Nic & Elke

He relaxed a bit more as soon as she had left him. He did not have a particular reason for tensing up with her around him. Fearing for his life was something he was so used to that he did not mind that feeling. It was something else that made him tense around her. It annoyed him that he could not point out what it was. The good thing of her leaving was that his crew surrounded him again. He could tell this was going to be a long ass night by the looks of their eyes. He nodded and sat up straight, he was ready for whatever they were going to throw at him.
They first told him about their rounds, but before they could really get to the important stuff a guard stepped in and told him he was disqualified. Het was allowed to heal for the time being, but after that he had to leave. It was something Alistair had expected. Zori was young but he had hoped she would come around and she the truth in his words. Sadly she was just like all the other royals, only busy with themselves and what they wanted. She could spread lies about caring for her people, but if her people would not want her care she would force.
He nodded at the guard, it was too busy in his head to start a fight with the man and he looked at the three men of his crew. They had to switch plans and they had to do it tonight. Everything they had hoped for was annihilated by her decision. It did not mean that they would be gone and leave her to it, it just meant that hey had to step up their game. There was not much involved that night as they talked everything through. Silently, because nobody should hear of their plans. If it went wrong, they would definitely hang for this. If it went right however, the payoff would be tremendous. Alistair had gambled all his life, most of the he had won. If he made the gamble, it was almost certainly worth it. His crew followed him, not blindly but certain. Certain that their captain had the best intents for all of them. He had. The best for himself of course, but his crew was a very close second. Without them, what would he even be a captain of?
It was almost daybreak when their plans were finalized and the other found their beds. They needed their sleep, for they had to fight another day. If the morning of course did not bring news of Zori disqualifying all his men. Because that would be very unfortunate.
Alistair however did to sleep well. He kept going over the plan, again and again. And the conversation he had with the princess. She was a stubborn one, but he had thought her not to be blind. He did question himself about her and if she could really change when she saw what he had meant.

She hadn’t slept well, not at all to be precise. The words she’d had with Alistair kept going through her mind. What if he was right? What if her people didn’t want her as their queen, what then? It annoyed her more than she would ever tell anybody, especially Alistair, because she’d been so certain she would be better than her father or any other royal. Never had there been any doubt, none in her own capabilities as long as she would get the chance to do what she did best. She would fight for her people, try to get them all a good life, an easier life than they had now. No more worrying about how to take care of their families, why wouldn’t they want her then? Because she was a royal? There was nothing she could change about her being royal, but she could change the system when given the change. She would change it.
The problem was that now she felt like she wanted to change it merely to spite Alistair and to throw back in his face that her people did want her, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing to want as a princess or hopefully a queen. It made her petty. She was petty, she could admit as much, especially after she already made sure to disqualify him from the tournament. Zori had thought about getting those men that were with him thrown out as well, but they hadn’t said anything to her and she figured they would leave if their captain did. No need to get them thrown out if they left of their own free will.
Eventually the sun was shining in her room and she sighed, but did get out of the bed. She had work to do, which was look pretty and be on time for the next tournament fights to start. Honestly, she didn’t even know what fights woud be occurring today, but she didn’t care either. Idiot cavemen. All of them.
There was a knock on the door and she walked over to open it, multiple maids were already waiting for her on the other side. They brought breakfast and her outfit for the day and she felt like closing the door again, but let the girls enter, if only because it was their job and they would get in trouble if she was the one to make said trouble. She snatched some of the fruit from the bowl one of them was holding and went to look at the dress they arranged on her bed. It was a beautiful dress, she had to give them that and surely it would look stunning on her, such a shame she rather not wear it.

It had been a very long night for Alistair. Even though his men got some sleep, he kept thinking about the plan and what could go wrong. The morning came too early for him and he grunted a bit when he was woken up. Yes, he was disqualified and told he could remain until he was healed but that did not mean he could sleep in. He got some food and his wounds were tended to. He informed if he could watch the fighting, some fresh air would do him good and luckily he was told he could.
He got dressed, it was a pity he wasn't on his ship because his clothing was still covered in blood. Walking was not something he enjoyed right now, but he ignored the pain in his body. He had to see his crew fight and win. They could not leave him to do this all on his own. He had chosen them because he needed them, not because they were disposable.
Alistair walked straight towards the stands for the commoners, there was not much folk that came to look at the tournament, most had to work, but there were some. As he was no longer allowed to participate, he wanted to watch. Watch the fools he could've slain if she had only allowed him. He looked around and his eyes landed on Zori. He felt his mouth dry a little. She looked gorgeous in her dress and he cursed under his breath. He wanted her and he did not want to let some dirty fat noblemen touch her. He wanted her and even more than that, he wanted her to want him. She could say to him he would hurt her, but those were not his plans. He wanted her to be dirty, because he could tell she would be.
Eventually he looked at the challenge. Animals this time. Predators ready to kill their prey. There were many and small groups were sent in, if they managed to kill the others and one of the animals with out dying they could continue. Alistair knew that this round would cost many lives. Escaping long enough for the others to die was one thing, but killing a lion of tiger yourself after that was another. He was curious to see how they would do. He looked up again towards Zori and shot her a grin. He may be disqualified, but that did not kill his spirits.
The first group came in, Roland was with them and his jaw tightened. He tore his eyes from Zori and looked down. If his friend would die, he would look at it. Look at it and make sure he would be remembered for the brave men he was. Alistair did however catch himself in saying a little prayer to make sure his friend would not die. Not that he really believed in a God or that such a thing as a prayer, especially from him, would be answered. But he had done it nonetheless, because it also did not hurt anybody.

