Ocean Storm (Queen of Piracy Duology #1)

Chapter 24: Not them again!

The sight of those men-of-war frightened me. I'd heard many rumors about the Royal Navy before that day and I didn't want to find out if they were real. The British kept attacking us, making me wish I'd never left Tortuga in the first place. Although I couldn't see Dirk well, I had a feeling he was also afraid. Regardless of the success I'd achieved as a pirate captain in only two months, I was no match for the Navy and neither was Bosch. Of course, we intended to give our bests to avoid defeat, but only God knew what would happen. My heartbeat accelerated as I saw them approaching. Even though I was no naval war strategy genius, I knew what they intended to do: sink Ocean Storm and White Shark. At that moment, I was even more convinced that someone from the inside had been working with the British. I couldn't tell whether the person worked for Bosch or me yet, but I had this weird feeling that I was being betrayed... Could such a terrible thing be true? I hoped not. Perhaps it was just a crazy coincidence that the Navy had been finding me more easily. I didn't know... It was bizarre that they knew exactly where I was in Tortuga and had discovered my vessel so quickly that morning.

I went downstairs to the gun deck fast. I felt so dizzy that I tripped twice. Sven was talking to Trevor. Francis kept looking at me while walking as if he tried to understand what was happening. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, so I pulled my cocked hat slightly downward to hide it.

"Sven, prepare all the cannons!" I frowned as I remembered the danger we were about to face. "Fire them when you see a little less than half of the man-of-war. Do the same if an enemy vessel approaches on the other side."

He nodded, "Aye, Captain!"

When Sven left and started talking to the other gunners and powder monkeys, I returned to the main deck. My hands were sweaty, so I cleaned them on my dark purple coat before anyone noticed. I observed Laurens for a moment and pressed my lips together.

Could Laurens be the traitor? What about Sven and Maartje? God, I can't stop thinking about this...

"Maartje, adjust the sails. We must escape from our enemies as fast as possible," I sighed and raised my brows. "Let's continue that conversation later."

What could I do? Of course, I didn't want to ignore that Maartje and I were arguing, but everyone would die if I focused on our quarrel instead of the crew's safety. My chest ached as I thought of the stupid thing I'd done. I should've never told her that uncle Ruben was a murderer. God, I couldn't believe how I'd messed everything up...

Maartje followed my orders while shooting me a mysterious gaze. She glanced downward and pursed her lips. I wasn't sure if she was angry or sad, maybe even both. What if she was faking everything, didn't really want to help, and was the one who had led the Navy to me on the previous night? I almost freaked out just by wondering about it.

"I believe these British want to sink Ocean Storm so badly just because the commanders are a woman and a black man," Laurens crossed his arms. "Why don't they chase some other buccaneers instead?"

I gulped after hearing that. How could Laurens know the British knew that? Was it because we'd been chased lately... or something else? Call me crazy, but that was oddly specific. Even though the British knew my gender, I wasn't sure if they were aware that Laurens was black.

I lifted an eyebrow, "How can you be so sure they know we're nontraditional high-ranking pirates?"

He shrugged, "I'm not certain. It's a guess. I just believe the Navy would be more eager to defeat us if they knew who we are."

That makes sense. Maybe I'm too paranoid after all... I hope.

I turned to the forty people on the main deck, "I want twenty of you on port and the other twenty on starboard. Prepare your blunderbusses and wait for my signal to fire."