Mara trembled as she waited for the men who heard her to come. All she could pray for was that they wouldn't blame her for her transgressions and being on the ship without permission.
When the scraping of barrels she suddenly felt a questioning over whether screaming was the right choice. Maybe she should have taken her chances on the land and escaped from Ciaran's clutches. Whatever the correct option was, it was too late as the barrels had been pulled back large enough for a man to fit through.
"Hey sweetheart," the first voice from before called out, his tone gentle and soft, "I'm coming in, there's no need to be scared."
Even though his words were meant to be soothing, it didn't stop the terror from running down her back.
A huge man squashed himself through the gap between the barrels and the ship. Immediately, Mara's eyes widened in fear as she took in his uniform. This man, the man that had heard her was none other than the Captain of the ship.
Mara's heart left her throat and she pushed her body back into the corner. The man sighed heavily and crouched down in front of her.
"I'm going to cut you free now ok? So I'm going to get a knife out now, ok?"
Mara nodded unsurely and lifted her face up slightly to look over at the man kneeling in the dim light. He was older than Mara by a good few decades, easily in his fifties. The lines of his face showed weathering from many years at sea, the hand that held the knife was tough and calloused as well, it showed years of hard work and it strangely made Mara feel safer.
The Captain knelt down by her ankle and began to cut away at the thick binds of rope. The sound of a snapped rope filled the small space and Mara let out a sound of relief as she slumped over weakly. Only after she moved slightly could the Captain see the winds of rope around her middle and it made him curse again. Before he tackled the even thicker rope around her torso, he slowly lent over and untied the gag from her face.
He couldn't imagine any man doing this to a woman and it made his heart ache.
"Can you lift your arms up for me?" The Captain murmured gently to Mara. She nodded quickly, and began to lift her arms until the arm that had been bound screamed in protest and she weakly let it fall.
"I can't." She whispered, utterly defeated as her arm hung limp by her side. She suspected her shoulder had slipped out of its socket but she wouldn't tell anyone just yet, not until she knew she was safe.
"That's ok, can I lift your arms a little bit please." The Captain looked up at Mara with eyes saddened with disappointment and sorrow. It was an emotion she hadn't seen in a long time.
Mara didn't reply, she just nodded and then closed her eyes to hide the pain as the Captain gently lifted her arms into the air enough to cut away at the rope around the middle without risking hitting her skin.
The rope fell away and an exhale left Mara as her lungs were no longer constricted.
"That feel better huh?" The Captain asked softly and once again Mara just nodded.
"Bas!" He called out, turning his face and voice back to the gap between the barrels.
"What?" Called back the voice of Bas.
"I want all the men on the other side of the ship to my cabin, do that now and don't mention the stowaway, got it?"
"Yes sir." The voice formally called back before the sound of fading footsteps reached Mara.
"I'll wait for a few moments before taking you out of here." The Captain explained to Mara before sitting back on his heels to take in the pitiful sight before him.
The stowaway's face was coated in dried and cracked blood, so much that he could barely make out any discernible features beyond the fact that this girl was terrified.
"Can tell me your name?" He asked intrigued with a gentle smile on his lips, it was nearly hidden by his heavy beard but Mara saw it and gave him the smallest of smiles in return.
"Mara." She replied, her voice was hoarse from the screaming and her mouth was dry and burning from the remnants of the gag.
"Thank you Mara," the Captain said kindly before he continued to speak, "now, can you tell me who did this to you, I'm assuming you didn't do this to yourself."
"Ciaran. Ciaran did this to me."
She felt no remorse or hesitance in telling this man who did this to her, whatever the repercussions to him. Mara was so filled with a quiet rage that she was beyond caring.
"The new man we bought in to fill in?" The Captain's voice was full of rage and disgust. "I'll deal with him Mara, you don't need to worry about him anymore."
Mara shrugged the best she could with her one good shoulder but it seemed like enough of an answer to keep the Captain happy.
