It felt like a trap, some kind of trick, when the Captain offered me a chance to leave the confines of my room. Inviting me to the heart of his ship after all of his talk about not trusting me- it was hard to believe. I hesitated where I was perched on the edge of the bed, looking up at him with eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“You’re really willing to take me to your engine room? Do I have to put the shackles back on? Or do I have the honor of walking free of any chains?” I questioned, wincing as I rubbed at one of my wrists; the skin was raw, chafed by rough metal.
The pirate smirked, toying with me as he said, “Only if you promise to behave.” Before I could answer he took my wrist carefully in his hands, his fingertips light on my skin. He looked over the blisters rubbed raw, some spots bruised and bleeding. He let go, saying quietly, “Can’t improve my ship if your hands are in irons.”
My pulse quickened as I stood up, daring to hope that I might have a real chance to save myself. If the worst that came out of this mess was a few weeks as the private engineer of a pirate… “I’d be grateful for the opportunity,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
As I stood next to him I realized how much taller he was than me, his muscles thick and prominent compared to my slender arms. He raised a brow, saying with an amused twitch at the corner of his mouth, “I’m sure you would, Mr. Arliss. But before we leave this room, I’d like to remind you that in every room, every corridor, on every floor of this ship, I have highly trained crewmates that are praying for you to try and run. The bridge on this vessel is impenetrable, and there is nothing around us but night air.” He grabbed the collar of my shirt, jerking me towards him as his eyes flicked across my face. “Don’t you dare fuck with me. You understand?”
I swallowed hard, nodding to give myself time to find my voice. “I’m aware of the situation. And where do you think I’d try to go? As you said, we’re in the air, and I’m not keen on jumping.” I took a shaking breath, and pushed myself to sound more confident. “I won’t do anything that would harm your ship, either. She’s still my only chance at survival.”
He released me, making me stumble for only a moment. He didn’t look at me as he walked towards the door, asking, “So. Where exactly do you expect me to escort you to, to collect this enormous sum of money you keep tempting me with?” Though I didn’t want to get my hopes up, his tone sounded far more curious than taunting this time.
“I have a residence in Antinau,” I said, grateful that he seemed to be considering it. “It’s a much safer city with little military presence.”
“Antinau? Really?” Knocking on the door for the guards to open it, Valkyrie looked at me with skepticism. “And this wouldn’t have anything to do with the large black market system that happens to be established there, right?” He winked at me, turning the door knob and holding it open.
“I’m an engineer, I don’t involve myself in the market,” I insisted.
“Really?” The Captain looked over his shoulder at me as we passed by the large crewmates that stood guard at my door, eyeing me with contempt. He shrugged, tuning to walk down the hall as he signaled to the guards I was to follow. “That’s a shame. I thought we might have found some common ground. They have excellent trade goods. Lots of buyers that are looking for the military’s finest shards.” He winked at me from over his shoulder.
I frowned at him, trying to shake the heavy, ominous feeling of his men watching me, waiting for me to make a mistake. “They have ‘illegal’ goods. That may be in your wheelhouse, but I prefer to keep my hands as clean as possible.” Pacing behind him, I struggled to keep up with his longer strides as we winded down the ship’s endless corridors. Every crewmate we passed watched us with sharp, distrustful eyes, and I was growing more uncomfortable as I tried to keep closer to the Captain. Clearing my throat, I tried to focus on the man walking in front of me. “Sounds like you know the city. It shouldn’t be a problem to take me there, right? It wouldn’t be suspicious for you to make a familiar stop, so you won’t have to worry about… business.” The word left a sour taste in my mouth.
He didn’t answer, instead he veered left down a long, curving flight of stairs that led to a metal door, with a grate over a large circular window. I could see steam escaping from the seams. I froze, watching as he descended; the light grew dim around him, distorting his figure in shadows. “Are you just going to stand there?” he asked, waiting for me to join him at the end of the stairs. “Or are you going to be a good boy and keep up?”
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