The King's Secret

Chapter 13: The Three.

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Caspian.

The men were no barbarians, but rather, they were pirates. He could see that now. They talked like men from the sea, and spoke of their captain.

He'd also learned that they planned to turn him into one of them. But he highly doubted they realized they were dealing with a royal knight; a mistake that they would likely regret for the rest of their pitiful lives.

Caspian's bonds were nearly cut through, and he was certain he could rip them now. But he'd endured the rest of the ride to wait for a better time to escape. If he'd jumped off the horse, they probably would've noticed and run him down, then tied him again and he'd be right back where he'd started.

Now they were stopping for a rest, and his mind began to work out all the ways he could slip away. One of the men was starting a fire, the others were digging around their packs for food.

One man came over and pulled Caspian off the horse, smirking as his prisoner winced in pain.

His ribs were probably completely black and blue from bouncing on the saddle for so many hours, and as he was led to the fire, he wondered if he would be able to run.

The man shoved him down into the dirt. Caspian didn't react, just sat and studied the men around him. There was about ten of them, some were very squarely built, and reminded him a lot of Hiram.

They were very loud and foul, smelling like the dead rats they probably kept onboard their ship. Their swords and armor were ratty, splattered with old blood. The very idea of stealing one of their weapons was disgusting.

Caspian averted his gaze, narrowly avoiding the attention of one of the crew. He continued to avoid the gazes all throughout the meal, playing the part of a defeated villager. Without his armor, that was exactly what they saw him as.

The men ate ravenously, as though they hadn't eaten in days. And when they had eaten all that they'd managed to pillage, some began to grumble.

"If those villagers hadn't put up such a fight, we'd be feasting instead'o runnin'." One of the larger men chimed in, sending a dirty look towards Caspian.

"Yeah, and how come he knew how to handle a blade? I thought these villages was helpless." Another crewmate added, running his fingers over a small blade as he played it through his fingers, all the while glaring at the young knight.

The big man stood and lumbered over to Caspian, grabbing the collar of his shirt and hauling him off the ground. And he couldn't help but gasp as his feet lifted off the ground, so that he dangled in the air by the man's hand.

"Yeah, how come you knew how to handle the blade?" The man growled suspiciously, inches from his face.

Caspian tried not to cough at the horrible odor of the sailor's breath. "My uncle was the apprentice to a knight once. He taught me, sir." He lied, eyes wide to appear fearfully honest.

Something flashed through the pirate's eyes and suddenly he lashed out! His fist struck the knight just below his left eye, snapping his head back. Everything went black...

When he regained consciousness at last, the sun had risen higher in the sky, and he could hear water lapping around. Stiffly, he lifted his head and glanced around.

He was lying on a deck by the sea, next to a stack of crates. There were voices nearby, and footsteps going all about, but he couldn't see anyone. This was his last chance to escape before they put out to sea.

Tugging at his bonds, he realized in horror that they had discovered the frayed rope and replaced it! Caspian quickly sat up, searching around frantically.