Nic & Elke

Of course she was raised properly, but Zori doubted those rules would apply to living on a pirate ship. After all, wasn’t this supposed to be her new home? It would never be the same as living in a castle, especially since she was one of the highest ranking in said castle and that drastically changed when Alistair decided to kidnap her. She didn’t feel like it, but she was sure they saw her as the lowest of the lowest now. Whatever that meant she was in their eyes.
‘I care about my people, but isn’t it a thing for pirates that they want to be free and not be ruled by any king or queen? Seems to me like you’re not my people at all, thus no reason to care.’ And he was right, there was a conflict of interest when it came to his crew. They would obey Alistair, which meant it wouldn’t matter if she cared or not, they wouldn’t care for her and likely wouldn’t dare cross Alistair. Why would they? Zori couldn’t even blame them for not stepping up for her, Alistair was scary as fuck and she wasn’t sure if she would stand up to him if she was part of his crew. He already made it sound like he wasn’t opposed to hurting them as well.
She felt his lips in her neck again and she rolled her eyes. He wouldn’t be able to see it, but she needed to have some sort of reaction on what he was trying to do and it was better to have one he couldn’t get mad about. Alistair was already way too close for her liking, she didn’t want to antagonize him into making actual contact with her skin. At some point he would, but hopefully not too soon. Zori looked the other way as he decided to touch her cheek. The knife wasn’t pressed as much into her neck anymore, which gave her a bit more room to work with.
‘Not sure why you would call me difficult, it’s rather easy to physically overpower me and since strength is all you have, it shouldn’t be too hard for you. Using your brain might hurt sometimes, but don’t worry, I’ll spell the words if you need me to.’ Alistair refraining from hurting her so far made her a lot braver than she should be. She shouldn’t talk to him like this, but she’d never had a filter before and wasn’t going to start now.
‘Never.’ Was all she told him when he said she would still be his. He actually thought he owned her. Nobody could own another human being. The one good thing her father had in the kingdom was slavery being punishable by either jail or death. Some people obviously still acted towards their employees as if they were slaves, but as long as they were paid for the trouble, her father didn’t care. Zori was not about to become Alistair’s slave, not for working on his ship and definitely not for being in his bed. He could find a hooker to do so.
Eventually Alistair let her go and left the deck. Fucking finally. One of his men came her way and instinctually she took a step back when he tried to wipe the blood from her neck. She didn’t like being touched by men. Didn’t matter if it was Alistair or this guy.
Her eyes narrowed when he asked her if she wanted him to free her hands. She looked him up and down, trying to figure out what it would get him or cost her if she said yes, but she couldn’t think of anything that would be worse than what was already happening.
‘Yes,’ she eventually settled on and the guy actually took down the ropes, which she still hadn’t been sure about he would do. She touched the skin with rope burn and flinched a bit when it hurt, but didn’t say anything to the pirate still standing in front of her. What did he want now? She wasn’t in the mood to play with anybody, it would be so much better if they could simply leave her alone.

It took her a moment to respond. Something Cyran did not really understand. Did she not want her hands free? He was not really used to others, he had been on this ship for so long and most new people soon left them. Alistair was quite a handful to be around. As soon as she responded he untied her hands and looked at her. 'I know he can be a pain in the ass, but you're here now and I guess it will be a long time before you will get back. I would advise you to make the best of it and get to know some of us. I know you're smart enough to figure out who could help you if his temper gets te best of him.' Cyran nodded at her. He was one of the few Alistair sometimes listened to. Together with the others he had taken with him to the tournament and Marley. The five of them were together since forever. If need be, they would do everything on this ship on their own. They trusted Alistair and in return he gave them safety, gold and a very fine life. A better life than any of them would have had if it wasn't for Alistair running into them.
'And I know you won't like it here, everybody with eyes can see that you are as stubborn as they could come but I would advise you to get on Marley's good side. She has been with Alistair the longest, if you wish to leave us you need to know how to get to him. Right now he might chug you overboard if he really gets enough of you. It is not an empty threat, he has done it before and even you being a princess won't stop him to do it again.' Cyran walked a few steps away and then came back with some water for her. 'I mean.. You must know who he is?'
He knew most of the common folk had heard about Alistair, in a good or bad way, and same goes for the marines of the kingdoms. They knew of this pirate and how impossible to catch he was. They knew what he did to ships and their sailors, how cruel and brutal he could be if he wished. Even though she was a princess and Alistair would try to have a little more patience, even Cyran knew that if he really had enough of her that was it. He would end her life without hesitation. Being with Alistair brought them protection and riches, but it also came with the price of many scars.
'The son of a bitch once almost cost me my right eye, I'm glad he did not take but he could've. Without any resistance from my part.' Cyran chuckled and looked at her. 'It was before I had met him. I, of course, had heard of his name but had no clue of who he was. I did not know he had docked at the very same place I was in. And I did not know who Marley was and that she was with him.' He grinned. 'I was very drunk and very poor at that time. I came across Marley first and tried her to pay me for my services but she was not at all interested in me. It was then that I saw Alistair, he was clearly very mad that I tried to get to Marley and brushed me off of her rather rough. Blackened my eye and threatened to take it out, his knife was already at my cheek.' At that moment he pointed at a small scar just below his eye. 'So of course I also tried to offer him my services. He offered me a place on his ship instead, laughing because of my question.'
Cyran looked at Zori. She had no real reason to know all this, but he knew it was good to have a friend sometime. She would need one and he hoped she realized what he offered her right now.

