on both decks. “Aft cannons only!” he shouted which meant only the back half of the ship’s cannons on both decks. “Fire!” He shouted and they fired, blooms of black smoke rose up into the air as steel cannon balls ripped into the ship. Men screamed in horror as their limbs were ruined by the cannon balls or the splintering wood. They were able to slip past them with enough speed to move ahead of them but their maneuvering cost them speed. They’d have to catch the wind again Emma knew and resupplying now was absolutely out of the question if they were going to catch that ship.

It took longer than she would have liked, alot of playing with the running sails to catch the wind again in them. It took longer than it should have, apparently the ‘B’ team was on deck right then. The 4 men didn’t seem to be in a hurry at anything they did where she was concerned and Silas handed her his cudgel then stepped away from her to get some tea and a bite to eat.

Emma was upset about the lost time, but there was nothing they could do about it now expect catch the wind again and get the ship moving. She watched with growing anger as the men up on the main deck did not move with any real hurry. She glared at them and began shouting orders at the top of her lungs, but it wasn't until they saw Silas hand her his cudgel that the men began to really move. Finally, the running sails caught the wind and the ship began to lurch forward. It picked up speed quickly and Emma remained up on deck for hours making sure that they remained at a high speed. A few times Emma had to remind the men with the cudgel that she was in charge, but they finally began to respond to her more quickly and move with more of a purpose.

Finally Reggie came to relieve her and Emma went and grabbed a bottle of rum and headed to Silas' cabin. She walked in and put the bottle down onto his desk. Without a word she poured herself a small glass and drank it down in one swallow.