Her maids had done a great job getting her strapped into the dress. It was a very tight dress - even worse than the one she wore the evening before - and they had to put her in a corset and pull that really tight before they were able to put the dress in. She hated it. Dresses weren’t all that bad, but especially those tight-fitted dresses were made for men, not women. They were made to degrade women into what men already thought thy were, only good for the eyes, perhaps to fuck a bit later and then that would be it. Again, she hated it. If this dress had been even slightly more flowing, she would’ve liked it more, but unfortunately she wasn’t the one to pick out her dresses. It would be something if she ever got to do anything herself in this castle.
Getting dressed and having breakfast already seemed like hours ago, considering she was now once again sitting at the dais with her family. The next challenge had something to do with animals and first fighting the humans, or not getting killed and then fighting the animals. She wasn’t sure what the order was supposed to be, but not getting killed in general seemed to be a good tactic. Unfortunately she wasn’t interested if they lived or died.
The moment she slumped in her seat her mother noticed.
‘Sit straight,’ her mother hissed at her. The woman didn’t even look at her and yet she knew and was capable of being a bitch about it. Grumbling Zori went to sit up straight again. She really wasn’t allowed to do anything in this forsaken kingdom.
She needed something to distract her from not being able to sit however she liked, so instead she started to pay a bit more attention than before. The guy that was currently winning was definitely one of the men she had seen around Alistair, which made her wonder why they hadn’t left yet. Did that mean her father hadn’t disqualified him? Or would his men continue even if he didn’t? The guy - she didn’t remember if Alistair ever said his name, but to be fair, she probably wouldn’t remember if he had - managed to win and some of the commoners cheered for him. Right. They could cheer for somebody.
The next group entered the arena and again no Alistair, but she was curious and let her eyes go over the entire arena to make sure he wasn’t there. Eventually her eyes settled on him, he was here, but he was also in the stand meant for commoners and those that were solely watching. Her father did get him out. Good. She narrowed her eyes at him, although she doubted he could see it from this distance, before she looked back at the fighting human and animals. Humans that were currently being slaughtered.

This challenge was perhaps more horrendous and dangerous than the one before. Killing others was easy if you were used to it. But escaping the others and the animals and after that killing one.. You had to be damned good at fighting. Even though Alistair knew all his men were good, better than good, he was scared for Roland. There were moments were it looked like he almost lost it. He was glad his comrade managed to win, he needed him.
Alistair was relieved none of the others were in the next group, he needed some time to sort himself out. It was difficult, not being able to do anything from this position. He again looked up at Zori. Was this kingdom really worth all this trouble? If the ruler let his subjects die this easily, was it a kingdom worth gaining? He was not sure if that was a positive answer.
He looked away, staring at the group that was getting slaughtered. This time none survived. Apparently that was a fine outcome as well. He sighed and sat in his seat. Standing too long was an agony. He could've died here, he was not in the best shape currently. Perhaps this disqualification was the best outcome he could have hoped for. He frowned a bit and thought about what they were up to. They needed her out of her shell... Somewhere with not that many guards and where there would be escape routes. It was a whole lot they had to think of, but now he had the time. He did not have to worry about fighting and dying. He could start planning and getting to know this place and the princess.
He knew her to be somewhat unpredictable, but everybody has habits and she would be no exception. They needed to get to know her and her schedule. Last time she just wandered around the men and after that she visited him. Moment like that were needed in order for them to take her. The guards they could handle, but all the men left was another thing. Those numbers were too large for them to conquer with just the four of them.
This all started to sound very solid and very good. It made him smile a bit and he looked to the next group. Who knew that getting the princess on your bad side could be so fruitful. He snickered a bit, but looked towards the arena afterwards. He had to keep his men in check, needed to know if they would survive or if they would die. If so, then he needed some new men with him.

Once again Zori decided she didn’t want to be here. Especially after the last fight, which was horrifyingly brutal with no survivors. The animals had completely shredded those men and were now feasting on their corpses. She knew she shouldn’t care about them, they were here for her kingdom and her body, but this was inhumane to the bone. Quite literally. Nobody should be put through fighting lions and tigers for the sake of a kingdom or a wife. Even so, she didn’t understand why her father had been so adamant in using mostly physical and deadly challenges. Wouldn’t the kingdom need somebody with an actual set of brains? Or did her father simply think he could teach her future husband to think for himself? She doubted it, but there was always the option that her father didn’t care and merely liked to watch the violence. Well, she didn’t, it made her sick.
Without saying something, Zori got up and prepared to leave the dais again, although this time her father didn’t seem to be too happy to watch her leave.
‘Sit down.’ Confused she looked back around. Her father never talked to her, although when he did it was usually a command, so that wasn’t new.
‘If you want me to throw up right here, I will, but I’m guessing you’re not interested in me puking all over the dais and having the entire kingdom see it.’ She looked right back at her father, who eventually gave in and gestured she could go. Good. She wasn’t going to throw up, she wasn’t that weak, but she also didn’t want to be here and appearing to be weak helped her get away. It always did. Zori only had to hint at being the weak, young princess others thought she was and they would believe it. If only they knew. If only they had any clue as to what she wanted to do to them all.
As quick as she could do left the dais, unfortunately that wasn’t nearly as fast as she wanted to be able to walk. Her dress was way too tight, which prevented her from walking at a normal speed, like a normal person. She could hear the guards behind her, who had no trouble keeping up with her moving so slowly. Was that why they put her in dresses like this one? So she couldn’t get rid of the guards they assigned her? Surely her father wasn’t that smart to figure out what would keep his daughter guarded, but somebody had and they used it against her.
‘You could just leave me be, you know?’ She said to no guard in particular, but she knew they wouldn’t answer her. They never did. So instead of paying attention to them, she entered the market. Time to spend some of her fathers not so well earned money.

Alistair had watched the entire thing. It was bloody cruel, but he did not expect anything less from the king. It was very obvious why these were the very first challenges of the tournament. It was to weed out the weak and show the kingdom that he was a strong king who wanted a strong man for his daughter. The message was very clear to those who could see it. It was probably aimed at the noblemen, most commoners knew the king was a cruel man. Many of them were dirt poor because of him and they would never try to disobey his orders. It was clear that this message was to those who would try to disobey him. Alistair was no idiot and he could see the message loud and clear, he just choose to ignore it. If he would obey he was nothing more than some ignorant cattle obeying to their master. He hated that role, he wanted to be the master.
Eventually the animals backed off, leaving not much of the corpses but enough to make it look like a horrifying scene. Some women shrieked or fainted. Stupid men for bringing their weak women to such a thing, not many would be able to handle this horrifying site.
His eyes trailed back up over the dais. He watched Zori stand up and eventually leave. He wondered if she was not able to stomach this. If that was the case, how would she ever dream of being a queen? No... That could not be it, she had some plans and they clearly did not involve watching the men who died for her. He should have expected such a thing.
For a moment his thoughts lingered. Should he follow her? It was good to know how many guards often accompanied her and if she was able to get away quickly on her own if they had taken care of the guards. As soon as the next fight started he took off. Walking was still a pain in the ass, but he managed. It would give his men a lot of useful information and he hated doing nothing. He knew they could handle these beasts, so they could better celebrate with him having something useful to tell them.
Alistair looked around, it was busy outside the arena so he just started to walk around. It would take some time, but eventually he would see her. It was hard to miss her in that dress and with all the guards surrounding her. It took him a few moments before he indeed spotted her on the market. He smiled a little bit, feeling happy with himself. Slowly he followed her. He did not want her attention nor did he wish to speak with her. Just looking at her and her guards was enough. He had to find a weak spot and find out how to use it. How often did she switch guards? How many did she have? Very important questions for him to answer. Besides the guards there was the princess herself. She looked not too pleased with her guards... She ran away from them on the first day of the tournament, so if they were gone she would probably try and make a break for it. They also had to keep that in mind. She was their goal after all.

