The Captain stood at the base of the bow, staring out into the sea ahead of us. I knew her brow was creased, just by her body language. We hadn’t seen another ship in days, and she was keen for murder.

The crew respected the Captain for her tenacity to raid other ships, her love of the fight, and the gold she brought them. But they stayed for her kind heart and incessant insults. The Elizabeth was the oddest ship on the seas; it was pink. Everywhere, everything was pink, yellow, bright luxurious colours and decorations with golden crowns and treasure, flowers on the cannons and all that made my eyes want to bleed. When other ships saw us coming, they knew they were doomed. Our powder magazine was the biggest and most stocked, and the crew even had smaller sleeping quarters just so the Captain could store more ammunition.

I approached her, she hardly wore any clothing a sea, a wrap around her chest, pants and boots was all she liked, “so the sea spray collected on her body… and so they could all see her gnarly scars, tattoos and just know their death was upon them…” she use to tell me when I asked why she liked to go about in her underwear. Her arms were about the size of my legs, but I wasn’t about the pirate life, or so I told myself, the gold was just a bonus. No, my sea venture was about magic. The curses the Captain came upon were my speciality. They called me the Sorceress of the Seas and I encouraged it.

“So, Captain, the crew are asking for a heading. I thought maybe we could go investigate the rumour of Mermaid Island?” I tried to sound as casual as possible.

She turned to me and smiled. She wasn’t pretty in high society terms, but she was beautiful, with a broad face and a narrow chin, deep-set eyes and a nose that meant business.

“And what’s there you are so interested in, my little Rabbit?” A pet name she called me when we first met. I had a rabbit that came everywhere with me. He was an excellent companion, and the Captain thought it was hilarious, a rabbit at sea. He had passed on a long time ago now.

“Well, Captain, the Mermaids like to hoard sea gems, but also, I’ve heard of this curse, The Curse of the Sea Floor they call it…” sea gems were worth a lot of money at every pirate port on the seas, and everyone was after them, not only did they sell, they looked good and made excellent jewellery, everyone was after the perfect gem, the perfect cut. The Captain sighed and folded her arms across her chest, making them bulge out. Sailors’ arms were the most intimidating thing I had ever come across, which was saying something.

“Of course, you have, right, we can chart a heading, but I want to find a merchant vessel along the way. Those are my terms. We don’t find one on the way, and we don’t stop at Mermaid Island, got it?”

“Aye Captain, I’ll tell the bitches.”

“Mm.” She grunted at me at looked out over the horizon once more.

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More to come…