Regal [h.s au]

19. Dead men tell no tales

I stand up and slowly walk towards the metal bars, forcing a sweet smile on my face. I lift my finger, curving it in a gesture to let him know to approach me, his face filling with surprise and curiosity as he does so. As soon as he is within my reach, I quickly slip my arms through the bars and pull him towards me, his face smashing against the bars as he stares at me in shock. "Take me to see your captain," I demand through gritted teeth. "Now."

"Who are we to deny a princess, eh?" Another voice chimes in, making me let go of the pirate as the other one comes into my sight.

"Princess?" Lilly and Prince Harry say at the same time.

"Cap'n will be thrilled to see ye, he's expectin' ya already." He unlocks the doors and opens them, motioning for me to step outside which I end up doing, glaring at them the entire time.

"Amelia, what is going on?" The Prince asks as he walks towards us, making the first pirate push him away harshly, his body hitting the ground. Lilly quickly rushes towards him, helping him up.

Anger courses through me as I grab the pirate's hair, pushing his head forward and slamming it against the bars again, this time surely breaking something. He yelps and falls down, his hands clamping his nose. "Don't touch him!"

The other pirate grabs my arms and pulls me back harshly, holding me firmly in front of him. "Ya better behave princess, the fact yer a wench won't help ya here." His fingers painfully dig into the skin of my arms, surely bruising it.

"You'll have to let me out of here at once and I shall remember to kill you first," Zayn warns him in an icy tone. "So I advise you to let her go."

The pirate glares at him and lets out a laugh, but ends up letting me go. The other one stands up, his hands smeared with blood leaking from his nose. I don't attempt to hide my satisfied smirk at the sight. He snarls and raises his hand, but decides against hitting me, probably having orders not to manhandle me.

The Prince looks at me in fear, his fingers curling around the metal bars. "Amelia, be careful."

I smile at him reassuringly. "Don't worry, I will be back soon." I look at Zayn and Silas, giving them a nod, both of them knowing what it means as they nod back.

The pirates grab my arms, glaring at me menacingly and pulling me down the smelly hallway, my shoes clattering against the wooden planks. Barrels and sleeping nets surround me as we exit the area with the cells, a few pirates kneeling on the ground, scrubbing the floor. They look up and smirk at me, my features contorting in disgust as I look away.

They push me ahead towards the wooden steps and I slowly climb upwards, reaching the deck. I see pirates running around, hearing orders being shout. I feel a sense of relief when I realise we aren't sailing but are still in the port, but by the looks of it, we might not be for too long. Even if I attempted to seek help from someone, we are in a secluded area, no other people nor ships around. When we try to escape, we're on our own.

"What'd ya got there, Jim?" A pirate asks, a few heads turning to look at me, their eyes trailing down my figure. I only glare at them, my fists clenched at my sides.

"Sorry lads, she's the captain's guest," Jim tells him then leans forward, his mouth close to my ear. "Fer now."

I jam my elbow into his stomach, causing him to step back and groan while the other pirates laugh, shouting things such as "she's a feisty one" and "I'd like to tame that beast". I cringe, disgust evident on my face.

Jim and the other one I've attacked earlier harshly pull me aside, guiding me towards another set of steps leading on the upper level where the helm is situated, ropes hanging from the sails around us. They stop in front of a wooden door behind which is the captain's cabin, I assume. They open the door and push me inside, closing it behind me.