If they weren’t going to leave her alone, it only meant she had to get rid of them another way. She had more than one trick up her currently very long sleeves. Her dress did complicate things, it was very tight around her body and although she could walk, she definitely wouldn’t be able to go any faster than the few steps she took in a minute. It annoyed her, but again, she was smart enough to get rid of a few guards. If Zori was going to be a queen who bested all of this kingdoms enemies, she needed to be able to use her brain.
While she was buying products left and right, spending her money with pretty much every villager she came across who offered her something, her guards were having an increasingly hard time to carry everything she made them carry. Usually after a while they were allowed to pay villagers to help them carry everything, but only if the amount of stuff Zori bought was getting in the way of them protecting her. She was almost there, but didn’t cross that line just yet.
‘Oh!’ She looked over to one of the fabric shops, this was one of her favorites and once again did the owner not disappoint. There were some amazing fabrics outside and even more inside.
‘I’ll be right back boys,’ she smiled at the guards outside, they couldn’t come in with how small the shop was and how much they were carrying, so she left them there.
‘Can you send this one,’ she gestured at one of the new fabrics, ‘and these three,’ she touched some of the others, ‘to the castle? I’ll pay in advance.’ She was already giving the owner the money.
‘Are you going out the back again, your highness?’ Zori winked at the woman, before walking out the back and losing her guards like that. They were such idiots. She had more than one shop she did this with - the villagers knew by now, but they never told the guards - and always made sure to remember which guards she tricked at which shop. If she did it too often at the same shop, they would notice and not let her go in on her own anymore.
Finally free she strolled over another part of the market. Those guards would surely find her, eventually, but until then she had some time to herself. She still bought some things from this part of the market, but now she paid them extra to have her products delivered to the castle. Zori paid them more than enough for their time and they never seemed to mind to go the extra mile for her to buy their stuff. Then again, she also made sure there was free food at the castle for those who had to make their way there, so they were taken care of when they did.

Like a shadow he had followed her, but kept his distance. He was barely noticeable from among the other people. She bought a lot and her guards had to hold it all. He wondered if they were obligated to do that or whether they did that to make sure they could all stay by her side all the time. He looked at their full arms and smiled a bit. He was sure she did not need all of this, because if she did there was something terrible wrong with her.
He followed them over the market and saw her entering a shop. Their guards could not follow, it looked way too crammed for them to enter. He waited and a smiled after a while. She had tricked the guards and he was not the only one who noticed. Alistair looked at the men. There was no panic on their faces, mere frustration that she did it again. Clearly this was not the first time she did something like this. That was good to know, her guards being used to her slipping off only made things a little easier. If it happened during such a thing like a market they would not run after her, as this behavior clearly showed.
Alistair walked away from the guards. He had lost her as well, but he was a good tracker and would find her soon enough. The question was whether he wanted to find her or not. He bit his lip and looked around a bit. Thoughts overflowing his mind. He did not need to find her, perhaps she would fine him on her own.
His thoughts led him to after the plan. What they would do with her. He did not expect Marley to enjoy a women with her, perhaps he could just show her some things not far from here. On the other hand, if he did that they might catch them sooner rather than later. It was a difficult thing to decide and he needed his crew for this one. It was also their lives he put at stake for a chance of more money, better food and a higher chance of survival. He also wondered if it would really help, to show her how the world truly was. He did not think she would remain so lightly and ignorant about the matter of helping people after that. Her plans were good, idealistic but good. It was just that there clearly was such an ignorance to how the world worked in her, that she would end up just the same as every other ruler. She might expect herself to be different. But to take a noblemen who she could easily get rid of as her husband did not mean she was qualified for the job she wanted to do. She knew nothing and she would pay the price for that.

At some point the guards had caught up with her, not even bothering giving her a lecture and merely dragging her back to the castle for her father to deal with her. As to be expected he grounded her. He could surely try, but Zori was never one to stay where she was supposed to stay. Only actually locking her up or putting shackles on her would do the trick and they did no such thing, which meant she was now walking through the royal gardens.
Nobody else was here at this time and she’d properly evaded all the guards that walked around to keep an eye if there were no intruders, which meant she was all on her own. These gardens were surrounded by a forest on one side and a lake on the other, but she always preferred walking by the forest. She liked the water, but it was just a lake. If she wanted water, she would go to the sea and have some fun there. Not that she ever did. There were very few opportunities for her to travel with a ship and unfortunately her wanting to go, didn’t matter much.
She hummed softly as she pulled one of the roses from the garden. This time of year they were in full bloom and she loved their smell, loved looking at their beauty. Of course she killed them once she broke their stem, but in the end it only meant the actual plant could grow stronger and help the other roses bloom more beautifully. People always compared her to a rose. So pretty and yet so prickly. As if they didn’t have a better analogy to use on her. Perhaps she was a rose compared to their words, but that also meant she was easy to pluck and kill. Very easy to get rid of. They were wrong. She was no rose, she’d rather be an oak or even the river running through the lands, but nobody ever compared her to those. They were fierce and immovable. She wasn’t. No, she was, they just hadn’t seen that side of her yet.
As she threw the rose over her shoulder, she kept on walking. There was nobody here and she liked the quiet. Far better than everybody yelling at her for not being a good princess, or even worse, than having to look at that awful tournament. She lied to her father when she said she wouldn’t be able to stomach the brutalities and would throw up right there, but just because she could handle watching it, didn’t mean she had to like it. She hated what her father did with that tournament, getting rid of the weaklings - as he called them - in the first few days before he would start to take some proper interest in them. Absolutely brutal.

