Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“Here,” I say to her, bringing it over, along with new stays and a chemise. I toss it at her feet. “You’ll want to change into something clean, I reckon.”
“Go to hell,” she seethes.
“Been there already,” I tell her just as I see Lucas walking past on the main deck. “Lucas!” I yell after him. “Be a good lad and bring me a bucket of water, soap, and a washcloth.”
He nods and runs off.
I turn back to the princess. “You can drink the water. Piss in it. Bathe in it. It’s all up to you.”
She just scowls at me, her features contorting into something fearsome and for a moment I almost see her as someone else. No, not someone else. Something else.
Unhuman.
I stare at her, trying to grab hold and dissect this curious feeling that sounds alarm bells in my gut. There’s something not right about her. There’s something inside of her that she keeps buried out of fear and I’m starting to see that whatever it is that lives in her and gnaws away at her bones is dying to come out and play.
“What?” she snaps.
I know I’m still staring at her openly and I don’t give a wit.
I tilt my head. “Curious creature, aren’t you? So much rage for such a small woman.”
She frowns. She’s short, but she’s by no means a waif. She’s got a lot of meat on her bones, which I appreciate heartily.
Lucas comes in the room, breaking my gaze.
“Here you go, Captain,” he says placing the bucket of water at my feet and holds out a washcloth and a bar of soap.
“Thank you, nephew,” I tell him and nod at him to run along. He does so, passing Lothar who has the goods from the galley gathered in a sack.
“Put the bag in the cell for the lady,” I tell him.
Lothar puts it inside, giving the princess a leering look.
She snaps her teeth at him which surprises him and he’s a hard fella to shock.
He turns to me and jerks his thumb at her. “She might be unhinged, this one.”
“Aren’t we all,” I say as I dismiss him.
When he leaves, I take the bucket, soap and washcloth and put it in the corner of the cage beside the bag. Then I step out and lock the cage behind me with one of my skeleton keys that hang from my belt.
“There,” I tell her. “You have everything you could possibly need. You’re mine now and you’re safe.”
Her eyes flash wildly in response to that. One day she’ll understand.
I walk around over to the side where her legs and hands are tied to the bars. I take out my dagger and make quick work of cutting her loose from the bars so that she’s entirely free.
“If you don’t wish to use the bucket, I can always escort you to the privy. Perhaps you’ve had enough of humility for now.”
I turn to leave my chambers when I hear a scraping sound and as I turn around to see what it is, I’m met with a bucket full of water right to my face, drenching me.
I close my eyes and let it cascade over me, spitting some out. Then I wipe my sopping hair off my face and give the princess a pointed look. She’s holding the empty bucket in her hands, eyes wild, chest heaving with breath.
“Perhaps I needed a freshening up too,” I tell her, spitting out another bit of water. “I thank you for that.”
Then I give her a little bow, droplets of water coming off me as I do so, before I turn on my heel and leave my chambers, locking the door behind me and leaving her to stew.
CHAPTER 10
Maren
I wake up to something licking my hand.
I lift my head, my body already stiffening, expecting to see one of the pirates on the ground beside me, about to do who knows what.
But what I see instead is the orange tabby cat from the other day. It stops licking my hand once it notices that I’m awake and sits back on its haunches, giving me a curious stare. Its eyes are the soft green of sea glass.
“Hello,” I say to it.
“Mew,” the cat responds.
“I suppose I should get up, shouldn’t I?” I say to it, to which it meows again.
I groan and push myself up halfway, surveying the scene.
I’m lying on the floor of the cage, the bag of food still in the corner. The ground has dried from where I tossed the water through the bars and soaked the captain head to toe. I should regret it since I would have liked to have cleaned myself up and put on a new dress, but the look on his face was worth it. At any rate, if he deems my smell intolerable, then I’m going to revel in it out of spite.