The Bloody Rose of the East

Born to a maid in the service of a noble family, Taylor Anne studied to work in the palace like her mother when she was younger.

Her father was the liege lord of her house and though he never claimed her as his own, nor showed her any affection, he always made sure she was looked after, cared for and educated properly . Especially after her mother died.

She was given a place to stay and a job that pays. Many may see his actions as caring, as Anne herself did at the time, however he was simply keeping up appearances.

He couldn't have people talking about him mistreating his bastard daughter, so he kept her at arms length. Always close enough to keep an eye on.

Yet that was the very reason she was sent away.

For the Lords true born daughter and lawful wife saw the young Taylor Anne as an affront to their honour.

Anne often looked in the window of her fathers mansion to see her half-sister playing with the nicest of dolls and wearing the finest of clothing. The only clothes she owned were maid clothes and simple things commoners wore. Back then she longed to look as dignified and refined as her sister. And more than anything she wanted her father to look at her the same way he looked at her sister.

So Taylor Anne did her best. She tried harder in her studies and payed more attention to her work. She was a fine hand maiden with a sharp mind.

Around this time in her life she met a young man. A lowly guard in her fathers employ. William. He promised to take her away from her life of simplicity, to marry her and take her to see the world. He promised to love her forever and that he would never leave her.

She believed ever word for she loved him like she had never loved anything.

Her half sister Julia saw the way her father kept her sister around and often plotted with her mother to have Anne sent away.

So when a young, impetuous noble paid their estate a visit the Madame and the young lady of the house took his arm and escorted him around the courtyard.

Right toward the fine miss Anne.

They whispered things in his ear and took the chance to see Anne gone. So it was that the two high born women offered the 15 year old girl to the nobleman as his personal serving girl.

How could he say no to such an offer.

Anne herself was every bit as beautiful as her half sister. Even without any of the makeup or fancy clothing. Yet this noble was known for something else. Something well known within certain circles.

The man Anne's father had invited into his home was known for torturing and abusing those in his employ. Not sexually mind you. But physically and emotionally. He was a crude, black hearted man who enjoyed seeing others writhe in pain and submit to his whim.

The mother and daughter both knew about such proclivities long before they sold Anne into his employ.

Anne's father himself was pleased to be rid of her as it looked bad on him to have such a blemish on his resume. However his kind hearted and jovial nature lead him to believe the 'rumours' about his compatriot were just that, rumours. So with the pressure from his daughter and at the behest of his wife he relented. Sending young lady Anne away.

Taylor Anne wasn't given much, if any, notice about her new appointment with the young noble who dealt with her father. The only thing she could do was visit her love, the common guard, in hopes that he would not forget his promises.

To her great joy he hadn't and in the heat of the moment he made another promise to her. He promised that he would make enough money to sail after her, to free her from the nobles employ and that they would be together one day.

The smile on Taylor Anne's face that day, as she left the castle she called home for the first time in her life, was the most beautiful thing that island had never seen.

The young noble was pleased to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Neither Anne, nor the guard she loved had any idea what the noble named Montes was going to do to her. If they did, perhaps she never would have gotten on that ship. Perhaps her take would have ended there. Or perhaps it would have had a completely different ending.

Nearly a year later at a port town with no official name Montes was purchasing a specific load of cargo when Anne brought him a drink as she was told. Without warning he slapped her in the face and kicked her to the floor. She stared back at him with the same fire in her eyes he had been trying to extinguish for months with little success.

Before he could move to make another attempt a tall, broad shouldered man with a thick beard and spurs on his boots stepped in between them. P

He looked down at Taylor Anne laying on the floor, her lip split and bleeding, her body covered in cuts and bruises. Then he turned back to Montes and drew his flintlock from his belt. As the young nobles face contorted with fear the stranger dropped his pistol as casually as possible. Right between Montes and Anne. He said only one thing before turning around and leaving.

"If you want to change your fate, don't sit around waiting for someone to save you. Do it yourself."

Taylor Anne, now kneeling on the floor, beaten and exhausted, stared at the gun on the floor with a fierce flame burning in her tender eyes. The sadistic noble did the same, looking to the weapon with batted breath. For a moment neither of them moved.

Then as if on cue they dove for the gun simultaneously. Grabbing it together and wrestling around, fighting desperately on the cold tavern floor.

