The WindFlyer

Chapter 4

Draen's PoV

The ship goes deathly silent as I see the merchant ship approach us. A flag flies high on its mast, a flag I know well. The flag of Alture! My home. My kingdom. I give a slight gasp when I see it, these are my people. These are my people who I am helpless to aid as they will meet their demise by the merciless crew aboard the WindFlyer. My heart sinks and my stomach rises as I wish to throw up the meal I'd eaten only hours before.

The ship I am aboard is eerily silent as we pass the bustling other ship. I see her name carved into the side of the hull. The KingsPrice. I stare at it longingly, waiting for the inevitable to happen. A man aboard the ship calls out to us, his accent is my own. "Good passing friend!" I greeting called out by all our ships, a greeting called out in the streets among the people. My heart aches at such familiar words.

The crew here does not respond with words, choosing to respond with a loud BANG! as a gun shot rings into the air. Ropes are thrown over onto the merchant ship and pirates begin to flood the deck. The girl, however, remains at the wheel, staring with cold and dead eyes as the screaming begins. She does not flinch, she does not move, she just hold the wheel steady. Her second engages several men across the small gap, I hear the screams cut off and blood gurgle as throats are slit. I hear the bodies thunder against the deck as it is awash in blood. Pirates begin to sail back over the gap with large sacks in hand, filled to the brim with spices and other goods that would have gone to trade. I clench my teeth against my rising anger. The girl will pay, but she can only pay once I escape this horrid fate.

The crew gives shouts of victory and joy as sack after sack is carried over. I hear the merchant crew begging for mercy, begging that falls on deaf ears as they are slaughtered one by one. Until only a sobbing and trembling mess of their captain is left. The first mate swings over with the man in tow and drags him before the girl and I. I struggle against my bonds, wishing to help the man from my kingdom desperately. I do not know if he sees me, but I wish he could know his prince wanted to fight for him in his last moments.

The girl gives the wheel to her first mate before approaching the captain who is held between to hulking men. I am struck by deja vue as I watch her even measured steps. Just like the previous day, except it was me in the mans position. She sends a kick to the mans stomach, causing him to grunt. I hear bones crack as she does it a second time and I flinch at the cruelty. A woman is doing this! Women who, in the archipelago, have always been know to be weak and submissive. How this one escalated to where she is perplexes me.

"Thank ye for yer donation to me funds," she says, pitching her voice low and bringing on a gravelly sound in it. Easily recognizable as a mans voice. She uses the speech of pirates here, I wonder why. I also wonder why, if she is going to kill him, she bothers to disguise her voice at all. "If ye live, ye can spread word of this ship that pillaged ya. Do ye know her name? Come on, give me a guess boy," the girl says again. My eyes are glued to the scene before me, a terror of a pirate staring down a terrified Alturian. I try to break the bonds holding me again to no avail. The knots are just too tight.

"I-I don't know! Please! Please just let me go! You've taken all I have! Please I have a family at home! Mercy!" The girl gives a low laugh at his helplessness before kicking him again. The man whimpers and tries to curl inward to protect his stomach but the two brutes holding him don't let him.

"Ye know 'er. This be the WindFlyer and he would do well to remember that," the girl says and I can hear the smirk in her voice. The man does not get the chance to react as the girl begins to beat him again. She beats him into a bloody mess until the man loses consciousness. She wipes the blood the merchants shirt before directing the two holding him with a flick of her wrist. They drag him off and begin latching the man to a crude raft made of logs.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I demand, finding my voice again. The girl does not look at me as she hurls a glass bottle of green liquid aboard KingsPrice and setting us off. I feel the heat first before I hear the explosion. Chunks of charred wood fall from the sky behind us as the green fire consumes the rest of the ship. Words die on my tongue as I watch it happen, a concoction like that could turn the tides of war. A liquid fire that can destroy a ship in only a few seconds. My eyes widen, where did it come from? Who is the girls supplier? And where can I get some for my kingdom?

The girl cuts the ropes binding me with the sword at her side. I almost begin to demand answers from her again when a bone tired exhaustion grips me. She seems to notice as she calls over the metal toothed girl, Ren, and has her lead me back to the brig.

"I'll see you for dinner, Prince," the pirate says to me as the mask falls from her face. She watches me go down the stairs and then disappear below deck, something swirling in those sea blue eyes. I ignore it, the only thing in those eyes is greed and evil. She must pay for her crimes. She will pay the pirates price for this, death by drowning. The only fitting punishment for them.

In my kingdom, pirates are tied to the masts of their own ships with their crew as our cannons blow holes through the ship until it fills with water and sinks, bring the filth to their water grave. I clench my hands into fists as we descend into the well crafted ship. Perhaps I'll keep this beauty for myself... I'm sure I can drown the girl just as easily and what a fitting ending, knowing the ship she loves so much ended up on royal hands in the end. I chuckle darkly under my breath; yes, there are quite a few ways to exact my revenge on the black-hearted pirate. And I've got all the time in the world to plan them out.