At the end of the day all of them had survived. His men were tired and Alistair had let them rest for a little bit. He had surveyed the castle grounds and with some lies even got a bit farther as to see everything else. It was a good thing he did, because he spotted several entrances and exits for them to use. He had smiled a bit when he had explained it to his men. They had agreed with him, they had to move tonight because they weren't sure of the other challenges and how brutal those would be. Neither of them would love to lose their lives.
So the men took some time to heal and eat while they had discussed their plans. They sounded quite solid and doable. When the time was right they had packed up their weapons and made their way towards the palace. They made sure they kept very out of sight and managed to almost immediately disappear in the forest. Therefore it was a good thing that Alistair had already walked up towards it, otherwise it would've taken quite some time to get to the gardens.
Roland was the quiet one of the bunch, so he went ahead and looked around. When he came back his face was beaming. The princess was in the gardens without any guards. This was almost too easy, but perhaps luck was on their side. Perhaps something like a god did see that they meant right and had the best intentions for the princess and this country. Alistair grinned and they slowly took their positions. They had to wait a few moments for her to walk a bit more. The closer she could be to the forest, the faster they could snatch her.
Eventually the moment was there. Cyran gave the sign, Roland and Alistair quickly went ahead. The former grabbed the princess and easily threw her over his shoulder while the latter managed to gag her mouth, making it so that all her sounds were muffled. Alistair looked at the girl and smiled. 'You shall thank us later.' He promised her, after that they quickly disappeared into the woods again. Everything went so quick, he did not expect any guards soon. They had some horses waiting for them outside of the forest and after that is was a quick ride to their ship, which was waiting for them.
Soon Alistair mounted his horse and Roland put the girl in front of him. He looked at the others and nodded, after that they rode off towards the port.

She knew this path like the back of her hand, which was why her eyes had been closed when everything went to hell. She’d been enjoying the fresh air, nature around her and all the lovely sounds it made, without any interruption from those nasty, loud humans, when she suddenly heard a sound that wasn’t made by any animal or plant.
When she tried to turn around, she felt herself being lifted in the air and although she tried to scream - both from shock, fear and anger - something already prevented her from doing so. All logic left her mind as she started kicking whatever it was that had taken her. It quickly became clear to her what was happening and who it was, when she noticed Alistair in front of her. Smiling. Every muscle in her body tensed. Thank him later? She’d stopped moving if only for a moment and they already pulled her hands behind her back and tied them together. A small sound left her lips as they walked away with her lying down on one of the guys. He carried her as if she weighed nothing.
Her body went entirely rigid when the guy put her in front of Alistair. On his horse. Alistair had his arms around her - he had to, otherwise how on earth was he going to ride a horse to wherever it was they were going and keep her on it at the same time, because she was ready to just throw her body off first chance she got - and her back was against his. He touched her. On more body part than one. It completely freaked her out. She knew what he wanted from her, he had made it more than clear on several occasions what was going to happen if he had access to her and now he did. Even if he also told her numerous times that he wouldn’t hurt her, she still knew what was going to happen. He wanted her and now he had her. It was that simple. For him, not for her, because she wanted none of this.
Zori was shaking while Alistair rode the horse she was on. She wasn’t even sure if she was shaking because of the cold wind or the fact that she was being kidnapped by a fucking pirate, but either way, she wasn’t all too happy with her current situation. All her life she prided herself on being smart, on being the smartest person in the room even if they were too dumb to recognize her intellect, but maybe they were right. She’d been out in the gardens without an escort, close to the forest, while there was a tournament full of men that wanted her. Including the man she had kicked out of the tournament because she didn’t want him to win. Well, that went absolutely terrible. Perhaps she made sure he wouldn’t win the kingdom, but he managed to get to her after all.

It had been so much easier than they had expected it to be. She had been alone in the gardens with really no guards in sight. Roland had taken her quickly and carried her over his shoulder until they got to the horses. He had put her in fronst of Alistair who quickly put his arms around her to prevent her from falling and escaping. She was tucked to his chest. The group rode off, it would be a moment before anyone would notice the princess was really gone and by then they would be at the harbor and if they were lucky already at sea.
Alistair looked at her and noticed she was shaking. With one hand on the reins he managed to get himself out of his jacket and lay it over her shoulders. He was not the worst person who could have kidnapped her, but he was not that great either. He needed things to go his way and because of her stubbornness she put them through this. 'It's not a long ride, we'll be at your new home before you know it.' His voice was calm. He was not afraid they would get taken, they wouldn't.
His crew rode before and behind him, protecting him and the princess from possible dangers. Sometimes they looked at her. They had expected her to struggle more, but that was clearly not the case. Alistair looked at her for a moment. She obviously had not expected anything like this, which was good. That meant that others also would not have suspected this to happen.
Eventually they made it to the harbor and Roland took her from Alistair's horse. Again he carried her over his shoulder to the little rowing boat. When they were all sat they rowed away from shore to get to the ship. It was granted safety for the time of the tournament, but they still made sure to be a bit far off the coast to prevent people from sneaking in. Alistair did not like giving up any treasures.
Some time later they got on the ship. While in the row boat Alistair hadn't said much but looked at Zori a lot. Not in a sexual way, but curious. As if she was something otherworldly, something for him to figure out and understand. As soon as Alistair sat foot on his deck his crew cheered and wished him welcome. They had to wait here all those days, waiting for some news that probably wouldn't come and were instructed to leave if the tournament would be over without any of the boys returning. However, this time they all returned which was as good a reason as any for a celebration. Before he could really do anything Marley was already before him, which made him smile. 'I got you a roommate, if she can behave.' He grinned and looked towards Zori, who was still on Roland shoulders as he climbed aboard. Marley looked at the girl without a smile. 'I don't like her.' She stalked away to the steering wheel and barked orders at the men. They had to get to work, so they could get away. Alistair smiled. What would he be without his first mate?
'Put her in my quarters, I don't thing Marley's are ready for her yet.'

