"Fuck," Leopold swore and Emma agreed with his assessment of the situation. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. What are we going to do?"

"Mother and Father will send the money," William said, rolling his eyes.

"When? Bela Fortuna will take a week to get back to Misthaven and by that time, Mother and Father will have left for Arendelle. If Captain Scarrett doesn't find Mother and Father during that time, he will have to go to Arendelle, which is a month's journey. It could be five weeks until he even finds them and then they will have to go back home to get the money from the treasury and then they will have to find us. It could be three months until we see Mother and Father again!" Leopold ranted. "And between now and then? What are they going to do to us? We could be dead by then! Emma could be-"

Leopold cut himself off but every person in the room knew what Leopold was going to say. "I didn't like how he was touching you, Emma," Neal said angrily. Emma didn't say anything. She just lolled her head back against the wall.

XXX

The night passed more slowly than any of them could have imagined. Sleep came to none of them. With each hour that passed, the boys came up with more escape plans that were increasingly stupid and likely to get them killed. Emma didn't participate. She knew they were not getting away until her parents sent the money. And where would they go anyway? The only escape in the ocean was death and Emma was not yet ready to die.

The banging on the bars of the brig startled Emma. It was one of the men from the crew, the one who had killed Frederick from the Bela Fortuna. "Up and at 'em," the pirate shouted. "The captain's coming to see you," he told them with a smirk and, with the light of his lantern, Emma noticed that he had three missing teeth, at the very least.

Emma watched as her brothers and her fiance stood and she copied their actions, ready to see the captain again, but unaware of anything she could do to help them. Hook strode into the brig cockily, as he seemed to do everything. "Good morning, princess," he said to her, taking her hand and kissing it softly. Emma would have loved to say that his lips were too wet and too slobbery but they weren't. They were perfectly soft and, as much as Emma tried to deny it, they sent butterflies throughout her entire body and shivers down her spine.

"The four of you will be joining my crew for the entirety of your stay here on the Jolly Roger," Hook said, facing Emma's brothers and betrothed.

"The four of them?" Emma repeated, outraged. "And what am I to do? Just sit in here all day?" she questioned furiously.

Hook turned to her and Emma wondered if perhaps she should have just shut up. "Well, you can't very well go and help out with the crew can you?" Hook told her, his eyes flashing at her cheek.

"I could!" Emma protested.

Hook scoffed. "You think you're as strong as any of my crew, or your brothers? Or even the weakling you're going to marry?" he mocked.

"I-"

"And even if you were," Hook continued, "there are thirty men up there who haven't had companionship, shall we call it, in almost a month," he said. "It's really for your safety that you're not going to be working with them."

Emma gave him that one. "Okay, okay, but surely there's something for me to do," Emma pleaded. "Please don't make me stay down here, in the dark, all the time. I'll go insane!" she shouted and Hook rolled his eyes.

"You are a bit of a dramatist, aren't you? Yes, yes, I'm sure there's some sewing you can do," he said, gesturing dismissively and rolling his eyes again. Emma huffed, sucking her tongue in order that she wouldn't say anything. "Or, if you'd rather, I could find a job for you in my cabin," Hook said, tongue running across his top lip and eyes all sultry.

Emma rolled her eyes, ignoring the protests from her brothers. "I think I'll stick to the sewing, if it's all the same, Captain. A needle's small enough for me to handle," she whispered, leaning forward and smirking. Hook shook his head, chuckling.

"Oh, love, I assure you that you are dreadfully misinformed. Let's just say," he said, leaning forward to her ear, "when I thread your needle, you'll feel it." His hiss in her ear sent shivers down her spine, the sort of shivers that make your nipples stand to attention and your clit throb. Emma swallowed her attraction and rolled her eyes at him again. She could feel the outrage coming from her brothers.

"Are we going above deck or not?" Emma asked with a quirked brow. The captain smirked sultrily at her with a wink and led her, her betrothed and her brothers out of the room.

"What the hell are you doing flirting with him?" Leopold hissed in her ear and Emma pulled roughly away from him.

"I wasn't," Emma said, wondering if maybe she had. She'd never flirted with anybody in her life. She'd known that she would marry Prince Neal since she was young, so she hadn't ever really had the opportunity. Emma wondered if Prince Neal had noticed. She wondered if he cared.

Emma shrugged it off. She didn't think she'd be allowed to marry Prince Neal anyway after this. To have been taken hostage on a pirate ship was to have lost all virtue and why would a kingdom want their heir to marry a princess with no virtue? If she were honest, she thought she might have dodged an arrow there. She couldn't imagine spending the rest of her life with a man like Neal, who rarely showed her any emotion or interest. She wasn't particularly attracted to him either. After growing up around her parents, she thought that she'd find true love and she'd be happy, but, when Neal's kingdom threatened to invade her kingdom, Emma had offered herself instead. It had been a difficult decision, but, at the time, she knew that it had been the best one. It didn't take her long to begin to regret it. She'd only been twelve at the time and suddenly had felt suffocated in that her plan had been mapped out for the rest of her life.

