he wind whipped around large sails that cast long shadows on the deck below. A black flag with a  horned skull and a spear caught a gust and flipped around a mast before straightening to warn those  who saw it who was at the helm. The old wood of the ship creaked and groaned as lively waves lapped  at its hull.

 Murmurs of men gathered on the blood-stained deck broke the peaceful sounds of the sea and made the young girl among them tremble.

 "I'm offering you my cousin for safe passage only," came the whiny voice of the man beside her. "Forget the gold I asked for. Let my crew and I go, and you can have her."

 She lifted her eyes only a moment from beneath the hood of her sapphire cloak to look at the man to whom her cousin was speaking. At his ghastly appearance, she quickly shut her eyes and squeezed her hands together tightly at her waist.

 "If I wanted the girl, I could take her without any bargain," was the calm, confident reply.

 It was a deep baritone with a hint of bitterness, and she swallowed at the horrors she was sure awaited her. She clutched a small purple flower she had picked that morning. When she discovered her cousin meant to sell her to pirates, she clung to it as though it would magically keep her tied to the last bit of earth she felt before being forced onto the ship.

 "I came here in good faith, Captain Garson!" yelled her cousin. "I was told by one of your crew that you buy women for pleasure at a high price - the prettier the better. Have a look!"

 Captain Garson, along with the rest of his crew, watched as the man before them pulled down the girl's hood. He pulled the cloak away from her shoulders and let it fall at her feet.

 He grinned as the men began to compliment her beauty in their typically crude fashion, but his attention was on Captain Garson.

 "Do you see, Captain?" he said urgently. "Is my fair-haired cousin not a sight for sore eyes among this gathering of sea-weary men?"

 "Evie! Look up at the man!" he scolded.

 Evie tried to raise her chin, but the only thing keeping the contents of her stomach from spilling out was staring at the flower and wishing it was all just a terrible dream.

 "Dammit, Evie!" he growled as he grabbed her hair at the back of her head.

 He forced her head back so she would look up, and she found her gaze meeting that of the pirate captain before her. Tears welled up in her eyes as he glared at her.

 He was the most terrifying man she had ever seen. His one good eye was dark blue and bloodshot. The other was a solid white disk framed by a deep scar above it. On that same side of his face was what appeared to be an old burn, sloppily healed over time.

 His hair was like the long thick mane of a black steed in her uncle's stables. It was unbound and matched in color to the short beard and mustache on his weathered face. The angry scowl he had worn since they boarded his ship darkened his features all the more.

 Captain Garson's eyes squinted intolerantly as he stared at the horrified expression on the lovely girl's face. He'd grown weary of the disgust shown toward him from spoiled and sheltered women.

 He looked down as her annoying cousin continued to speak and saw her hands holding tightly to a single little flower. An odd sensation struck him, and he looked back into her sky-blue eyes.

 "Is she to your liking, Captain?" her cousin was saying. "I can assure you, she's still as innocent as the first fallen snow. My father forbade her from leaving our manor after she came to live with us. She was eleven. She's nineteen now.

 Don't misunderstand," he said as he released her hair and took a step forward. "She's quite skilled at many things. She can sew and cook and..."

 He was interrupted by several loud laughs.

 "The captain ain't lookin' fer a wife, ye arse," said a man beside him. "What did ye think ye were offerin' when ye pranced her here in front of us lot?"

 Her cousin gulped as the man casually threw his arm around his shoulders.

 "She won't make it through the day," the pirate hissed against his face.

 The men around them laughed and one tried to grab her.

 "Enough!" Captain Garson ordered.

 The men grew silent and took a step back to give him room around the girl and her escort.

 Captain Garson watched as she stared at the flower. The world had once again grown quiet save for the sounds of the creaking wood and lapping sea.

 Evie tried to calm her racing heart and churning stomach as she watched his scuffed black boots move closer. Life seemed to freeze when she saw his hand reach toward hers. She tried desperately to ignore the pounding of her heart beating so loudly in her ears she could no longer hear.

 As his fingers stretched, she saw a small mark in the shape of a triangle on his thumb. Her curiosity made her forget what she was doing, and as his hand reached for the flower, hers reached out to touch the scar.

 Captain Garson stared as he stood frozen. He watched her gently touch the old wound without flinching at his calloused hand. Her fingers felt like soft rain sliding over his skin, and that odd sensation from before returned. He lowered his hand but didn't stop staring at the top of her cornsilk blonde head.

 "Remove him," he said of her cousin.