She didn’t understand what he was doing. Why was he still here? Why did he look at her as if she was the one that wanted something from him?
‘Geez, what gave away that I won’t like it here? The fact that you kidnapped and gagged me or was it the knife at my throat a couple of seconds ago?’ What an idiot. Again, she knew she shouldn’t respond that way, but she couldn’t help herself. Being a bitch was all she had in life as a princess that was being tossed from one guard to the other and who was used to having more house arrest than not. Suddenly being in a completely different situation made her body go to the one thing she knew how to do and that was be sarcastic and rub people the wrong way. The big difference was here the amount of pain she could expect after having a big mouth.
‘I actually don’t know who he is.’ Zori figured they hadn’t expected that. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I know my father knew who he was, considering it was way too easy to get Alistair kicked out of the tournament, but I didn’t know him. Still don’t, really, although I’m starting to get a sense of the kind of person he is. The thing is, and this might surprise you, people don’t generally talk very freely to royals — no matter how often I ditched my guards.’ And her father definitely wasn’t going to let her figure out anything about the criminals in his country. The king had always been very adamant in keeping her away from anything she could use against him and clearly, criminals were part of that spectrum. Which she hadn’t understood for quite some time, until she realized it was exactly because of what was happening now. Criminals could get rid of royals if they really wanted to.
Although she stored the information about him being a hooker in the back of her mind, she didn’t reply to it. Just like she didn’t take the water he offered her. She didn’t trust him. He couldn’t very well think a few nice words about his past would suddenly make her open up to him? It wasn’t that easy to make her drop her guard, especially not while he was one of the guys who helped Alistair kidnap her.
‘I don’t know what you’re doing and I’m not sure what your motives are, but don’t.’ Zori shook her head at him, turned around and walked away. Perhaps he was right about trying to make friends, but both of them also knew that was never going to happen. None of these pirates would even remotely want to be friendly with her, especially not if they already noticed the way she acted around Alistair. They weren’t going to get in the middle of that and frankly, she didn’t expect them to. Didn’t want them to. If it was true that Alistair didn’t care who he hurt, he might as well take her instead of some of the younger men she saw walking around on this ship.
Zori walked over to the bow of the ship and let the wind blow through her hair. She needed time to think and the rising and falling of the ship could help her do so. Whatever was going to happen in the meantime, she needed to come up with a plan to get out of here. Perhaps figure out how long they could stay on a ship without getting supplies, see if they were going to dock somewhere she could try and get away from Alistair and his crew. Zori prided herself on her brains more often than not. If she was truly as smart as she thought she was, she should be able to get away from a couple of pirates.

He wondered if she could not understand the freedom she could acquire if she only looked passed her biases. 'Well you would not really come with us on your own free will now, would ya?' He smiled a bit, it was not very smart of her to hold that against them. As for the knife at her throat.. She was the one who kept antagonizing Alistair and he guessed it would not be the last knife that was pointed in her direction.
'You would imagine for someone being on the verge of ruling a kingdom that you would know that information about your enemy is of utmost importance.' He did not blame her for not looking into him earlier, but she was here now. It would be best for her if she got to know them. 'Except if you don't really see us as the enemy, I totally understand that your father is a far worse and stupid men.' He shrugged and looked at her.
Zori ignored his offer for water and Cyran shook his head when she walked away from him. Could she really be this stupid? He knew plenty of the crew had been watching them. Cyran had not said it out loud but they knew he had offered her his protection. They all knew he was a whore before he boarded this ship, but he had proven himself. They knew he would kill them all if they hurt someone who was under his protection, but Zori had clearly refused it. He drank the water himself and walked away from her. He had tried it and she deemed him not enough. Was she stupid or did she think nobody would hurt her? He felt Rolands hand on his shoulder when he was back with his friends and they spoke in hushed voices about what just went down. Their attention no longer on Zori, she was no longer their problem.
In doing so, they opened the way for the rest of the crew. Everybody knew their place, but Zori was fair game right now. She was alone, Alistair was tired of her and she had pushed away her only chance on being really safe on this ship.
It was not before long a few of the men who were not working right now walked up to the bow. They had a wicked look in their eyes, for them she was nothing more than prey. A rather fancy meal this time, none of them really had a princess before. One of the men stepped towards her, they knew resistance was futile. 'So little princess, do you know how to please a man or should we teach you?" He chuckled and walked closer. Before he was within reach of possible fists from her he pulled his dagger from his boot and pointed it at her. 'Because you really look like you could use some teaching and we would love to make you even smarter. So that your mouth can do other things than throw some big words.' They remembered of course and they could hold grudges. Especially if those grudges meant they had a way to get back at her.
Within a few steps he was close by her. His knife pointed at her and he smiled. 'Come here, show me what you can do with that mouth of yours. I bet they don't teach you such things. I know your tournament was to find you a man, lets see if you even know how to please one.' While he said it, his free hand slowly untied his pants.

