The Guardian of the Sea

16.

Elizabeta

After the "talk" with our prisoners, my feet took me upstairs on deck. Feliks had called me a few times before I was finally in the fresh air. It was time to buy some supplies. Pondering about the conversation which had occurred moments ago, my head started to ache. Persuading the Prince to work with us will surely lead to some conflicts. He was stubborn, annoying (in his own way) and extremely hateful towards pirates. It was the logical consequence after abducting him, but still.

The necklace remained on his neck because we hadn't been able to open that darn closure of said jewellery. Feliks suggested taking care of that problem later on.

Just as some of us were about to enter the village, Mathias tapped my shoulder. "Liz... We have a tiny problem."

Using the word "tiny" while we were being followed by one of the strongest Kingdoms with their allies and holding a suborn Prince in the cell, was really ironic. Tilting my head I waited for him to explain his worries.

"You asked me why there weren't any guards watching the ship as we stole it. I did not really think about it until we examined the vessel," he sighed desperately. "The ship is quite damaged by shipworms [*]. We need to careen[*] the ship in order to clean it."

The response he got from me was a nod. I couldn't add anything else; he knew what he was doing. Considering him as one of the most experienced seafarer in my crew, he had my full trust. Unsure about these circumstances, I joined Natalya and Feliks who were already waiting for me by the entrance of the village. The latter one welcomed me with a huge smile to heighten my spirits.

"Come on Lizzie, we totally need to buy some things."

We were pirates, yet we would pay for our stuff on this island. It was no secret that this town was a stopover for most of our kind. This place was often filled with pirates or other sea voyagers. Inhabitants made their money by selling fish, supplies for boats, grand ships, etc. Of course there were also other services offered which was specialised for male travellers.

"Mathias informed me about the state of the ship. It is full of shipworms, so we are in need to buy some time to resolve this problem," I told my two accompanies. Feliks' face changed from happy to worry while Natalya didn't show any emotional change.

The sunny weather created a wonderful atmosphere, despite the market of the village being filled with not so innocent persons. As usual, they stared at us three. Our presence was odd for them; two female pirates and one male who was very aware of his fabulous looks. While Feliks and I would get strange stares; (me, being the manliest of our trio as Feliks tend to say), Natalya would get lecherous looks. There were times man glanced at me with the same wolfish eyes yet it was always her who was not spared from these regards. Long white blonde hair and dark blue-violet eyes were really catchy after all. However there had been a kind man years ago who offered her a smile (in a friendly way) but was frightened when he saw her weapons and cold glare. Afraid of being attacked, he stopped looking at her and ran away from her. From that moment on, she ignored everyone who stared at her. People had made harsh statements about her; Calling her a "psycho". Being involved with Natalya, I knew that she was a survivor with a heart. She just hid it and was misunderstood by others. Furthermore to be close and attached to someone was not her greatest ability. The few persons she was loyal to, was Feliks and me.

That's why almost everyone kept their distance from her and admired her looks from afar, in fear of having a knife thrown at their head. The skill of knife-throwing was one of the reasons she was feared for, making her extremely strong in combats.

I never thought that she could be defeated, until I saw her condition yesterday; an exhausted Natalya with blood all over her hands. She got me worried but after having slept and eaten, she was just as fit as ever. The injured hands of hers got bandaged and seem to heal. Still we needed to look for a doctor and get some medical treatments, considering the fact that we had not really disinfected her wounds.