 "Captain! What of my cousin? Are you going to take her and let me go?" the younger man wondered anxiously as he was dragged away.

 "Hold him," Captain Garson ordered.

 He looked over the man who had the audacity to demand an agreement. He was dressed in fine clothes with hair combed to a shine and tied tightly at the nape of his neck. High pinched cheeks reflected its reddish sheen and almost looked painted on like a woman's rouge.

 He noticed a contrast between the young man and the girl. Her dress was nice enough but did not reflect the same worth. It didn't fit her as well as the tailored type he'd seen on other women in such finery, even her cousin. It was as though it was borrowed rather than from her own wardrobe.

 "What did you say your name was?" Captain Garson asked the man.

 "Edgar, Captain," Edgar quickly answered as he tried to stand straight from the men who still restrained him. "This is my cousin, Evie Sorensen."

 "You brought your innocent cousin to me for gold?" Captain Garson asked. "I've been offered daughters, sisters, and even lovers in exchange for freedom from my chains, so it isn't a shocking thing. I only wonder why someone who looks like an aristocrat would do it. My usual visitors are lowly street urchins, poor gamblers, and the like. You don't appear to be in need of money.

 Explain to me your intention and I may let you live if I'm satisfied with the answer."

 Edgar stared at the captain, who was stroking his beard in wait. He knew the truth would guarantee his death, but he didn't know what else he could say.

 "They don't look related," blurted a man holding onto Edgar. "Maybe she isn't his cousin. Maybe he went off and got some lowborn girl pregnant and he's tryin' to get rid of her before his father learns of it."

 The men began to mumble in favor of the possibility.

 "Is that it, girl?" said a man beside Evie. "Are ye some maid workin' at this weasel's manor? Had a go with ye and now yer with his child?"

 "That don' make 'er innocent!" shouted another with a laugh. "We should 'ave a looksee and find out!"

 "First one who touches her loses his hand," Captain Garson threatened.

 His voice hadn't once become loud or anxious, yet stilled the blood of everyone who heard him speak. They backed away from her once more, some impatiently shaking their heads as they waited for his business to be concluded.

 "I'm waiting," he then said to Edgar.

 "All right," Edgar finally said, resolving the conflict in his mind to only tell a half-truth.

 He pulled away from the two men who held him as Captain Garson nodded for them to let him speak.

 "Evie is my cousin, it's true," he told them. "All I've told you is true. I simply don't like her and wish for her to be gone from my father's manor. I thought to make a profit to compensate my father's rage when he finds out she's missing.

 No need to worry about him. He cares little for her, as well. Taking her in was only a matter of familial duty. Were it not for his love for his brother, he would have left her to rot as an orphan. I'm merely helping Father relieve himself of such responsibilities.

 I knew he would forgive me when I showed him the gold for selling her. That won't happen now that you've refused to pay me, though you are taking her. All I ask is that you allow me to leave unharmed. Father needn't know of any of this. I'll simply say she ran off. He won't care. He'll not have her in the way anymore."

 Evie stared at the boards of the deck as she listened to Edgar's version of her circumstances. She wondered if she should reveal his treachery. She pondered the reactions of their captors if she did.

 She glanced around from beneath lowered eyelids at the shuffling of boots. They were growing impatient, but impatient for what? Were they so eager to have her in their beds?

 If she told the truth, the captain may be fearful enough to let them go. He didn't seem to fear anything, though. Still, he wouldn't want to be embroiled in the messy situation keeping her would cause him.

 Perhaps he would be angered that Edgar brought such trouble to his ship and kill her cousin then her after having his way with her.

 She swallowed back more bile as Edgar stopped speaking. She would remain silent for now and hope something dreadful wasn't about to happen.

 "Get off my ship," Captain Garson ordered coolly. "If I see you again, I'll slice you ear to ear."

 "Th-that's it?" Edgar stuttered in disbelief. "Y-y-you're letting me go?"

 "Your story reeks of lies, but I've no time to interrogate you," Captain Garson replied. He had watched the girl from the corner of his eye and could see she knew her cousin was lying. "I'll get the truth out of your tender cousin," he sneered.

 The men cheered at the assumption she would be theirs for the taking. The two who held onto Edgar shoved him across the gangplank that had been stretched between their ship and the one that had brought the visitors to their side.

 When the men around Evie began pulling her to pass her around, Captain Garson grabbed her arm and brought her close.

 "You all have work to do," he told them. "We aren't done making repairs from the last battle."

 Without another word, he pulled her away with him as he hurried off to his cabin.