Her new home. Alistair actually had the guts to call it her new home instead of the prison he was bringing her to. While Zori never thought about the palace as her home, it was the place she lived in and grew up in. Her family lived there, so technically, it was her home. She didn’t need nor want a new one and definitely not one from the bloody pirate that was currently kidnapping her.
The first part of the journey they rode on a horse, but eventually they came to a rowboat and she could already see the big ship waiting for them just off the coast. She could feel her muscles cramp up when looking at it. After he would get her on that thing, there was no turning back. Her family wouldn’t even know who had taken her - although if they used their brain for once they could probably figure it out - and even if they did, where were they going to look for her? The entire ocean? That really narrowed it down. If her father even bothered to look for her. Zori wouldn’t put it past him to declare her deceased and let one of his easier to influence daughters take the throne. He could even continue the tournament if he wanted to. Sure, she wouldn’t be the prize anymore, but her sisters were just as pretty as she was.
They entered Alistair’s ship and she could feel the vibe change. This was their territory. Not just from Alistair, but from all of them, even if Alistair was the captain and thus in charge of this bunch.
The guy that had been carrying her the entire time kept her on his shoulders while he walked over the ship and entered what Zori figured to be the captains cabin. There was no way for her to get out of his grip while she was bound and gagged, but even if she managed to get away, there was still an entire crew that would stop her from getting out of here. So instead she did nothing. Didn’t work against the guy carrying and she didn’t even kick him. Oh, she hated every part of what was happening. Zori never appreciated it when people made her out to be weak, but she currently was weak and as it turned out; that was so much worse. But she would need her strength at some point, which made it better to calm down now.
Zori entered the cabin while still on his shoulders - which was getting increasingly painful for her ribs - and then finally he dropped her down on the ground. In one swift movement he kicked her legs out from under her. Zori hit her head as she crashed to the floor and grunted something, but she couldn’t curse at him like she’d wanted to with that gag still in her mouth. Her hands had been tied together behind her back and she noticed the pirate now attached that rope to a iron ring stuck in the side of the ship. She was never going to get free from those ropes, but he effectively took away her movement as well by tying her down like this. If Alistair came, she wouldn’t even be able to try and evade him, which she knew she was going to want to do.
‘Good girl,’ the guy patted her cheek and she narrowed her eyes at him. Asshole. He simply chuckled and got up, only to leave the room again.

He trusted Roland with his price, he knew all of the men wanted to get her but she was his for now. That could always change, but he was not ready for that yet. Besides, he eventually wanted to have her in Marley's room. He liked woman, but not many and not always near him. Marley was an exception. He had grown up with her and she was like a sister to him. The moment he had his own ship, she was part of his crew. Before she had fought for herself. She understood that he was no guardian angel and he needed her to be tough here. But she stood her ground perfectly and made her way up on her own. Eventually the crew wanted her to be his first mate and who was he to deny it?
Alistair listened to her reports of the days he had missed and he gave her a course. Not that he really needed to do that. She knew where to go, sometimes even before he did. As of right now they just needed to get away quickly. He looked at his crew, hard working men, who got the message. Get away from the wretched shores, towards the open sea. As soon as they got there, nobody would get them. Alistair prided himself on the fastness of his ship.
Eventually he walked towards his own quarters and opened the doors. He looked at Zori and rolled his eyes, Roland clearly did not want to make her too comfortable. He knew the man's ways but he needed Zori, not only in his bed. After he locked the door he looked at her again. 'Nod at me for answers please.' Alistair calmly took of his jacked and sat behind his desk. 'I want to release you, because we are heading for open sea and they won't get you back any time soon. But I need to know whether you will jump.. So will you? Do you have a death wish?' He waited a moment and smiled. 'Because the moment you are released we can go up from there. Get you out of this room at certain moments to getting out on your own and eventually you will get a nice new room, with a lovely roommate. I am sure you are going to love her, I don't think she will like you very much but you'll just have to try to get her to like you.' Alistair smiled a bit and when he was certain she wouldn't scream his ears off his head he took the gag away and looked at her. 'Well princess here we are.' He grinned a bit and sat back, looking at her. 'Do you have any nice words for me or would you rather have the gag back on? Everything can be arranged of course.'

She was cold, tied-up to the hull of a ship, there was a gag in her mouth and she was surrounded by pirates - even if they weren’t in her line of sight at the moment. Zori was not having a good time. First of all she hated that apparently she wasn’t the only one that could fool her guars, everybody with a set of brains could and unfortunately Alistair proved to have those. Perhaps not when he antagonized her into getting him kicked out of the tournament, but she wasn’t even sure if that had been his plan or not. Perhaps he did it on purpose. Why, she didn’t know, but she also didn’t know why men would enter in the first place, so she really wasn’t the one to answer that question.
At some point the man of the hour himself came walking into the cabin. She wanted to wipe that stupid, smug smile off his face, but in her current situation, that proved to be hard to do. She also wasn’t all too sure about what it was she wanted to do in the first place, considering her usual big mouth would likely get her in trouble if she used it on him now. During the tournament she’d been able to say and done whatever it was she wanted, because she knew he wouldn’t lay a hand on her. Not without afterwards losing said hand or even his life. Here, however, he could do whatever it was he fancied with her and she was intelligent enough to know nothing she did would matter. Compared to his strength she was a fucking squirrel. Her father should’ve let her train, but no, that wasn’t ladylike. Well, ladylike certainly wasn’t going to get her far on a ship full of pirates.
Not that she wanted to, but she shook her head when he asked her if she was going to jump overboard. She would’ve preferred to ignore him and pretend as if he was some sort of cockroach, but it was better to play the game with him on his turf than against him. So no, she wasn’t going to throw herself overboard and she didn’t have a death wish. Did he seriously think she would? What an idiot.
His idiocy was proved even more when he decided to take her gag off. Part of her wanted to scream, but she knew he would put the gag right back on.
‘Drop dead,’ she hissed at him. Although Zori didn’t want him to put the gag back on, Alistair had to realize this was the first time she could tell him exactly how she felt about him kidnapping her and she was not amused. Not at all. ‘If you actually thought I was going to have anything nice to say to you, you might want to check if your brain is working.’ Well, so far for playing the game with him.

