Pirate Princess

Chapter 4

"Ella, run! Get out of here!" Robin cried before one of the pirates stepped forward and delivered a well-aimed punch at Robin's ribs. He collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, and was quickly surrounded by three members of Blackbeard's crew, all of them pointing their swords at Robin's tense form.

"Ella, you heard him," Little John said, pulling her behind him and giving her a small shove back towards the direction they ran from. She stumbled a bit, watching in horror as five pirates advanced, weapons raised, three of them focused on detaining Little John while the other two seemed to have eyes only for her. She felt herself freeze, her brain refusing to send the signals to her legs to run as fast as she could back to the shelter of the deep part of the forest.

"Ella!" Robin's yell broke her from her reverie, and she turned and began to run, trying to drown out the shouts of the pirates chasing her. She didn't make it very far before something grabbed hold of her upper arm and spun her around so that her back was pressed against something hard and a sharp dagger was pressed against her throat.

"Miss me, love?" a low voice drawled in her ear, and Emma felt herself stiffen and grit her teeth in anger.

"You," she said, the word laced with venom. She raised her arms to fight the pirate away, but he quickly grabbed hold on her wrist and pinned it behind her back, applying more pressure to the knife at her neck.

"I wouldn't fight if I were you, lass."

"My first mate is right, girl. No one is fighting, and no one is running. We'd hate to spill blood," Blackbeard finally spoke, earning a growl from Little John and a dry laugh from Robin.

"You've spilt more than half of Loxley's blood in one night!"

"And so three more persons won't do much more damage then."

"Look, what do you want?" Robin asked from his spot on the ground. He had managed to move into a kneeling position, his hand still clutching the wound on his arm. Three pirates surrounded him while another three were physically detaining a struggling Little John. The two pirates that had pursued Emma returned to their positions on the outskirts once Jones had a hold of her. She tested him once more, leaning forward and wiggling in vain to try and free her arm. His grip only tightened, and the knife pressed deeper into her neck. If she moved anymore, or if Jones slipped any, the dagger would surely break her skin.

"We're pirates, mate," Blackbeard responded, earning some chuckles from his crew. "We pillage and plunder villages. There be not no reason for it." The crew cheered this time, raising their weapons, and Emma couldn't help but squirm in fear. She despised herself for feeling nervous- Emeline probably would have had an escape plan in progress by now-, but the three of them were disarmed and surrounded by cutthroat pirates with the only survivors of the attack either taking shelter at Robin's safe haven or hiding somewhere else in Sherwood Forest.

"Well then there should be no reason for you to keep us here," Robin pointed out. "You've got your treasure. Why keep us?"

"You're right. You three are no use to me." Blackbeard smirked, a gold tooth peeking out from the corner of his lips. "Men, which one do we kill first?"

The crew shouted answers left and right, many of them calling for Robin to be the first to die. There were some pirates' voices who raised above the crowd, calling out vulgar things about how they should get a piece of Emma before she was killed. She stiffened once again, unconsciously trying to yank her arm out of Jones' grasp.

"The crowd has spoken," Blackbeard interrupted, nodding once at a pirate standing next to Robin. The pirate responded in turn to his captain by delivering a swift quick to Robin's stomach, sending him face-down onto the dirt in a scream of agony. The pirate raised his sword, and Emma's stomach flipped when she realized his intentions.