Her mind wandered everywhere but eventually settled on the words that pirate had spoken. About knowing her enemy. He was right, of course, but becoming friendly with the enemy wouldn’t get her the information she wanted. It would only mean she got the information he allowed her to have and frankly that wasn’t going to get her what she needed. It might prove handy at times, but for getting off this ship, it wouldn’t do her any good and thus she had refused to stay by his side. Which proved to be a mistake.
Zori turned around when she heard some of the other pirates come her way. One of them was clearly leading this gang of misfits and when he came to her, he even took a knife out of his boot. She laughed softly. He honestly thought he would need a knife against her? The guy was taller and had more muscles. He likely didn’t have much of a brain, but he brought numbers, so there wasn’t anywhere to run for Zori. Not that there was if he hadn’t brought these other guys, they were on a ship for crying out loud.
‘Surely you don’t think this is wise?’ Zori cocked her head at the pirates that just walked up to her and threatened to rape her. She wasn’t stupid, she knew what they wanted from her, but she also knew Alistair wanted the same thing and she wondered if they realized what they would be taking from their captain if they did decide to rape her.
‘I won’t come to you and if you’re smart - which to be fair, I’m doubting - you walk away and at least wait for your captain to rape me first. We all know it won’t take too long before he decides to go there. But you see, the thing is, I may or may not be a virgin, do you really want to take the chance that I am and you took my virginity from Alistair? That’s quite bold.’ There was a sarcastic laugh on her face and she shook her head. ‘You can come find out if I am or not, of course, I won't be able to stop you, but whatever consequences of your choice may arise are your problem. Your captain, your problem. It's easy.’ She shrugged and decided to wait for now. She was smiling at them, hiding any type of actual emotion on whether or not she was a virgin, but she did hope it was enough for them to back off. They couldn’t be sure about it until they actually put their dick in her, but she also knew Alistair would be enraged if he found out he could’ve had her virginity and he didn’t. If his crew wanted to take their chances, they would and Zori wouldn’t be able to stop them, but at least she knew they were going to be in for a world of hurt if they did. Alistair didn’t seem like the kind of guy who much liked to share.
However, she did find it funny they thought she would actually want to please any men. The tournament had indeed been to find her a husband, but she didn’t organize it and she definitely hadn’t wanted it. If she wanted to have sex and please men, she would’ve done so by now. The truth was; it wasn’t high on her to-do list and she wasn’t planning on getting it up there now, although she doubted it was still a choice she would get to make. At least she could place some doubt into these ratchet humans.

In one thing she was right, he did not need a knife. But threatening her with it made everything all the more fun to do. The problem indeed was her virginity. They did not know for sure if she was a virgin, but she was very right. The captain would be mad if they took it before he did and angering the captain was not high on their list of things to do. For a moment the man had to think but soon he started to smile. 'Perhaps.. But we don't need to take your precious virginity. That mouth of yours would do just fine. That does not really matter, it only makes you better for him. Some practice would do just nicely.' He stalked towards her and without fear he pushed her on her knees. He was a lot stronger and another crew member grabbed her hair. 'You better open that mouth of yours little princess and watch those teeth.' He held the knife at her face. 'I might just slip if you use those.' He laughed and had an evil look in his eyes. This would not matter to the captain, he would not even notice it and that was perfectly fine. The man opened his pants and looked at her. 'Do you want to do the honors?'
Cyran looked at what was taking place and back to his friends. 'Should we stop them?' He was not sure about it. It was not that he cared for the girl, because he did not even know her, but it was her first day here. Just because Alistair was moody should not mean she should get raped. He sighed and looked at the others for some help. Eldrin shook his head for a moment. 'No, let them. She asked for this by being such a annoying brat, she should pay the price.' Cyran could tell Eldrin was not very fond of the girl and he of course had good reason for it. All three of them almost died in that idiotic tournament held in her name and with her a price. A price not one of them really wanted. Above all, Eldrin had been wounded during it, so Cyran could see his point of view. Roland on the other hand shrugged. He did not really care, not about some girl they never really met. She may have the title of princess but it meant nothing to him. Few things did and the things he cared about, he would protect forever. Cyran had given up hope, he would not act without their backup so he just sat there and watched as one of the man opened his pants.
'Cyran bring her to my rooms.'
It was Marley who had spoken up. She looked straight ahead from behind the steering wheel. Did not give him one look but he nodded. Calmly he got up, got an angry look from Eldrin, and walked toward the group. 'Leave her alone.' He just hoped he was not too late.

Well, at least they weren’t going to actively rape her, although she wasn’t sure if she would enjoy their other option much better. The mere thought of having a dick in her mouth send shivers down her spine. She was a virgin, that much was true, but she did have some knowledge about what it was people were supposed to do in a bedroom. Apparently her tutors had found it necessary for her to know that stuff when she would finally get a husband. So yes, she knew what a so-called blowjob was, but ever since she heard about it, she thought it was disgusting. Why on earth would anybody want to put a dick in their mouth?
The pirates pushed her down on her knees - she tried to fight it but honestly, they all knew she was never going to be stronger than any of them. And then one of those jerks grabbed her hair and pulled her head in a better position for the pirate in front of her. So sweet. Were they going to take turns whose dick was in her mouth and who would be holding her head? She really wanted to comment on it, but she couldn’t, because that would mean opening her mouth and she definitely wasn’t going to do that.
The pirate had just grabbed her jaws to force her mouth open, when someone else came their way and told them to leave her alone. Zori recognized the voice, it was the pirate that had spoken to her earlier and seemed to be one of the inner circle from Alistair, although he didn’t know his name yet. She already knew he used to be a whore, so likely at some point he would tell her his name as well, she doubted she would even have to ask it.
Some of the pirates around her grumbled something when they saw the pirate coming up to them, but she also noticed that the pirate who wanted to put his dick in her mouth, already pulled his pants back up. So the hooker did have some tricks up his sleeve. They also let go of her shoulders, which gave her the opportunity to rise on her feet. Standing was better, even though she was still shorter than most of these men.
‘Fucks sake Cyran,’ one of the pirates grumbled something, but they did all leave when the other pirate arrived. Who was apparently called Cyran. And otherwise that was an insult she’d never heard of. Her pale blue eyes looked up to the pirate that was now standing next to her. She wondered why he came to help her. Zori still didn’t trust his motives, even if he helped her out big time. Who was to say he didn’t come and collect her so that Alistair could be the one to force his dick in her? Or perhaps this Cyran wanted the honor all to himself. She didn’t know him, which was equal to she didn’t trust him. So she said nothing, just looked at him and waited for him to say whatever it was he had to say or do whatever it was he had to do.