"I'm going to take you to get cleaned up now Mara, is it alright if I lift you?"
Mara wanted to protest and tell him that she was fine to walk but in truth she knew that her legs wouldn't work so she stayed silent.
"You tell me if I hurt you, ok?"
Mara couldn't believe how careful and considerate this man was being to her, a nothing woman who had broken the law on this ship. Had this man been from Zauros she knew that this interaction would have been different. This man, this Captain, must have been bought up with different attitudes to the ones she was used to, it gave her hope.
The Captain's arms wind around her body carefully and he scoops her up against his chest. Because of the size of the space, the Captain couldn't stand to his full height, he was stuck on his knees and yet that didn't seem to hinder him as he carried Mara from the 'room'.
Mara squeezed her eyes shut in discomfort at the movement as the Captain's steps disturbed the aching in her bones.
"It won't be long now Mara and I'll put you down." The Captains voice rumbled against Mara's cheek and she tried to pull away in discomfort but the muscles in her neck protested so she gave up and rested her head on his chest.
The ship was eerily silent, Mara assumed it was because of what the Captain had said and what Bas had done. She would have liked to thank him but her voice seemed to have disappeared from her at that moment.
After several minutes of walking the Captain's strides came to a halt and Mara opened her eyes to see they had paused outside a door. The Captain fumbled with the lock for a moment before opening the door.
The lavish decor of the room caught Mara's breath in her chest. It was a room so fancy and elaborate she couldn't believe it was on a ship, she wouldn't have if it wasn't for the rolling of the waves beneath the Captain's feet.
Mara was carried over to the large double bed and then was gently laid down in the middle. Almost immediately her muscles and bones cried out in relief at not being strapped upright against something hard.
"Mara, I realise you probably don't want me getting too close to you under the circumstances but I'm afraid that there are no other women on board. Is it ok if I clean you up and tend to your injuries?"
"Yes." Mara replied flatly, she let her eyes train to his face once again this time in better light. She was right about his age, he was definitely well into his fifties but his eyes were kind and had a dimmed sadness in them.
The Captain nodded before he stood up and headed over to the one window in the room and drew the curtains to keep Mara's existence hidden for as long as possible.
Then Mara watched as the Captain walked over to the door, he opened it wide enough to stick his head out without revealing Mara to any prying eyes.
"Bas!" He called out, his voice louder and more powerful than Mara had heard before.
"I'm here Captain." Bas replied as he walked towards his Captain. "What do you need from me?"
"I need you to stand guard outside this door while I clean her up."
"The stowaway is a her then?" Bas' eyes darted over to the crack in the doorway, he had been working under the assumption that the stowaway had been a child, a young boy definitely not a her.
"Can I see hear?" He asked with intrigue but no menace in his tone. The Captain hesitated for a second before nodding his head curtly.
"She's not a zoo animal, but yes you may see her."
He opened the door a little wider and Bas peaked his head over his captain's shoulder. The woman he saw sitting up against the pillows was not what he was expecting, even though she was drenched in her own blood and her face was streaked with tears Bas could tell she was captivatingly beautiful.
"Ok, that's enough." Snapped the Captain, he already felt protective over the little stowaway on his ship and he didn't like the way his First Mate was staring at her.
"The man that did this was Ciaran, once I dismiss you from standing guard I want you to deal with him, got it."
"Alive or not?" Bas asked, a cruel smirk curling his lip as he thought of the punishments he could inflict of the disgrace of a man for what he did to the woman.
"Alive, for now, throw him in the jail and I will deal with him later."
Bas nodded and turned his back on the door so he could watch the hallway and the men that came too close to this room.
The Captain closed the door and turned back to Mara with a smile.
"You alright here Mara?"
Still she doesn't reply with words, she just nodded her head and then winced at the pain the movement caused to her aching head.
"Let's get you fixed up with then Mara, and then you can rest."