Author's Note: My apologies for being late! My home renovations took over my weekend and I wasn't able to get this out on time. The kidnapping situation continues, same content warnings as last chapter.

Chapter 27

Eorl was very pleased that a fallen woman like Glaes Lokka Fundinul was more than willing to assist him. She could have stuck to her newfound honour and fought him. But the lure of freedom permitted her to betray that brute of a husband. Yes, she would be a fine servant for his muse, he would just need to make sure she didn't get any wild ideas in her unpredictable head. His beauty was already quiet and compliant, he might need to break the sea-woman down a little before he could trust her to be obedient.

Displeased as he may have been at having to change his plan, he was able to recognize that the former pirate had been right to set sail sooner. The yacht may not have been as steady as a passenger ship, but it was almost certainly faster. It was a shame they would have to keep to the exposed coastal waters but if the Navy was summoned out to search for them, at least he knew he could order the woman to turn them into a cove or inlet to keep them hidden as the larger ships patrolled the deeper ocean waters.

He had already examined the larger of the two cabins. It was a small thing, not the comfortable accommodations he had paid the other ship for, but he could overlook that. There were no windows in the cabin, which might be for the better, the yacht rode low in the waves and already his stomach was turning at the rolling and the pitching. The rest of the belowdecks had a galley for food that opened into a sitting and dining area. The perfect place to sit with his beloved and tell her how much he adored her.

"Mrs. Fundinul," he called up to where she had climbed the mast to check a couple of the sail lines, "Are you confident this ship will survive to where we want to go?"

"Oh, aye," she called down, her bare feet and lean legs braced against the rocking of the sea. Already she was losing some of the lady's airs and graces, something about being in men's clothes on a ship had changed her from the composed woman she had been to more of a sailor urchin. She had already tossed her cap away and had tied a cloth about her brow to keep the hair out of her way. He hoped she would remember how to comport herself when she took up employment under him, he would suffer no wild girls near his muse.

But she still answered him, "She's a near-shore instead of an offshore but her displacement's heavy enough that she'll last through most wind and weather we'll come across if we keep close enough to the coastline. She rides low enough that if we catch any waves big enough we'll get wet but that'll be the worst of it. We're lucky enough that she's cutter-rigged and not a ketch, it's much easier for me to manage one mast and sails instead of two as well as the helm, doing it myself as I am."

He scowled up at her, "Yes or no?"

She looked down at him and he caught a condescending, patronising flash in her eyes as the corner of her lip twisted and she said, "Aye, Master, she'll make it. Might need to put in somewhere for food but if the wind holds at about fifteen knots or so we'll make the Dorwinion in maybe three days? Longer if we have to wait out any storms."

"I expect you to sail us straight and true, Mrs. Fundinul," he said sharply, "I may not be able to sail like you but I can still punish disobedience if you displease me."

A hesitation, "Understood, sir."

Amber eyes watched him descend back belowdecks to where he was presumably keeping Laraga in the cabins or salon. She had gotten lucky that he had been convinced to take her with them but there was little she could do to help Laraga with the man while her hands were full handling the yacht. Awful as the situation was, she could never deny the thrill in her veins when she made ready to sail, the freedom on the wind, the scent of the sea. It called to her like nothing else ever did.

That sentiment was not one shared by the two passengers. Eorl did not like the open water. It seemed his muse did not either. Much as he wanted to wind her in his arms and promise to never let her be taken from him again, much as he wanted to kiss her and caress her, much as he wanted to hold her and love her and listen to her voice tell him how wonderful he was, the pitching and swaying of the ship was enough to turn both of their stomachs. Used to the gait of horses, Eorl managed to weather his discomfort but his poor muse suffered.

At least he had gotten some kisses in before she turned green. The retching and the sound of her sick drove him back to the deck where he found a seat and watched the former pirate at the helm. She had glanced at him once when he settled against the gunwale but turned her attention back to the water easily enough, giving him plenty of time to observe her and the way she seemed to savour every dip and roll and every gust of wind in her hair.

