CHAPTER SIX: That's Outrageous!
Arwen awoke in total darkness. With a loud gasp, the captive elf sat bolt upright, scattering her cushions. Her heart was still pounding after a truly horrific dream, and she could feel the sinister presence of Ling Kray the pirate. But then her shoulders slumped in relief. He wasn't looming over her sleeping form as she'd imagined. Yet his musky fragrance still clung to the soft silk cushions where she'd slept.
The daughter of Elrond frowned into the stifling darkness. She remembered being captured by Ling Kray – being dragged into his cabin – and she remembered toiling over his tarnished collection swords and knives. An unwilling captive, she'd polished each blade with a greasy rag until her arms ached and her shoulders sagged with exhaustion. But she didn't remember falling asleep afterwards, curled up in a ball on the hard wooden floor. And she certainly didn't recall being moved from the floor of the pirate's cabin to the scented softness of his bed!
Seeking to confront her captor, Arwen made her way on deck. Outdoors it was still pitch-black, but the air was colder than the captain's cabin. The faint yellow glow of a lantern led her to the pirate captain himself, standing lookout in the bow with a sea-cloak wrapped around his broad shoulders.
"Where are we? Are we approaching land? How far is it to the city of Zin Zaraboob?" Arwen could hear distant waves crashing against the night-shrouded shore. She pictured the ship being dashed to pieces by unseen rocks.
"Sorry, slave. There's been a change of plan. We're not going to Zin Zaraboob just yet. We need to do a little midnight trading first."
"What? You mean it's not safe to sell stolen goods in a city ruled by a mere woman? Zuleika of the Shifting Sands must be a dark and deadly sorceress indeed!" Arwen was being sarcastic. Yet it was good to know her enemy had enemies. An even more encouraging thought came to her. "Did you just change your mind? Or did someone change it for you? The mighty Ling Kray ran into something he couldn't handle!"
"Zuleika's fleet appeared just off the horizon at sunset." Ling Kray was maddeningly casual about the whole thing. "We couldn't fight them, so we outran them. They'll never catch us in the swamps, though. Zuleika's not that powerful. Yet."
"Hmph. If I'd seen those ships, I'd have hollered for help." Arwen knew she might have been spotted, or even rescued. Instead she'd been down below, toiling for her new master. And then she'd fallen asleep in his far too comfortable bed!
"It's a good thing you were resting in my cabin," Ling Kray told her calmly. "I'd have cut your head off if you yelled."
"How brave you are!" Arwen declared, in a snarky way. There was a look in the pirate's eyes that made her shiver. But she tried to shrug it off. "Still, I suppose losing my head would be far more dignified than your other punishments!"
Unexpectedly, the pirate chuckled at her feeble joke. "Yes, I thought you might wake up a little sore. My cabin floor is hard, even though someone moved you to the bed later on."
"You couldn't have . . ." Arwen was embarrassed. The cruel pirate Ling Kray must have moved her while she slept. She hated the idea of accepting his kindness. Yet she also hated the idea that she'd simply claimed someone else's bed!
Just then there was a jolt as the hull of the ship scraped some underwater rocks. Arwen was forced to sit down and watch as Ling Kray piloted his sleek stolen vessel past the dangerous surf into the mouth of a vast salt-water marsh.
It was a dangerous, nerve-wracking time for all aboard. Yet as the long minutes dragged by, Arwen had to admit that the pirate's skill was impressive. As he shouted orders to his helmsman and averted each deadly peril, Ling Kray really became one with the ship. It was cold, yet he didn't seem to feel the cold. He even shed his sea-cloak, and grunted a command for her to slip it over her shoulders.
The moment she put on the cloak, Arwen felt warm and snug. Ling Kray's tiger-scent enveloped her senses once again in a way that was both soothing and disturbing. Someone brought her a cup of hot brew, rich and strong, and she sipped it gratefully as the chilly night wore on.
"All right, princess. Let's go meet the natives." It seemed to be hours later when Ling Kray's powerful hand gripped her forearm, pulling her upright in the wink of an eye.
"What?" Arwen found herself standing nose to nose with the pirate. His eyes were very black. His lips were very close to hers. She blinked, shaking off the strange sense of expectation. "We're going ashore? On our own?" They were now deep in the fog-shrouded marsh. Arwen had been dozing for some time, wrapped in the warm folds of the pirate's cloak. Suddenly she was being loaded into a tiny landing craft by grinning pirates, with the fierce and treacherous Ling Kray as her only companion!
"Don't be scared," the pirate captain told her, reaching over to button the top button of her cloak. "We're going to trade elven goods, so having an elf along makes perfect sense. Just smile, and try to act like we're respectable traders, not pirates. That'll get us a better price."
"That's outrageous!" Arwen absolutely despised the man. He was not only cruel, he was dishonest! But she couldn't risk being spanked or tossed overboard. Instead she silently stewed as Ling Kray began rowing them ashore. There was no honesty in his heart, but there was power in his stroke. Ling Kray's body was like a chiseled work of art.
Arwen shuddered, and looked away.
She had to get away from this man!