Chapter 05 – First real step of direct revenge

The second year of our rising fame, six months after the capture of the Carletta, we had an encounter that really made me thank God for helping my revenge. I was taking a nap in our cabin when a ship’s boy knocked at the door. “Captain Ash, Captain! Captain Blackeyes asked for you to come quickly on deck, without makeup and with a womanlier attire, but still comfortable for fighting!”

“Ok, I’m coming.”

I was quite puzzled, since this was unusual. But I trusted John and did as he asked. So, a wide shirt, a bra that would hold my breasts firmly but without squashing them, as I always had to do to avoid being recognized as a woman, usual pants, a sash around the waist to keep the sword, the knives, and a gun, and a bandana tying my hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. I appeared, all in all, a woman pirate. Which I was, in fact. Also, my face was free of make-up. I walked on deck and went to John, who was at the wheel on the quarterdeck. Before I asked what the matter was, he handed me the spyglass and told me, “Look at that ship. They are trying to flee, but I bet when they see you, they’ll stop and engage in combat.”

I checked the deck until I understood what he meant. The ship was a corvette; its name was Viento Libre. On that ship, there was Colonel Diego de Villanueva.

“John, I want his head. And I want to take it into my own hands. If we engage, tell the men to avoid him as much as possible. I don’t want him killed or even wounded. Warn the men. Of course, they don’t have to die for that; they can defend. Just, he’s very proficient; few of our men would survive despite my lessons, so it’s also for their protection. Give me the two men who are the fastest at recharging muskets and seven muskets. I’ll see to lessen the weight on the men that way, since I want him to think we’ll be an easy prey.”

“Fine, I trust you. I know you are much better than him.”

I ran down to the deck, called the men indicated by John, and told them to get the muskets, the new version, and enough ammo and powder for at least ten shots each, then I ran on the foredeck with John. Robert was a Master in boarding manoeuvres, and he was teaching me, so he took the wheel from him.

Then I stayed still on the deck watching the other ship, showing my face openly. John kept watching with the spyglass, then exclaimed, “He saw you! He’s recognized you now! He’s watching better, but he’s not sure. Now he is. He’s giving orders. There is a squabble on the deck with the captain. He is pointing his gun at the captain’s head now. The captain gave the order to furl the sails. They are slowing; we’ll catch them in fifteen minutes. He’s watching you again.”

“He’s the usual bully. Stupid like a post, only good as cannon fodder. I wonder how such an idiot could become a colonel, but I guess it’s just what happens when the ruling class is so inept and corrupt. What puzzles me is how they could expand so much in the world, with such a degree of ineptitude and corruption. Probably it’s because of a combination of their cruelty and their mostly facing primitive populations.”

Five minutes later, they shot a volley with their cannons, but it was a short launch, and any expert gunner would know that we were still too far. But had an effect. De Villanueva started screaming at the men and forced them to close the cannon mouths. He didn’t want them to shoot. I was almost laughing, but tried to make a concerned face. Then with John we played a scene, which from such distance appeared as if I was begging him to go away and leave them alone, while he wasn’t budging and kept stubbornly approaching. We didn’t shoot our cannons either. As soon as we were at range, for our muskets at least, I started targeting their musketeers. One by one, I killed or wounded them all; they managed to shoot only two bullets toward us. The second was toward me and hit the railing a metre from where I was hiding. I was out of hiding a second later, targeting the shooter, but it wasn’t needed: de Villanueva had already hit him in the face, breaking his nose. I shot another man, then dropped on the deck and laughed. “That man is truly an idiot! I understand he wants me alive for himself, but he can punish the men after the battle, not before; he’s reducing his own crew!”

A minute later, the two ships met, and the footbridges were placed. I kept shooting enemies on the footbridges, not really bothering about deadly wounds, since those wearing iron armours would sink like stones if they fell in the sea, and the others would simply call sharks. I was quick, thanks to the men always keeping me with a loaded musket. I could see my men avoided attacking de Villanueva, and once the footbridge was empty, I started killing the men that the Colonel was going to help. He soon realized it and turned to me, starting to advance. After no more than ten paces, everyone fell silent. He stopped and saw that his men were all dead. And our pirates were all watching him. I slowly walked down to the deck he was on.

“Colonel de Villanueva, what a surprise. Your experience as a ruthless governor already finished? I thought with the abilities you boasted about so much, you would have soon made Simòn de Alpeche a prosperous place, providing millions to the crown!”

I perfectly knew he’d been a failure and was removed after more than a year, when they never take less than five before reconsidering a replacement. Father’s assessment had been optimistic. A survivor citizen of the island that I met some time before told me that the first acts of the Colonel had been to seize everything he could, raid all houses looking for money, and then overtax the few ships that still didn’t know about the change of administration and stopped by. Every non-Spanish ship had sailed the first night with several citizens fleeing. By the first year, his taxes for the crown were nearly zero, and he even asked for more soldiers and funds to make the island work, claiming it was my fault that I stole the island’s reserves. Still, he didn’t realize that such a statement wouldn’t explain how, after a full year, he still couldn’t gather taxes that were plenty before he took control of the place. An envoy got there and realized that the island was in ruins. Most houses abandoned, only half of the docks working, workers barely enough to manage a single ship at a time, in nearly slavery conditions. The envoy came to the island several times in the past, and probably was indirectly one of the causes of Dad’s removal, since he surely praised his work. After his report back to the motherland, in less than a month, de Villanueva had been relieved from his duty. Thanks to the protections he still had in the motherland, though, instead of being sentenced to death like my father, he was given the new duty as an escort to smaller ships running between the Caribbean islands. So, he took my teasing very personally.