"How do you do it?" He had asked it finally.

She glanced at him, "Do what?"

"Enjoy the sea without suffering," he said.

She had dared to grin, "Without retching over the side, you mean?"

He glared at her flippant attitude and she shrugged.

"I've been at sea since I was thirteen, Master Eorl," she answered easily enough, slipping the holding rope onto the helm to keep it where she wanted it as she checked some knots, "I spent six years on these waters and never once have I regretted it."

"But the shifting and the swaying…"

"Yes," she laughed, "That's part of it. But there's nothing like it when Ulmo is in a playful mood."

"Playful?"

"Oh yes, Master," she said, "You'll know when He's no longer playing. His moods are quite clear."

Silence fell as she untied one of the sail lines to adjust the canvas slightly to catch the wind better. She had to be careful with this man, she knew that his obsession made him more dangerous than Jarren Calder and his desires. No, she had seen obsession before, not to this degree, but she had seen it in Smaug Drake's green eyes and she knew that, for all his manners and his desire to adore Laraga, Eorl of Rohan would kill Glaes without a thought. She had to hope that the Navy had been called out, that Dwalin was searching for her. But until there was any hope of rescue, she needed to learn how to live with this man.

She needed to figure out what he wanted to hear and see. So she started with a safe question, "Master Eorl, will you tell me about your muse? I know milady as a Queen and as a courtly woman, but you see her in a way I do not."

"Oh she is my world," he sighed, glancing down at the hatch below deck and wrinkling his nose slightly, "It's such a shame she's suffering so. She's not at her best right now. I do sympathise, but it is so...unseemly. She will be her usual, attractive self once we are safe on land again."

"The sea doesn't agree with everyone," she said diplomatically, retying the line with swift, confident actions, "The wind and waves can be overwhelming for people not used to it. And she's had a big day. It's a lot for a gentle lady like her to handle."

"Especially after being trapped as she has," Eorl nodded, "She has been trapped in a gilded cage. We spoke of this, remember? Under the willow? You understand why I needed to act, why I had to take her away from that place?"

"Yes," she agreed carefully, "It was a stifling place for me too. It was very selfless of you to risk everything to save her."

"Yes!" He sat up, so glad she understood, "Yes, I was saving her, you see it too! I only wish she realised it herself."

"She might be overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and not know what to do," she said, "Golden cages are pretty, confusing things."

"No," he shook his head sadly, "She thinks I am some kind of villain now. It was not always like that. After a duplicitous professor took advantage of her at school, I was the one to care for her. But in time she reasoned that she had outgrown me."

"She told me about the professor," Glaes said as she coiled some spare line and dared to sit down across the deck from him, "Calder. He's in jail now so he can't hurt her again."

"When she left it broke my heart but I knew I had to get her back." He leaned toward her, pale blue eyes bright, "Have you seen the songs I wrote for her? She inspires me so! And you! You're so clever, you understand what I'm trying to do. You will help, yes you will, with her falling in love with me again."

She hesitated, the obsession in his eyes prickling the back of her neck, before she tentatively nodded, "I...I will do what I can, Master. You've spared my life so far, I will do anything to keep it."

He reached out to take her hands, scooting towards her across the deck to say, "Yes! Yes, of course! I knew there was a reason to keep you alive, I didn't want to kill you even though you did all those awful things to betray her trust. You can try again and you can help her realise how good this is, how we're saving her!"

"Of course, Master," she agreed, starting to see how she could stay alive, what she needed to say, what part she needed to play. "I'll wait until the waves even out a bit and go down to tend to my lady. In the meantime, you can tell me about the music you write for her. I haven't seen them, they must be treasures for her to keep them for herself."

Eventually, the ship was on course and smooth enough that Glaes could risk descending to the cabin. The acrid smell of vomit wrinkled her nose and she let the hatch stay open to get some fresh air filtering in.