Alistair chuckled at her words. 'I am glad to see your spirits haven't left you yet.' He checked her to see if she was hurt, could not have her dying on him right now. He created some distance and poured himself a glass of wine, after which he took a seat and looked at her. 'So.. I know this is not the way you planned everything, but often life has its own ways. And since you clearly did not want to listen to my words, I thought, how better for you to understand, than to see everything for yourself?'
He smiled at her and drank his wine. Until he was sure she could behave, she would get nothing. He was fond of his drinks and he did not like a single drop waisted. For a moment he looked away, thinking about where to next and how he could really show her everything she was so wrong about. Eventually his eyes trailed back and looked at her. It would take some time and he would gladly spend some of it with her. He guessed he would not be her first lover, she clearly old enough to rule the kingdom if that was deemed necessary. She was no child and he had been so adamant about him not touching her.. It could be a nasty experience or a treasured one. He was curious to find out about it when he gave her another one.
'So what are your plans for our little trip. I need to know what to expect from you. My crew obeys me completely, because they trust me. I understand you don't trust me, but don't expect me to let you disobey anything. If needed I will beat the obedience in you or throw you overboard. You may be a princess, but this is my kingdom and nobody will ever find you once you're tossed out. I hope that much is clear for you.' He looked at her with a stern eye. He was not an easy man, but his crew trusted him with their lives and he would not forget that. They chose him and he made sure they had good pirate lives. They did their duties and he paid them, handsomely. He knew Zori would not see it that way, but he was not afraid to use some violence on woman. He expected obedience from her and he was is no way, shape or form like her father. He would make her obey, even if he had to break her down to do that.
Alistair took a sip from his wine again. 'So.. Everything is up to you really. You could stay here tied up, or belowdecks of course. You could live with my men and be their whore. Or be around Marley and me. I like my woman and love my own space. You will be mine if I wish for it, but it won't be all day. Or the last option, we just lock you up and let you out whenever we feel like it. It's a bit cold, dirty and full of rats but if you don't mind it's fine accommodation.' He smiled a wicked smile while he looked at her.

Of course her spirits hadn’t left her. She was cold, annoyed and in a very challenging position for her muscles which were cramping up, but she was still going to spit venom at him every chance she got.
She narrowed her eyes at him when he explained to her why he’d decided to take her. As if that had anything to do with what she did. He probably already decided when he entered the tournament that he would take her like this if there was a chance where he would lose his life during the fights. Not a single part of her believed he came up with this kidnapping after she had him thrown out of the tournament.
‘You won’t be the first to lay a hand on my Alistair and surely you won’t be the last. I have no intention of getting hurt more than the raping you probably deem necessary, but if you feel like beating me or throwing me overboard, go right ahead. I doubt you’ll want to get rid of me entirely, though. I won’t say you went through a lot of trouble to get me, but if you want to show me things, you’re not going to kill me the second I annoy you. I’ve survived my father for twenty five years and taken the beatings for both me and my siblings to keep them save, if you think you’ll fare better at making me shut up, try.’ Her father could hit hard if he wanted to as well and he’d made some of the guards hit Zori when he wasn’t in the mood to do it himself. If Alistair wanted to see if he was more successful than the king himself, he could. She wouldn’t be able to stop him anyway.
‘You honestly expect me to believe that I have a choice in those options you just provided me with?’ She raised her eyebrow at him, not sure if he thought her stupid. ‘And even so, you also think I’m stupid enough to believe it matters what I pick, even if I adhere to whatever ridiculous standards you want me to hold myself to? The moment you change your mind, it doesn’t matter what I do, as long as it’s about what you want.’ Which was present in the way he was currently looking at her. She hated the possessive glance in his eyes.
‘But fine, if it’s up to me, I’d prefer to not be raped or to the minimum that’s possible, either by you or your men and I’m not too fond of rats, so let’s not do that either.’ But if he thought she was going to do any kind of work on his ship, he was gravely mistaken. She was his prisoner, not his slave. If he wanted the deck of his ship clean, his crew could do it.

Alistair wondered who had lain their hands on her and if they had managed to survive. He listened to her talking, she sure as hell loved to hear herself speak. It annoyed him, this was exactly the reason he kept woman out of his quarters during a trip. They talked so goddamn much. ‘Do you really want to go that way? Compare me to you dad?’ He shook his head. ‘Do you even for a second think him hitting you could compare to what I can do to you? I don’t have to rape you to make you suffer.’ He stood up and knelt before her. With a firm hand he grabbed her chin and made her look at him. ‘If I want to I could break every bone in your body and you would beg me to find another bone to break. For you to learn something you don’t need to walk or speak. There is no need for you to not be maimed. I would advise you not to test me too much.’ The looks in his eyes had changed. Before her was a predator and she was nothing more than another prey he would rip to pieces. ‘Make no mistake princess. I like you and your dirty mouth but you should know when to shut it.’ He gave another squeeze before he released her and patted on her head.
‘I gave you a choice. If you want to completely disregard it, go ahead. I know my boys love a good screamer.’ He looked at her while she finally made her decision and nodded. ‘Good, when Marley thinks you are behaved enough she will come and get you.’ He went to sit on his chair again and looked at her. She annoyed him and that was not a good thing. It was never advised to annoy someone but Alistair should be one of the last persons you wanted to get on your bad side.
He drank his wine and contemplated what to do with her for now. She would annoy the living hell out of him while she was being tied up her, but for now it was the safest option. He did not like it, but he knew it was the only way. Alistair calmly stood up and took a seat behind his desk. He had work to do and even though he was interested in her, she was not of great importance right now. She only had to stay alive during the trip, het did not expect anything else from her yet. Eventually he did want her in his bed, but all in due time. They still had some hours before he needed to sleep.

