"Where's my map?" Sterling hissed at Nathan, his look menacing.
"Told ya, haven't seen it." Nathan replied with a cold voice.
Nathan seemed to wince as Sterling pressed the sword harder into his neck. "Well then who does have my map?"
Nathan narrowed his eyes, but shrugged his shoulders. "Haven't seen it. I'm just the cook, what the hell would I know about maps?"
"Come on boy, don't try my patience. Where's my map?"
"I told you I haven't seen it. How many times you want me to rephrase it?"
Sterling grinned. "You sure are a stubborn lad, I'll give you that. Alright, then here's another question for you. How's my little lady friend doing?"
The muscles in Nathan's back twitched ever so slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you do. One of my crew said that he's seen her. Said she's quite the fiery one. I like my women like that. Think I'll have to keep her when I do eventually catch up with her." Sterling rasped at Nathan, that sadistic smile plastered to his face.
Kris sat in stunned silence as she watched from the bushes, her mind flying trying to think of something to do. As she had expected, they were quite well outnumbered, and there would be no clean way of getting out of there. She couldn't go get the guys or they might do something to Nathan, that and it would be likely that they would hear or see her trying to get back. Even if she did manage to get them, there wouldn't be anything that they could do. They were outnumbered at least ten to one, and although Kris was confident in their fighting abilities, she knew that it wouldn't be a battle they would win. She knew how strong and fierce Sterling and his men were, and they wouldn't give in easily. There was only one option she could think of, and she knew it was one that Nathan was really not going to like. She just hoped he would forgive her for it later.
With a nervous sigh, Kris stood up, pulling her swords from behind her head and stepping forward from the bushes. Nathan's back was facing her, but Sterling's face practically lit up when he saw her coming forward. His yellow teeth peaked from underneath his snarling lips.
"Well, well, well. There she is. It's been a while my dear, how have you been?" He crooned at her, nodding his head for her to toss her swords to the ground.
She obeyed and tossed her swords to the ground in front of her. "A lot less dead than you intended to leave me." She saw the muscles in Nathan's back tense at the sound of her voice.
"The hell are you doing here?" He hissed at her, but she ignored his words and stepped towards the group, holding her hands in the air.
"You're not very bright, are ya girl?"
"I'm here to offer you an exchange." She stated calmly, taking another step forward.
Sterling raised an eyebrow at her. "An exchange? For what, you have my map?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't have your map. But I know where the treasure is, no map needed. You don't need him, he doesn't know where the treasure is. Let him go. A life for a life."
"Kris what the hell are you doing?" Nathan snarled, but was silenced when the sword nicked his neck once again.
Sterling chuckled low in his throat, moving the sword around Nathan's neck as he stepped closer towards Kris. "Interesting proposition missy. So you can take me to my treasure without the map?"
"Yes I can. I know this area well and I've seen the map enough to know exactly where it is. You don't need the Sirius to help you. Just leave them be and I will go with you."
"Leave the Sirius be huh? Now what kind of fun is that?"
"The kind where you get your treasure without any hassles."
The sword against Nathan's neck glistened in the sunlight, Sterling cocking his head to the side as he grinned sadistically at her. "And what makes this boy here so special that you'd just offer yourself up so easily?"
Kris swallowed. "No reason in particular. Just don't see why you'd drag him around when I'm the one who can lead you to the treasure."
"Kris, get the hell out of here, what are you doing?" Nathan said sharply to her, his eyes pleading with her to just turn around and leave. But she wouldn't leave him at the hands of Sterling. As long as they had someone who could lead them to their precious treasure, they wouldn't need the Sirius. And if she had to hand herself over to them to make sure that he was ok, then that was exactly what she was going to do.
Sterling's smile widened as he looked from Nathan's face to Kris's. "Ah. I see. She's your lover, isn't she lad?"
When neither Nathan nor Kris said anything, Sterling's smile grew wicked and he threw Kris a perverted look. "Well, I can't say I blame you boy. That body of hers is enough to make any man weak in the knees. Can't say that I haven't thought of her fondly since seeing her last."
"You son of a bitch!" Nathan cursed harshly and struggled against the hold against his arms, causing Sterling to throw his head back in laughter for a moment, the sound booming through the thick foliage around them. As he continued to laugh, he waved his hand forward, lowering his sword from Nathan's neck, and Kris felt as two pairs of hands grabbed her arms from behind. Nathan was kicked forward and Kris was brought forward towards Sterling, feeling a knife being pressed against her own throat.
Sterling's eyes seemed to shine in pure delight as Kris was dragged forward, stopping right in front of him. "You better not be lying wench."
She shook her head. "I'm not. I promise. Now leave him and the rest of the Sirius alone if you want me to tell you where it is."
She looked out of the corner of her eyes to see Nathan standing away from them, a mixture of pure rage and terror displayed on his face. She felt horrible for doing this to him, but she knew that they would kill him without a second thought, and at least with her, she knew how to get to the treasure and could serve as some sort of entertainment to Sterling and his men. She could try to escape once she got them closer to it, but with the Sirius crew, they'd kill all of them without a second's thought. Unbeknownst to Sterling, while he had her swords, he didn't have the knives that she had hidden in her pants. She'd gotten them back when they'd been in town, and had strapped them down to her inner thigh, just in case. She was certainly glad now that she had, seeing the looks she was getting from the rest of the crew. Her stomach curdled as Sterling's hand came up and grabbed her chin.
"You'll tell me where the treasure is regardless. But killing the Sirius crew has always been a particular fantasy of mine as well," Sterling looked at his crew with a smile, "Kill him."
"No!" Kris shrieked, fighting against the hold on her arms, "Run Nathan! Run!"Nathan gave her a quick, painful look before nodding his head at her, and turning to run, Sterling's men hot on his trail. As she watched him disappear through the thicket, she prayed with everything that she had that he, and the rest of the boys, would be alright.
"You said you wouldn't hurt them! We had a deal!" She screamed at Sterling, struggling as she continued to fight against the two men holding her.
Sterling grabbed her chin harshly with one hand. "I never agreed to anything. Now you're going to take me to that treasure, or I'll hand you over to my crew. And let me tell ya lassie… they've missed seeing that pretty little body of yours."