If they only knew that Marley was the one to blame. He listened to their shit talking for a moment, but at least they did move away from the girl quite fast.
'I'm sorry boys,' he mumbled as apology without any real sincerity behind it. He was not sorry that they could not rape her, but he also did not want too much tension on the ship. Cyran's blue eyes found hers and he nodded slightly. After that he took her arm and guided her across the deck. He would take her to Marleys rooms and he hoped she would stay there and be safe. If she went belowdecks herself, they really could not guarantee her safety.
'Marley wanted you in her rooms and I think you should really count yourself lucky because Roland and Eldrin were really prepared to let you suffer through it,' Cyran told her without looking at her. Before Marleys room he took one of the keys and opened the door with it. Only he and Alistair had a key besides Marley. He pushed open the door and looked at Zori.
'Really do try to just stay in this room or ask me to lock you up. They won't enter in here, everybody knows drowning would be more pleasant than have Marley be angry with you,' Cyran chuckled for a moment and looked towards Zori. 'You know, it is not a bad thing to ask for things princess. You just need to know who you can ask shit and who would rather have their dick in your mouth.'
He did not want to hurt her feelings, but a little bit of teasing should do no harm. He had had plenty of dicks in his mouth back in the day. Men did not always like to admit it, but Cyran knew he did a damn good job at it. 'So if you need any tips, just let me know. It was not only the woman I knew how to please.' If he was honest, it had been more men than women. He winked at her and looked around in Marleys room for a moment. There was not really a place yet for Zori to sleep and he did not expect she would want to lay in bed with either Marley or Alistair. He frowned for a moment before he remembered. He opened one of the chests and pulled big cushions out of it.
'Alistair stole them from an eastern ship once, they are quite comfy or at least a lot more comfortable than just the ground.'
Cyran had easily sensed she did not trust him, but that did not mean he would not make her trust him. He was one of her best chances at something more than survival here and she would be an idiot not to see it. He ran a hand through his hair the moment everything was in place and looked at it with a proud look. 'I mean it is quite neat if I may say so. I know it's not your royal bed, but it will do just fine.'

While Zori wasn’t all too thrilled with Cyran touching her, she did allow him to take her arm and pull her with him. After all he did somewhat save her from what was about to happen. She still didn’t know if what was to come were to be worse, but there was only one way to figure that out. Cyran mentioned it was Marley who wanted Zori in her rooms, but he also said two other names who she guessed were the other confidants from Alistair. They were the other men that accompanied the pirate when he entered the tournament and apparently, they weren’t all too happy with her being on this ship. Or more likely they completely didn’t care about what happened to her on this ship and weren’t interested in helping her. Not even if that meant she would get raped.
They entered Marley’s room and she looked around when Cyran started talking again.
‘Ask for things?’ She repeated, while raising an eyebrow at Cyran. ‘I’m not going to ask for anything, because I already know what the answer will be. Although I do suppose a thank you is in order.’ Which wasn’t an entire thank you considering she said it was in order and didn’t actually say it to him, but it was more than enough and if he didn’t agree, that was his problem. He was still one of the men responsible for helping Alistair with her kidnapping and even though she wouldn’t blame him for doing what Alistair wanted, she wasn’t going to give him a pass for it either.
Cyran started to get some pillows out of a chest and arranged them on the floor. Slightly surprised Zori kept an eye on him. She didn’t get it. He wasn’t supposed to act this way. If they were all like Alistair or the men who just tried to perform sexual acts with her, she could hate them all and wish them dead as soon as possible. With Cyran it was hard to do so, because he was definitely trying to make her like him. She still didn’t believe there wasn’t an ulterior motive to his actions, but she would admit it was confusing.
‘Why?’ Zori guessed he would understand what she wanted to know from him. Why did he act nice to her? Why did he tell her about his past? Why would he care enough to help? Most importantly, why did Alistair take her? He did say he wanted to show her things, but she figured there was much more to it than she now knew. Cyran likely wouldn’t tell her what Alistair wanted her for, but that was why she kept her question as vague as possible. He could give a number of answers regarding her question and she wanted to know what he would provide her with first.

He did wonder when she would consider it save enough to answer questions. He did not really know what else he could do for her, to make her understand that he was not the real enemy. Perhaps it was Alistair, but even Alistair had his reasons for taking her. She would find them out sooner or later, but that was not his story to tell.
'It is in order, so whenever you're ready feel free to thank Marley and myself,' Cyran looked at her and raised one eyebrow. He was no idiot, he knew she had not thanked him but he did not expect one from her either. For a princess she was rather rude, whether she liked it or not she would fit in just fine here.
While arranging the pillows for him he caught her glancing at him. He saw she was confused and wondered how long it would take for her to process things. She was witty but on the other hand really slow sometimes.
'Why what? You have to be more specific.'
Cyran grinned and sat on Marleys bed, he put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall. 'Why am I helping you?' He smiled a bit. 'I thought you would've figured it out from the things I told you not too long before.' He sighed, nothing to be done about it.
'This ship is a dangerous place and I know you like to think of yourself as something else because you can use big words and are a princess. But as you have just experienced most of us here frankly don't give a shit about that. They know sooner or later you will end up in Alistair's bed, voluntarily or not. They also saw how you declined my attempts at giving you some protection, because you are still sitting on your high horse. It was only fair game that they should take from you what they can.' He looked at the ceiling for a moment. 'If Marley had not said anything, I would've let them fuck you in the mouth. Why? Because the others did not care and you are not important enough to have them be cross at me.' Cyran looked back at her for a moment. 'I, however, as one of the few on this ship know what it is like to be taken advantage of in such a humiliating way. You can act as strong as you like, but I can tell you have no experience whatsoever and they would not be gentle with you in any way.' He again ran a hand through his hair as it kept falling for his eyes. 'I just thought you would be quick enough to decipher that from what I told you, and that you would make the decision that the former whore could take better care of you than the crew could.'

