The Pirate Fairy by A.J. Llewellyn Page B

father’s rented apartment to look after Polly, but when he went to find her she was gone.
    “They told him she’d been arrested for stealing and that a British military officer had adopted her and taken her to Australia to be with his own family. Denny was determined to travel to Botany Bay to find her, but by the time he was old enough to procure work that would take him away from East London, none of the ships traveled that far. He started life honestly as a rigger on a ferry sailing from Dover to Calais, in France. He soon realized there was no money, but plenty of calluses in that way of life.
    “He took on a bigger ship traveling to Spain, and after being attacked by pirates, he realized he had to become one, too. A yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum were the ideal life for him. He was arrested in the Spanish islands for drinking, along with senior crewmen. He was sexually assaulted there by the head jailer, a personal sacrifice that his crewmembers never forgot. When he mutinied and took over the ship two years later, not a single crewmember left him.”
    There was a deathly silence, and Denny wondered how his later exploits would be viewed. He blocked all thoughts of Christoph, for fear the judge and jury would read his mind.
    “When you took over the ship and renamed her the La-Di-Da, what kind of activities did you engage in?” Ebba asked him.
    Good one. Be direct. Merciless . “Pirating activities,” Denny replied.
    A small titter in the courtroom.
    “You switched your normal course of the Indian Ocean to the North Atlantic Ocean. Can you explain why?”
    Oh, I get what she’s doing now . Denny adopted his most serious expression and said, “I had observed that s hipping traffic between Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe began to soar and that in spite of changes in the law regarding slavery, some ships still trafficked slaves bound for Europe and the Caribbean. My crew and I rescued hundreds of slaves and delivered them back to their island homes. You were one of the people we saved.”
    The room erupted in a stampede of applause and excited chatter.
    “Silence!” the judge shouted. The room fell quiet again.
    “We have a witness for the prosecution,” one of the Unseelie Court fairies said, poking her tongue out at Denny. He stared at her. Charming. Very mature .
    “Who is it?” the judge asked.
    “My brother,” Ebba replied. She looked devastated. “Captain Denny rescued both of us.”
    “He raped me!” Larks shrieked, running down the stairs.
    None of the fairies tried to touch him. They all edged away as he roared down toward the bench. Larks seemed to know exactly where to stand and took his place beside Pegasus.
    “Is this true?” the judge asked Denny.
    “No. I admit we had intimacy, many times in fact.” He glanced down at Larks. “But he loved everything we did together.”
    “It’s not true!” Larks jumped up and down like a demented flea. “I love women. He had to restrain me to have sex with me.”
    “Is he telling the truth?” the judge asked.
    “We used restraints, but he liked it. He asked me to do it.” Denny experienced a fluttering sensation deep within him.
    Merritt is here .
    Denny could feel it. He held his breath and looked around. Where is he?
    “It’s not true. I love women!” Larks was going crazy, punching the air with his balled-up fists and kicking some unseen assailant.
    The entire courtroom fell silent as he screamed, “Don’t touch me. Get your hands off me!”
    “What’s going on?” the judge asked.
    “It’s a spiritual malady, your honor,” Ebba said. “Ever since he went to see a witch doctor in Honduras, my brother has been afflicted by nighttime terrors.” She cast an accusatory glance at Denny. “This was right after my client made him walk the plank. Most people don’t survive. Those that do are often haunted by it. Larks tried to get help.” She paused and thrust her hands dramatically toward her brother who now rolled around the