13

With that, a tear trickled down Wilburus' cheek, and Vorian knew, with cold dread, that the boy was telling the truth.

The Fae man looked up at Sanji, who was now peeling carrots, to see if the man had heard anything that Wilburus said. He didn't seem to have heard, and Vorian again bent low to Wilburus.

"Wilburus," he said gently, but firmly. "Is he the only pirate on board?"

"No," Wilburus whispered, shaking his head. "All of the men are. I am too, but I don't want to be. Oh please, don't kill me! I…I don't want to be a pirate, but I didn't have a choice!"

"Why are they pretending to be something that they aren't?" Vorian asked, his blood running cold.

"It's very simple," a cold voice said from the doorway, and Vorian looked up to see Tesla standing in the room, arms folded across his chest. "You see, we have our own purposes for you and your precious cargo. I suppose that puts a bit of a damper on your plans, doesn't it?"

Vorian stood up, fists clenched, as several of Tesla's crew gathered behind the pirate captain, all armed and prepared to fight.

"I've had all I can handle of you, Lord Vorian," Tesla said coolly, gesturing for his men to enter the room. "You just don't know when to give up."

"Evelyn! Trinity!" Vorian called, moving swiftly to the women. "Tesla and his men are pirates. Get up."

Trinity struggled to sit up, moving her hand to her dagger as she did so. She looked positively sick as she began to get to her feet.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked weakly.

"That's just the thing about being pirates," Tesla said, taking a long stride further into the room. "We don't have to tell you anything."

Evelyn sat up abruptly, the room spinning as she did so, and spoke, her voice quiet and terrified.

"Why? Why did you deceive us this whole time?"

She watched, eyes wide, as Tesla knelt down before her, a smug smirk on his face and his red eyes glittering.

"You studied pirates, my darling Miss Evelyn," he mocked. "Tell me what incentive we would have to do such a thing."

"You want Jareth's kingdom! You all do!" Evelyn gasped, watching as the pirates began to surround the room. "This whole time, you've just been playing a game, making us think we're safe so you can destroy us!" She suddenly recalled how she had been in the same room, all alone, with Tesla, and she shuddered. "The whole time," she whispered, glancing down, away from his eyes, "you were a pirate captain."

"I could have taken anything I wanted," Tesla smiled, putting his fingers under her chin and tilting her face up towards his. "You must thank the heavens that you're blessed with such natural instincts."

"Take your hand off her!" Vorian warned, watching Evelyn shivering in Tesla's grasp.

"Oh, you poor prince," Tesla sneered. He turned his attention back to Evelyn and promptly stroked her cheek with his fingers. "I suppose you've heard a thing or two about pirates as well."

Vorian lunged at him and was startled when the pirate captain stood up and blocked his attack. Tesla punched Vorian hard in the face, sending him crashing against one of the room's walls.

"Stop!" Trinity screamed as Tesla attacked the startled Fae, flinging his fist violently into Vorian's chest.

Tesla hit Vorian hard across the face again and then turned to the women, straightening his shirt and taking in a deep breath as he did so.

"I have been hospitable and polite," he said, his voice cruel. "And you couldn't even thank me for it. Tis a pity you couldn't be more grateful, Miss Evelyn. Perhaps I would have spared you all this grief. Maybe you'll reconsider my generous dinner proposal before I kill off your precious water lord and feed him to the sharks. Sanji, bind their hands. Folis and Georg, see to it that our new prisoners don't go anywhere."

He turned and left the room, leaving his men to complete his orders. Trinity and Evelyn's hands were bound before them, but Vorian, who could expect absolutely no mercy from the pirate captain, had his wrists tied tightly together behind his back, nearly cutting off his circulation. He was punched several more times before the pirates had had their fill, and he let out a long sigh when his torment was over.

"Pirates, huh?" Trinity asked, noticing that the ship had ceased its vicious rocking.

Evelyn was shivering terribly, and tears were tricking down her cheeks.