Yeah, she wasn’t going to thank him. Not when he asked for it. She especially wasn’t going to thank Marley, the woman had taken one look at Zori when she was carried onto the ship and decided she didn’t like her, so Zori wasn’t going to like her either. She had never had any friends anyway and she wasn’t going to need any now. Who would even want to be friends with a royal, with the princess that stood to inherit the entire kingdom? That would be dangerous and stupid. Everybody knew the cruelty of the king and people generally assumed the princess was no different. After all, she was his daughter. Of course being somebody’s daughter meant they were exact clones of one another and there were some obvious similarities, like the way father and daughter acted when they didn’t get their way, but not all of them.
He asked her to be more specific and yet he started to answer her question. Men. So predictable. They always acted like they were better than woman and yet it could be so easy to play with them.
‘Excuse me, where between you telling me I wasn’t going to like it here and that you used to be a whore should I have heard there was any kind of protection involved? I didn’t hear it come up, but of course, that could be my fault.’ Likely all of it was her fault, it was easy to blame her while she was new to the entire situation. She couldn’t even remember if she’d been kidnapped before. Perhaps it happened when she was very little, but more likely she had only started to become a rebel when she got older.
‘I grew up in a castle and to many that equals a life of luxury, which I guess it is, but I also learned rather quickly people always have ulterior motives. I don’t see why royals and pirates would be different.’ Which was as much an explanation as he was going to get regarding her behavior. She didn’t trust him. Would likely never trust him either.
‘I don’t see why you would ever feel the need to take care of me - to put it in your words - which is why I can’t in good faith believe you would either protect nor care about me. And you’re acting like that’s such a weird thing, maybe it is, but I wasn’t raised to trust people and I’m not starting with the first pirate who acts somewhat decently.’ He could be right, of course he could be right about him being better at protecting her or taking care of her, but that still didn’t give him any reason to be nice to her. She wouldn’t want to be nice to any of them, so he had to have a reason other than feeling sorry for her to be nice to her.

'I can really sympathize with Alistair and everybody else who gets annoyed by you.' Cyran chuckled and looked at her. 'If I was not at the tournament and saw you as the princess I would've thought you were one of us, so rude you are to me.' He sighed and shook his head. 'To be honest with you, yes this time it was your fault.' He shrugged and looked at her. 'You can still make up for that mistake but talking the way you do won't really help you going in that direction.'
Cyran looked at her. 'I mean yeah.. You definitely grew up in a life full of luxuries.' He shook his head but smiled. 'You are well fed, I don't think you were ever hungry. Your clothes are worth more than my life. I can see how others have ulterior motives and how you are used to that. But shouldn't you also be able to see when someone hasn't got any. What in the world could I want from you? Money if I bring you home? I have enough here. Sex? I'd rather not, you're pretty but very much not my type. Not every man wants to have sex with you,' Cyran looked at her a with a bit of judgement in his eyes before he smiled, 'but most will so I get that.'
He looked away from her again and sighed. 'Well I am certainly not wanting to take care of you because of how slow you are in processing thing.' He bit his lip and thought for a moment. 'I guess I just did not want to see you get raped by the lot of them. Can't keep you from Alistair but I can keep you from the rest. You're stubborn but also very blind towards everything that is not what you are used to. I guess that I thought it was just a mask, but I'm starting to think that is just who you are. And if that is the case then I understand Alistair even more and his reasons for why he took you.'
Cyran had argued with Alistair the most about taking the princess with them. He had not seen it as a good idea and he still was not entirely sure it was a good idea. But if she was as blind to things as she showed herself to be, then perhaps it was the right decision. Perhaps they could really show her what the people thought and how they lived, because she really seemed to think the worst of everything and everyone. That could not be a good trait for a future queen. What if the people wanted a better life? He good she her getting paranoid about things that would just slightly be out of her way of thinking.

Right. They were the ones that had any rights to be annoyed with her. If only they could’ve done something about it… such as perhaps not kidnapping her? Nobody would be annoyed if they had just let her be, if she’d stayed at the castle and they left. All of them would be living their own life, doing whatever the fuck they wanted to do and would not be bothered by the other person. But that wasn’t how Alistair had wanted it. No, he wanted to take Zori with him and thus decided to kidnap her. She was the one that had every right to be mad at them, not the other way around.
‘If you think this is me being rude, you’re gravely mistaken. This is how I talk to everybody and since you’re a pirate, I thought you would be able to take it, but don’t worry, if you can’t handle it, I will try and be nicer to you.’ She raised her eyebrow at him. Apparently he wasn’t one of the pirates that could take a few hits, if only they were verbal. She couldn’t very well hurt them physically, if she tried they would likely laugh at her and then hurt her five times as much - if not more.
‘You don’t know anything about me Cyran, so let’s not get carried away with the things you think I did or didn’t have. This dress isn’t worth more than your life, it’s worth the lives of those I commission to make it so that they have an income and can take care of their family. Who do you think is going to do that now, hm? Nobody, I can tell you that. I don’t know what it is Alistair wants from me, but I do know that by taking me, he ruined the income of a lot of people in the city and surrounding villages. Or does that not matter to any of you? Of course, you are pirates after all, why care about what others have if it doesn’t affect your own life or if it’s not something you want to steal?’ Alistair wanted to show her things and she wasn’t sure what, but she did know that him taking her was going to have an effect on plenty of people.
‘Go ahead, call me stupid, naive, ignorant, or whatever it is you think of me. I honestly don’t care how you view me and frankly, I don’t think you care what I think about any of you. So why bother?’ Zori wasn’t sure if she wanted Cyran’s protection in the first place. If his protection meant he was going to insult her all day long, then maybe she would prefer the dick in her mouth. No, that wasn’t true, but at least then she wasn’t cowering behind some whore’s back.
Cyran said something about the reasons why Alistair took her and that did get her attention. She took a few steps forward so she was standing right in front of him, although she did have to look up considering he was quite a bit taller than she was.
‘And what reasons are those exactly?’

