"Aye sir and it's a bit embarrassing to admit to you. You see, I have to prepare breakfast for the men and in order to do so…well….I have to use the store room"
Tavis still didn't understand the problem, "and that creates a problem because…."
"Well there's a mad woman in there", Came the weary reply from the cook
Tavis couldn't help himself from laughing, 'so that's where he put her'
Turning his attention back to the cook, he replied "A mad woman you say? Well that does create a problem...don't worry yourself about it….I'll handle it myself"
The cook couldn't hide his relief, "Thank you sir, much appreciated"
Once the cook left, Tavis was still smiling to himself. Getting up out of the chair, he walked over to the door and remembering his father's earlier conversation, said to no one in particular "see, she's already started to create a problem"
Orianna was starting to get exceptionally bored. After her failed attempt at getting someone to open the door, she had slowly and carefully walked around the small room trying to guess what was there by the touch of her fingers.
Going back to the far end of the cramped room, Orianna sat down on the makeshift bed put there for her. Resting her chin on her hands, she tried to think of something to do. Her mind was too tired and unsettled to think straight, so all she was left with was constant broken ideas.
Tavis had walked up the stairs leading to the deck and was now starting to head towards the store room.
Rebus and two other men were standing nearby, discussing the inventory of all the stolen items when they saw Tavis stride by with a dark look on his face. One of the men turned to see where he was heading and nudged the man beside him before saying, "he's going to see the girl".
The other man turned and a large grin appeared on his face, "do you think there'll be a fight? She seemed a little touchy this morning with all her ranting".
The other man nodded his head slightly before turning to Rebus who also had his eyes upon Tavis. "Do you think Rebus that we should give Tavis a little moral support? After all, we wouldn't like to see it go out of hand."
Rebus eyed the two questioning men; a devilish twinkle appeared in both their eyes. "The lot of youse are scoundrels, can't resist a good fight can you?"
After a few seconds of intentional silence, Rebus smiled. "By the look of my son, it's the girl that'll need our support".
Tavis had finally reached the store room which looked just like a small square box, placed near the back of the ship. He raised his arm and hesitated for a moment before finally knocking on the door.
Orianna's head perked up at the sound. Thinking she misheard, she called out a whisper of a "hello".
Waiting for an answer, Orianna finally heard a familiar male voice call out,
"I came to check on how you are".
It was at this point that Tavis noticed his father and two other men had come to stand behind him. Turning to them, he gestured with his head for them to leave but they refused. 'Typical', muttered Tavis to himself.
Orianna dashed off the bed and came to stand only a foot or so away from the door, anticipation and fear coursing through her.
"I'm fine so far", Orianna said through the door.
"What do you mean so far?" Tavis asked, already guessing her answer.
"Well you are a pirate", Orianna stated sardonically
Tavis smiled slightly. "We're not going to do anything to you, so you don't have to worry"
"If all the stories I've been told about your kind are true, then you're lying". Orianna chewed her lip, knowing she might have said the wrong thing.
Tavis frowned. 'Who does she think she is saying your kind?'
"You'd be quite surprised to find how wrong those stories were, we are what you'd call, the exception to the rule"
Orianna was silent for a moment, her mind turning with recent memories.
She remembered hiding under the dining cart and listening to Rebus talking in the hallway.
'Hadn't they said that the captain and the crew were all taken care of?', but then again she thought, 'Tavis never raised a hand to me or even used force when he had the chance to'.
These thoughts continued to challenge each other unsuccessfully.
Looking around, she realised that maybe the safest place to be after all, was in the small dark room. 'And in a silly way', she mused, 'it protects me from reality'
"Are you willing to come out?" called Tavis, breaking Orianna's thoughts.
"Are you willing to walk into a knife?" she called back, causing him to scowl at the door.
"For the last time, I'm not going to hurt you"
"Its not you I'm worried about, it's everyone else." She called out, and Orianna meant it.
She hadn't forgotten about the man who tried to practically rape her, the sore bruises a constant reminder.
She had no idea what had happened to him; had he been caught or was he still wandering around somewhere out there. And it wasn't only him, what if the other men were exactly the same…
"What's the worst they could do to you?" replied Tavis without thinking.
"Possibly kill me?" she said truthfully.
