1. Meeting Ophelia

William saw the brown locks framing that beautiful face. Her eyes were calm and waiting for him to make a move, to explain. She stood by the bed, across the room, in a nightgown. She was awake when William had bursted into her room, the fighting downstairs had woken her up. The attraction burnt in his groin, and he took a step forward, thinking about how easy it would be to throw this delicate woman on top of the bed and take her. The rumbling downstairs took him back to his mission. The resistance were greater than expected, they needed another plan if they were to get out alive. William drew forth a dagger and closed up to the woman. It struck him odd that she did not back away, she did not avert her eyes, but he had no time to further think of it; five guards bursted into the chamber, swords drawn. After them came the man that owned this estate, furious. Williams crew were defeated and captured downstairs. The guards were hesitant, not knowing what to do next. Williams eyes were flaming with fierce power making the guards doubt their ability to take him down. The woman still stood by the bed, a few paces away. Her father, the very rich man William were robbing glanced at her with fear in his eyes. William reacted immediately, understanding her importance; in a split second he had grabbed her and placed her in front of him, his dagger resting on her throat.
”Ophelia!!” the man shrieked.
William smelled her hair and whispered in her ear ” My lady, you are my key out of here. Forgive my rudeness”.
”You get what ever you want, let my daughter go! Stand down, men” he screamed at the guards.
”You release my men, give me your riches and do not follow us when we leave. You will raise no alarm. Your daughter will be released when we reach the harbor. You are free to pick her up by dawn”.
”I will not let you take my daughter! I am not stupid”
”This woman means nothing to me. I would not have any regrets when killing her. But she is special to you, and I don't think you want to lose her. I have no further need for her when I reach my ship. She will be left in the harbor. A woman aboard is bad luck, anyway”.
The man had no other choice. ”Agreed” were all he could say, watching as the pirate took his only beloved child away. William and his crew took all they could carry, then headed back to the harbor. The mood were good amongst them, now they were rich! No one took notice of Ophelia, but William thought it were odd that she did not resist or even tried to run away. He let her go of his grip, put the dagger back in his boot. She kept walking in front of him, not even searching for an opportunity to escape. William watched her back as she walked and smiled to himself. Why should he let her go? It was a long time ago a woman had evoked such lust in him. That stupid man should have fought for her there, he should have let her die, William thought. Her fate were now in his hands, and he was a cruel man.
Suddenly Ophelia stopped. They had almost reached the harbor. William put his hand on the sword on his hip and his men were on the edge. William let no one defy him, and he would rather kill the woman than to let her get away. Ophelia turned around and looked straight at William. Her soft, piercing eyes almost made him feel ashamed and they made something stir within him.
”You are not letting me go”. It was a statement. She knew about his intentions.
”No. I'm taking you with me”
Ophelia turned around again and started walking down the road, towards the harbor. William found it truly strange that she came along willingly. When they were boarding the ship, Ophelia suddenly fell down to sit on the ground. The pirates aimed their weapons at her, believing that she tried to run away. Also William were startled as he had seen no such intentions. For some seconds he thought he had misjudged her, that she were a scheming woman, after all.
“I'm so sorry” Ophelia said, “but I hurt my foot” William bent down to take a look, and indeed, her foot were hurt. Both of them. In one sat a big splinter, that were the cause of her fall. But also, both her feet were filled with bleeding cuts and wounds. She had been walking the whole way barefoot. He shot her a glance with his green eyes; she had not once shown pain. He had looked at her intensely the whole way and her walk had been flawless, elegant. Ophelia's heart stopped for a second when she faced those eyes. Her heart then continuing in a faster pace. When the man bent down and picked her up she had to try hard to breath. She lay her head to rest on his chest and listened to the strong beating of his heart. She felt just...at home. “You should have said something, Ophelia. I would not have let you walk by yourself if I had known”. Her eyes were closed. He said her name. She had only heard her father speak her name in the last three years. She loved how it sounded in this mans voice. She enjoyed the feeling that not she or her father controlled her destiny from now on. William looked down on her, pondering that serene look of mild happiness on her face. “It were a small price to pay for my freedom. What is your name?”
“Freedom, miss? Believe me, what awaits you at the hands of our William is no freedom. His name is Captain for you, I would guess”. It were Williams oldest crew member that had spoken; August. His grin revealed several teeth's missing. William patted August on the shoulder and the old man backed away. “My name is William, only. I do not know what freedom you expect, but I have kidnapped you”. William put his mouth to Ophelia's ear, whispering silently “You belong to me”. He smelled her hair, it smelled of vanilla. A very rare scent. Exclusive. Very fitting. He carried Ophelia to a small room with a big, round window, and put her on the bed. He left without a word, but soon returned with another man. “This is our medical expert. He will look after your feet”. The man took the splinter out, cleaned the wounds with a antiseptic solution and then rubbed a salve on the feet. “What is in that salve” Ophelia asked him. “Are you interested in such things, miss?” said the man. “Oh, yes. I love everything about herbals and medicine”. “Then you can come down to my lab when William allows and I can show you. Did it help you?” “Yes, right away. The pain just disappeared” Ophelia smiled at the man. He gave a small smile back and walked out of the room. William sat down on the floor in front of Ophelia. He took up a bandage and started rolling it around her feet. Then he left in silence.

Ophelia looked out the window, she could see the shore shrinking, the stars glittering in the water. She felt so free. She knew this was what she had been waiting for. She sat down on the bed and contemplated. This was such a strange situation. She had never been away from the estate before. Never been around other people than her tutors and servants. Her head were spinning, she must lie down. She were so tired and fell asleep the moment her head came to rest at the pillow.

William gave direction to his men about their new location and gave orders to set sail. Then he walked down towards the huts, towards her room. His eyes burnt with desire and his walk were decisive.
He had every attention to walk straight into her room and take her, make her pleasure him. But standing outside her door, he hesitated. He felt something special about her, and her way to handle the situation had impressed him. For the first time in almost 300 years a woman had awoken an interest in William, other than sexually.
He turned the doorknob silently and pushed the door open. She lay on the bed, facing him, but asleep. Calmly breathing. He walked up to her and got down on one knee, taking a handful of curls on his hand, smelling and touching them. She reminded him of something, but he could not grasp it. His memories floated away, leaving him in despair. Maybe the world were not as he had thought for so long. Maybe there were something more.
William had lived for so long that all meaning were lost, his purpose did not exist anymore. He remembered that one time it did, he had goals and dreams. But when everything around is dying and fading away, what is the point? He had decided to live for pleasure and adventure, losing respect for the value of life.
However, the men that gets close to him wins his loyalty and he does everything the keep them safe. When he calls somebody his friend, it is a very strong bond. His crew truly love him and respect him. They see his cruelty but don't think of him as evil. No one knows about his past, but they all understand that he has suffered traumatic things. William treat women like objects. He charms and seduces them, take advantage of their body's while promising them the world, then leaves them heartbroken. If a woman for some reason resists his charms he takes her against her will. He don't believe women is good for anything else then sex, he don't need them for anything else, and his greedy nature make him brand every woman he has ever been with. He burns in an small W behind their left ear.
Thats why his crew got very puzzled when William returned to his own hut so soon. There were no way he raped that woman. They looked at each other, shaking there heads and returned to their duties. But one man just smiled. It was Williams wheelman and best friend, Robin. He had waited for the day when someone would breech Williams defenses and touch his heart. Return his soul. He just hoped that this woman were strong enough. William would not surrender easily. She would suffer a lot, and William too, before this was over.