*BANG*

When the gunshot resounded the stranger never even flinched. He merely sat back down and took a drink of rum from his glass. When the glass was empty he slowly turned around to see what happened.

What he saw was a young woman with a smoking flintlock in her trembling hands and a powerful fire in her eyes. She was standing over the body of the young nobleman, looking down at him as if she expected him to spring back to life.

Taylor Anne never thanked the man. She didn't even look at him. She simply handed him back his pistol and left the bar.

The cargo Montes was there to purchase turned out to be slaves. The man with the gun was a revolutionary who had come in hopes of saving them before they were branded and marked for life.

Anne herself never learned this, but I'm sure it would have made her laugh to know that regardless of wether she killed him or not, Montes' time was up either way.

After that day Taylor Anne did the only thing she could think of. She tried to get home. She tried to go back to the man she loved. The one person who she believed was trying his best to find her and to keep his word.

Knowing the dangers of a lone women travelling the seas she dressed as a man and marred her face with grime and grease to keep from standing out. When she was given the chance she boarded a merchant vessel. As she hoped gaining a better understanding of the sea would help her return home.

The journey was long and the world more vast than she could have imagined. Anne spent two years on that vessel looking for the island of her birth. After showing a talent early on and becoming the navigator's apprentice she was given the chance to learn much about the sea, the tides and the weather.

When she had finally gotten comfortable with the crew and learned as much as she could she felt it was time to leave, yet Fate had different plans. For the merchant vessel she had boarded was attacked by Pirates. Without the means to protect themselves they were swiftly defeated.

She fought hard as she always did and after killing more than one of the boarding Pirates she was clubbed over the head and captured. But she had survived the battle, unlike many of the merchants. The pirates themselves needed good fighters, but more than that they needed navigators. Pirates often recruited those that could benefit them from the survivors of the ships they sieged. So with a pistol to her head and a choice to make Taylor Anne took up the black and became a pirate without a second thought.

Her hopes not yet extinguished and the fire in her eyes was still blazing.

While sailing under the same name as the man she loves, William, Taylor Anne quickly became a feared and respected pirate among her new crew.

During her time sailing with them for several years she still unable to find her way home. However she spent this time constantly improving. For when she was idle she felt she would loose that fire that kept pushing her forward. So she learned everything anyone was willing to teach her from firearms to swordplay, ship maintenance to food rationing, she learnt anything she could pick up along the way.

The entire time, no matter how bleak things may have seemed she never lost sight of her goal. The thought of going home and being reunited with her love made the fire within her surge ever brighter.

Then one day, as she finally seemed to be nearing her destination, a pirate she was duelling got lucky as her ship was rocked by a wave and she lost her footing. He managed to cleave her across her chest, leaving a deep scar and revealing her as a woman to all present.

While her opponents loss of focus gave her the chance to turn the tide of battle she took the chance to kill the enemies captain and put an end to their fight.

From then on when people asked why she hardly ever wears armour and prefers to dress in thin form fitting clothes she always replied with the same answer; "I've found that while my enemy is focused on my body they often loose track of my blade."

Even though this inside outed her as a woman to her crew none of them batted an eye. They treated her the same way before as they did after. For she had long since earned the respect and fear of every man who stood beside her.

Sailing with them without needing to conceal herself anymore was liberating. The way she fought and the way she kept hidden all this time had left her with quite the moniker, the bloody rose of the east.

When her journey had finally born fruit and she found her way home she was both relieved and saddened. Her crew parted with her quietly and as she walked on towards the castle over the hill. When she had disappeared from sight they began to refill their supplies, sow their sails and mend the hull to prepare for another voyage.

On her way up to her fathers manner she couldn't help but over hear much of the conversation going on in the town. A great marriage ceremony seemed to be on everyone's mind as it was the talk of the town. Everyone was praising it as the greatest event this island had ever scene.

While she was away Taylor Anne's half sister Julia had gotten married. She wasn't surprised. It had been more than five years after all. Word was that she married the captain of the guard and the islands strongest defender.

Anne didn't feel the least bit of anger or jealousy at her sisters happiness. In fact she was even happy that her sister could find someone to care for as she herself had.

But that thought soon turned to ashes in her mouth when she laid eyes on her sisters husband.

