A plea from the young pirate

When you made it back to Santiago, your handful of ragged prisoners in tow, he was overall quite pleased with the result, if somewhat saddened by the loss of two men. Though he didn't give you a promotion, you feel you are well on track to getting one. You and your men were relieved of duty for the rest of the night, and it was unanimously agreed to spend your time off drinking in celebration. Choices of establishment were few in the small settlement, so making a decision where to go wasn't hard. As it turned out, a poorly-made drunken bet led to you taking tomorrow's prison guard duty from your giddy opponent.

It was perhaps not so much prison as a jail. The building itself was rather small, divided into two simple wings lined with bare, iron-barred cells. Prison guard duty is notoriously dull even in the most dangerous, let alone this sleepy little jail. Most of the prisoners are in the other wing. Standard protocol is to put prisoners furthest from the front door as possible. You find the uncomfortable wooden chair, your resting place for the next 24 hours, and prepare to sit and wait until your time is up. That is, until you hear hushed whispers from the only occupied cell in the front wing. "Oi, oi" you hear repeatedly, and the sound of hands hitting the bars of the cell. Annoyed, you get up and walk over to the cell to see what's going on. As you get in view you see it's the pirate boy from last night. "What?" you ask, your voice deep and commanding. The short boy looks like he's collecting his thoughts for a moment. "You going kill me?" he asks in poor Spanish, with a thick English accent. You had suspected he was a foreigner by his short red hair (tied into a ponytail) and pale(ish) skin, and the accent confirms your suspicions. You aren't sure if he is asking about you in particular, or if he is going to be executed. "Not me" you say flatly, "But yes, pirates get ****." He looks thoughtful. "No...compassion?" Perhaps he means mercy? "No mercy. I didn't kill you last night; that was your only mercy." You do feel for the boy. His life has barely begun, as visible from his round baby-ish face, yet he will be dead soon. Still, he made his choices.

Another thoughtful look and moment of silence from the boy, longer this time. Suddenly his face brightens and he looks up at you. "You fuck me!" You feel anger flash through you, boiling your blood. Does he think you, a good Catholic, are a sodomite?! "Shut your mouth boy!" you yell, raising your hand as if to strike him through the bars. He steps back hurriedly and puts his hands out defensively. "No, no! I am not boy, I am girl!" He(?) pulls off the tattered cap and undoes the ponytail. As the pirate's hair falls free, you realize the obvious: it is no boy, but a woman disguised! It all makes sense! She is a thin woman, not a frail young man! You throw your head back in shock, even taking an involuntary step backward. "You do not kill woman..." she doesn't seem to know the word, but gestures a hemisphere over her belly "Yes?". Hmm, you have heard that the English, her people, do not kill pregnant women, but you aren't sure about Spanish law. Still, you imagine it would be similar.

"You want my baby?!" you ask, still reeling from the surprise. The Englishwoman shrugs. "It does not matter who. I need baby to not die. You are handsome too; why not?" she says with a sly smile. You don't budge, eyeing her suspiciously. She shrugs again nonchalantly. "If you say no, I ask next guard. I win both ways."