"The whole time," she whispered, choking on her words. "The whole time! Oh, what have I done? What have I done?"

"Ev, how could you have known?" Trinity asked, moving over to her and putting her head on her friend's shoulder. "How could any of us have known?"

"Gut instinct," Evelyn sniffed, trying to wipe her tears on her other shoulder but failing miserably.

They were held in the kitchen until the captain returned. When he did, he tried once more to get Evelyn to accept his dinner proposal, telling her that if she accepted he would let she and her friends go. Evelyn knew her pirate lore though, and knew better. Besides, she couldn't look at Vorian's bruised face without feeling so much guilt that it threatened to consume her. So the three of them were thrown into the ship's brig, none too gently.

The cell was small, about five paces by five, and so was crowded with the three of them in there. It included one bench that one person could sleep on, and a bucket in one corner that smelled awful. Interlocked bars made up the walls and door.

Sanji was merciful, and made Wilburus cut the ropes on the trio's hands. When Trinity and Evelyn worried that the captain would be upset, the cook just shrugged.

"I don't think he minds one way or the other," he said. "You three aren't going anywhere fast with those magical locks, so you may as well be able to eat."

And then he slid them their new ration of bread and water.

XxXxX

"Well this is just great!" Trinity exploded, the first to speak in their new quarters. "The goblin king is captured by a dragon, and taken to a pirate king, who is also a vampire. Why don't we just throw in some ninjas and werewolves while we're at it! Then we are nearly killed stocking up with provisions for a journey to rescue said goblin king. Those guys probably weren't even after us! They were probably after Tesla, and that guy he – he – killed was trying to warn us! And then we get stuck in a storm that nearly kills a kid, and the captain, of course, doesn't give a rip. What the heck is with our luck? Why does all this happen?!" Then she sat down hard on the bench and put her head in her hands. Presently, Evelyn saw drops of water escape through the younger woman's fingers.

"Jareth…" Trinity whispered shakily, beginning to sob.

The older woman was not in much better shape, but she wrapped her arms around her younger friend and held her as she cried.

"Shh…" she whispered. "It'll be okay."

Vorian watched them, wrestling with himself. One of his eyes was starting to swell, so he was losing vision. He wanted nothing more than to gather both women into his arms (namely Evelyn, but he wanted Trinity to feel better too) and comfort them, but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. He didn't want to make either of them uncomfortable. But he had some instinct pushing him towards them, to hold them both: the king's fiancé and his own love. Finally, he slowly approached the bench, and gently took Evelyn in his arms, in the process getting Trinity as well.

The women felt him holding them, and felt slightly comforted. Eventually, Trinity cried herself to sleep in Evelyn's arms, and Evelyn didn't have the heart to move, and so relaxed into Vorian's arms, also falling asleep. Vorian had nothing to do but try to relax against the hard wall of the cell. After a while, exhaustion drove him, too, to sleep.

XxXxX

In the morning, Wilburus's nervous steps down the stairs to the brig awakened them. Vorian, Evelyn, and Trinity shifted out of the positions they had been in, so now Trinity and Evelyn sat on the bench, while Vorian leaned against the wall. His left eye was nearly swollen shut, and there was a large bruise forming on his chest. The pirate captain hit hard.

Wilburus had been charged by Sanji to bring the prisoners their ration of bread and water. He looked as if he was both scared stiff, and incredibly sad and ashamed. He looked up at Vorian, trembling, apologies in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry," he said, glancing at the three of them.

Evelyn looked away from him. Vorian tried to smile, although his swollen face spoiled the attempt. Trinity surprised and frightened the young boy by glaring at him vehemently.

"Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to speak to you," Wilburus said quietly, looking back to Vorian, "But Sanji says that the captain has no say over whether or not I talk to my friends. He also wanted me to give you this, because you got beat up by him so bad last night." He stuck a trembling hand through a gap in the bars, and held something out for Vorian. It was a small jar of ointment. "Says it'll take the swelling down immediately."