At the age of twenty Taylor Anne had spent five years sailing. She had sailed half the world and seen things few others dare to dream of. Through it all the one thing keeping her going was the thought that one day she would find her way back to the man she loved and he would embrace her wholeheartedly, scars and all, as if no time had passed.

Funny thing about dreams. They often find the worst ways of breaking your spirit. Instead of finding the love of her life waiting for her, she instead found him in the arms of her sister, the woman who had her sent her to a man who tortured her.

In that moment the pirate who sailed the seas was no where to be seen. She felt like a foolish little girl expecting her father to wish her away. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to run away and hide for being so foolish, but she did none of those.

Instead she did what a pirate would do.

She drew the pair of pistols on her belt and fired them without hesitation. Shooting both William and the lady Julia at his right hand.

Turning on her heel she walked away without ever looking back. When she returned to her ship she told her crew everything. And at the end as they all looked at her with pity and sadness Anne added that she didn't care if this whole island was burnt to the ground. Suddenly all their faces were alight with the same fire that blazed deep within Anne.

So with the flash of cannons and the ring of steel the city fell in a single night. The Pirates rampaged and pillaged all the way up to the castle walls.

They say when the castle Lord's wife heard what happened to the captain of the guard and her only daughter, while watching the city around her burn, she took her own life in a fit of grief.

As for Anne's father, the self proclaimed king of the island, well she didn't kill him if that's what your thinking.

No she left him to rot, knowing that this was all his doing in the first place. He sold his daughter to a mad man and now his city is burning. He has to live with that.

As for Anne, she raided the palace treasury and swept it clean. Leaving her father with nothing but sand and stone. After taking in their spoils and enjoying their booty Taylor Anne and her the Pirates she sailed with left the burning island with smiles on their dastardly mugs.

From that day on the pirate captain Taylor Anne had sailed under for three years was able to retire happily with the loot gained from raiding her home. So with pride in his eyes he passed her his hat along with his signature weapon, a large blunderbuss. Making her the captain before dropping his own anchor on a beach somewhere to enjoy his fortune in peace.

Her crew had no qualms with such a choice. They followed her with every ounce of passion and devotion they had for their former captain. Never once thinking less of her for being a woman.

In fact since they know her story they all feel somewhat protective of her and therefore fight even harder on her behalf. Especially if someone insults her or disrespects her name. Even if she is the strongest, most skilled and the best shot they have the crew does their best to support her no matter the squalls.

With the loot she stole from her father she remodelled her ship and outfitted it with new and more powerful weaponry. Rechristening it the Queen Anne's Revenge. She sailed the seas for another five years. This time as a feared and respected pirate captain.

She freed slaves wherever she found them, adding those that wished to follow her to her crew. The bloody rose of the east seemed a fitting name as she carved down any and all who stood in her way.

Known for personally going out of her way to raid Royal and noble manor's, especially those with specific rumours about them, she created more than her share of enemies. Often times she would take many of the women with her. Those who had heard her tale and asked to join her, those she had saved or freed. She accepted them all.

Nowadays her crew is made up more of former slaves and women than the common men and prices you'd find on most ships, but each of those that serve under her, regardless of where they come from, all of them are battle hardened, dangerous individuals in their own right.

Sailing with five main ships commanding the larger fleet under her banner she is feared far and wide not just for her skill in battle, but for her knowledge of tactics and ability to seemingly predict the weather. The first two of her commanders ships are captained by two of the men who fought with her long before they knew she was a woman. The other three are captained by women she's trained and groomed personally.

The respect and devotion her crew has for her left the governments with quite the unexpected dilemma. No one would betray her. No matter the reward. And all the bounty hunters and skilled officers who went after her were sent home in boxes.

It wasn't long before she expanded her fleet and became a fearsome competitor in the new world. With 45 ships under her banner and 1800 men and women sailing under her command she has the largest pirate fleet the East had ever seen.

Her fleets flag ship has a crimson red hull and pitch black sails with a weeping woman as the figurehead.

The red hull is only because she got tired of having blood stains removed and the black sails are to help to blend into the darkness better at night.

As a child Anne often dreamt of a life at sea. She loved listening to her mother's stories and thinking of adventure and romance, but reality is often different than your dreams.

Though it brought her so much pain and sorrow over the years, the ocean will always be her truest home and the place she feels truly free.

Today Taylor Anne can no longer think of a life lived away from the water. The sea has become as much a part of her as her crew has. They are her family and her closest friends.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.