Anne tried her best to smile back at Sam. The memory of that time, how thin and ragged and… broken Edward had looked made it difficult. "No one blames you, Sam," she said before reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "You did what you had to to survive. And, besides, he survived. I'm sure you played a part in that."
Sam seemed genuinely relieved by Anne's absolution. After a moment, his eyes went down to the golden ring on Anne's hand. He pointed at it, at first bemused, and after a moment, amused.
"Yes, it was done after we opened this room, and the ship was renamed."
Sam leaned back and let out a sigh. "Too bad I missed that. Musta been an event. A bloody princess marrying a pirate? Never thought I'd see the day, though I suppose I still didn't."
"I am a princess no longer. However, perhaps when this is all over, I shall be a Pirate Queen given how most speak of Calico Jack."
"Then when we reunite," Sam began, affecting a mocking posh English accent, "I suppose I must give a toast to my new Queen." He gave a brief bow in his seat before grinning up at Anne.
She smiled and then laughed, a real moment of levity with an old friend. After that, she poured them both a drink from a nearby cabinet, and they sipped on the spirits.
"Speakin' of that. You mentioned he and Herbert went off somewhere. What's gotten into them?"
"Well, the fools went off to kill Calico Jack on their own. Some sense of duty which they alone can fix."
"What's Edward got duty in all this? Herbert I can square away, but Edward?"
Anne leaned back as she recalled. "I suppose you wouldn't be privy to that bit of information," she muttered softly. "Have you met Calico Jack? Have you seen him in the flesh?"
Sam nodded and then looked off to the side as he took to remembering. "Aye, I met him once."
"Did he look at all… familiar to you?"
Sam looked impatient. "What're ye on about here? I never took you fer a dancin lady."
Anne paused another moment before shaking her head and falling back to her blunt nature. "Calico Jack is Edward's father, and formerly he was Benjamin Hornigold, the one who gave Edward this ship."
Sam sat stunned for a moment, his mouth slack. "You must be mad. There's no…" Sam's expression changed, and he looked away in thought once again. "The eyes…" he muttered to himself. "But that would mean…" Sam held a hand to his mouth as he ran through it all in his head. Then when he looked up at Anne, she simply nodded her head, and he took a big gulp of the drink in front of him.
"Needless to say, that is why Edward wishes to do this alone," Anne said before taking a drink herself. "So, you haven't said much about yourself. Tell me how you came to be the captain of such a fine sloop?"
Sam nodded in the direction of his ship through the window of the captain's quarters off the stern. It listed lazily behind them, as though it were aimless without their captain aboard. "Aye, she's a fine ship, you speak it true. Made some friends in Cache-Hand's crew, convinced them to take it for ourselves. Left Cache-Hand with half his crew and none of his spoils the night after capturing it."
Anne chuckled. "How long ago was that?"
"Not three quarters of a year after leaving the captain for dead."
Anne shook her head. "What poor timing. That would not have been long before we met with him, and Edward killed him." She waved her hand. "No matter. Tell me more. How did you come to be in Calico Jack's crew?"
"Ran a few ships aground in his territory and had a little fun redistributing the wealth back to the common folk. Musta caught his eye after the pups started calling me Robin Hood."
"You still breathe, so it was a positive encounter, I presume?"
Sam snorted. "Not if ye call owing him all the money spent a boon."
Anne nodded. "Yes, I see. So, it won't take much convincing to have your crew switching sides, I have it?"
Sam shook his head. "Nah, they see 'em as another Cache-Hand, just one that we can't run from. Havin' you here and Edward there changes things. Might just be able to convince 'em if we have some support." Sam fell silent for a moment, uncharacteristically contemplative.
Anne smiled. "Less than two years and already being a captain has changed you."
Sam's mouth opened, an instinct to chime back with some witty remark, but instead he leaned back in his chair. "My last captain commanded me to live. Fool captains die quick on these seas." Another moment of silence took hold as Anne and Sam let the weight of his words settle in the air. Sam broke that silence. "So, what's the plan to save our fool?" he said, smirking like the old Sam she knew.
"Perhaps you can help with that," Anne replied. "What are the defences like for Silver Eyes' village?"
Sam's brow cocked strangely, and he shook his head as though he couldn't comprehend what he had just heard. "What are you on about? Ed ain't here. That means he's headed to Nassau. We should be going there now as soon as I convince me men."
Anne stifled a sigh and shoved away the weakness that beckoned it forward. "I would agree with you, save the circumstances we've found ourselves in. We must stay here and save this island from Silver Eyes. These people need us."
"Like hell they do!" Sam shouted, bursting from his seat. "This place can burn. Edward needs us. Ye can try ta convince yerself it's fer those people, but yer not so soft ta risk yer life for a bunch'a farmers."
Anne locked her fingers together and rested her elbows on the arms of the chair in a movement of practiced authority. "You're right," she