“You bitch! You stole my money and made everyone leave, so I couldn’t manage the island!”

“Just for your information, the moment you whipped the dock workers, the whole island was ready to leave. It was obvious that you are an inept and would ruin anything under your responsibility! It’s enough to look at what you did with this ship, forcing it to fight when it couldn’t win. But you are just an expression of the corrupt and useless ruling class of Spain! After you told my father he had a death sentence pending unless he prostituted me to you, I simply had to flee as well.”

“I’ll make you pay for that! When they know you just became a bitch for pirates, you’ll be hanged and left as crow food!”

“Well, well… I’d like to see you trying!”

“I have beaten your father and killed him in a fair duel, proving that Guillermo de la Huerta y Cardona’s technique was better! I have beaten the most renowned Master of Arms of Spain with my Master’s teachings! You’ll be a joke!”

“I saw your fair duel! Two men who kept him immobilized while you shot him in the head! Maybe we should do that to you, what do you think?”

“You’d show cowardice in front of these men. I understand you’re just a bitch, so it’s obvious you will refuse a fighting challenge! I’ll concede you a first blood duel; if I win, I’ll be free and will have you prisoner!” “And if you lose?”

“I’ll pay the ransom without complaining.”

“Did you ever hear about Captain Blackeyes asking for a ransom? No. You’ll leave your life here.”

“That’s a little too much as a price!”

“Really? If you win, you get me, bring me to the authorities, likely after enjoying me without my consent, and then I’ll be hanged. My life is worth less than yours?”

“You are the bitch of pirates; thus, your life is worth nothing.”

“Right, then it won’t be a first blood fight, but a fight for life.”

“Are you sure? Well, it’s your life, I agree!”

“Fine. Let’s start!”

I drew my sword, and he attacked. He was good, but his path was simple. In fact, my father stressed for a whole month about that, and often tried to beat me with that technique, to make me used to reacting to it. In truth, that technique had a big flaw. Its lunge, lunge, blow, parry path was so predictable that if you were skilled and trained enough, you could disarm – or hit – your opponent easily.

So, I played a little with him, parrying his blows and making it appear that I barely avoided his. My men knew me well enough to realize soon that I was playing, and I even faked some heavy breathing. He fell for it completely instead.

“I see you are about to be drained. In a few minutes, I’ll land the finishing blow. Maybe you want to reconsider and surrender.”

I laughed, then one of my men shouted, “Captain Ash, stop playing now, it’s becoming boring, and it’s getting late!”

At that, the proud, self-assured Colonel Diego de Villanueva paled visibly. Then, dumb as he’s known to be, he said, “Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be a hero for removing such a threat from the seas!”

And he attacked. He did exactly what he’d been taught to. Just between the second lunge and the blow, there was an opening that made the whole technique useless against an expert. And I used it to scrape his cheek.

“Guess what, Colonel. If it was first blood, you’d have already lost.” And I laughed.

He attacked again, stubborn, using his ‘invincible’ fighting style. And again, I scraped his second arm. Then pierced it. Then shredded his shirt. Then started writing one cut at a time the words ‘liar’, ‘coward’, ‘inept’, and ‘assassin’ on his chest. He was breathing visibly, but guess what? He was trying to use my own trick on me, so I didn’t fall for it. Must admit that most men would have been weakened a lot by the wounds and blood loss, but he wasn’t. Then John shouted: “Ash, finish him, it’s getting late, we may risk dangerous encounters on this route. So, I told de Villanueva, “Did you really think you fooled me using my own trick? Time to die. But before that, I’ll allow you to read what I wrote on your chest.” Then I attacked and pierced his legs, and before his body even realized it, his sword-wielding arm. Unable to move, I had the men bring a bucket of water and throw it on him, and then put a mirror in front of him. “Read, scum!” He read the words and realized that every hit I did, it wasn’t a lucky hit meant to kill that he avoided, but a purposefully weak hit to write a segment of a word. He started babbling and begging for mercy, almost crying.

“I see you understood that you would have never beaten my father if you weren’t helped by your men holding him. He taught me. You wouldn’t pass his lowest exam. Now, get ready to meet your creator in hell!”

And I pierced his heart. We quickly raided the other ship, as usual, no survivors, then burned it. We moved toward Maracaibo, where the Colonel was getting orders, and three nights later, we left his body hanged in the middle of the town square, naked, his sword broken, and each piece planted in his flanks. That, along with the words carved on his chest, made an impression. In the taverns, we made so that the story of his fight against Ash, where he’d been humiliated like a child by the famous pirate, before succumbing and crying like a baby, spread. That way, anything the authorities could say wouldn’t be believed. We did the same in many big cities.