XXX

A basket sat in front of Emma, full of clothing. She was confined to a room below deck, despite her initial plans of being above deck with the boys. She was scrubbing each piece of clothing on a board and then hanging them up to dry, all the while ensuring that there were no holes or rips in any piece and, if there were, she was to sew them up. It was simple, boring work, but it was better than sitting in the brig all day.

"How's it going, lass?" she heard from the door. His voice sent ripples through her spine and she hated it. She turned around with a scowl.

"Do you need something else?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow, hands on hips.

"Not really, love, other than a glimpse of that beautiful face," he said, caressing her cheek with his hook. The cold sensation made her stomach flip and her lips parted. "And, of course, to check that you're still hard at work. Can't have my crew looking shabby," he told her with a wink.

With that, he left and Emma rolled her eyes, sitting back down to her work.

XXX

Albatross, one of Hook's crew, escorted Emma, his grubby hand on her bare arm, to the place where the crew ate, the galley. Upon entry, she saw her three brothers and her fiance, in the centre of the table, flanked by the rest of the crew. Hook himself sat next to Leopold and chatted merrily with the crewman on his otherside, the portly man named Smee. Albatross led Emma to sit between her other two brothers, Will and Thomas, opposite Leopold, who had Prince Neal sat next to him.

"Ah, the princess, I trust you enjoyed your day of work?" Hook asked her with a teasing smile. The crew, who had quieted to listen to their captain, chuckled.

"Oh, every second of it," Emma replied sarcastically. Hook narrowed his eyes at her.

"Watch your tone, princess, for my crew and I are not your subjects. Your place on this ship is not above ours," he warned her and Emma nodded curtly. She had forgotten her place, if she was honest. Hook was flirty and often gentlemanly, but it was all a front. He was a pirate and dangerous and she needed to watch herself.

"So, Neal, was it?" Hook said, turning to Emma's fiance. Emma watched the captain carefully.

"Yes," Neal replied shortly.

"And what kingdom are you prince of, may I ask?" Hook asked casually. Emma tensed, watching as Neal's face altered slightly. She may not love her betrothed, but she would say that she knew him better than most people. When she turned fifteen, she'd spent a few months living with him and then he had come to live with her and so it continued. She'd had four years to decide that she was never going to love him as a wife loved a husband and in those four years she'd got to know him very well.

"What, so you can ransom me?" Neal demanded, hackles raised. Emma knew it was not wise to annoy the captain. He was master of their fate for the coming months and so far life wasn't so hard. He could make it oh so much harder for them.

Hook snarled at Neal. "I can ransom you either way, you stupid bastard, or would your betrothed's parents not put up the funds? I've heard stories about the wonderful Queen Snow and Prince James. So kind, so giving. Just tell me what kingdom you're the prince of."

"Soseia," Neal admitted reluctantly. Emma watched Hook's reaction. He kept it carefully under wraps but she was good with knowing how people felt. He'd been momentarily surprised. There had been something in his eyes. Something like recognition. Which, of course, was normal. Soseia was almost as big of a kingdom as Misthaven, or the Enchanted Forest as it was often called. It was also more powerful. For some reason, Soseia had produced more witches and wizards over the past century than was natural and their army was almost half made up of magic users.

"What a powerful match, the heir of Soseia and the only princess of Misthaven," Hook mocked, raising a glass. Emma felt a twinge in her stomach. It was a powerful match. How she wished it wasn't. "Raise a glass, crew, to the everlasting happiness and pleasure the two may gain from one another," he leered. The crew jeered. An uncomfortable feeling grew in her heart and she looked at the door. She would love to storm out.

Thankfully, Hook quieted after that, allowing his first mate, Smee, to lead the conversation.

XXX

Emma slept fitfully. She thought she may have had about four hours in total. A crew member whose name Emma didn't know escorted her to the room she'd been in for the past few days, where there was another load of clothes and sheets to wash.

It wasn't complicated work and it allowed Emma to think. Selfishly, she wondered whether she should have taken the later boat with her parents. Maybe she would've been more help to her brothers on the other side of the bargain. Although, she couldn't see how. She'd never been much help to anyone really. It was even her fault that they were all aboard this godforsaken ship. If she'd not been so stupid to just climb above deck without finding out what was going on first, then they wouldn't have been caught.

Emma sighed and picked up her next item of clothing to wash. Her hands were red raw from the work, but she didn't really mind. If she was honest, it was nice to be doing something. Of course, she did things as a princess. There were visits and she went riding and she visited villages, but there was no physical labour involved, not really. The servants did all of this sort of thing.