Cyran let out a sigh and looked at her. 'I really thought you were not as stupid as you made us think, but I guess you are.' He shook his head. Of course she was not as rude as he was used to, just more rude than any royalty should be.
Her words angered him and it showed. 'Oh no let's not get carried away by the fact that you are very well fed!' He sneered and looked at her. 'If your daddy ever made you go hungry it was not because there was no money or food around, I sure as hell can tell you that.' There was a fire in his eyes. 'Oh so you do think about some people. Good to know, but you really don't think about everybody else who is not close to the palace. You might think that those people now won't have an income but you are gravely mistaken. If you life that close, you may have some worries but not as worse as the lot of us have.' He clenched his fists in an effort not to hit her.
'Oh yeah I'd much rather me a starving whore caring about myself than a pirate who can look after people.'
He rolled his eyes, she was just as ignorant as the rest of them.
When she came closer and had to look up he took her chin and pinched a bit.
'Why would I tell you, you won't listen anyway and you made it clear you don't really care about anything.'
He pushed her away and shook his head.
'Next time you might not want to insult someone who is saving you from getting raped. Because I sure as hell won't help you anymore.'
Cyran gave her another angry look and walked away. Eldrin and Roland were right, she was not worth saving. He closed the door behind him and sighed. Leaned against the wall for a moment. If he had let her continue he had probably lost his cool. It had been a long time since that had happened and he was not too keen on letting her get the best of him.
He wondered if she really could not think normally. He knew getting kidnapped was not the best thing to happen to you, but why would she tempt her fate by acting like this. It was not as if Alistair would not order her to be thrown off the ship. The king had other heirs and even if those girls weren't fit to rule, enough people would step forward. She thought herself to be necessary where she was not. Yes, perhaps she gave some people a bit of extra coin but that did not matter when almost the entirety of the country was dirt poor. When kids were starving to death because their parents could not get any food. Her way of thinking was so small it was frustrating. Especially since she clearly was not very keen on expanding her horizon.

Well, that was to be expected. She did tell him he could call her stupid and he did. What a good boy that he followed those orders.
Her eyes narrowed when he sneered at her for not going hungry. Once again he knew nothing of the life of a princess, but she wasn’t going to explain to him. Why would she tell him that a princess was supposed to be an object of lust? That she wore revealing dresses because she was supposed to, to make men happy? At times her father had some sort of episode where he felt like all of his daughters ate too much and he wouldn’t let them eat for a week. Zori had been the one to sneak food to her sisters, but why would she tell Cyran any of that? Their lives couldn’t be more different, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t had hardships either.
She noticed the clenched fist and knew he wanted to hit her, but was stopping himself from doing so. For now. Plenty of times before Zori had seen that fist, knew what it meant when men were so fed up with her that they wanted to turn physical. Usually it was because she was smarter than they were and she wasn’t afraid to let them know, but this time she felt it was because Cyran didn’t get what he wanted from her. Sure, she didn’t realize what it was he wanted or why on earth he would ever pretend to be nice to her, but there was something going on. She couldn’t put her finger on it yet, but him wanting to hit her only encouraged the thoughts that there was more to the situation than she knew. Yet. She would figure it out eventually.
When she came closer to him, he took her chin in his hand and she wasn’t all too happy about it, but he also let go quick enough for her not to get mad about it.
‘Oh, that’s not true, I care about a lot of people. You just aren’t one of them. Neither is your captain nor the crew of this ship.’ This was merely to goat him into getting angry even further. He wanted to think she was stupid and she was going to let him. If all of them thought of her as the stupid, naive princess the entire world already thought she was, it would be a lot easier to get out of here. Nobody would expect an idiot to be able to escape. It was in her best interest to keep those pirates at an arm length away.
‘Then don’t help me.’ She sneered back right before he closed the door behind him.
The moment Cyran was gone, Zori slid down the wall and sat down on the ground. Her hands were shaking from the control she’d had over them the entire time she was surrounded by those pirates. Of course she was scared of them. Contrary to their belief, she wasn’t stupid. She knew what they could and likely would do to her.

Alistair had had no clue about what happened with Zori. He was in his chambers for a while, cooling down and working. There was more than enough to do for him and without her here he could easily work through it all. It had taken him quite some time before he left his quarters and went up on the deck. There he found a grumpy Cyran, which surprised him. But Eldrin quickly filled him in on what had happened with Zori. That did not explain why Cyran was so upset but he left the man to his own devices.
Calmly he gave the crew some orders and let Marley know where they would be headed. He smiled a bit. Before he could even teach her a lesson, he would take them to them to Clew Bay. There she could get a taste of real pirate life and some rough ladies and men. He smiled only thinking about it. Seeing her reaction to it would be amazing, he knew she would hate it. But they were also people and it technically belonged to the kingdom even though the king had no say there.
Alistair heard where Zori was and he walked downstairs. Without knocking he opened the door to Marleys room. He walked in and looked around before he looked down and saw her sitting on the floor. He frowned for a moment.
'What are you doing on the ground?'
He did not really understand why she would be sitting on the ground when a bed was clearly made for her. Was it that much better to be on the ground right now? He shook his head a little bit.
'I heard about what my men did to you.' He looked at her for some time, wondering how she had reacted to it? He was curious about what he could do to her. She had said she was a virgin to them, he had heard his men talk about it. He grinned thinking about that. Her being a virgin was something he had not fully expected, he had thought she would be more curious and adventurous about these things, seeing how she was with the rest of her life.