Her eyes followed him as he got up and walked over to her and they narrowed when he grabbed her face. No need to touch her to get a point across, she was already listening to what he had to say. It wasn’t as if she could do much else. He threatened her, of course he did, but she wasn’t going to take it all that seriously. If Alistair truly decided it was in his best interest to hurt her, especially now, she was never going to let him forget that he had needed her to be tied up to hurt her. Which might not mean much to him or his men, but it said a whole lot about his character. What self-respecting guy would ever break the bones of a woman that was tied down on the floor and was already so much smaller than they were? None. Only criminals did that and even then only the lowest of the lowest. She didn’t believe Alistair would work like that. She could be wrong, but for now, she was going with her instinct.
‘If you’re so adamant in keeping me quiet, you should gag me again, seems like the only way you’ll get what you want.’ She knew it was stupid to say because Alistair might actually act on it and then once again she wouldn’t be able to voice her displeasure with the entire situation, but she had to say something. He could think grabbing her face like that and threatening her would be enough to shut her up, but he clearly didn’t know her that well yet. Zori didn’t do what others wanted from her. Never had and she wasn’t planning on changing it now.
Alistair started talking about how his boys would like a good screamer and she chuckled softly. No matter what they did to her, she wasn’t going to scream. She loved talking and didn’t shut up for others, but she was excellent in silencing herself when it was for her own convenience. If they raped her, she wouldn’t scream. She knew it would hurt and she might not be able to stop every reaction her body would have on it - for example tears were often hard to suppress, although she was already thinking of ways to make sure she wouldn’t cry with them around either - but screaming? No. A yelp, she might not be albe to stop that, but full out screaming was never going to happen if it was up to her and frankly, it was. She would make them gag her if that was what needed. After all, Alistair already didn’t like the amount of words coming out of her mouth, surely his men would work the same way.
‘What exactly entails being behaved enough for Marley to come get me? I already can’t move, does it mean shutting up as well or am I forgetting something?’ She knew very well she was annoying him, but if she was going to annoy him, she might as well try and get some information out of it as well.
‘Was kidnapping me always the plan and did you use the tournament to come close, or would you actually have tried to win the kingdom and me if I hadn’t gotten you kicked out?’ He was probably more likely to respond to these kind of questions than anything else, although she doubted he still would after she’d been annoying the crap out of him since he took away the gag.

She annoyed the living hell out of him and he looked at her that way. She just kept talking and eventually he did walk towards her and gagged her again. 'It was a good idea to gag you again, thanks for throwing it up the board.' He shook his head as he looked at her. 'You are forgetting a lot. Marley does not like company very much.' Hij untied her from the ground and yanked her up. 'And since I just can't think with your blabbermouth around me, she will be trying to adjust you a little bit.'
He ignored her completely regarding her questions. She did not matter to him and he was not obligated to answer anything. As if it even mattered, she was here right now and it was partly her own fault. If she had just let him win that damn tournament he wouldn't have had any need to take her with him. He would just rules king. He was still curious to see as of why she thought she would be strong enough to withstand torture. He wondered if she thought the was an honorable man who would give her a fair chance to fight back. Alistair held the rope a little bit tighter and pulled her towards him. He lay his arm around her waist and pulled her close. 'Don't worry darling. She won't maim you. We love you pretty face here,' he softly caressed her cheek, 'and of course your lovely tits.' Without hesitation his hand found his way towards her breasts and he fondled her bare skin. 'We like you here.'
After that he pulled her with him towards the deck. He had grown tired of her and wanted someone else to take some care of her. Alistair got her up some stairs and looked at his first mate and other close friends. He strode towards them and with a little push he nudged Zori towards them. 'I can't think with this chick around me. Look after her for a bit, I need to set our course and she keeps talking.' He shook his head for a moment. 'And is she misbehaves, please keep her face intact. I like it.' He chuckled for a moment and looked at Zori. He took the gag away and looked her up and down. 'It is time for you to behave right now. We don't like people who don't listen to us. You need to know that you don't need a tongue to rule, so we don't really mind silencing you if need be.' It was as if he was talking about the weather. Alistair was so used to hurting people, it did not do anything to him.

Her eyes shot fire when he put the gag back on her mouth, but she didn’t say anything about it, because obviously she couldn’t. She could make some kind of growling sound, but that was beneath her. More of his standard than her own and she wasn’t stooping to his level. Not yet, at least.
Zori cocked her head at him when he pulled her from the ground and basically told her Marley was going to have to try and put her in some kind of mold they wanted her in. What did he think was going to happen? They would hit her a few times and she would suddenly be compliant and do everything they wanted? Those pirates clearly never met somebody as stubborn as she was.
Her breathing sped up a bit when he pulled her in and his arm curled around her waist, but she was still defiantly looking him in the eyes. He could touch her all he wanted, it wouldn’t gain him a reaction. Not today. Not the first day he took her and definitely not the first ten minutes he decided to play with her. If she had to bite her own tongue to refrain from flinching when he touched her, she would. It didn’t help that Alistair decided to touch her cheek, but her eyes narrowed when he decided to go for one of her breasts. There weren’t many men on the face of the earth that had touched her like that - to be fair there were none - and she wasn’t too thrilled about him having access.
While she had been staring at him, trying to kill him with the power of her mind, Alistair clearly decided he’d had enough and suddenly pulled her with him. Her hands were still tied behind her back, which made it rather difficult to walk in a straight line when he was holding the rope, but she managed not to fall down the stairs. She was trying not to immediately embarrass herself and look like the incompetent princess she so clearly was. No princess should be able to get kidnapped and she knew it was her own fault, even though her guards and father shared some of the blame.
Alistair pushed her forward, towards some of his crew, but also took away the gag, so it was both a win and lose situation for her.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be really good,’ she told him. Everybody could hear that was a lie and if they didn’t hear it, they could see it by the sweet, poisonous smile on her face. Now, however, it was time to do what she did best: act like she was better than everybody else. She smiled once more at Alistair, turned around and walked away. Her hands were tied behind her back, but her feet were free and finally nobody was carrying her anymore, so she could walk around.
‘You’ve clearly been on a ship before,’ one of the men nodded at the way she was walking on the ship, not missing a step and not even swaying because of the waves. Only people that were either used to being on the water or those that liked it would be able to adjust that easily.
‘Contrary to popular belief of my family, I actually think it’s an enrichment to be out at sea and I enjoy being on the water. Perhaps I’ve had better company, however I have no qualms against a ship.’ Zori knew she shouldn’t be using big words, but she saw the way they reacted to her talking that way and decided it was worth it.
‘Never thought I would actually have the honor to meet a princess,’ another one of the men thought he could be a jerk by being sarcastic towards her, but Zori was no stranger to sarcasm and she had a sharp enough tongue to battle anything a pirate could come up with.
‘Oh, no, darling, the honor is all mine, I never thought I would meet people who look like they drowned and came back to life three times over. Yet here we are.’ She had been walking around on the ship, but did smile at the pirate that spoke to her. They started it, she merely answered when they said something to her, there was no reason to get mad about it.