"My thanks to you, and to Sanji," Vorian murmured, taking the jar, and concealing it quickly in his shirt as another set of footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Wilburus!" Sanji's voice called, "You're shirking your duties, boy!"

"Coming!" Wilburus called, and scurried away without another word.

The trio looked at each other uncomfortably. They knew they had at least two allies on the ship, but no one was going to dare go against their captain. The women were still in their nightgowns and bathrobes, and Vorian's poet shirt was slightly tattered, and both his shirt and trousers were still damp from his plunge into the ocean. They were in for a rough rest of the trip, and they knew it.

When it had been silent for a few minutes (except for the sound of the waves, and the occasional shouted order from Tesla, two decks above them), Vorian carefully took the jar of salve out and opened it. Surprisingly, the remedy had no smell to it, and looked as if it would go onto his face completely clear.

"The cook must not want this to be discovered," Vorian said.

Evelyn looked at Vorian's face, and then at the jar he held. She sighed, and held out her hand. "Here," she said, "Let me do it. You won't be able to tell what you're doing."

The Fae man obliged. Evelyn got some of the salve on her fingers and carefully smeared it over Vorian's bruised face. He closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her fingers on his face. It stung, yes, but she was touching him. It was almost too good to be true.

The women watched in amazement as the swelling on Vorian's face subsided almost as soon as the salve touched it. As soon as Evelyn had it all over his bruising, the bruising was gone. She sat back, dumbfounded. Vorian reached up and touched his face carefully, expecting it to still hurt when he touched it. It didn't.

"Some stuff," he said to Evelyn.

She wordlessly handed him the jar so he could put it on his chest.

The next person down the stairs was Pintel, the man with the wooden eye that had startled Trinity the first day of their voyage. He'd brought a mop and bucket, and began cleaning the floor around the cell. They watched him for a few minutes, until he began to shift uncomfortably under the gazes of the three prisoners.

"Pintel, is it?" Vorian finally asked, walking to the cell door.

"Yeah?" The pirate snapped nervously, "What's it to ye?"

"Just wondering," the water prince said, and shrugged. "If you're not to speak to us then by all means, follow the orders of your dear captain. I just had a few questions."

Pintel glanced around nervously with his one good eye, as the wooden one followed belatedly. "What did you want to know?" he sneered finally, not quite managing to appear tough.

"Oh, it's simple really," Vorian said nonchalantly, shielding the women from the pirate's gaze by lounging in front of the cell door. "I was just wondering what the difference was, us being in the brig or us being in our quarters. We're still going to the same place, right?"

Pintel raised an eyebrow. He leaned towards Vorian on his mop, and whispered roughly, "Aye, but captain's annoyed with the lot of ye. He wants to make absolutely certain you can't get out, which he was scared of when he saw your power, water prince. He had a mishap a few years ago when the Fae who worked for him failed miserably at getting the kingdom of the Underground."

Trinity's and Evelyn's eyes widened, and they looked at each other in horror.

Vorian barely managed to control his surprise. "He had a Fae work for him?" he asked casually.

Pintel was falling for it hook, line, and sinker. He snorted, drawing himself up haughtily. "I know," he said, "Normally you Fae don't associate with us half-breeds. But this one was desperate, seemed like."

The water prince cocked his head, the very picture of innocent surprise. "What was his name? We might have known him."

Pintel rolled his good eye, the wooden one following jerkily. "We of course you knew him. He got on the throne, but only held it for a few weeks before what's-'is-name took control again. Raiv, it was."

Evelyn threw her hand over her mouth, and clutched at her stomach as the words of a fateful conversation returned to her.

She came up on Raiv from behind, but didn't get any closer than what was absolutely necessary for hearing him. At this distance, she could also see that he was dressed in his poet shirt, riding pants, and boots. His Underground garb.

