The merchant brig drifted beneath torn sails as smoke curled from its shattered deck. After a brief, bloody boarding action, the surviving sailors threw down their weapons, and their officer knelt before Eleanor beside the broken mainmast. She wiped her cutlass clean and glanced across the captured men. “Your captain has lost his ship, but you need not lose your lives with it. Serve aboard the Jackdaw, take an honest share of every prize, and earn your place or remain here and trust the sea’s mercy.”