"Ship approaching!" yelled the sailor perched in the crow's nest.

Everyone turned their heads to him, looking in the direction he was looking at. The vessel was coming from the north. Their starboard. A ship on the horizon wouldn't be anything newsworthy most of the time. These were busy waters full of traders and merchants who wished to trade on the sea from time to time. Exchange supplies, information, and so on. What was different about this one was that it was almost dark already. No one would approach another ship with visibility that low. Only the lanterns perched upon the rails could be seen from a distance.

What's more, if someone wished to initiate a friendly meeting, they wouldn't be sailing full-speed ahead straight at the other vessel, which the mysterious ship was doing. They gave no signal, no signs of their presence, leaving only one viable answer as to their identity.

"Pirates!" shouted Captain Edward. "Into position, ye maggots, or I'll have ye whipped!"

The crew needed no encouragement. Even before Edward finished his sentence, everyone was already on the move. Keziah saw a decent number of the men going under the deck, though Keziah knew not what for. This was a merchant ship. Deceivingly fast, but with no space or budget for a noticeable number of cannons. Keziah guessed that if there were cannons, then there couldn't be more than 10 total of them. Too little to offer protection, but just enough to scare anyone with wavering confidence.

What Keziah thought their plan was, was to lure the pirates into trying to board their ship and win the close quarters battle. The crew was pretty sizable after all. It could be enough to take on most of the pirate crews out there.

With the instant motion of the sailors, Keziah moved out of their way. He had no idea what their protocol in these situations looked like, but he guessed that it didn't involve the passengers. He made his way to a concerned Annette. Scoyl walking behind him holding his lute.

"Get inside," ordered Keziah to Annette. "Now."

"I can help!" replied Annette, determination in her eyes. "I know how to swing a swo—"

"No, you can't and no you don't," cut her off Keziah before placing a hand on her shoulder. "One day. But not today. You will only be a hindrance," he calmly told her the truth amidst the footsteps of the sailors running to their positions. "There is probably going to be a big manpower disadvantage, and I can't fight and worry about you at the same time. Not yet, at least. Hide and don't show up until it's over."

Some of the resolution deflated from Annette and she nodded her head.

"Scoyl, you too," Keziah turned to the bard, who likewise expected to fight. "You look after her. Kill anyone who comes in."

Scoyl also nodded, taking his task earnestly. Keziah felt a bit of pressure release from Annette after he said she wouldn't be in the cabin alone.

"In you go now," he motioned for them to go in. "Maybe we could still outrun them, but I wouldn't count on that."

With those parting words, Keziah watched his two apprentices go in and locked the door after them. He looked around the deck. There were much fewer people on it, meaning that most of the sailors must have taken shelter in the lower decks. Only the fighters were left on the main deck, continuing to work the rigging in an attempt to muster what speed they could to try to outmaneuver the pirates.

Keziah looked for something to do. He tried to generally stay out of the way of the sailors, letting them do their job. He grabbed Augustus and attached him to his belt for quick drawing. It could get awkward trying to draw a sword from the back, even with Keziah's somewhat "special" mechanism of his baldric.

He made his way to the quarterdeck, as it was less busy, and looked over the railing. The pirate ship was flying standard merchant colors for these waters, which could be seen by the light their lanterns gave on them. Of course, it was clearly just a disguise. The way they were moving was nothing like that of a willing-to-trade merchant. It was fast and direct. Desperate even. They must have not seen a good target for days.

Or maybe they were just dense.

Keziah spotted the Captain standing at the quarterdeck again. He looked more collected than when he was yelling orders when the pirate vessel was spotted. In fact, now that Keziah had taken a look, the crew themselves looked more like they were on just another trip from port A to port B. The initial rush has worn off, and with everyone back at their roles and positions again, there wasn't the faintest sign of fear from them.

"Ah, Keziah. Good. I was about to send for you," said Edmund, seeing Keziah walking up the quarterdeck.

"Send for me?" Keziah asked with a raised brow. "I doubt I could offer you any advice on how to handle these things, you know?"

"You're right, you probably can't," admitted Edmund, hands closed behind his back as always. "That's not why I want you here. There is going to be a battle and I want you close. You are the best warrior on this ship by a mile and when they will board, they will be looking for the Captain to take out first. I want you in the thick of it."

"I'm working for you now?"

"Everyone is working for me on this ship," stated Edmund coldly. "That's how everyone stays alive and well. That's how the work goes smoothly. A good leader is everything, and — for this vessel — I'm that leader. Passenger or not, every hand matters in a fight." Edmund stared Keziah down. "Will you follow orders, or shall I throw you overboard?"

Keziah looked appraisingly at the Captain. He had already all the intention to do whatever was required for them to come out of the attack alive. Following orders included. Keziah was a free spirit when the situation allowed, but he knew his place in every situation he finds himself in. It was another talent that many lacked. Rarely appreciated, but always useful.

"Aye, aye, Capt'n." He gave a little salute that was meant as more of a "fine, I will do it" rather than a mocking one.

"Good," said Edmund, "then you wait until they come aboard my ship." He took his steely gaze from Keziah and directed it at the fast-approaching pirate ship. It was fast. Not much bigger than the one they were on, but probably even faster. Any hope of just sailing away was diminishing quickly.

The pirates still hadn't unleashed any cannon fire. Keziah, using his limited knowledge of these weapons, estimated that they were most likely already in range to shoot. Perhaps they still somehow wished to maintain the charade of the merchant vessel willing to trade, but if that was the case, they were doing a really bad job. Even the most delusional sailor would have realized that by now.

That left the other possible explanation — they wanted to take the shop itself. They didn't want to damage their spoils prematurely. In their heads, they thought that they would catch up with Edmund's ship and board it with numbers, proceed to win the battle, then kill the rest of the crew or take them prisoner. That seemed more likely to Keziah, as it wasn't an uncommon thing to do. At least in his onetime experience on a pirate ship years ago.

"They won't fire," Keziah said to Edmund, leaning on the railing of the quarterdeck. "Maybe you should start the shooting?"

Edmund took a quick glance at Keziah. "If we shoot now, then they stop their effort to board us and instead decimate us with their superior cannons. We have to let them come close."

"Are you sure that's what they want? To board us?" asked Keziah. "Seems risky to me. Why not soften us up before trying anything that would put them in danger?"

"Because this is a good ship," explained Edmund. "Looks expensive from afar, and durable. It also looks hard to defend. No obvious openings in the hull for cannons and big for only up to 30 men. It's a perfect target."

"That explains why it seemed a little overcrowded to me." Keziah nodded in understanding. "What I gather from all of this is that you want to be attacked. You practically act as a perfect bait. But why?"

Edmund smirked at Keziah's deduction. "Money from trade is good, truth be told, but who wouldn't want to make some extra gold on the way?"

Keziah looked at Edmund, realization creeping into his face as he said with admiration: "You plan to rob the robbers?"

"I'm glad you finally understand. And to expand on your question about not shooting first," Edmund said proudly. "Our cannons aren't really meant for long-distance fighting. They are meant for executions."