Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
But now I am just a woman. Powerless and weak and everything this human society has made me become. I’m everything I hate.
He tilts his head and frowns, studying me. “Don’t waste your tears on me, Princess,” he says, and that’s when I realize I’m crying silently, my cheeks wet. “Let’s get you back to where you belong.”
With one smooth and sudden movement he rips the blade back and throws it across the room, causing the cat to bolt with a yelp, its hairs raised as it runs for a corner.
Then the captain grabs me by the bicep, the blood from his hand smearing on my gown, and opens the door, pulling me along and down to the level below.
In moments I am back in the room that holds the cell and before I know it, the cage door is unlocked and I’m shoved back inside with Aerik.
“What happened?” my husband asks me.
“She tried to escape,” the captain says, showing his bloodied hand. “I was starting to feel sorry for her for a moment, if you can believe that. You’ve got your work cut out for you, matey.”
“It’s Prince Aerik of the Danish Realm to you!” he yells at him, and he’s never sounded so pitiful before. What in damnation did I ever see in this sorry excuse for a man?
“Actually, to me, you’re a half-masted arse with a boot for a face,” the captain says, turning on his heel for the door.
Aerik lets out a cry of indignation, then the anger flares in his eyes as he turns to me. “So, he’s the one hurt and you don’t have a mark on you? What are you, a whore now? Their spy?”
He’s raging now, not of his right mind, and he raises his fist to strike me.
But everything happens so fast.
There’s a crack that seems to part the air and a cat-o-nine tails whip appears from out of nowhere, the leather coils reaching through the bars and snapping around Aerik’s forearm before he has a chance to touch me.
Captain Battista yanks the whip back and Aerik’s arm is pulled right through the bars, his face and body smashed up against the cage.
The pirate flicks the whip again causing Aerik’s arm to twist at an ungodly angle. Aerik screams and Battista twists his arm even further as he saunters over to him.
“You aren’t to lay a hand on the princess,” he says in a low, steady voice, words brimming with menace. “I know you figure that’s your right as the husband, but you have no rights to anything anymore and especially not to her. She’s my property now, as are you, and if I catch you leaving a mark on my property again, I’ll eat your balls for breakfast. Savvy?”
Aerik is still screeching in agony, enough that I have to speak up.
“Stop,” I tell the captain. “He understands.”
The pirate gives me a furtive look. “You sure about that? Because on your word, I’ll do a lot worse than this.”
I nod. I don’t need to tell him that if I ever get half the chance, I’m capable of doing the same as him.
He nods slowly, just a hint of a smile curving his lips. He knows.
“Alright, Princess,” he says. He steps back and, with a quick flick of his wrist he uncoils the whip, freeing Aerik who collapses against the bars. He sinks to the floor with a pitiful moan and the captain puts the whip back against the wall. “Have it your way.”
Then he leaves, closing the door behind him. The room is windowless and without the light from the rest of the ship, Aerik and I are plunged back into darkness, the planks on the ship so airtight that not even a speck of light gets in.
“Fuck,” Aerik curses from at my feet. “And fuck you, you doxy bitch.”
I’m so damned tempted to kick him in the side, same way he’s done to me when he’s laid me down on the floor. But I don’t.
Instead, I threaten him.
“You can curse me out all you want,” I tell him. “But the next time you lay a hand on me, I’ll make sure you lose it at the wrist.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
I don’t say anything to that. I don’t need to. The threat is there.
I just hate that I have Captain Ramsay Bones Battista to thank for that.
Aerik spends the rest of the morning whimpering in pain. I do what I can to tune him out. The more I listen to him, the more I feel sorry for him, and right now he’s not someone who deserves an ounce of my pity.
At some point one of the crew, a young sweet-looking boy around the age of ten, come to give us a bowl of water like we’re a pair of dogs, and couple of pieces of hardtack to nibble on, placed gently just outside the bars.