Tavis shook his head in disbelief. "They might slap you a few times for being so senseless, but they wouldn't kill you."
Orianna glared at the door and bit her lip to stop herself from countering back
Rebus gave Tavis a dark look. "Don't be so harsh to the girl, she's just being wary"
Tavis took a deep breath to calm his self down
"I give you my word as a...ah", it was at this point that he stumbled, and Orianna even in the darkness, frowned at his loss of words.
Looking at his son, Rebus quickly covered and called out, "we give you our word as pirates; no harm will befall you as long as you are in our care".
For some reason, Orianna knew they would be true to their word, but caution still held her back.
"And how long will that be?" She was hesitant to voice the question, her voice faltering as soon as it left her lips.
Tavis shrugged his shoulders before realizing that she couldn't see him.
"Until we reach the next port and from there, you are free to do as you like. The trouble with that is, we still haven't chosen which port we're going to settle for, so it could be a matter of weeks before you see land again".
Orianna nodded her head in the darkness. She stood there silently, thinking about her next move. 'Should I or shouldn't I?' She thought pensively.
"Before I come out I want you to tell me who you all are, and what's going to happen to me"
Tavis was beginning to get fed up with how long it was taking
"Well right now standing with me is my father Rebus and two other crew men waiting for you to come out so they can lock you up and have their way with you"
The two men standing beside Tavis had to stifle a laugh when Rebus puffed out his chest and came to stand beside his guilty looking son.
"I thought I told you to go easy on her. You and your sick sense of humour are just making things worse. I don't think she sees the funny side of your remarks at all, just stay quiet and watch how I do it."
Tavis ran a hand through his dark hair and gestured with a sweeping arm for his father to take centre stage
"I'm sorry m'dear for my son's juvenile behaviour, although at twenty three, he should know better." Rebus sent the person in question a condescending look to which Tavis only tightly smiled.
"If you would just come out, you could see for yourself what we're about. For today, you can come and go, in and out of that room as you please, but tomorrow, you'll be expected to start doing some jobs around the ship. Even though you are an unwilling passenger, and we understand that, you will still have to assist with onboard duties until we reach the next port".
Orianna took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. The fact that she wasn't going to be a prisoner was the key fact to her willingness to step outside. Slowly moving to the doors handle, Orianna grasped it in her hand before calmly asking for someone to unlock the door.
Rebus pulled out a small metal key from the breast pocket of his tunic and walked over to the door. Sliding the key in the lock, he turned it to the left until a faint "click" could be heard. Orianna grasped the handle tighter before turning it and slowly pushing the door open.
The sight she was greeted with almost made her laugh aloud. Rebus was standing there with his bulky stature waiting with a giant grin on his face.
The two other men were peering cautiously from behind him, their wide eyes giving away their curiosity. Tavis she noticed was standing to the far side looking closely at her before covering it up with a detached look.
Unsure about what to do and feeling a bit awkward, Orianna just stood there. Before she could muster the courage to ask 'what now', she saw Tavis moving towards her.
"Wait, what are you doing?" She said, trailing off and taking a step back.
With an undeniable coldness that even surprised her, Tavis merely told her that he needed to get some food for the cook. "After all", he said, "we need what we need".
If it was Orianna's imagination, she didn't know, but she could've sworn he looked her straight in the eyes, before running his gaze over her body. A slight shiver prickled her skin as he walked past her and into the store room.
Rebus couldn't hear what his son said to the young girl but he saw the look that Tavis gave her. At that moment, he knew that if Tavis kept acting the way he did around Orianna, then he'd have no problem implementing his plan to keep all the other men away.
Another short filler chapter….I know, but it was a necessary one. I now have the grounds for starting the story line and especially the ROMANCE. I've been waiting so long to actually have free reign with the romance so maybe not next chapter but certainly the ones after will have a lot of Orianna and Tavis scenarios (hopefully you'll like them)
I was just wondering what you think of Orianna's character. Rebus it the fatherly type, Tavis is the handsome yet roguish man but I don't know if I've really described Orianna's character. Please read review and tell me how you think the story is going and have a good holiday. Bye
(I'm now writing up another story called the etiquette of lies so if you're interested please read it because I need A LOT of feedback for that story)