Sham of the Sea

Chapter 6

The captain joined Y/N a while later with the woman she had called Minji by her side.

Y/N had proclaimed Minji to be the navigator of their ship. Minji seemed quiet and reserved, but less brooding than the others. Minji had taken the captain's boots away from Y/N's arms, handing them back to the leader of the pirates. While the captain sat down with a knife and some rag on her bed to absent-mindedly clean her boots, Minji perched on the massive chest at the bottom of the captain's bed.

The room itself bothered Y/N. Some maps lay strewn around, the books disclosed their contents blatantly on the desk and the sheets of the bed were rumpled.

However, Y/N's momentary interest was stuck elsewhere. She had discovered something at the captain's neck, something she had thought to be some kind of tight-fitting necklace before when it really was not.

The necklace really was a scar comprising silvery lines that circled the captain's neck, apparently entirely. (Y/N could not peer beneath the long wavy hair) It looked as if something had chafed the captain's skin with too much pressure and then those wounds had healed badly.
Y/N's own neck tried to copy the sensation after the view of it alone made her queasy (she had first thought it had been a knife) and, surprisingly, she felt as if she had experienced it before.

That, or Captain had some run-in with Jack Ketch once and lived through it.

"Minji here was a royalty once too, you know? Her kingdom fell before we could return her, so she stayed with us. You have a lot of similarities." The captain said.

Y/N gawked at Minji. A real royalty. Her unique heritage explained her stance, being able to read the maps and logs. Respect filled Y/N's chest. Yet, she could not wrap her head around the idea of a noble royalty staying here voluntarily.

"I figured it would be nice of me to let her help you. Finding your way around a ship is challenging if you had nothing to do with pirates before," The captain mused. She was occupied with her boots, not looking up, but Y/N grew restless.

Did the captain suspect me already? Did I mess up? A real royalty would see right through me.

Y/N waited for the captain to lift her gaze and stared quizzically into her fire-born eyes until a toothy smirk appeared on the pirate's lips.

"Aren't you grateful? You can spend time with one of your kind." The captain's voice tilted cheerfully, but her gaze stayed dark and stayed dangerous.

Y/N took back what she had said to Nayeon about befriending their captain. This woman would not hesitate to slice Y/N open if she discovered her true identity.

Y/N shivered, suppressing her distress. She cleared her throat composing herself. "That's a marvellous opportunity for sure. Thank you, Captain."

At that, the other woman chuckled. She set her boots down next to the chest that Minji waited on with smooth patience.

"We will reach the shore tomorrow. I want you two to take the day off and for you to get more useful around the ship. I don't need you to hinder my women." The captain said.

Minji nodded and rose from her trunk. Y/N was uncertain whether to follow the order and to spend time with Minji now. Fidgeting with her hands, she stood.

"If you behave, you may join Nayeon and the others on their nightly tour. Don't need me a frustrated royalty on board. Don't think you can escape, though. I'll send Tzuyu with you."

Whoever that was, thank you.

Still, that sounded terrific. Even if Y/N shouldn't test the captain's patience now, she could imagine how these trips on land may come in handy later. Did the pirates get drunk during that? They had to get drunk. And once they fell asleep, Y/N could sneak away. That was the loophole she had been looking for. Now she just had to pretend until then.