Chapter 17: Escape

James rowed through the heavy downpour while his gaze locked over his shoulder where broken off planks of wood floated through the thick, heavy waves. The horizon looked as though it were afire from the crackling blaze within the distance. He couldn't see which ship had met its end, but he hoped his captain was victorious. Turning around and glimpsing straight ahead, the third in command gestured for Pudge to row faster while the women slept, hopefully before the storm completely picked up from the east.

***

Razmyr hadn't bothered to cover his nose with his blouse like the others when they searched the shredded bodies laying across the main deck. Instead, he grinned when he caught sight of three hidden survivors, crouched low behind a few barrels of gunpowder for the ship's cannons. The first man that caught the devilish blue eyes of the pirate King scooted back onto his rear, nearly tripping over his other two companions in an attempt to escape. He grinned and gripped a lock full of their hair, flinging the short brown-haired man onto his back. Where the hell did he think he was going without giving him the information he needed?

"Look what we have here, crew," Razmyr chuckled while pressing the heel of his boot against the man's throat, nudging his head back and upwards. "A filthy rat. A traitor. You didn't even fight amongst your crew. You hid and watched them die, so tell me why I shouldn't throw you overboard and watch as those Shignima's tear you apart limb by limb?"

"He-because I know who sent us?" The man shrieked.

"Of course you scurvy-ridden rat. It was the king himself." Razmyr thought this man stupid and worthless to him. He raised his sword and lowered the keen tip against his jugular. "Any last words?"

"I-"

"Nah, I don't think I care to hear them." Razmyr jammed the blade down into the man's trachea and pushed down and down and down until the side slammed against the collarbone. Blood oozed out onto his boots, though too dark for anyone to see anything but the moon's reflection and something thick and wet.

Next, he rose the sword again but this man blurted out all the secrets he'd wanted to hear. Down to every last golden detail. "Caldren. Caldren sent a ship ahead of the king. This wasn't the king's doing. Another fleet will come after you tomorrow."

"Is that so? What position does this man hold?" He raised a brow.

"One position beneath the general of death. The Duke of D'treroh."

His fist tightened around the pommel of his sword. "And why would he personally disobey his lord, the trash of a king for a spoiled princess?"

"Because he said-"

"Speak. Your tongue isn't chained here," Razmyr's crew laughed around. "We are savages. No need for manners."

"He said she belonged to him. This was a threat for you to return her. Your last chance." The man looked terrified when Razmyr cackled hysterically.

"The Duke's lacky giving chances? The Royal Court must be turning to rubbish. I hardly take that as a threat but an insult. Listen," Razmyr dug his index finger into the wound on the man's left shoulder, wiggling it back and forth. Each grunt of pain calmed his annoyance by the second. "Tell him I don't listen to lackey's who hide behind their master's shadows. If he wants to threaten me he should come forth himself. Tell him the girl is mine. I have no intention of returning her. That is if he's brave enough to take my head from my shoulders."

Removing his finger. He pulled the man up onto his feet. "Give them a rowboat. Let the two cowards live to tell the tale of how they met the infamous pirate face-to-face and survived. I want them to know we only lost ten men compared to the ship that sank and has only two survivors. One," He cocked his head towards the other. "If the fat one doesn't stop staring by the time you lower the rowboat into the water."

The second survivor looked away as Razmyr's men moved into action, rain pelting against the deck and the wind blowing his black sails as though it knew just how victorious he was. "Back to our safe haven. I have a princess and her bitch ass cousin to attend to."

The rain continued to pour harshly, blowing the large leaves of the trees they huddled under for shelter and sending another wave of shivers through Ray'ven's body, causing her teeth to chatter behind pale blue lips. She pressed herself closer to Strel in an attempt to gain warmth, feeling the way her cousin's body shook from the cold as well.

They were all soaked from head to toe and even the warmth from each other wasn't enough to stave off the cold. Strelitzia held her cousin close but there was no fighting the elements. It seemed the gods had turned their backs on them.

Pudge rubbed his stubby fingers together in an attempt for warmth he could've gotten if those two prissy bitches weren't afraid of a little groping. But of course he was the one who ended up underneath two twigs holding up a shirt while the others were beneath a canopy of bloody leaves.

He didn't see the damn problem, with thighs like Ray'ven's and hips like Strelitzia's, they probably got groped every fuckin' day. So what the hell would one extra do to tip the bitches over? They were cunts. The lot of them were. He hoped James would turn his back so he could take a round or two with one of them. Teeth chattering, he shifted his head to look at James.

James sat just beside Strelitzia, spaced out moments before he said, "The rain should lift soon enough. We'll have to blindfold you both afterward. I may send Pudgy to get something we may be able to eat. Hopefully, nothing that makes us hallucinate like last time. Right?"

Pudge bared rotten teeth and snorted. "If ima hallucinate anything it'd be a pair of tits in my face."

Another harsh breeze and Ray'ven's grip tightened on Strel as she attempted to glare at the fat man across from them. He had to be one of the most single-minded and disgusting men that she had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Her head still throbbed, but the salty water from the sea had stopped its bleeding, yet still she felt light-headed and faint.

