A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 29 Singapore

Arc 3: At World's End

Two months later

Elizabeth tugged uncomfortably on the sleeve of the thin bathrobe that was all the clothing she had on her back. Her irritation at having been forced to strip just because she was a woman was only matched by her anxiety as she watched Barbossa and Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore, exchanged wary greetings.

"I understand you have a request to make of me." Sao Feng was saying as he surveyed Barbossa and Elizabeth with suspicious eyes.

The rest of the bathhouse was fairly quiet as everyone watched the newcomers with similar hostility, the only sound coming from the bubbling of the baths and the occasional hiss of steam when Sao Feng commanded it.

Still, Barbossa appeared unbothered by the less than warm welcome as he explained with all his natural charm, "More of a proposal to put to ye. I've a venture underway, and I find meself in need of a ship and a crew."

Sao Feng raised a brow, scratched his bald head and he began to pace slightly.

"It's an odd coincidence." The Singaporian murmured as though to himself.

Elizabeth stepped right behind Barbossa and, ignoring the captain's former warnings for her to remain quiet, chimed in hopefully, "Because you happen to have a ship and a crew you don't need?"

"No," Sao Feng shook his head as he turned away from them and walked back to where one of his men had been holding a rolled scroll made of bamboo wood. "Because earlier this day, not far from here, some thieves broke into my most revered, uncle's temple and tried to make off with these."

He picked up the scroll from his henchman while Elizabeth and Barbossa exchanged furtive but no less stricken looks.

"The navigational charts." Sao Feng turned back to the pair, his eyes now shrewd as he tapped the charts in question while walking slowly back to them. "The route to the Farthest Gate."

His gaze hard, the Singaporian threw the chart to another his men who caught the scroll and tucked it away safely while Sao Feng surveyed his visitors severely.

"Wouldn't it be amazing if this venture of yours took you to the world beyond this one?"

"It would strain credulity at that." Barbossa replied, giving nothing away as he met Sao Feng's gaze evenly.

Unfortunately, a pirate could tell when their fellow was lying - that, or this had all been a counter trap already laid out by Feng. Elizabeth was keen to believe it was the latter when Sao Feng tilted his head and looked to some of his men on one side of the bath house. At his slight nod, the men lifted two wooden bars that had been laid awkwardly across the baths the entire time - and Elizabeth could barely conceal her dismay as a soaked Will and Annalise were drawn out, coughing and wheezing in air into their deprived lungs while barely being kept upright by their wrists where they were tied to the wooden bars.

"These are the thieves." Sao Feng said, a smug smile like a cat that had caught a canary gracing his face as he took in the way Barbossa and Elizabeth's faces became wooden in their attempts not to reveal anything. "Are their faces familiar to you?"

Both Barbossa and Elizabeth shook their heads, but their faces couldn't entirely conceal their concern - particularly Elizabeth's as she gazed at her younger sister with dread. Annalise was breathing deeply, her starved lungs still working to inhale as much air as possible, but her expression was tighter now that she was aware of her surroundings. Her blue eyes met Elizabeth's with grim apology before flickering to the side to look at Will as Sao Feng, clearly picking up on their lies, pulled out a wooden shaft that had been filed into a sharp point and grasped Will's hair to pull the man's head up and hold it steady.