She lived such a privileged life. She wasn't complaining, of course she wasn't, but she had no real life experience. She was protected, by her parents, by her subjects, by her brothers, even by Prince Neal. It was exhausting. Of course, she was grateful. She knew any one of them would lay down their life for her, and she would do the same for them. Not that they'd let her. Another one of them would jump in front of her just in time, Emma thought with a sigh.

When she got home, Emma was going to change a lot of things. She wasn't going to do this anymore, be the poor innocent princess. She could defend herself, her father had taught her how to fight. What had been the point of that if she could never actually use a sword? As soon as she got off this cursed ship, she would tell her parents that things were going to be different from now on. Remembering that that was likely to be a few months away, Emma sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you do that too much, your eyes will stick that way," she heard from the door. Emma twisted and saw the cocky captain stood there, leaning against the doorframe. Emma scowled and the captain chuckled. "The day shift and I were just about to indulge in our midday meal, and I wondered if you would grant us your company," he told her, informing her rather than asking her. Emma stood up and dusted down her skirts.

"Lead the way, Captain," she said with a tight smile. He chuckled and casually slung his arm around her waist. Despite her lack of fondness for the captain, the feel of his fingers brushing her waist made her heart do something funny.

The galley was a place of noise and laughter. The pirates chatted between bites of their food and glugging down their rations of ale. Emma noticed that her brother, Thomas, was talking to one of the pirates. Thomas had always had a love for the sea, and Emma thought it likely that he would have found it easy to come up with a topic for conversation with a pirate. William, however, looked as though he would rather be anywhere else. He was sat stiffly, his shoulders bunched and his face set in a scowl. Her poor brother did not cope well in noisy environments, nor in crowds. He was much better on his own, or in small groups. He didn't really know how to hold a conversation with someone he didn't know and Emma's heart ached for him to be put in this situation. Her older brother, Leopold, was not talking either, though Emma knew this to be more about protecting himself and the kingdom than social awkwardness. Missing, however, was Neal.

Emma furrowed her brow. Hook pulled her tight against his side. "Missing your lover?" he asked her salaciously. Emma shrugged him off and immediately regretted it when he grabbed her wrist tightly. "Answer my question," he asked with clenched teeth.

"He's not my lover," she told him furiously.

"Ah, of course not," Hook continued the conversation, but at a louder volume. "Because the perfect princess is a perfect virgin," he mocked. The crew laughed and jeered. "I'm sure there's many a man on this vessel who would simply adore to change that, darling," he said, looking around to his crew who seemed to perk up interestedly. Emma's heart froze. The thought of it disgusted her. She met eyes with Leopold, whose face was bright red. His jaw was set. "A man does so love a virgin," he finished to the cheers of the crew.

The captain sat Emma opposite him and she wished she was still in that small room, washing clothes. Emma began to eat, the pirate fare nothing like her food at home, but not awful. The crew member next to her, a man she had learned was called Avery, had his hand on her leg and Emma blinked back tears from her eyes. Her heart clenched with fear, her mind clouding.

Emma shifted herself and the pirate smirked at her, edging his hand upwards. Emma's stomach turned and she abruptly stood. "Princess, you have not been dismissed," the captain stated. "This is not your kingdom. You answer to me here."

Emma shook her head. This wasn't going to happen to her. She was backing herself towards the door. "Please," she muttered.

"Well, darling, if you're that desperate to get back to your work, then who am I to deny you? The work is for the ship, after all," he allowed her and the relief that flowed through Emma's body was enough to make her fall back against the wall she had backed herself up to. Hook wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her out of the galley.

"Mind telling me what in the seven hells that was all about, Princess?"

Emma stammered, "I- I- I will not willingly! I won't!"

Hook seemed to understand what she meant. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I have two rules, codes I suppose one would call them: never fight a man without the means to defend himself and never touch a woman without her consent. What I said in there was merely in jest, a sort of punishment for your cheek," Hook told her strongly.

"Then maybe you should tell your crew that!" Emma spat and Hook's eyes narrowed.

"Who?" he ground out.

"Avery," Emma muttered, "he almost had his hand on my- on my-"

Hook held up his hand. "I understand."

XXX

The next morning, the crew and the prisoners watched as Avery had twenty lashes administered to his back. Emma, being a woman, had not been allowed to watch. Supposedly, when Hook had finished, Avery collapsed against the mast and Hook offered him his hand. This was a general sign of forgiveness upon the ship, Emma had discovered. Hook pulled him up and Avery blubbered out some thank yous. Hook chuckled darkly and then he flung the man off his ship and into the ocean. There was a collective gasp across the ship.

Hook looked across at his men as he informed them why Avery had been killed at dinner that night when Emma was there. "I trust this punishment will not be repeated," he hissed at them and they affirmed his suspicion. He grinned at them menacingly and Emma felt a part of herself relax. She may not be in a safe environment necessarily, but this man was going to ensure that she was not touched inappropriately and that was an assurement that she had been in need of.

XXX