The North's Galleon

Chapter 13: Pirates

"Gunther! Lawrence!" Captain North bellowed. Denise flinched away from his booming voice, although it didn't really help when he had her in the air.

Lawrence stared daggers into Gunther's soul as he mouthed, don't you dare lose it.

Slowly, they both turned to face their captain. "Yes, Cap'n?" They saluted, as if they didn't see the girl he was clearly trying to draw attention to.

"What, pray tell, is this?"

"That would be a girl, Cap'n." Gunther figured one of these days a smart remark like that would actually get him removed from the ship.

"What is she doing on my ship?"

"Probably stowing away, Cap'n."

North frowned deeply. "And how, my first mate, did she sneak onto my ship while you were on watch?"

Gunther had been doing so well. He'd never kept his voice this even this long under pressure befors. But he could feel a crack in his throat. "You are aware that Lawrence and I had a bit of a scuffle on deck, Cap'n. Perhaps she snuck on then." He stifled it. For now.

"Lawrence, is that true?"

Now it was Gunther's turn to glare daggers.

Lawrence couldn't convince his mouth to respond.

"Gunther, perhaps you'd like a moment to come up with a better story?"

"I don't know what you're talking abOUt." Gunther pursed his lips. Damn his voice.

North scowled at the rest of the crew. "I take notice that no one is surprised but me?"

The crew shared a few awkward glances, and a couple coughs to break the silence.

Finally, Gunther spoke up. "I apologize, Cap'n. She said she was trying to escape from someone. I couldn't let a girl be hurt because I refused to help. Lawrence can verify that." If I'm going down, I'm not going down alone.

Lawrence flinched. "Aye, Cap'n, it's true. I snuck her aboard under Gunther's orders."

"Orders?" Gunther broke the tension. "You took her on board without a word from me! I didn't have to say jack! I just looked at you!"

"Well--I knew you were going to give me orders!"

"I was trying to see what you thought, not give you orders! We all know you don't listen to me anyway!"

"Enough!" North boomed. "Gunther, go start moving your things to Lawrence's cabin."

"What?!" Gunther cried. "You can't demote me over that!"

"It's not a demotion!" North sighed. "Our stowaway needs a place to sleep, doesn't she? I think it'd be right that she take your cabin."

"I have to share a cabin with him?!" Lawrence exclaimed.

"I'll discuss your punishment in a moment! Good gods, be patient. Lawrence and the rest of you, finish cleaning up the mess from Vormir and then report to my cabin. Gunther, I'll speak with you privately when you're done moving your things." He turned and began walking down the stairs, Denise still held tightly in his hand.

She trembled, terrified of what the pirate captain would do to her.

A door creaked open, and finally her feet hit the floor again.

"Well, Princess Marie, I'd like your side of the story now." He spoke firmly, although not harshly, as the door clicked shut. Denise stared up at him, wide-eyed. "Oh, don't play dumb. A red-haired princess disappeared from the same port where I apparently picked up a red-haired stowaway. What's the story behind that?"

Denise, that is, Marie, shuffled sheepishly. "I apologize, Captain, I didn't realize this was your ship. I was just trying to run away. They've engaged me to a man I don't love."

"I'm aware of how the royal family handles engagements." Captain North sighed. "It's the same way I ended up with Prince Edward on my ship ten years ago."

"So you did capture him!" Marie exclaimed.

Captain North sat roughly into a chair behind a desk. "No. He came aboard of his own volition, and I'd rather my crew give you the whole story, as I wasn't there for it. So who was your fiance? A cousin?"

Marie looked at her feet. "No, Captain. A man much older than me. He has red hair and magic."

North frowned. "I think I'd prefer the cousin. How old are you? Thirteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Close enough."

"Are you going to kill me?"

North chuckled. "No, Gunther won't let me kill children. Not that I would anyway, but it helps when he'd start a mutiny over it. I'm going to get you safely to your destination."

"Why?"

North rested his chin in his palm. "Because one, it's what Edward would want, and two, because I'm not as terrible as the stories make me out to be. Do you know what pirates do, Princess?"

"Steal from helpless trade ships."

"Wrong. This ocean is filled with magic, mostly in the form of creatures that would attack your 'helpless trade ships.' The trade ships give us goods in return for us taking care of these creatures. The theft is a story they make up to explain why so much of their shipments is missing." He chuckled again. "We're mostly criminals anyway, so we make a good scapegoat."

Marie folded her arms. "So what, you're completely innocent of all crimes?"

"Of course not. I just openly attacked the Navy. There's nothing legal about that. I could be accused of kidnapping the prince. I actually did steal something at that last port. I'm not saying I'm innocent. I'm saying I'm not as terrible as they say."

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." North answered.

The door creaked open. The crew, minus Gunther, made their way in. Lawrence looked oddly sheepish, and had even removed his mask.

"So, who all was aware that we had a princess on board?"

"All of us, Cap'n." Lawrence shuffled nervously. "The red hair was a bit of a giveaway."

"You all knew?" Marie gasped.

They all nodded slowly. "We already played this game with his Majesty." Sebastian answered. "Y'know, fool me once, shame on me? We ain't stupid enough to fall for it twice. But we played along for your sake."

Marie looked disappointed, but it quickly turned to anger. "So what happened to my brother?"

Lawrence sighed. "Are you sure you want to know, Majesty? It's not a pretty story, and it won't paint our first mate in a good light."

"Not that many stories do." Jackal remarked. "He's like...always the bad guy in them."

Marie gritted her teeth. "What. Happened. To. My. Brother."