"You vomit on my maps and I'll be pissed," she said lightly.

The miserable figure slumped in the cushioned bench of the salon sat up and Laraga threw herself toward the petite blonde. Her arms wrapped around the other woman and she gasped, "Oh, Glaes! Glaes, I'm so sorry about all of this!"

Glaes saw the shadow through the portholes in the ceiling of the cabin and she smiled, "Why should you be sorry? Milady, you've been rescued."

Laraga's eyes widened but Glaes shook her head sharply, continuing, "You have quite the devoted musician. Travelling all this way just to be with you again? It's like a fairy tale."

"I...suppose it is," Laraga managed. The women listened as Eorl's footsteps faded away, apparently pleased that the pirate was doing as she said she would.

They relaxed only slightly and Glaes drew Laraga toward the bow end of the cabin, away from the hatch so Glaes could whisper, "Alright, Laraga, tell me what I need to know."

"He obsessed over me from the start," she told her as the pirate searched the stores. Cruising yachts like this that could be hired out usually kept stores of ginger beer or peppermint for tea to soothe the sensitive stomachs. Laraga sat miserably on the bench and continued, "I thought he would shelter me from Calder, but he made sure the abuse happened so I would be more likely to fall into his arms. Once I realised how truly dangerous he was, it was too late. I thought his new assignment back in Rohan and my graduation would sever things. Clearly it did not."

"Understatement," Glaes muttered, emerging victorious with a jug of crisp, sharp ginger beer that she poured Laraga a mug of. "He's convinced he's right about everything, I've seen it in his eyes. I got him to talk to me a little bit and Ulmo below is he crazy. I don't even want to think what he'll do with your baby if we don't get away in time."

"My baby!"

"Evidence of another man having you? I wouldn't put anything past him." Glaes shook her head, casting a sharp look at the hatch to make sure he wasn't still listening. "I've been careful not to make him angry, I don't have the same protections that you do and I don't want to know what he could do if prompted."

"Are we going to survive this, Glaes?"

"He's got us probably about a day's head start from anyone following but hopefully that harbormaster called the Navy out. They're looking for us, Laraga, they have to be."

"How long will we be at sea?" She asked weakly.

"For five days if the weather holds. Until the furthest reaches of Rhûn come into sight. From there he'll take us into the country. And disappear. Pray, Laraga, and pray hard."

"For what?"

"A storm."

Dwalin felt the air pressure change. He smelled the familiar scent. And once he looked up the mottled green sky confirmed it all, "A storm is brewing. They will have tae find shore. An inlet, something tae take cover. Our warships can sail in this weather but a yacht? No."

Thorin gripped the railing and stared at the clouds gathering, "What if they don't make it? What if he forces her to try and sail through this?"

The wind ripped through his hair and with it his terror rose. He was no sailor like Dwalin and Glaes were, but even he knew the sea was unpredictable and cruel. What if this was how he lost Laraga? What was worse? A madman or a maelstrom?

Nori's ship, the Sea Bitch, was sleek and swift, she cut through the storm like a knife through butter. Better equipped for weather like this, she would avoid getting tossed about the way a yacht would. They would press on.

"Then we search for wreckage," the Commodore glowered. "We look until we cannae look no more. Glaes won't let him force through this. And she won't let him win. We just have tae keep going."

It was all he could do to keep from going mad.

Thorin got out of the way of the sailors, trusting them to do their jobs, and got himself to safety in the cabin. He braced himself against the rolling and dipping of the ship in the storm and tried to keep his thoughts calm even as his stomach churned. He didn't know how Glaes and Dwalin could do this. Could enjoy this! This was chaos. This was terrifying.

Dwalin called out orders, "Use the storm, lads! Take that wind and race across the sea! We cannae lose our prey!"

"There is a cove up ahead!" Nori called at the helm. No one knew the shores of Erebor better than he did. And he had used that very cove to take cover before. And to store smuggled goods.

If he knew Glaes, she would use it too.