“I am Elissa Bishop,” she assured him. “Just not the Elissa Bishop you remember and not the one everyone thinks I am. I’ve grown up, Joseph, I’m not the scared quiet little thing I was when you knew me. I’m not a child anymore.” Elissa stood for a moment, ignoring the offered beaker and instead took the bottle from him before sitting back down on the bed. “I have been sailing for my father’s company since I was fifteen. I just turned nineteen yesterday.” Elissa took a long drink from the bottle before continuing. “As for fighting, you taught me almost everything I know, granted I learned more after you left. If you don’t believe me on that fight me now. I’ll guarantee that you’ll win, I was never able to beat you. You never went easy on me, telling me that if I was to really know how to fight I couldn’t have someone pull punches just to let me win. I’d have to win on my own.”

A smile came to her face as she remembered the lessons, taught to her at dusk down on the beach. Her father hadn’t known about them, which was probably best. He wanted her to learn to be a lady. She wanted to be a sailor. He wanted to pawn her off to some lower nobleman so that she would be someone else’s problem. She just wanted to be with Joseph. Even at a young age she was smitten with him. He was everything she had needed at the time, a friend, a protector, and was kinder to her than anyone else in her life.

The smile vanished when he mentioned the brand on her neck. Of course they would have seen that. He probably already knew what it was so there was no use lying about it. “I’m wanted in Spain. It’s a long story, I’m sure you aren’t really that interested in it.” At least she hoped he wasn’t that interested in it. Aside from Bedlam it was one of the darker points in her life, one that made her stronger but also one that she wanted to forget. “I have a bounty on my head there, so I would appreciate it if we didn’t go to Spain.” Maybe with him being a pirate he’d understand her desire to stay away from Spain, of course on the other hand he could use this new knowledge against her.