The Pirate Expedition

Prologue

Princess Emma opened her eyes and was greeted by complete darkness. She could barely see her own hand as she held it out in front of herself.

Where am I? She thought.

The floor she awoke on was unlike anything she'd felt before. It's wasn't tile, or hardwood, not dirt nor grass. It's was rough, and uneven, not comfortable at all.

What am I doing here?! She panicked to herself. She was never necessarily one to be afraid of the dark, but at that moment she certainly didn't appreciate the lack of light.

She ran her fingers along the floor, and got pricked.

"Ow!" A splinter? She gathered now that she was sitting on a wood floor, but it wasn't like the polished hardwood the castle had. She found her footing and stood up, her head almost hitting the ceiling. She stumbled to keep her balance, but once she had it she noticed that she's unable to walk anywhere. Her foot was tied down with rope, and attached to something that was not giving way no matter how much she fought against it. She couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Hello?!" She yelled out in attempt to catch someone's attention. "Can anyone hear me?!"

What is happening? How did I get here? Where am I? Emma began to stress. She had been taught to stay calm, and collected in situations like this, but her nerves were starting to get the better of her.

She couldn't see a thing, but she could hear what sounded like footsteps not too far above her. "Help!" She called out again thinking that the people they belong to must be close enough to hear her, and help.

No one responded. No one came running to save her.

After a significant amount of time she decided to take a break, and re-think. This was getting her nowhere. Her studies taught her that when something wasn't working the best thing to do was to try something else. She changed her focus to her restraints. If she could remove them, she could figure a way out. She kneeled down, and tried first to pull her foot free from the rope around her right ankle. It was secure, and didn't loosen in the slightest even after her valiant effort. She moved on to the tether, and discovered that it was also riddled with complex knots to keep her where she was.

It was no use. The knots were strong. Next she tried to pull the rope itself free from whatever was holding her there. Her fingers found their way to the wall, and it felt just like the floor, rough wood.

Strange, is this a cabin? She thought.

She pulled at the rope to try and free it from the wall, but nothing budged, there was metal shaft that was not going to give way no matter how hard she pulled. As far as she could tell, she was in a very small room, around a 6 foot square, and it was completely empty except for her, and some burlap sacks, probably filled with oats or flour.

Nothing was working.

"Help!" She began to scream again, this time as loud as she could muster. "Someone help me!! Please! Where am I?? What do you want?!" she yelled desperately, just wanting someone to acknowledge her presence. This time along with her screaming, she pounded the wall, and floor with her free limbs making as much sound as possible.

Someone will have to hear me, and help me. They have to. She thought.

In the small space her voice echoed back on itself. She did this for a while, not letting up on the screaming or the pounding.

Eventually, just as she was about to give up, or at least take a much needed break, a hatch was opened above her, and the dim light of a lantern flooded the small room.

"Bloody hell woman you better quit that crap or I'll tie all your limbs so you can't move at all!" a voice snarled. The light from the lantern blinds her to his face.

"Let me go," She demanded, trying her best to keep her voice from wavering. He chuckled, a dark laugh that made Emma's stomach turn.

"All in good time. Now keep yourself quiet or I'll gag you so you can't speak at all," he warned, his accent strong. Emma couldn't quite identify it through his raspy tone. He moved to close the hatch, and Emma panicked.

"Wait! Wait! In good time? What does that mean?! Hey, you cannot leave me here!" Emma stammered her words. Just before the hatch closed her captor slowly opened it up again. Emma took a sigh, thinking that she had broken through to him, at least a bit.

"Last warning princess. I'm not hesitant to make you quiet, and you love...you are testing my patience," he gave her a last warning. Emma's sigh of relief was most definitely a mistake. "Someone will be by in the morning, until then, I don't want to hear anything from you," he demanded, and slammed the hatch shut. The sound startled Emma, making her jump back, and pull on the rope tied around her ankle, falling and twisting it. She winced, and began to massage her sore ankle. She could hear the man rattling with a chain above her, and realized that he was also chaining the hatch shut, meaning that even if she could get herself free from the rope, she couldn't escape. She heeded his warning, and stayed quiet this time.

The room had gone back to being pitch black. Emma slumped back against the wall, and thought.

How has this happened?

A/N

Hey readers, I hope you enjoy this new story! I will post chapter 1 in a few days, and from there will update every other day. This is a 10 part story along with a prologue, and epilogue. Enjoy!