"…Doing the best I can!" Raiv was saying.

Evelyn realized he was talking into a small crystal he held in his hand. It must have been his method of communicating with the Labyrinth. She couldn't hear what the crystal said back, but she heard Raiv's reply clearly.

"It's the only option left. He's falling for one of the human girls, the one I originally thought would be his undoing. If he's left alive, it would only get worse."

There was silence as the crystal spoke.

"No, I can't kill her. In her world, it would bring on a lot of attention. Her people would miss her. Plus, I'd have to get the other one too, which would just be time consuming. No, it'll have to be him…No; I don't need assistance at this point. These animals wear iron on their feet, for Underground's sake! This place is a death trap. It wouldn't be hard at all."

"The voice in the crystal," she whispered to Trinity, too low for Pintel to hear. "Raiv was speaking to him in the crystal before he stabbed me."

Vorian tensed, but didn't show it to Pintel. Instead, he raised his eyebrows coolly. "Really?" he said, "I remember him well. He was the one that had so much trouble with the weather, right?"

Pintel nodded solemnly. "Aye. That was before the captain knew about the curse on the throne of the Underground. Only someone of royal blood can be on the throne, or the whole place goes 'kaboom'. When he found that out, he told the pirate king immediately, and he came up with a concoction" – here Pintel made the sign of the evil eye against his chest, to protect himself from evil – "That's supposed to undo the curse."

They heard more footsteps down the stairs, and Pintel hurriedly began mopping the floor again. It was a false alarm, as it was Wilburus who descended the steps.

"Pintel?" the boy said, "Captain wants you on deck. I'm supposed to finish your job."

The one-eyed pirate let out a whoop, and practically threw the mop and bucket to the red-haired boy. Wilburus caught them clumsily, and sullenly began to mop the floor again.

Vorian relaxed, and leaned against the wall of the cell. "Good for him that it was just you," he told Wilburus. "He's a horrible actor. A blind goblin would have been able to tell that he'd been talking to us."

"What did he tell you?" Wilburus asked. He'd frozen with his back to the cell.

"Just some things about Tesla," Vorian said smoothly, though his curiosity was piqued by the boy's reaction. "Why?"

Wilburus took a deep breath, and began mopping again. "Nothing," he said sullenly. "The crew is gloating that they've caught a couple of humans, and a Fae of all beings. None of them is full-blood Fae, so they think you're royalty."

"Everyone in the Underground is Fae, I thought," Evelyn said quietly, coming to stand by Vorian.

"They are," he said, "But we're not in the Underground. We are way outside the boundaries of Jareth's kingdom. These pirates have a little Fae blood in them, from renegades who left the kingdom long ago."

"I'm half," Wilburus said proudly, puffing out his chest as he mopped. "Half-elven too." He indicated is pointed ears. Then his face fell. "I though Pintel would tell you something different. He hates that I was just a prisoner, 'cuz neither race is from around here, and now I'm on his ship."

"Oh," Evelyn said, looking at the boy.

At that moment, Sanji called Wilburus back on deck. Evelyn and Vorian both looked at Trinity, who hadn't spoken a word since her explosion the nigh before. The black-haired woman hadn't moved, and was sitting with her eyes closed. They glanced at each other worriedly. She was closing up, the strain was too great for her to handle.

Tesla himself paid a visit to the brig that day, making certain to inflict several more wounds on Vorian before he left. He also did an excellent job making Evelyn feel as though every last stroke of bad luck was her fault, and it was almost more than the woman could bear. She choked up all of her own concerns, however, and tried to get Trinity to open up just a little bit. Trinity was bound tightly inside of herself, and she wouldn't speak at all. Evelyn didn't push her, but wrapped her arms around the younger girl and held her close.

Trinity kept her eyes shut tightly and her body curled up in a ball. Occasionally her body would tremble, showing that she was fighting hard not to cry but was failing.

"God," Evelyn prayed in hushed tones. "Please, help us."