The Flight of the Black Swan: A Bawdy Novella by Jean Roberta

Author:Jean Roberta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Erotica, Pirates, Historical fiction
Publisher: Lethe Press
Published: 2013-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

Nine

Terms of Occupation

The night was clear, and the light of the moon and the stars poured down upon us like a blessing, enabling us to find our way back to the deck of our ship without mishap. A wave of homesickness washed over me as I wondered whether my parents and my brothers and sisters were watching the same sky from their home in London, and hoping the war in America would end quickly.

Mary Ann moved like a woman carrying a heavy burden. I wanted to lift her spirits and to feel the heat of her body pressed to mine. “Lover,” I said, wrapping an arm about her waist, “please don’t lose hope. When one door closes, another one opens.”

“Gal,” she sighed, “you’re sweeter than sugar, but you can’t help me. I’ve lost everything I had in the world.” Her dark eyes shone with tears. She looked gravely into mine. “Unless we can stop the Yankees.”

“Mary Ann, you can’t stop an army! Even the Green Men can’t do that.” Amazed as I was at her stubborn refusal to acknowledge her powerless situation, I couldn’t help comparing her favorably to Lucy. Sometimes, I thought, it’s better for a woman to cling to an outrageous dream than to compromise her soul in the name of necessity.

“I bet your Queen doesn’t know that Union army she likes so much is planning to burn up the whole South.” Mary Ann had a mad gleam of hope in her eyes. “She could stop them all right. And I know she believes in women’s right to inherit land and social position. She’s got to, considering who she is. Miz Emily, if you help me write a letter to Her Royal Majesty, or whatever she’s supposed to be called, maybe we can send it by a passing clipper and hope it gets to her palace in time.”

I was tempted to hoot with laughter. It seemed that even an American could cherish a vain hope of making the Queen’s acquaintance. I pulled Mary Ann to me for a gentle kiss that became passionate as she responded. I wanted to protect her from her own foolishness, but I couldn’t bear to break her heart.

At length, I withdrew from her full, warm lips to look into the depths of her eyes. “Mary Ann,” I told her, “you must listen to me seriously. The Queen will not help either side in this wretched American war, and she would have no more sympathy for your plight than Queen Bess had for Mary Queen of Scots in exile. And the men who write the laws of all the countries on earth would condemn everyone on this ship. We have no one to rely on but each other.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but I pressed two fingers against her lips. “Woman,” I said, “it’s no good trying to think your way out of a maze when your blood is up. Did you think those men on the Yankee ship would ravish you?” I rudely grabbed one of her breasts as though I were a drunken sailor.

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