Anne sat with her knees furled against her chest, she would have covered her ears with her hands, but as they continued to ring and echo, she waited for the natural sound of the world to return.

Time was a blur, passing both too slow and too quick all at the same time. Sailor's curses and cries for death finally filled the air as her auditory senses returned. However, the gunfire and cannon explosions threatened to deafen her once more.

Although she knew she should move, she remained frozen in place. Fear acting like chains tightening around her chest and constricting her breath. Her eyes were wide, but she saw nothing of the present, only visions of the past flashing to the front of her mind in nauseating patterns.

The terror in Frederick's eyes reflected in her own. The feeling of his nails tearing at her flesh as he was torn from her grasp. The cut-off cry that escaped his lips for the brief second that breath was not crushed from his lungs. She remembered these more vivid than the rest. Repeating itself over and over again in her mind, running in an eternal loop.

She couldn't breathe. She needed air. But the gaping hole in the side of the boat, and the wind and rain pelting her skin and pulling at her hair, did nothing to soothe the burning polluting her lungs. Her eyes drifted toward the ceiling, but the view of tentacles arcing above made her reconsider. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut, and directed her chin toward the floor.

There was a series of short metallic clicks that did not belong with the cacophony of death and pain around her. However, it was enough of a distraction to urge her eyes open to locate the source.

Captain Kidd stood on the other side of the bars, pulling back her sword which she had lightly tapped against the cell once more to keep her attention. She said nothing at first, only pushed open the brig door which had already been knocked from its hinges—for how long, Anne couldn't say. After the prisoner only offered a look of distrust, the captain sighed, the time for patience had long run out.

"Come with me if you want to live."

It was a simple invitation, but it carried across her point. And the argument itself was strong enough to dissolve any past quarrels as the two women understood that survival was at the top of their list of priorities.

Anne lifted the torn hem of her skirts and followed Kidd's lead from the brig and back toward the surface of the ship. Between the salted wind and sea, and the grime and mildew coating the brig floor, no one would be able to recognize the dress as belonging to a bride. Instead its tears and soiled hue only emphasized her stripped status in a world where the gods ruled not mortal monarchs. The cruelty of the sea beast hell-bent on dragging them down into the cavernous waters below certainly served as a prime example.

Just as she reached the top step, Anne was struck by an epiphany that may have been more useful in hindsight. She screamed to be heard over the raging wind and splintering wood. "Why are we heading toward it?!"

"Would you rather die in the open air or caged like a coward?" Kidd replied without hesitation. "Now, stay close and follow along if you want to have any chance of making it out of here alive! Where's your brother?"

Without meaning to, Anne's eyes drifted upward. However, the shot of a pistol off to her left pulled her gaze away from the tentacled nightmare and toward Kidd's first mate. De Soto released a laugh laced with insanity as he fired at the beast once more before shoving an individual toward Kidd. The presumed sailor collapsed against the deck, hopefully only unconscious.

The man was physically unrecognizable, covered from head to toe in blood and other fluids that Anne had no intention of identifying. Speculation was enough to twist her stomach in knots.

"Almost dinner, this one was," De Soto called out as he fired off another couple of rounds before reloading his pistol. "It's pretty lucky that I managed to swing by in time."

"What do you want, De Soto? A pat on the arse?" Kidd retorted, swinging her sword to fend off a stray tentacle that entered within range. A swift graze served as enough of a warning to keep the beast wary, at least for now. "Only half the job is done. Keep your head afloat until then."

De Soto lightly rolled his eyes, but ducked as a tentacle swung overhead, snatching the pirate to his right. Just as the sailor was about to be pulled under the waves, De Soto fired what he believed to be a mercy shot, killing the man in one blow before he was devoured. "I do not believe we can keep this up for much longer, Captain."

"Tell your pet to go to hell, Jones!" Kidd shouted into the air, tilting her chin back toward the skies as she screamed to no one in particular. "I won't be taking a trip to the locker today."

Anne remained silent, but cast a quizzical look over her shoulder at the first as Kidd continued to defend herself. After another beat of time, Anne opened her mouth and hesitantly asked. "What does that mean?"

