[Vereena]
Gone with the gray clouds in the sky, and hello with the scorching sun blazing down on us. I am squelching and soaking in perspiration with all the layers of my gown, and my arms feel like they would fall off my shoulders as I look at the vast expanse of the ship's deck that I have to swab. My breath was ragged and I am profusely sweating.
Oh, I hate that one-eyed pirate. Even though he seemed to be the only one I have seen here that is well-keep enough, he's still a monster. I wished I could have kicked him hard enough in the groin the other night.
My arms hurt, and I am sweltering beneath this gown. My head is pounding with the heat, and my throat is parched dry. I am barely even keeping my footing to stand still in every rocking motion caused by massive waves crashing on the ship's side. I haven't eaten anything after the banquet, and I don't know how long it has been since they have captured me.
Captain Steele stated that I am the payment, but what is even murkier than the sewer is the question of what did my father owed him that he had to resort to such violence and kidnap an innocent lady?
Oh, I wanted to go back, but the only way he would let me get away was to swim back home, and I didn't even know how to paddle with my feet. Most likely, I will only sink to the bottom of the ocean and never float again. Perished into this world and became a marine food source.
How can he be so cruel? That man is nowhere near being a gentleman, and how can he hit a lady in the head?
"Aye, there, lassie, no more slacken off. Back to swabbin', will ya?"
The sudden gruffly voice startled me on my feet, almost knocking me off my balance. If not for the stick attached to the brush, I would have met the wooden surface soon with my face planted on it.
I turn around and throw a death stare at Patton, my face distorting resentment just by looking at his gaunt face. Noting the high bone structure in his features, accentuating his cheekbones, crooked beak-like nose, and a pair of yellow bunny teeth showing from his lips. He wore a black turban wrapped around his head as protection from the sun's heat, and his skin was covered in blister scars giving off pinkish-brown hues. He's also at least a bit taller than me, standing at his full height with one of his legs amputated and replaced with a wooden peg. I didn't notice it the first time I saw him running, and he doesn't walk funny as well, even with his peg leg.
Fortunately, he spoke more precisely well and did not smell of rum, unlike Osier, the stout man whose presence made me want to vomit.
I hadn't noticed that I was staring at him for a moment. My vision began to double with haze and mirage.
"Is somethin' wrong with my face?" Patton snaps his spindly fingers in front of me, yanking me out from my daze.
"Nothing," I stammered, shaking my head as I straightened my stance and held the brush stick too tight to keep my balance just as the ship tipped to the side.
"Good. Now back to work," he commanded, waving his hand as though to dismiss me.
I was about to respond to him when a large wave struck the ship, putting it into a violent rocking motion and spewing salty water everywhere. My feet slipped and skidded on the damp deck I was meant to be swabbing. A strong gust of wind rushed past me, causing the long ruffles of my gown to billow behind, drenching the fabric and adding extra weight. There was a series of barking around the ship's deck, yelling for everyone to hold on to anything. While I, on the other hand, had nothing but the brush stick to held on tight.
Patton regarded me with a wildly amused chuckle as he observed my struggle. He was standing perfectly motionless as if the violent rocking didn't bother him in the least. Fortunately, the ship balanced back, and I was able to recover my footing. I throw him a stern glare, but he ignores it and laughs.
"Aye, lass, you won't last long in here. The captain must be crazy for keepin' ya'," he remarked, shaking his head in amusement as though the very thought of me boarding their ship was the most ludicrous thing that their captain had ever done.
This wasn't even my choice.
I didn't want to be here. I want to go back home. Be with my father.
I was supposed to be traveling to the palace at this time with Prince Tarquin for our wedding. Yet, here I am now, in the middle of the ocean, out of nowhere, inside a pirate ship headed by a jackass captain and a full load of leering scoundrels that gets on under my nerves. Fighting for my life not to be thrown overboard with these gigantic waves.
The corner of my eyes suddenly warmed at the very thought as I took a deep breath. My lips trembled downward, but I fought against expressing any sentiments that might gratify them. Instead, I restrained my emotions and prevented myself from breaking down, let alone shedding tears.
I hated them all. I am a respectable lady, and I did not deserve any of this treatment. I was glaring at him, biting my lower lips as I even out my breathing, when a voice of a young man suddenly intercepted us.
"Hey Patton, can she at least eat? She must be starving."
Suddenly, everyone around us fell quiet. All the other eyes from the deck crews had their curios eyes fixed on us.
My attention went over Patton's shoulder and saw a boy, a year no less than a decade and six. He had these big brown eyes, looking at me with his sincerest gaze of apology.
