His father's voice had brought him out of his thoughts and Tavis quickly covered his emotions with an unaffected mask.
"Not very much, her name is Orianna or something similar. I ran into her a few times and she was the one who so very graciously gave me this earlier on" gesturing to his bruised forehead.
"She had hidden in the dining room during the raid and went looking for a safer place to hide when I came across her" looking around he saw the accusing eyes of the crew and quickly understood his mistake.
"Don't worry, I wasn't the one who did this to her, god no. The last thing I saw of her was when she was about to connect a lantern with my head after I tried to block her escape, how she got like this…I have no idea."
Satisfied with his answer to a certain extent, Rebus then called out to two of the cabin boys and instructed them to run and fetch a pitcher of water, some cloths and bandages.
Rebus slowly walked across his ships deck and tiredly rubbed his face.
Stifling a yawn he surveyed his crew. About five or so were still loading the cargo from one ship to another while the others were getting the ship ready to set sail.
Looking at each man he saw that none looked to be the type to ravage a woman in such a horrendous way. They were a strange bunch he had to admit, but none were known to be violent, he had made sure of that when he chose them.
As he walked along, Rebus couldn't help but feel anxious for the young lass in his care. He had stayed with Orianna as she was seen to by one of his own ships physicians and didn't leave her side until she was declared clear of any serious injures.
He felt a sense of fatherly protectiveness come over him as he saw the number of bruises colouring her skin. Rebus had to admit that it had been a long night especially with having to make sure everything was in order on the royal avenue and that all his men were accounted for, so after seeing the young woman properly taken care of, turned to the next matter of attention.
Tavis was absently leaning against the ships rail and staring out into the horizon; dawns light was just starting to make an appearance.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Rebus said aloud, breaking the silence between the two.
Tavis slightly turned his face to look at his father; although age had added on a few lines and slight amounts of grey hair, it hadn't changed the air of strength about him. Turning his gaze back out to the calm waters, Tavis knew his father was waiting for him to initiate the conversation. "How is she?"
Smiling slightly, Rebus breathed in deeply the scent of the ocean. "She's still unconscious, but the doctor said that it was only tiredness and shock that's keeping her in it. I couldn't believe the sight of her little body covered in so many bruises. When she wakes we'll have to find out who did this to her."
Tavis nodded slightly but then frowned. "What if she doesn't wake for another several hours? We can't just wait around here until she rouses; even you know that, we have to set off as soon as possible."
Rebus made a slight mumble of an agreement; he was still hesitant to tell his son his idea…well more like arrangement.
"That fact hasn't escaped Tavis. When the men finish loading the ship with the possessions, then we will leave...plus one."
Tavis turned and looked searchingly at his father, narrowing his eyes before saying, "Plus one?"
Rebus stared determinedly at the water, refusing to look at his son; he could already tell what the reaction would be.
"We have to bring her on board".
Tavis made sound halfway between a choke and a, 'what'.
Rebus smiled to himself and prepared for the coming argument. "We can't exactly just leave her here can we? After all aren't we, well one of us, responsible for what happened to her?"
Tavis gave his father a dark look. "Don't use guilt to push your argument, after all, how do we know it wasn't another escaped passenger?"
Rebus was astonished at his sons' nerve. "Come off it now, even you know that's full of crap".
Tavis merely shrugged his shoulders. "Of course I know. It's just that not only will she be a liability and a damn responsibility, but god knows how many other problems she'll cause. We took so much care in choosing the crew before we left and what if she finds out? Where would we be then?"
"Even if the lass did find out", Rebus replied, "there's hardly a thing she could do; after all, she wouldn't understand it in the first place. To her, what were looking for is only known in superstition and the odd ghost story; she wouldn't expect it to be a reality now would she?"
Tavis considered his fathers point. "It's just too risky. Oh and another thing…. what would she do for the whole time? We can't keep her locked up until we reach the next port".
"I've thought of that too".
"You have?"
Rebus rolled his eyes at his son. "Yes my boy I have. She can do the odd job here and there, help out whoever needs help. I've also planned it so she would help the cook out with making and serving dinners, who as you know, always complains about doing it by him-self".
