The Rapier

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

The sounds of frantic shouting and a fierce banging on the door of the cabin jolted me from my dreams. Beside me Elena had already awaken and was watching the door, the expression on fear on her face one that was rivaled only by the one on my own. I threw the covers off us and reached for my small clothes and her own, dressing in haste.

Just as I clasped the buckle of my sword belt closed around my waist the thick wooden beam that held closed the door splintered in half and the door flew off it's hinges. In the doorway stood two burly men, both of whom Trent had specifically assigned duties in the brig to keep them from starting any trouble.

"Get behind me," I said to Elena in a low growl, my rapier already drawn an poised despite the twinge of constant pain in my wounded arm. "Stay behind me."

"Want do you a bit of good," the taller of the two intruders interjected with a grin. The shock of black ahir on his head perfectly matched the hardened wood club in his hand, and the missing space were his front tooth once had been. He brandished the weapon at me but before he could attack I jumped forward, burying my rapier under his raised arm o the hilt. A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his lips before I could dislodge my weapon, and in an instant his companion was passed me and at Elena's throat with a knife longer than my forearm.

"If y'want ta see her dead, then take another step," he warned, his mouth close to Elena's ear. She grimaced, half frozen in fear for her life. Her green eyes pleaded with me to do something, to save her.

I pulled my sword free and then slowly set it down, holding out both hands to show I mean to make no sudden moves. "Don't hurt her," I nearly begged, "It's me you're angry with, not her." Slowly I took a step forward, knowing that if I could get close enough, I could attack faster then he could react. But Elena's tortured shriek as he knife cut into her neck was enough to stop me cold.

"Remy-" Elena let out a strangled gasp, and the man at her neck licked the tip of her ear lecherously. If I wasn't already sure that Elena's womanhood was in just as much danger as her life, I was now. The rapier cont

If I wasn't sure that Elena's womanhood was in just as much danger as her life before, I definitely was now.

The shouting from above deck amplified and moments later the cabin was swarming with men, overtaking me in moments. I reached for Elena through the fray with all my might, punching, kicking and throwing myself against men twice my size, but to no avail. Soon the brunt of my own rapier met my skull and everything else faded into darkness, Elenas screams high above the chaos.

I awoke in the brig what seemed like hours later, tied hand and foot to a barrel of gun powder. A warm trickle of blood tickled the back of my neck, and from the roaring pain I knew my injuries were extensive. In the darkness of the ships belly one could barely see a hand before ones face. I called for Elena, or anyone, hearing steady breathing over the distant lull of the ocean.

"Who's there?" I called loudly, praying it was my love but hoping still that it was not. She deserved a much better prison than this, as would be afforded any noble lady.

"Ridolpha..." I heard her mumble from beside me, shuffling against the damp wood floor. "Help me, please."

It was all I could do not to burst into tears at the sound of her pain. "Have they..." I faltered, "Are you-" it was too hard to ask if my promise of her safety had been broken.

"No," she wept, "No, I'm alright, just tied tightly," she answered, much to my relief. From the sound of her voice she was slowly coming to full consciousness. "Are you hurting?"

"Not nearly as much as the men who did this to us will be," I swore, wishing I could reach to comfort her. The ropes around my wrists and ankles were secure, holding dispute my most valiant struggles. "Are you bound?"