Time went by excruciatingly slowly for Delia with nothing to occupy her mind with. She had refused to sleep on the dirty floor and sat patiently on a stool she had placed in the middle of the cell instead - far enough away from the hay full of feces and at the same time not too close to the cell door.
To her relief, the sun was shining through the window again, indicating the beginning of the next day.
After what felt like hours, she heard footsteps approaching and was delighted to see the Commodore on the other side.
"Oh, he thought of me," she remarked sarcastically and threw one leg upon the other with her hands resting on her knee. She was trying to hide her joy of seeing him again. Her small smirk, however, gave her away. "How flattering."
"Good morning to you, too, Milady," he greeted her with a nod.
"It's Milady now? That means you have come here to set me free, I take it?" Delia tilted her head inquisitively as she asked, her smirk long gone.
"For now," he corrected her as he pulled out a set of keys. Instead of opening the door, however, he let his arm fall back to his side, the keys dangling uselessly from the ring. "There is but one thing."
"And what shall that be?" The raven-haired woman asked, her intense stare lingering on the keys.
"I don't even know the name of the woman I am about to release."
Her gaze snapped back onto him. "You'd like me to introduce myself behind bars?" She asked with a criticising look and he realised how ridiculous that sounded, the corners of his mouth beginning to twitch. He composed himself quickly, however, and raised his head with a frown. "Precisely. Your name in exchange for some fresh air."
"Hmm," Delia averted her gaze, a half smirk forming on her lips that she was trying to hide from him by turning her head slightly away from him, "I'm not sure how becoming that would be of you, sire, to make such demands of a lady."
The Commodore watched her carefully as she did so. This woman intrigued him ever since she bested his men. And now she sat there nonchalantly, knowing he would release her whether she agreed to his request or not, which impressed him even more.
Finally, she turned her head back to face him again, smiling as she proposed, "I think we should be properly introduced when we're out of here, seeing as you have put me in here in the first place. And unrightly so, might I add."
"That is yet to be proven, but yes, I understand your point," he responded, fiddling through the keys before picking the one to open the door.
When he entered the cell, she was already standing and holding the shackles out for him to open, a triumphant smile plastered on her face. She knew he would have given in and was all too eager to rub into his face how easily she had beaten him at his small power game. To her surprise, he didn't even seem bothered by it. Instead, he met her smirk with his own as he unbound her.
"Now, if you'll follow me." He turned around and led her out of the cell.