ℜ𝔞𝔫𝔰𝔬𝔪|𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗲

|𝒪𝓃𝑒|

𝒯𝑒𝒸𝒽𝓃𝑜𝒷𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒

A woman was thrown to the ground before me, her long locks of red were curled against her face as she slowly looked up to meet my eyes.

"Who is this?"
I raise my eyes up at Schlatt who just shrugged, taking a swig of his brandy.

"I dunno."

I grumbled a bit, taking my sword and placing it under the girl's chin, lifting it to look in her face. Her eyes filled with horror at the cold blade against her skin.

"Speak your name."

"Athena.."
Her light pink lips formed into a frown as she averted her eyes.
"Are you going to kill me?"

"Well I don't know the answer to that question yet Athena."
I looked up at Schlatt in his tipsy state.
"Go make yourself useful and get Philza."

He just nods, stumbling out of the door, slamming it behind him. I growl in annoyance.

"How exactly did you board my ship with that heathen?"
She flinched a bit when I moved the blade, the sharp point to her neck.
"Speak."

"I was just helping him onto the ship because he was stumbling and once we boarded he took me here.."

I slowly let my sword pull away from her neck, putting it next to me.

"So you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Interesting."
I crossed my arms over my chest,

Phil came in a moment later and let out a gasp.

"Phil?"
I raised an eyebrow.

"Why is the Princess of Evermore here?!"

...

"Now, I don't want any harm to come to her in the process of this, and I would feel bad stressing her out too much, but you can benefit from having the Princess in your possession."

"How so?"
I cross my arms, looking at Phil from across the large navigation table.

"Ransom. Her betrothed probably wants and needs her back so you could offer her in exchange for a handsome sum of money! You could save Tommy with that money!"

Phil had a good idea, and I nod in agreement.
"In three days time we will send the letter for them to know. Until then, we can head back to Ciecel and relax."

Phil smiled in return and stood from his chair, dismissing himself. I decided to throw my cape on and visit our captive beneath the deck.

"Are you warm enough?"
I sat on the other side of the bars from her, she had her head hung low.

I guess I was a bit harsh on her, so I felt a bit bad. She wasn't used to the boat, and you could tell it was physically taking a role on her as he looked sea sick already.

"I'll take you up if you promise to be good."
I stood up and unlocked her cell, offering her a hand, at first she dismissed it, but then her stomach groaned uncomfortably and she took my hand.

She was silent as we stood at the bow, the night was chilly from the cold winds of the sea and I decided to drape my thick large red and white cape over her narrow shoulders.

"You are only going to be in our possession for about a week. So don't fret too much. Also, nothing will happen to you as long as you behave."
I crossed my arms, glancing to Athena next to me.

"Alright.."
She never looked at me as she spoke. I didn't blame her. I probably seemed like the most evil person on the planet to her because of how I had treated her when we met.
"How do you benefit from me being held hostage?"

"The money we could get for getting you back is enough to save a friend of mine. This is why we are keeping you for a bit."
I chose to be honest.

She finally looked at me, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

We looked at each other for a bit, until a large gust of wind hit us and she almost fell overboard,

I held her around her waist tightly just in time, the boat rocked dangerously so I pulled us both back to the safety of under the deck.

She looked bewildered, unconsciously hugging herself into me, I brushed a hand down her back not knowing how to comfort her, or why I felt the need to.

With our closeness, I started to notice things, like how tiny she was and fragile. Her skin was ice cold too despite the layers of clothing covering her fair skin and I frowned feeling quite bad.

I hadn't felt this way since Aurora..we had a similar experience with each other in our first meeting.

---

I allowed Athena to sleep in my bed for the remainder of the night, I sat at my desk rather than sleeping and started to look through my letters I had between Aurora..

I was terrible..and still am.

She died because of me..

...

"Captain we are back at Ciecel."
I slowly opened my eyes to look at Phil in the doorway. Athena stood there as well, in a red dress rather then the green one she had arrived in.

"I'll be off in a bit, go get something to eat and show Athena a room for her to stay in please.."
I yawn, closing my eyes again, not caring I had been sleeping at the desk.

"Yes Captain."

And with that, I heard the door click shut and I was swayed back to sleep by the rocking of the boat.