Tavis smiled slightly. "You've really thought about it haven't you?"
Rebus nodded and waited for Tavis' next argument. It came soon enough…
"What about the men. Even you have to admit that she's attractive…it'll be too much of a temptation to resist for them. I don't know about you, but I don't want to risk having her preyed upon and have the guilt upon my shoulders".
"Leave that problem up to me", Rebus replied curtly
Tavis immediately became suspicious. "Why, what are you going to do?"
"You'll find out in due course", was his offhand answer.
Tavis grumbled something under his breath, before letting out a slight groan.
"I know that you'll still go ahead with your plan no matter how much I'm against it, so all I am going to say is, if she does do something wrong...which she will, then I have every right to say I told you so."
Rebus looked at his son and had to shake his head at his stubbornness. "If that's what it takes, then so be it".
Rebus reached out and attempted to pat down Tavis' hair as would a parent to a little child. "I could never understand why your hair refuses to be neat; it always looks as if you've just got out of bed or had a woman run her hands through it."
"I guess it just likes to have its way, that's all", replied Tavis before turning away and heading towards the rest of the men who were currently loading the remaining cargo onto the ship.
"Hello"….. "Helloo"…. "Hey, I know you can hear me…don't pretend that you can't"…. "Halloo"….. "Let me out, please" …….. "Hello"….
Orianna was currently and unsuccessfully trying to get someone to unlock the door that was the precious barrier between the small dark room she was currently presiding, and the outside world.
Frustration finally got the best of her:
"That's it! I said let me out or so help me…you'll be...you'll be sorry… (Thunk)
Her foot connecting with the thick door barely made a sound, but instead, left a pulsating pain sensation to resound up through her foot and along her leg.
Orianna then changed tactics. Putting her back up against the door, she attempted to push. She knew it was a futile attempt, but she needed to try. She had barely begun to push when the pain from her bruised back reminded her of her present injuries.
Giving up, Orianna settled herself on the floor while still leaning up against the door. Although it was dark inside the room, her eyes had adjusted to an extent, in which she could pick out a few odd shapes and objects.
Turning her head slightly either side, Orianna could faintly pick out the outlines of what looked to be massive sacks and barrels leaning up against the walls, while odd shapes swung gently from the ceiling above her.
The first thing Orianna had noticed when she had woken up was the heavy and thick smell of onions and dried meat. By now surveying the room in more detail, she guessed it to be a storage room for food or something similar.
Upon awakening in the cold, dark and considerably small room only a few hours before, Orianna had been too preoccupied with being nervous and then frustrated to notice the state of her body.
Placing her hands on her lap, Orianna gently ran her fingers over each hand and winced when she came upon her knuckles. From what she could tell they were either scuffed or grazed since it was rough to the touch. Moving one hand up along her left arm, Orianna noted with cringe worthy pain, every time her hand would run over a bruise.
Her hand had finally reached her face but Orianna could already imagine what she looked like. She knew she had a bruised and cut lip as well as probably having a long gash along the side of her forehead from falling against the corner of one of the walls. Feeling deflated and sore, Orianna wanted nothing more than to be where she belonged; at home.
'How did everything go so terribly wrong?' she mused quietly to herself.
Tavis was below deck in his father's official navigational room. The room was quiet and out of the way…perfect to get business in order. A slight rasp at the door brought him out of his work stupor and back to reality.
"Come in".
The door slowly creaked open and in stepped a burly, round eyed man.
"Sorry to bother you sir but there's a bit of a problem".
Tavis furrowed his brow. "Problem?"
"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".
Thankyou to everyone that's still reading this story and especially to those that review…please keep doing so, I really need your feedback(please point out any spelling mistakes so I can go back and fix them)
I'm really sorry this chapter took so long to get posted but I had a complete blank about what to write. I didn't know how to explain what's going to happen to her and also introduce Tavis and Rebus more into the story. I hope I did it ok. There's a twist with the pirate crew plot so there's a reason why they don't seem so scoundrel like. I'll try to make next chapter longer and please tell me what you think so far... (Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year)