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as clouds on my feet, I walked away from him. I didn’t trust my voice to utter a goodbye.
    â€œKita?”
    My God. Could he not leave me the hell alone? I felt two hot tears slip down my cheeks. I turned and looked over my shoulder. For once, my boots didn’t stab my heels and toes and cause me pain. I stared into his sad eyes and hurled my self into his waiting arms. He lifted me up so that I was on my toes, hugging me hard against him. I could feel his heart pounding wildly against mine. I buried my nose in the warmth of his neck, my cheek abraded by the braid around his collar.
    â€œThank you,” I managed. “Truly, you are most kind.”
    â€œMy thoughts are hardly kind at the moment,” he said huskily. I could feel his hard hands pressing into my back.
    I pulled away before he could kiss me. My God, I wanted him to kiss me. I craved it. His taste, his texture. He hadn’t shaved so closely as the night we’d been together, and his beard prickled my skin.
    â€œIf anyone sees us, they’ll think you’re something else. I’m supposed to be a male.”
    He laughed.
    â€œI’ve got to go in now. I wish you well.”
    â€œAnd I you. I wish things could have been different, Kita.”
    I just nodded.
    â€œGod be with you, Kita,” he said softly.
    â€œAnd with you, Armand Etienne Dupuis.” And with you, my love.

Chapter 2
    In a little less than three weeks, I had set sail on The Black Moon . Roger had joined with me, to my great anger, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Captain Gareth was glad to take him. There were few men who were stupid enough to join his crew.
    As members of Gareth’s crew, we sailed for the flag of England. And in doing that, I became, for all intents and purposes, the enemy of the man I loved, who sailed for the crown of France. Privateers appointed a Captain, one named by the sponsor, the country of origin. Pirates elected their captains, but he was easily ousted by another vote if he proved unfit for the job at hand. Privateers looted and killed in the name of the country that armed them, their actions condoned by that very same country. Pirates brought mayhem and destruction at will, flipping a coin to select which ship they would attack next.
    I could see little difference between the two, really, but in my eyes the life of a pirate was better in many ways. And I rather wished for Captain Gareth to go down in history as a privateer, because he gave pirates a bad name. I hated him on sight. He was one of those small, puffed up little men, who ruled with brutality and no brains or heart. I suppose it made up for what he lacked in size. I’m sure his manly parts were no larger than my baby finger.
    Many of the men on board the ship had once been in the Royal Navy, and had joined in order to make more than the usual ten pounds a year. Gareth did not make them much happier than the Navy had. The rum was scarce, the rations, too. Most of the men had left to escape the punishments inflicted by the British Naval officers, but Gareth’s were worse.
    I had not been flogged, yet. It seemed that Gareth had been in a good mood of late. I had done all I could to avoid making myself known to anyone as a troublemaker. I kept my head down and slouched a lot. I spoke only when spoken to. I found being on the ship the closest thing I could imagine to being in a jail, except in jail one wasn’t tossed overboard in a storm as had happened to three of the crew the week before. We never saw them again. Jail was likely safer.
    I had thought I’d be a swashbuckler. All I had signed on for was hard labor. But I loved the sea, I loved the smell of the air, and the blue of the sky. I was born for the sea. Sometimes, while lying in my hammock with my face stinging from sunburn, and my hands oozing from raw cuts and blisters, I remembered that I could have had a wide straw hat, a dress with real lace, and looking forward to