Free The Princess's Bride by KT Grant Page A

her.
    They wanted the blood spilled of the two scallywags who dared to take down their beloved captain after all she had done for them.
    "Captain?" Mister Martin stood next to Dread, mimicking her pose, and snarling at the shameless duo who stood with their arms bound by thick ropes.
    Dread held up a black gloved hand, and her crew grew quiet. She pulled out a curved, single-edged sabre and shoved it under James’ chin. Her hazel eyes sparkled under her black eye mask as she gave him a cunning grin. James trembled before his former captain and swallowed loudly as he looked at the bright red scar that covered the length of her right cheek down to her chin. She was an intimating sight, dressed in black, from her long-sleeved billowing shirt to her tight breeches and Hessian boots.
    "What do you have to say for yourself?" Dread asked, pressing the point of her sabre into the brother's neck, causing him to bleed.
    "It weren't me, Cap! Judie made me do it."
    "Jimmy, shut yer trap!" Judie growled under her breath. She gave her brother a sulky stare.
    Dread rolled her eyes. These two had almost driven her crazy with their non-stop bickering. To top it off, though, the initials of their first and last names were the letter 'J'.
    Coincidence? Dread thought otherwise.
    "Why am I not surprised? I wouldn't put it past your sister to have planned this whole thing." Dread placed her sabre under Judie's chin. "Any last words to save your hides?"
    Judie lifted her face proudly. "You better believe I came up with the whole plan! Do your worst. I'm not scared of the likes of you. If you want to take me down to your cabin and tan my hide, there's nuthin' I can do to stop you." She smiled and flicked out her tongue.
    Dread stepped away, repulsed. She felt like hitting her forehead with her fist. She would never live down that night she and Judie had gotten drunk on whiskey. They’d ended up having a night together that she still regretted to this day. She swore she still had scars from Judie's nails from when the other woman had clawed her back and legs during their hours of hot, dirty fucking.
     
    Dread turned away and glanced at Mister Martin. He held back a grin and cracked his knuckles. His bulging biceps flexed, and the siblings cowered as he walked toward them.
    "Any last words?" he asked as he towered over them and grabbed them both by the scruff of their necks.
    "Fuck off, you chump! Yer jealous I never licked your bum like I did the Captain's!"
    Judie squealed.
    Dread lifted her face up to the clear blue sky and mouthed, "Why me? "
    Mister Martin pulled them to the front of the ship, and the crew cheered as they followed on his heels. He lifted the scrawny siblings over the side and dropped them overboard. They screamed as they landed in the murky water below.
    Dread and her boys leaned over the side and watched the siblings pop up out of the water.
    A small dinghy floated by them, and one of the men stopped rowing to pull them in.
    "Bring them to shore and leave them there," Dread shouted down and pointed at the two waterlogged fools. "I better not see you again. If I do, I can promise you that my sabre will meet the inside of your stomach."
    Judie spat out water and gave Dread the finger. Her brother sat with his head down.
    Dread walked down to the hold while the rest of the crew taunted the exiled duo as they were rowed to shore.
    Mister Martin followed behind Dread, combing through his dark black goatee with blunt fingers. "Your uncle would be proud of you if he were still alive."
    Dread turned to appraise him as she walked down the hall and into her cabin. She opened her door, walked across the multi-colored woven rug that covered more than half the floor and rested her sabre on her desk. She then pulled off her gloves, throwing them on top of her desk, and took off her mask as she cracked her jaw. "Those two have been a pain in my side ever since I became captain of this ship. It would have been much easier to slit their