May 15, 1716. Off of Charleston
We had made good time, with favorable winds and now the Clitoris lay just at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, in the lee of a barrier island, well hidden by overhanging vegetation. I had sent a few crew members in a skiff to meet with Madame Lacroix, who assured us that the Good Fortune would be sailing on schedule. All we had to do now was wait.
However, I am saddened to report that an unfortunate incident occurred last night. I was reposing in my cabin, in the delightful company of FSG, a fleshy former prostitute from the streets of London, when a knock sounded. “Come in,” I said. I have made it my policy to be quite open about my recreational activities in front of the crew. It was my trusty mate, Eulalia, who had charge of the ship that evening.
“I must inform you of something unpleasant, Cap’n,” she said not batting an eyelash at the site of our entwined naked bodies. “I have found Barbara and Esther in connubial bliss under the fo’castle whilst on watch duty.” Now, I certainlydon’t deny my crew the pleasures that I enjoy when off duty, but on duty is an entirely different matter. I take watch very seriously as we have many enemies, both other pirates and the law, and cannot afford to be taken by surprise.
“Clap them in irons, Eula. We shall deal with this at sunup.”
And now the sun was well over the yardarm and the crew was assembled on the main deck and a grating was rigged against the starboard railing. “Bring the prisoners up!” I ordered. A couple of crew members descended into the hold and emerged shortly with the two miscreants, chained together at the ankles.
Now, Barbara Moore was my most troublesome crew member, often insolent and rebellious. She had grown up on a farm in the Hudson Valley of New York and when her parents could no longer handle her wild ways they had indentured her to a family in New York City as a housemaid. Once she came of age she absconded from her duties there and escaped to sea, ending up on my crew. Esther was a slave who had escaped from a Virginia tobacco plantation. She was normally a very good sailor and little trouble, but she had obviously succumbed to Barbara’s charms.
“All of you must know that we have chosen a dangerous path and have many enemies. Other pirates are jealous of our success and would gladly kill us to take our place. The authorities wish to hang us all. So we must constantly be on our guard, particularly in the nighttime hours. Watch duty is of the utmost importance. Last night, these two crew members were found to be derelict in their duties. Such cannot and shall not be tolerated. Barbara and Esther, you shall each receive 3 dozen lashes with the cat o’ nine tails on your naked backs. I hope this will impress on you and on everyone else the need to be fully alert when on duty. Unshackle them.”
Eulalia removed a key from her pocket and bent down to unlock the shackles. “Strip to the waist, you two,” I ordered. Barb and Esther paused for a moment to let the order sink in. “Be quick about it!” I barked, in no mood to be defied. They shucked their blouses, exposing their breasts to the sea breezes. Barb’s pale skin and Esther’s dark brown made a lovely contrast.
“Over to the gratings, both of you,” I ordered. Doing their best to retain their composure they made their way slowly over to the side of the ship. “Seize them up.” Eulalia extracted some cords from her pocket and raised Esther’s hands over her head fastening each one firmly to the grating. She did the same with Barb, so they stood side by side, stretched up on their toes, defenseless against the lashes that would soon rain down on their bare backs.
Once the offenders were secured, Eulalia stripped off her blouse, so that she would have full freedom of movement and extracted the cat o’ nine tails from the cloth bag where it rested when not in use. It was a fearsome instrument, a wooden handle, two feet long, with nine tails of stout cord, each three feet long, ending in 3 knots. It needed to be fearsome to make an impression on such scoundrels as made up the crew of a pirate ship, be they male or female.
Eulalia measured out her distance and nodded to indicate that she was ready to do her duty. “Begin,” I ordered. She drew her arm back and struck Esther a vicious blow on her shoulder blades. Having been raised on a plantation, where such punishments were not unknown, the brave girl swallowed hard and refused to cry out. She maintained this fortitude as five more blows connected with her defenseless back. Only her hands gripping the grating for dear life and her labored breathing would have indicated to the casual observer the intense suffering she was undoubtedly enduring.
Eulalia took two steps to her left and measured her distance to Barb’s back. Having grown up in a less harsh domestic situation, she was likely less accustomed to such treatment. In any event, she was sobbing piteously after a mere two lashes, begging for forgiveness after four and howling like a cat in heat by the time she had received the sixth. Eulalia continued doing her duty, switching between the two unfortunates after every six lashes.
By the halfway point, when each girl had received 18, there was no longer any black or white; both backs were red with blood seeping from multiple wounds where the knots had cut the flesh. Even Esther was bawling and writhing against the grating, trying desperately to free herself, without success. At this point, Eulalia, fatigued from her exertions asked for a pause, which I happily granted, knowing that it would allow her to resume her task with renewed vigor.
I surveyed the crew to gauge their reactions. They were staring intently at the backs of the two derelict members of their company. I sensed that they accepted this brutal punishment as necessary, just as I did, because the actions of these two had placed their lives at risk. They certainly seemed to be absorbing the lesson I intended regarding the consequences of laxity when it came to duty.
Finally, Eulalia signaled that she was prepared to proceed, and proceed she did. I will not offend the reader with a detailed description of the remaining 18 lashes delivered to each miscreant, but suffice it to say that by the end, their backs were well marked and scored with blood descending from multiple spots, rolling down their torsos and they both hung exhausted and immobile on the gratings.
The bucket of salt water dumped on each of their backs seemed to revive them, provoking a caterwauling of screams and cries and a renewed writhing. As the ruckus was dying down, I summoned Prihiya to my side. A valued crew member, she was a member of the Cherokee tribe, which inhabited the hills to the west of the settled areas of the Carolina province. She had been well schooled by the elders of her tribe in the uses of the various herbs that grew in those hills to soothe and cure the sick and wounded. She served as our ship’s physician and did so better than most who filled that position in the Royal Navy.
“Please give them the benefit of your most expert care,” I told her. “They deserved their punishment and now that they have received it, they must be taken back into our good graces. We have important tasks ahead of us and will need every member of this crew to be ready to work and fight. Can you have them fit and able in two days?”
“I do not know for certain, Captain, but you have my word that I will do my best. If you will untie them and have them taken below, I will get my herb collection and begin working on their wounds immediately.”
“Thank you, Prihiya, I have every confidence in your abilities,” I replied, ordering several crew members to help release the two punished girls and carry them below.
I got no pleasure from having exercised my authority in such a manner, but I knew it had been necessary and had no regrets as I retired to my cabin.
)
If you are speaking of the character telling the story, Dark Princess, then she's probably kidding herself and the reader when she claims she didn't. 
It's not always easy being Captain. That's why she gets the big bucks (no Dorothy, not those bucks)
