Courtney leaned against the pristine railing of the royal ship.
The wind was whipping her hair everywhere, tangling it up and flinging it every which way. It was getting unbelievably annoying. She would have gone below decks, but standing there at the railing was the closest thing to freedom she could get on this ship.
She scolded at the sparkling sea whizzing along below her. She heard a cry go up and lifted her head, looking curiously to see where all the commotion was coming from. Sailors rushing about, doing sailor things. Courtney stood there all the ruckus, feeling a strange mixture of irritation and helplessness.
The captain of the ship (Courtney had forgotten his name) sped down the stairs from the upper decks; boots clacking on the wood.
"Courtney, get below decks, quickly! We have a pirate ship heading straight for -"
He was cut off as a series of shouts sounded and suddenly, the glint of blades was everywhere and Courtney felt entirely confused.
There was a pirate ship, just next to theirs. Several of the crew had swiftly boarded, and cutlasses had slipped out of their sheaths and were now sparring.
The captain pulled out his own blade and began to attack. Courtney pressed herself up against the railing, hoping she wouldn't be noticed amid the chaos.
It was all very inconvenient.
She slunk cover, dodging the fighting pirates. They didn't seem to care much about Courtney's presence. Their top priority was the flashing blades in front of them.
She hid beneath an overhang, boxes stacked in front of her. Blades clashed with a jarring rhythm. Courtney knew how to fight, even though she was a princess, she did indeed take lessons, but there didn't seem to be a blade available.
She watched the battle apprehensively from her hiding place. As much as she willed it to be otherwise, the pirates seemed to be winning.
The captain of the ship seemed to be holding his own. He had downed several pirates, whose bodies now laid on the deck of the royal ship. The clean, well-kept deck was stained with blood in places. Courtney cringed at the sight.
Several gunshots sounded, but Courtney couldn't be sure whether they were the royal shots, or if the pirates had guns, too. She hoped not, but considering her luck right then, she figured it was the opposite.
She watched one, two pirates fall, but then a royalist. Another pirate, two royalists, It was even, no wait, No, it wasn't. The pirates were -
"Courtney!"
She heard the voice of Bridgette rang out, and the whiz and skid of a bullet just near her head. She flinched and ducked to hide, but it was no good.
She knew the pirate had seen her.
One of the dirty scum soon had her by the collar of her dress and a knife to her throat. The hard metal of the blade dug in her skin. He was yanked away viciously.
"It's the princess!" the pirate shouted, holding Courtney up like a trophy. The chaos paused and changed, and suddenly. Courtney was being hauled to the pirate ship, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The captain had a knife to his throat and looked at her with sorrowful eyes then said something to - what Courtney thought was the captain of the pirate ship.
"Let's make a trade, give me your precious princess in exchange for the rest of your crews lives to be spared. Do we have a deal?" Captain Duncan asked and held his knife to the other captain's throat.
The other captain looked at the princess with sorrowful eyes and said,
"We have a deal." He sighed once the knife was away from his throat.
What a sweet, sweet trade. Captain Duncan thought.
Now all that was left was the captain and a group of battle-worn sailors, still in shock from the sudden surprise attack.
Her feet stumbled as she was tugged across the ship, in front of the crowd of low lives. This is where it ends, uh? The princess thought.
Someone shackled her hands and blindfolded her. Courtney raised her voice in protest, which was only followed by a swift rag.
She could still hear.
She was then forced to her knees. She heard boots clack around her. She took a deep breath through her nose and prepared to meet her maker.
"Spare her. To the brig," a voice said off-handedly.
She was dragged along the rough wood of the deck to who knows where.
"So, this is the famous Princess Courtney," a voice said. They sounded quite young, whoever they were. "Huh."
Courtney could tell that a door was being opened and the lighting dimmed as she was led in. The pirate shoved her up against the wall and attached several chains to her shackles. The metal chain dropped to the floor with a heavy and resounding thunk.
This situation was one she never would have imagined herself getting into.
