Disclaimer: This story is 100% fiction and not monetized.
A large, dark hulking mass slowly drifts towards the quiet harbor under cover of darkness, just as the ship's captain planned. By the time the sentries atop the fort could notice, it would be too late; launches with the raiding vanguard would already be halfway to the docks, and the gun crews still aboard the ship would already be zeroed in on the fort's batteries.
The captain's lips curled into a predatory smile as the command to open fire and awake the port city was given. Cannons on the ship opened up with a blazing roar, bombarding the old stone fort for maximum damage. The small boats were nearly to the docks, not making a sound until the men were already running down the planks of the boardwalk towards the unsuspecting town.
"Do not disturb me until I have my prize, Mr. Lucious," the captain ordered before turning and entering the large cabin on the back of the ship. "I want my prize unharmed."
"Aye, Captain," the giant African said with a nod of his head. "It's only a matter of time."
--
The sound of far off cannon fire woke the sleeping heiress with a start.
"What the fuck is going on?" she asked in her quiet room.
Rising out of bed, Hailee quickly slipped on shoes and a robe to go over her night dress before leaving the safety of her dark room.
Padding down the hallway, she looked over the railing of the third floor and down to the entryway, the colonial militia tasked with guarding her were running about, attempting to barricade the mansion's entrance.
"What's going on out there?" Hailee yelled, fright beginning to grip her at their urgency.
"We're under attack, madam," one of them shouted back as they propped more furniture against the door.
"By whom?" Hailee asked, making her way down the stairs.
"Dirty pirates!" the same soldier exclaimed. "No doubt they'll come here for plunder, God help us."
"Surely the fort will offer enough protection?" she asked, not sure at all.
"Unlikely, Miss Hartman,' one answered. "Raiders are already ashore and sacking the town."
"Fuck," Hailee mumbled under her voice. "Where is my father?"
"At the fort, where we should get you. It's under heavy fire, but putting you in the cells beneath the fort is the safest place for you."
"Agreed," Hailee said with a nod. "The door's been barricaded. How am I getting out?"
"We have a secret passage through the larder that we can..." His explanation was cut off by screaming and pounding outside the door. "They're already here," he groaned, running a hand down his face.
The sound of glass shattering around them raised their sense of urgency, spurring them into action, but grizzled men were already climbing through the windows on different levels of the mansion, their grappling hooks making the barricaded doors a wasted effort.
"Fuck," Hailee cursed as the few guards circled around her.
"Protect the mistress at all costs!" the sergeant barked, a pistol and a saber both drawn.
Hailee was frozen with fear, her own death and torture had never been so near, looking her directly in the eyes in the visage of savage men, and even a few women.
One man stepped forward, tapping the tip of his sword on the ground. "How 'bout everyone here surrenders? Drop yer weapons, and we can all quietly go to the ship and meet the captain. No bloodshed, nobody gets hurt, eh?"
"Over my dead body," the sergeant sneered.
"Do you really want the girlie to see that?" the pirate asked, raising his sword, all of his men raising their weapons as well. "It won't be pretty, and the captain would hate for his prize to be... damaged in any way."
The sergeant looked over his shoulder at the poor young woman whose fate seemed to be darkening by the second.
"Stand down, Sergeant. We've no hope of rescuing me, and there's no reason you and your men should die for what is inevitable," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder.
The sergeant nodded and lowered his weapons, his men doing the same.
"Smart girl," the pirate in charge said. "The captain's going to like you."
"Tell me about your captain," Hailee tried as her guard was ordered to remove the barricade they had set up.
"No. The captain likes to remain anonymous," the pirate said with a smirk. "You'll learn all about the captain soon enough.
--
"Captain," Lucious called through the door, pounding on the wood. "The raiding crew has returned... full handed.
The captain smiled wolfishly and pushed the doors open before confidently striding out, heavy boots thundering across the floor before hitting the stairs down to the main deck. Slow, methodic but heavy footfalls made the entire crew and the prisoners give their full attention to the captain's approach.
The captain was not what any prisoner expects. The captain wasn't a demon, a ghostly figure or a gnarled man from the depths of hell, but a beautiful woman with long dark brunette hair that fell sleek down her back. Intelligent brown eyes scanned the prisoners, full ruby red lips graced her stern face as she scrutinized every prisoner as she looked for her top prize.
In the center of the soldiers was whom she was looking for, a brunette woman in a robe and a night dress, naturally beautiful without any of the day's makeup to hide her real shine.
"You. You're clearly not the governor," the captain said, pushing the soldiers aside and grabbing her dainty wrist roughly.
"Of course not," the young woman shot back, trying to pull her hand away from the shorter but stronger captain. "I'm the governor's daughter."
"Where the fuck is Governor Hartman?" the captain barked with a tone that sounded like it should belong to a much larger woman.