For Ransom

Chapter 16: The Other One

Soraya

How had she managed to screw up this badly?

The captain did not stop pacing around her room.

"Your legs are going to fall off if you stomp any harder, princess."

Soraya stopped dead in her tracks.

It had been the first time the prince had spoken to anyone since she had dragged him on board yesterday and knocked him unconscious out of resentment. He had awoken bound to a chair in her private quarters. They had spent the last hour in exhausting silence as Soraya decided what she would do, what questions she would ask him. She had so many, her mind near exploding with all of her inquiries, but all were with the purpose to distract the captain from her existential crisis.

"Don't call me princess."

"Sorry, princess," He replied, a small smirk residing far too comfortably on his striking face. Soraya sighed heavily, pulled up a chair, and sat across the man in defeat.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Soraya half-laughed, half-cried, speaking more to herself than to Remus.

"I don't know. What do you want me to do? I can dance, I can sing, I can jump off this ship and drown myself."

"Is this a joke to you?" The captain snapped. Why was Remus so good at pissing her off? It was as if his very existence was meant to spite her.

Remus shrugged, before closing his eyes and leaning his head back, as if to take a nap.

"Tell me, prince. Why is no one coming to rescue you?"

Again, he did not reply, only laughed mirthlessly to himself.

"Would you like for me to resort to torture instead?" The prince opened those startling eyes, and raised his shapely brows in surprise before that insufferably cool expression returned to his face.

"I'll answer whatever questions you like, princess, so long you release me from these restraints." It was Soraya's turn to chuckle. She was experiencing a wave of deja vu. How many months had it been since she had done the same to the pirate hunter? But he was different.

"You must be stupid. Where would you go?"

"That's my point. I literally have nowhere to go, nothing to lose. I am hated by every single person on this planet simply because of who I am. This is the worst possible situation I could ever be in, and of course, luck has never been on my side so here I am. So why don't you untie me, princess? What could I possibly do?" The prince spat with a passion she didn't know his aloof demeanor was capable of.

"Well, well, well. So he speaks after all. From what I'm hearing, your own people don't give two shits about you and therefore, I have no chance of trying to blackmail my way onto the island. You are of no use to me, except for my pure, morbid curiosity."

"Pleased to know you don't sugarcoat a damn word you say. I'll gladly be your guinea pig. I have no will to live anyways." Soraya was sure a Guinea pig showed more emotion than this man did.

A realization suddenly dawned on the captain.

"Answer this for me, prince. Why is it you have no accent whatsoever? Do your people speak the same dialect of the universal language as us?" Soraya leaned forward and she was met with the prince's unreadable expression. But to her astonishment, Remus sounded rather eager to respond. He seemed like he was never eager to do anything.

"You ask the strangest questions, princess. But, no we do not." Remus paused, a genuine smile lighting up his face pleasantly. Soraya couldn't help but smile as well, that rare grin infectious in its charm. When he spoke again, his voice had changed drastically.