"We need to get out of here." She whispered.

Strelitzia gave a nod of agreement. She feared the worst if they didn't escape soon. This moment seemed to be the prime opportunity because for the first moment, they weren't surrounded by pirates and encircled by the sea.

"I need to use the restroom," Ray'ven said to James.

Pudge narrowed his eyes. "I'll be takin her. Hopefully quite literally." He snorted and winked at Ray'ven. "Are you a squat in a bush kinda gal, or right here in the open on the sand?"

Ray'ven cringed away from the man, a look of disgust on her face. "I refuse to have him anywhere near me." She hissed.

Razmyr. Razmyr. Razmyr. He truly would leave me with two prisoners and a man who couldn't keep his hands to himself. He adored his brother who'd always had his back even after their family was taken from them during the infamous slave trade at his thirteenth year. That didn't mean he couldn't disagree with his vulgar nature. James pinched the bridge of his nose and cocked his head towards Ray'ven. "I'll take you. Pudge, you stay here with flower."

Pudge grumbled as a response and flicked the little bitch of a princess off. He loved when women played hard to get, but this little cunt went a little too far. "Whatever. Hurry up. Imma starvin."

James shot a glance at Strelitzia. "Please don't do anything you'd regret later. Come on." He curled his hand around Ray'ven's forearm, pulling her to her feet as the wind nipped at his cheeks and tossed blonde locks askew.

Strelitzia looked from James to Pudge and back again. They were leaving her alone with him? Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she shrugged. "Only if he stays away from me." It was as good a promise as she was willing to make.

Ray'ven gave her a meaningful glance, her eye cutting towards Pudge as James led her away. They only had one shot at this.

They didn't go far, only far enough away to give Ray'ven some privacy, but close enough so that would still be heard over the harsh wind.

The entire time James kept his hand on the pommel of his sword, his gaze caste at the thick greenery sprouting from the forest floor. "I'm not one to intrude on privacy. That brush should be enough to hide your privates." He tipped his feather hat with the opposite hand.

Ray'ven shuffled uncomfortably. "Would you please turn while I…" She looked away, a small blush painting her cheeks as she avoided his gaze. "It would be easier to...go if you turned around. Please?"

James gave Ray'ven one of his crooked smiles and raised a blonde brow. "You expect me to believe that when you tricked Razmyr into believing you were a damsel in distress? I'm a gentleman, but I'd be a foolish one if I were to turn completely around and be disarmed, killed, or knocked out by you. You are not the daughter of Ja'ule for naught."

Ray'ven scowled. "That was completely different. He was kidnapping me, not watching me use the restroom!" She glared at him. "I would have thought you weren't as savage as the rest, what with how tenderly you seem to stare at my cousin."

What tender feeling was she going on about? How exactly did he gaze upon her? James scrunched his face up and turned to the side. "There, that's the best you're getting. And what tender feelings? I look at her as I do everyone else. Don't forget I've taken her father's life when he didn't deserve to die. Accident or not.'

Ray'ven snorted. Was he that oblivious to how his gaze lingered on Strel longer than necessary? Almost like a stray puppy who watched a loving home through the window while being left outside in the cold.

"You truly don't know?" She huffed. "Men are such idiots sometimes." She mumbled.

"You mean like you towards my blood brother? I think you should clean the weeds out of your own field before treading into mine. I bore no feelings for your cousin, she's a prisoner." James' jaw locked tight as he tapped his fingers against the pommel of his sword. "A prisoner of war." He repeated what Razmyr had told him the day he stared out at the sea on the deck.

"Is that what you tell yourself when you think of her? When you stare at her as longingly as you do? Or is that what you have been told to think?" Ray'ven questioned tilting her head curiously as she eyed him closely.

"No. What I've been told was, you're one manipulating woman who'd turn every conversation in her favor as long as it means you get what you want. I wonder how Ja'ule would think of you if he found out some twisted part of your heart fancies a pirate. Not any pirate, but Razmyr. He'd have another disappointment in his life like his son Bynx. Don't, ever, try to toy with my mind again. I'm quite sane and my mind is strong. By the way, if you weren't done pissing. You are now. That time you spent running your mouth, you could've been pissing. Let's go." He gripped her wrist and yanked her forward.

"Seems as if I have hit a nerve," Ray'ven smirked. "As for my father, he would kill me, of course. To bring such dishonor to him would be foolish and I would never fall to the level of my brother. I would gladly take my own life if he bid it so."

James smirked. "And your nerve will be struck when we hand you your father's head. The world will be a better place without him…. I wish I could say the same for you."

Ray'ven's glare deepened at his words but she showed no other outward signs that his words had struck her deep. A world without her father was a painful thought, she herself knew that she was not yet ready to take on the throne, or her father's enemies. She had a long way to grow before then, but until then she would be strong for him. Just as he taught her to be.

"You know, you're not too bad Jamie, for a savage. In another life, far from this one, Strel might have liked you."

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