She felt like a bloody coward, but she had decided to stay in the room until somebody would come get her - and they all knew eventually somebody would come get her. It was a matter of time before either Alistair, Marley or Cyran would show up. Zori guessed it would be one of those three, but perhaps it could also be somebody send by them to fetch her. Whoever it was, she wasn’t going to be too thrilled about it.
Turned out; it was the worst possible option. When she heard the door open and looked up, Alistair was standing in the door opening. Fucking hell that guy was huge. Especially from where she was sitting on the ground. Which he immediately commented on. Was it her fault she didn’t feel like sitting in those cushions? Perhaps it was petty - it definitely was, she knew that - for not wanting to sit in them after Cyran already told her he wouldn’t help her again and he got mad at her, but she didn’t care much about whether or not she was petty. She was a princess for crying out loud, if she wanted to be ignorant or stupid or petty or arrogant or anything in between, she would. She had that right and she didn’t need to explain her actions to others.
‘Because I felt like it.’ Was all she answered him, while looking him in the eyes. It did hurt her neck a bit to have to look up that far, but she wasn’t going to stand up simply because he decided to enter the room.
‘They didn’t do much more than push me on my knees, courtesy of Cyran. Although I’m quite sure he regretted stopping them about five minutes later, considering he tried very hard not to hit me in the face.’ Zori shrugged. It was likely her own fault Cyran regretted stepping in and saving her from the rest of the crew, but she didn’t feel sorry about it. He still kidnapped her and yet he thought she would be grateful to him. Wrong. Dead, dead wrong. She was never going to be grateful to any of them and whoever thought different, was the real idiot. Not her. If they could give her one good reason for her to like them, to be nice to them, she would consider, but she was sure they couldn’t.
‘You should really tell your men that threatening me with a knife is a bit underselling their own abilities though. We all know they don’t need a knife and frankly it makes them seem weak if they think they do need it against me.’ Especially after Alistair told everybody he wanted them to keep her face intact, but no, they went and threatened her face? Again, idiots. They really didn’t know what they were doing and it showed. To be fair neither did Zori, but at least this situation was new to her, the others should be used to it by now. They were pirates, after all. They should have experience with extorting others.

Alistair looked at her and nodded at her answer. If that was what she felt like.. It was her choice. She stayed seated and that was her choice as well. He would not bend down for her, she was perfectly capable of getting up herself. After all she was no princess her. A captive, if she kept annoying everyone and otherwise a guest. He did not think she would ever see herself as a guest. He did not think she was capable of thinking like that. Her mind was rigged in one way of thinking and that was all there was. Nothing more, nothing less.
'You should take some pride in it. It is near impossible to get Cyran so annoyed he wants to use anyone as a punching back. The last time I saw him like that was years ago.' He grinned and looked down on her. 'So you best be proud of yourself that you managed to piss someone off. However, I don't think it bodes well if you manage to piss him off.' Alistair was bad tempered himself and known for it. If she kept pissing him off he had no need for her and would throw her overboard or leave her on her own at Clew Bay. That would be something... Leaving her to fend for herself at Clew Bay. She would not last a day. Being a princess meant nothing there. You were a nobody and that was how everybody liked it. Even if people knew each other, those with a set of brains in their head almost never used the names of the others. It was one of the view places the king had not managed to reach and they would like to keep it that way very much.
Alistair was startled from his thoughts by her words about what the crew did and how they tried to make her do what they wanted.
'Using a knife does not necessarily have something to do with weakness. I love using my knife. Yes I could easily break many bones in your body or throw overboard. But I prefer a knife. Not because it helps me threaten you. I know that you're not stupid enough to not feel threatened. You might not show it to everyone, but I'm no idiot. I know fear when I see it. You don't have to admit it, don't worry. Your secret is save with me.' He smiled at her, a wicked and vicious smile. She was his for the taking and they both knew it. She, as well as him, knew that whenever he decided that he wanted to have her she would be his. It was not up for discussion or debate.
'I do however feel slightly annoyed that they tried to get you like that. I heard you said they might rape a virgin..' He looked at her and chuckled. 'I don't think it's a might on your virginity. I have to be honest with you Zori, I had expected you to be more adventurous on that part. Or.. Do rather have women in your bed? I could understand that all the same. 'But seeing how you defied your father in almost every way.. I guess I had expected you had some experience at least.'