Surprisingly, this ship held more men than I had anticipated, and each of them was assigned to a specific task. At least a couple of dozen were swabbing the deck along with me, though they had kept their distance away from me. Perhaps to avoid getting into trouble.
The peg-legged man turned him, sneering and snorted.
"Oi, she didn't even get quarter the deck done." He turns on me with sideways glances and spat a glob of phlegm on the deck floor, causing me to recoil in disgust as it lands close to my feet and immediately causing my stomach to churn with complete distaste.
Why in the flaming hell did he do that? That act is completely uncalled for.
"Keep you' trap shut and get workin." Patton barked, addressing all the crews present near us, and then he turned to leave.
My sharp stare burned a massive on the back of his head, but then I felt someone come next to me. Breaking my furious trance away from the peg-legged man.
"You okay, miss?" The young man worriedly inquired soon as Patton was finally out of our hearing range.
"Yes, I'm alright," I sigh, moving carefully to the side and taking a seat on an empty wooden trunk that was chained to near the railings. The young man followed behind me and occupied the adjacent space.
"I could sense you're about to cry," He commented softly. His voice sounded almost sorry for me about how Patton acted. I didn't want to fret over it in front of him, deeming that if I did, it would only make me look like someone easily vanquished by sheer tyranny.
To make sure that I was fine, I offered him a smile.
"I'm just not used to this kind of work," I shrugged, candidly acknowledging my unfamiliarity with this type of task. I turned to face him and inquired about his name. "And you are?"
"I'm Edric," he responded, wiping his hand on his worn-out vest before sticking it out in front of me for a pleasantry. I gladly took it and shook his hand.
"Aren't you too young to join privateers?" I marveled aloud just as he lets go of my hand.
Edric seems to be a nice young man. I could not sense any heavy feelings around him, and it shows in his visage that he does not have any regrets about boarding this ship, lest he became a pirate himself.
A smile appeared on the young man's face, showing off the deep cleft on his cheek, making him even more attractive.
"Aye, miss, but being in an ocean is much better than land. My mother's a whore and has not cared for me since I was a little," he stated calmly and nonchalantly.
I suddenly feel sad for him. I may not have my mother beside me as I grew up, but my father and Mrs. Charlotte ensured that I would never feel less about having an incomplete parent. I was brought up living with such high regard for my mother.
How could a mother neglect her children? If they are incapable of raising a child, why would they do such a thing that would get them impregnated in the first place? I am not innocent as to how to make a child. I may have not experienced it myself, but I have sneaked a couple of novels containing erotic subjects of bodily pleasures. Indeed, that is how things were done in bringing a child into this world.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," it seems as though the table had turned now, and it is I feeling somberly for him.
"It's nothing. I always think of her as one who already perished," Edric shakes his head and arches his brows, lifting them as he finally shifts his attention to my face, his head tilting as he quipped. "What's your name?"
"Lady—" I instantly paused, thinking if it is still beneficial for me to use my title among them, but then I decided my first name would be just fine. They do not hold my ladyship in high regard, therefore there is no need to flaunt it.
"Vereena. I suppose I am just Vereena now," I said, smiling awkwardly to Edric. It quite sounded foreign on my tongue to say my name so stark. No preambles of titles and whatnots, and I found it also comforting for some reason. To know my name just like that. Vereena.
"You're the Admiral's daughter, right?" Edric mused, and I only nodded in response.
Guess I have quite a name among them all. Indeed, being the captain's captive, the words resonated around the ship faster than an eagle diving from the sky.
I heave out another deep sight. My corset digging into my abdomen, feeling my gown turning into an inconvenience at this point. The inside of my stomach began to gnaw with hunger, my intestines coiling empty. The pounding in my brain grew increasingly intolerable, but I chose to ignore them all and pretended I was fine.
"I don't understand. Why does the captain so furious with my father?" I grumbled, viciously shaking my head to dispel the distortion that clouded inside me just as my blood started to boil with annoyance when the face of Captain Steele resurfaced in front of my head.
"Sorry, miss, but I'm just new here. I don't know much of their history," Edric explained, and I know that he shouldn't be involved with the hatred I harbor for that scumbag.
"I know." I told him. "You don't have to explain a thing," I finished off my sentence and stood up.
However, I moved too quickly and somehow forgot that I was on an unstable surface. My brain suddenly becomes scarce with oxygen, and it seems that my blood surges down to my feet. The world around me swirls erratically, and my legs lose their balance.
The last thing I heard was Edric shouting my name, and my head hit the wooden floor before everything went dark.