The Captain's Dilemma

Chapter 1: The Reprimand

    Dagra paced back and forth in her quarters, boots clomping on the wooden floor. Her left hand in her coat pocket, she rubbed the Jenemel rum coin in between her thumb and forefinger. Her lips pressed together and she furrowed her brow.
    The door opened and an older man walked in. He blinked both sets of eyelids of his large eyes as he adjusted to the electric light in the cabin from the darkness outside. He threw closed the door behind him as he walked four steps in and stood with his arms at his side.
    "You wanted to see me, Captain?"
    Dagra stopped pacing as soon as the door opened and turned to look at the man. When he stopped just inside the cabin, she walked and stood before him, hands behind her back, no more than an arm's length away from him. She looked him over, noting the shabby appearance of his clothes and the dirt and grime in the skin of his hairless head and large earlobes, not to mention the stink coming off of him.
    "Yes, Hivis; I wanted to talk to you about what happened during the raid of that caravel this afternoon."
    The man smiled to himself as he looked down at the floor before looking back up at her, trying to suppress his mirth; "Damn fine raid, Captain; precious cargo out of Nayaloes headed for the Royal Repository in Sapecaz. Should fetch a glorious guilder in Jenemel or one of the other free cities."
    Dagra allowed herself to smile and even give out a small chuckle.
    "Yes, yes it should. But that's not the part of the raid I was talking about, Hivis."
    Hivis, again, smiled to himself and looked down at the floor, trying not to appear so happy. He looked back up at Dagra, the smile quickly leaving and reappearing on his face.
    "What, uh; what part of the raid would you be referring to, Captain?"
    Dagra took one step toward him and seized him around the throat.
    "The part where you took that Thark cabin boy and beat him until his features were unrecognizable!"
    Though Dagra held Hivis tight, seeing his face turn red and struggle for breath, she could also feel the thickness of his neck muscles. She knew she would be unable to hold on to him for long, especially if he used his bony, pointy Yu'Qua fingers to pry at her hand or arm. Dagra wished she still wore her short sword on her belt.
    "But we're pirates," Hivis managed to eek out through the choking hand on his throat; "we're not bound by law!"
    "Yes, we are not bound by law. We take possessions, jewels and coin, by force. We threaten people and commit violence, but only when necessary! We do not brutalize people on a whim!"
    Dagra knew she would have to take Hivis out to the deck of the ship and announce to the rest of the crew his crime and what his punishment should be, to make an example of him. She would sentence him to fifteen lashes, and Kyulig, her First Mate since she decided to lead the life of a pirate, would mete out the punishment. She just hoped that Hivis would refrain from lashing out at her when she did release him.
    "It was just a cabin boy; he's replaceable," Hivis croaked out.
    Dagra fixed her gaze on him and she could see that smile return to his face. She could see that no punishment would deter this man from being a predator and sadist. Her anger welled up inside of her and she went from seeing a person before her to simply seeing an animal, an animal that deserves no mercy when it snarls and jumps at you with claws bared.
    Dagra opened her mouth, fangs extruded, and sank her teeth into the right side of Hivis's neck, just behind the spot where her thumb rested on the skin. He choked out a sound meant to be a scream, all he could manage with the hand still restricting him. Dagra imbibed the blood as it flowed, hot and rich, out of Hivis's body.
    And that's when she heard it, the sound of her door being opened. She cursed herself for not giving the order to not be disturbed. Without taking her mouth off of Hivis's neck, she looked to see who called upon her.
    "Captain, First Mate Kyulig requests your presence...oh, Forgemaster, what in the three moons?!"
    Bosun Etraz looked at Dagra as she continued to drink the blood as Hivis shuddered. She released him, letting his body fall to the floor, the massive bite wound on his neck now merely trickling blood. Etraz drew his attention to the floor as Hivis convulsed on the floor. He looked back up at Dagra when she sighed and he saw her, eyes half-closed and blood covering the lower half of her face.
    "A Quepalt," Etraz said quietly. He then ran from the cabin, leaving the door open behind him. "The captain's a Quepalt!"
    As the rush from the blood subsided, Dagra hurried over to her wash basin, filled it by plunging it into the water barrel right next to the ornate stand and proceeded to rinse the blood off of her face. She peered into the polished sheet of metal behind the ornate stand, which served as a mirror, satisfied that she had cleaned herself up adequately. She then took her sword from a stand, affixed the scabbard to her belt, and walked through her open cabin door out onto the deck.