De Soto took a deep breath. "Abandon ship."

Anne's eyes widened in horror as her mind jumped ahead to interpret his implication. Before the princess could object, Kidd sheathed her blade and shoved the young lady toward the edge of the ship. She was stronger than Anne anticipated, and without much warning, her arms and legs flailed in the air before colliding with the waves that threatened to dash her against the boat. She coughed and sputtered, gasping for breath as she returned to the surface while fighting against the current stirred by the massive tentacles.

Kidd surfaced next, followed by De Soto, and finally the final member of the party who'd been awakened by the cold shock of being tossed overboard. He'd barely gotten his breath back when Anne used what little momentum she could muster to lunge and wrap her arms around his shoulders. As the water continued to wash the blood from his face, his features began to resemble something closer to the crown prince of England.

"You're alive!" Anne squealed with delight.

"Save the reunion for later," Kidd immediately reprimanded the pair. "Find a piece of driftwood and focus on swimming as far from the ship as you can. I can't guarantee how long the creature will be distracted by what remains of the crew."

So many questions circled through Anne's mind, but she understood that now was neither the time or place. She had two options: die or survive. Asking questions would only hinder her chances at the latter.

Removing her arms from around her brother's neck, she gave him a chance to catch his breath while she paddled to the nearest piece of driftwood—likely a piece of the hull that functioned as a wall to their prison—then focused on kicking her legs through the heavy material of her dress that felt like it gained more weight with each passing second.

Kidd quickly seemed to notice her struggle and drifted back with the appearance of offering help. Without consent, she unsheathed her blade against the resistance of the water and cut the skirt from her dress, abashedly revealing her undergarments. Anne's face immediately turned red as she sputtered several broken but indignant remarks.

"You needed to shed weight," Kidd defended her actions.

"I'm sure there was another way without forced indecency," Anne contradicted. The captain only scoffed and increased the pace of her swim to catch up with De Soto who had taken the lead.

Only once they were a "safe" distance from the ship did they slow their pace and face the aftermath of wreckage. The thick tentacles sunk beneath the waves as they finished plucking the last of their harvest leaving only the four who'd discreetly escaped as survivors. Anne considered suggesting that they turn back, but the way her heart clenched at the sight only confirmed the lack of hope.

"Well, congratulations, your highness," Kidd broke the lull of bitter silence. "You got your wish. You're no longer trapped aboard the ship. Now what?"

Frederick cleared his throat, but it still sounded hoarse while his voice cracked as he questioned for clarification. "You're asking me?"

"Rhetorically, yes," Kidd agreed. "Only to show that the two of you never would have made it off that ship alive without my goodwill."

"Goodwill?" Anne's nose wrinkled. "The only reason you saved us was because of the monetary value attached to our heads. We've seen how you treat those you don't consider worthy."

Anne's gaze drifted back out toward the remnants of the Quedagh Merchant as it slowly sank in the distance. Kidd's lips twisted with thought, but she didn't frown. Instead, she shook her head with a look Anne trusted even less. "There were a lot of good men serving aboard that ship, but you're right. There's only one person you can trust in this world and that's yourself. Everyone else is either dead weight that needs to be shed or you'll drown—or they're a piece of floating driftwood, useless until serving your purposes."

"I don't suppose you plan to release us now that you no longer have a ship," Frederick stated his question.

De Soto agreed with a nod of his head. "Let's just say the price of your heads will be fine compensation for our losses."

"And how do you plan to claim that prize if we're miles from land?" Anne questioned.

Kidd's lips twisted into a coy smirk. "Now where'd you get that idea?"

Anne opened her mouth, but frowned. They're pirates. Untrustworthy and likely every word from their mouth is a lie. Her reminder did little to recompense the bitter taste at the back of her mouth. From now on she had to look out for herself and her brother. She couldn't trust the word of pirates, only herself... but how could she trust her own judgement when it had failed to protect her from being kidnapped in the first place.

"Eh," Frederick cleared his throat, uncomfortably readjusting himself on his piece of driftwood, "What godforsaken port are you taking us to? Surely there will be soldiers that would come to our aid.

De Soto chuckled. "You're going to love Tortuga."