"Hmph," Edward scoffed. "Whoring yourself out to him must have made you privy to his secrets."
Victoria crossed her arms and flashed him a vile look. "Watch what you say next unless you want to lose the chance to have your own son come to try and kill you," she said, nodding towards Edward's nether regions.
Edward laughed a chuckle at first, and then full-blown laughter as he leaned against the door frame. He covered his eyes with his hand as he laughed, rubbing them as they misted, from the humour or the sadness he knew not.
"He tried to kill me," Edward let out between breaths. "My own father tried to kill me. And not just once. He sent me for the keys to this ship, knowing I could die trying. He knew just how to prick me to make me jump the way he wanted."
Edward lowered himself to the sole of the deck, his back resting against the open frame of the door. The pain from his wound was a dull sensation now, dissipated in the haze and spinning that the drink and blood loss brought him.
Time lost meaning to Edward, and he vaguely felt as though he were floating or being carried before lying in his familiar bed. The gentle rocking of the waves and the spinning in his head lulled him to sleep.
…
The sun hit Edward's eyelids, waking him from his slumber. Reflex forced his eyes open and then closed again from the glare. He blinked quickly to adjust himself to the sudden brightness and rose from his bed.
His head was pounding, and his body aching. He sat doubled over on the edge of the bed, holding the sides of his skull to hold back the beating, but it was no use.
"Finally awake, then?" Anne asked near the captain's cabin window.
Edward glanced her way, the light from the sun behind her setting alight her auburn hair. He could barely see her face because of the luminance, but he could tell she was frowning from her arms folded in front of her chest. As soon as she moved, the sun shone directly on his eyes again.
"Agh," he shouted as he looked away. "Dammit, woman, you're killing me."
"No, I'm afraid the drink is to blame from your woes," she replied. She walked over to a barrel secured in the corner of the room, lifted the top of the cask and dunked a cup inside. "Here, drink this," she said as she walked over with the cup.
Edward took the cup and drank the contents. The water, mixed with enough rum to sanitize it, felt good on his tongue.
"We've landed in Puerto Plata for a quick restock and regrouping. The sun will set soon, and we need to decide where to go from here and what to do about recent… revelations."
Edward looked up into his wife's pained eyes. They seemed on the edge of tears, mourning for his situation.
"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" Edward said, casting his gaze on his half-filled cup. "Both our parents want us dead."
Anne lifted Edward's chin up. She still had the glow of the sun surrounding her long red curls. "They aren't our family any longer." Anne stroked Edward's cheek, running her hand down his long black beard before giving it a light tug. "The men and women on this ship are your family now, and they're all that matters."
Edward nodded and forced a smile for his wife. Her sentiment made his heart swell, but it wasn't enough to quell the storm bubbling beneath.
Anne gave him a kiss on his forehead and sat down next to him, not saying another word, but holding him as he continued drinking the water.
"Could it be he just didn't approve of the beard?" Edward joked, giving Anne a sidelong glance with a grin.
Anne looked a bit shocked at first, but chuckled after a moment. "Perhaps you should cut it off and try again?"
Edward laughed with his wife and then gave her a peck on the cheek before resting his head on hers. For a moment, they sat in silence together, embracing each other in solidarity and strength.
"This doesn't change anything," Edward said eventually. "The only thing that's changed is how I must now seek out answers from him. He still abandoned me, abandoned Herbert, tried to kill all of us with foolish trials, and more directly. He's not the man I once called my father."
Anne pulled away from Edward and cocked her brow. "You can't mean that you're still going to kill him? Edward… "
Edward opened his mouth, but for a moment, the words wouldn't come. "I… I know in my mind that if I want this family to survive, and if I want to survive, he needs to die." He stared at his cup for a moment. "What I'll do when I face him next, I cannot say. But I need to face him."
"Then I'll stand by you when that happens. We will," Anne said, placing her hand on Edward's.
Edward smiled, this time more genuinely, and held his wife's hand. They once more sat in silence as Edward finished his water. After it was empty, Edward let go of Anne's hand and rose from the bed.
"Could you gather the senior officers to the quarterdeck cabin? I must tell everyone of my intent."
Anne nodded, gripped Edward's hand for another second, then rose to her feet to leave the Captain's Cabin. Edward watched her as she left, and just before she exited the room, she glanced back his way and smiled at him.
Edward let out a long sigh after Anne left the room, and he lay back in his bed. The weathered boards of Caribbean pine above him suddenly felt unfamiliar and no longer like his home of the last few years. Even the bed appeared lumpier and uncomfortable, though he admitted to himself that the stab wound could be to blame.
He had to get up.
