in which maggie meets the former priest

"I believe I do. I shall do it here and then take control of this ship." She grinned widely. "Did I not say I was looking forward to captaining my own ship?"

"You did indeed. We will have to vote on our next course of action and then it is all yours."

Bernade read the Articles to the merchant sailors who had elected to join the crew, they all signed, and then Maggie had everyone gather on the deck of the merchant ship to determine their next action.

Voting occasions like these could be very rowdy affairs, with everyone shouting out suggestions and shouting down other pirates and demanding the voting proceed quickly so they could get back to searching and the plundering. This time was no different. Maggie had learned to let the crew talk - or shout, most times - and only take control of the options to be voted on after it seemed as if most of the suggestions had been made. They voted with a simple "aye" or "nay", with the end result that - surprisingly enough - they would keep the merchant ship under Bernade's command and sail both it and the Black Lightning in search of more booty.

( After that, the crew was split between the ships )

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total words: 9454

in which they stop at a deserted island and the priest has an unexpected pity party

It was another three weeks before they encountered another ship, although during that time they stopped on an island for several days in order to fix a leak that had sprung up in the hold of the merchant ship. Doren had tried to patch it with pitch, as she did most small leaks on the Black Lightning, but she finally had to admit defeat and announce to Bernade and Maggie that they needed to put ashore for a few days to mend the leak as well as a few other things she had discovered on the merchant ship. Bernade suggested that they could take the opportunity to rename the ship and perhaps paint a new one on her prow.

Because the crew had jointly voted to sail both ships together, and because splitting the crew between the ships had left each one with fewer pirates than anyone preferred, the Black Lightning had to weigh anchor in the shallows off the small island where they stopped. Some pirates elected to stay on board, perhaps preferring the gentle rocking of the ship to the solidity of dry land, but most swarmed off the ship and onto the island.

( They slept in hammocks and on the ground and under makeshift shelters )

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total words: 13,000

in which they encounter a slave ship

“That I will do, yes.” She did not mind that they were out in the open and anyone would see – she knew a few pairs had already vanished into the trees for some privacy – they were not going to do anything, and she did not have to worry about breaking her own code and unintentionally signaling to her crew that it was acceptable for them to do it as well.

“Thank you.” He took her hand and kissed it, and she could not but smile.

He was not a bad man, this priest. He needled her and goaded her and was sarcastic to her as a shield, a defense. He did not want anyone to see how afraid he was and how lost. He had once been a man with a sure path, who had to demonstrate his conviction to his congregation and his fellow faithful. He had not been allowed to look unsure, and just as she had not been able to shake all the training she had received in the Naval Academy and in the Royal Navy – just as she truly was in her heart still a proud captain of an imperial navy and not a pirate at all – he had not been able to shake off the constraints of having to appear as if he knew exactly who he was and exactly what he was doing. She was years out of the king's navy, and she would guess that the priest was only several months. She did not think he had been defrocked even a year.

( And she still did not know how it had happened )

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total words: 15,126