• Dany relished the feel of the wind in her hair, the salt spray on her cheeks. She loved the creaking of the timber, the snapping canvas, the hoarse shouts and loud curses that peppered the conversation around her. The feel of steel in her right hand, a pistol in her left.
    But most of all, she loved the gold.
    Granted, gold was not the only thing she hungered for; there was food, obviously, a good game of cards, battle, a strong man to share her bed. But the gold... There was something magical about the light yellow glimmer that caught the eye, ensnared the mind, turned even the most honorable man into a merciless brigand.
    Dany spat on honor. If she had a ship for every time a man broke his promises, she would command a fleet to rival the royal navy.
    Of course, she knew that there were some that pretended to honor. She also knew that they had placed a bounty on her head. Ten thousand gold pieces, half as many silver, for her corpse. She smirked. She found it amusing, and very pleasing, that she should empty the crowns coffers even after her death. But what she found most amusing was the name they had given her.
    "The Scourge of the Seas" they had named her. It was so very fitting. Many ships had fallen to her cannons, the crews slain by her men. Their coin filled her coffers, paid for her weapons, food, repairs, clothes.
    A tap on her shoulder jolted her back to the deck. "What?" she snapped. A man stood behind her.
    "Captain," he started, pushing a lock of thick black hair behind his one remaining ear, "A merchant vessel has been sighted off the starboard bow."
    Dany nodded curtly. "Man the cannons. Prepare for battle!" She yelled, pitching her voice so as to be heard over the excited whoops and shouts. As the men formed up, she smiled.