Alistair looked at her when he had taken away the gag. He took some distance and started talking to Marley. He was sure Zori could enjoy herself for the time being. He told Marley she would sleep with Zori in one room if he did not want her. However, if Zori was really annoying Marley had his permission to throw her in the cells belowdeck. It was an agreement they both understood and Alistair nodded for a moment.
Even if she was not talking to him, she managed to annoy him. He growled and took his dagger to distract himself. He looked at the see but she kept insulting his crew. With a few steps he was behind her. Easily he grabbed her and pulled her towards him. His knife was soon at her throat. 'You should really watch your words. You annoy me little princess and that is not a thing you want to do.' His men had fallen silent and quickly went back to work. They had experienced Alistair's mood changes more than once and they were glad it was not one of them that had to suffer through them. Almost everybody survived, but almost everybody also gained some scars from it.
The knife slit against her skin and blood welled from it. It was not deep, not even enough to give her a scar. Alistair hoped it was warning enough. He kissed her neck and bit in her earlobe before he chuckled. 'I know you fear for what I can do to you... You act really though but you absolutely don't know me.' He kissed her neck again, bit one time. 'Look around, even they are glad you are the one I get to torment and not one of them.' The knife trailed around her dress. 'I could cut it away for you, I can imagine it gets in the way of showing us your body.' His voice was dark, it was very clear that the Alistair who stood behind her right now was not in the same mood as the one who conversed with her and enjoyed her witty comebacks. This side of him was dark and above all dangerous. Bloodthirsty and ready to hurt people. 'I don't believe you even need every part of you body. What need do you have for a pinky? Should I take the top?' He smiled a wicked smile and pushed himself against her butt. He enjoyed this way too much.
Alistair nodded for a moment. 'We can't brand you here, but perhaps I could carve an A in your skin, to let the world know you are my property. How about that? Perhaps you can pick the place.. I really would love your hips, than you can keep it a secret for everybody except for those who come close.' He laughed this time.

Her body locked up the moment she felt Alistair appear behind her and put a knife to her throat. Even if she knew he would never slit her throat, he still needed her for whatever reason, it was still scary to have a knife at the weakest part of your body. Alistair said she was the one annoying him, but what the hell did she do this time? Wasn’t he supposed to go downstairs, work on his course and let the others deal with her? She only answered the pirates that spoke to her, he couldn’t really have a problem with that. Well, obviously he did, but she wasn’t sure why. Nobody told her not to speak and they also didn’t say she couldn’t walk around on the ship.
‘You told me to behave, yet you fail to give instructions on how to do so. Excuse me for figuring it out on my own.’ Zori knew it wasn’t smart to challenge him like that, but if he wanted her to act on his terms, he would have to let her know what those terms were. She couldn’t very well pluck them out of his head. She would love to bash his head in and try, but she doubted that was ever going to happen.
A shiver went down her spine when she felt his lips in her neck. Not exactly the kind of reply she wanted her body to have on him, but one way or the other, she didn’t like him being this close. He knew. She didn’t need to say it, didn’t even have to act on it. Alistair knew she feared him, no matter if she showed the rest of the world or not. If she didn’t, she never would’ve made sure he got kicked out of the tournament.
‘You’re right, I do fear what you can do to me and I would be a fool not to, but I also don’t think it matters what I do or say. You’re going to hurt me whenever you feel like it either way, that has nothing to do with me showing I’m afraid - or not.’ And she was. She was terrified, but she also had a lifetime of working on her appearance and not showing the world her fears, so she was very good at keeping her face and most of her body neutral. The tone of voice she was using would never give away any emotion. Princess learned to be void of feelings from the moment they were born. She didn’t particularly care if he would cut the dress away, considering he wouldn’t let any of the others touch her without him being first about it. Zori wouldn’t particularly like it if he did and everybody could see her entire body, but she knew she was pretty, so she couldn’t say she cared. Carving an A in her body was an entirely different thing.
‘I will never be yours, no matter what you do to my body or what you carve or burn into me.’ Never. If need be, she would burn whatever he did to her away when she managed to get rid of Alistair, because one way or the other, she would.

'Why should I give you instructions, aren't you raised properly? You are a princess after all.. Or was it my mistake to believe that you would really care about your people. Talking to them in such a way is not really nice at all. What did these men ever do to you? They obey me yes, but they never did anything to you. I guess if this is how you will treat your kingdom its a good thing we took you away.' He was trying her. He wanted to see if she would react because if she would lash out towards him, he would have a very valid reason to punish her.
As she was standing so close to him, he could feel her shiver. He smiled a bit and kissed her neck again. He liked how her body reacted to him. He looked at the little bit of blood that stained her dress once it rolled from her neck to her chest. 'You might think you're not showing it, but I can feel it. And I can see it. Maybe not everybody here, some of them or like cubs.. Too young for anything. But I have slain and tortured many. Some were scared, others were foolish and some were even brave. Or tried to act like it did not do anything to them, just like you. But you are wrong, you are showing it and you are merely giving me more to work with.' He caressed her cheek. 'It is okay, I like working with difficult subjects, eventually they will show more.'
Alistair chuckled at her words. 'Oh is that so?' His hand followed the trail of her blood and stroked her breast. Only her thin dress was keeping him from playing with her body. He pushed his groin against her and smiled. 'I think you and I both know that you will be mine, one way or another.' He kissed her neck again and eventually gave her a hickey. 'I stole you, you are my property now dear.' He put his knife away and pinched her butt. 'So just behave and maybe I will wait with carving something in you, maybe..' Alistair eventually released her and walked away. He went towards his quarters and locked himself in. He gave himself some rum and sat himself behind his desk.
Cyran sighed and looked at Marley who just shrugged. He walked towards Zori and smiled a bit. Softly he swiped the blood away and looked at her. 'Would you like me to untie your hands?' He asked her. Alistair would be gone for some time when he was in a mood like this. it was best not to disturb him.