‘There’s a difference,’ she mused when Alistair talked about using a knife on her. ‘When you use it, you use your knife as a tool to mess with me. Your crew used it as a weapon against me, they took out the knife and aimed it at me before they even walked up to me, as if they thought I would try and hit them or something. I’m not stupid, if I’m going to try and hurt somebody, I will kick in their dick, not aim a fist at their face.’ She shrugged, big difference. He was right of course that he knew she was scared, but she would be a fool not to be and there were many things that could be said about her, but she was no fool. A bitch, perhaps, but no fool. Definitely a virgin though, which he seemed to have heard already from his men. She could see in his eyes how he loved that little piece of information about her.
‘You’re right, I am a virgin. I said might to mess with their heads and make them think about it, but I am.’ There was no point in denying it against Alistair, if he wanted to know, there was a very easy way to figure it out.
‘When I was fourteen I helped a friend of mine - a boy, obviously, we were the same age - with his masters test to go from an apprentice to a master at his father woodworking shop. He passed and we hugged to celebrate,’ she looked up at Alistair. ‘There was a very public trial the next morning. I didn’t know who the unlucky fellow was that pissed off my dad, but as usual I was expected to be there. Guess who it was? My friend… and his family. The executioner told the crowd so many things they had done to deserve this and I knew none of them were true, but my friend, his father, mother, two brothers and three sisters lost their heads in a matter of minutes. My father later told me that could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t been so forthcoming with my body. He didn't want to risk me getting pregnant and bearing a bastard.’ By now she was playing with one of the flowers on her dress, still angry about what had gone down over a decade ago.
‘There are many risks I’m willing to take when it comes to my own life and how I deal with my father, but putting somebody else’s life on the line is not one of them. So yes, whenever it pleases you, you get the honor of being my first. You should be so glad.’ She had many stories like this one and the way her father had dealt with others who had gotten close to her, was one of the reasons she had such a vile defense mechanism in place when it came to the way she talked to people. If they didn’t want to be around her, they couldn’t get hurt. Life was simple that way.

'Fair point,' nodded Alistair to her and he smiled a bit. in his hands it was a tool. Some of his crew were weak idiots who thought they needed a knife against her. She could really do nothing against them if they thought about it for more than one second. Or if they stopped thinking with their dicks, that would help too. He was glad Cyran pulled her away for them but only because he wanted to be the one first inside her, with everything. Otherwise he would've let his crew get it their way.
Alistair could not deny it, he loved the fact that he was right about this. So she was a virgin.. He truly had not expected that. She had a gorgeous body and it was one of the reasons men had applied for the tournament. That body being yours must feel powerful he thought for a moment before he realized she was his. He had her right now and whether she liked it or not, without him and his crew she would not get home. He practically owned her.
He leaned against the door while listening to her story and he crossed his arms while studying her. 'So your father truly is a maniac.' He mumbled and shook his head. Alistair himself killed, of course he did, but he was never that crude without a very good reason. Especially towards kids. Yeah he had hurt people for lesser reasons such as hurting his ego or bumping into him, but never kids. He killed a few kids, they still haunted his dreams. He had never meant to do it, but a quick death was sometimes preferable above a slow and antagonizing death. 'I really hoped he was not as crazy as some stories painted him, but I guess he is even more of a monster than I thought.'
'You really think you being a virgin makes everything better? Just because I'm a pirate I'm supposed to like that? No I would've much rather preferred it if you had had some experience. It makes everything so much more fun and enjoyable. Right now I have to take it easy with you if I want to make you not feel raped every time you have sex in the future.' He sighed and looked at her. 'I've never liked virgins. So soft creatures and I really don't prefer them.' Alistair shrugged and looked at her. 'So thanks for the honor, but I'm not glad with it.'

‘I would prefer to be able to deny it, but yes, my father is a monster. In every way conceivable and you don’t even know half of it.’ Her father being the way he was, was one of the reasons Zori wasn’t as scared of Alistair and his men as she should be. She was used to be the one that wasn’t in control. Always the weakest person in the room. The surroundings might’ve changed, but her position hadn’t. Perhaps the pirates thought she wasn’t used to the situation they put her in and they were right, but it was eerily similar to the situation she’d been in her entire life. There were too many similarities for her to truly be scared of what was going to happen. At home she knew her father could snap any moment and eventually decide he didn’t want her as his daughter anymore, thus getting her killed. Alistair was the same. If he decided he had no need of her anymore, she would die. Zori was used to walking that fine line with an absolute maniac, surely she could handle some pirates as well.
She wasn’t sure what to say when Alistair told her he would’ve preferred if she had had some sexual encounters before. Out of everything he could say about her being a virgin, she hadn’t expected him to tell her he had hoped for a different outcome. Well, that made two of them. Zori would’ve much preferred not to be a virgin in his company either, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about that now.
‘Somehow I doubt you’re good at taking it easy with anything you do.’ Which was why from the very beginning she had been able to tell him he would hurt her if he ever managed to get his hands on her. Not just mentally - although that would certainly pack a punch as well - but physically. All the stories were there and Alistair didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would be remotely gentle.
‘I’m not happy about you having that honor either, so that makes two of us. Just don’t take it, if you don’t want it.’ They both knew he was never going to let her off this ship without first raping her, but she could still be sarcastic to him about it if she wanted to.
‘Did you come here just to gloat or was there actually something productive that made you come talk to me?’ Or was it time already for him to claim not just her presence but her body as well? He would have to drag her out of this room if that was what he wanted, because she sure as hell wasn’t going to work with him if he wanted to rape her. She never wanted to do what he wanted in the first place, let alone if he was planning on actually hurting her in the process.

She got a laugh from him, mostly because she was right. He was not a man of gentleness. There were others who were, but he was not one of those. Taking things easy was not for him. He wanted things done his way and especially if people did not want to cooperate he would make sure they eventually would. He never regretted it, he was not such a person either. In his eyes, Alistair was mostly right about things so pushing them through was not a bad thing.
'I could.. But that would mean they would. The only thing stopping them is the thought that I would want you to be mine and mine alone. So really.. It is up to you. I'm not a fan of virgins. They cry a lot and it tires me. But if you would like some experience first I am quite sure they would love to help you out.' He knew his men and some of them were animals, looking for every scrap of something they could get their filthy hands on. Most of them he respected, but some he did not. But he had been short on crew so they had to pick some guys up. Some of them really were shit-stirrers. He despised them for it. His friends had worked hard for each of their positions towards him and those little clowns were ruining the things on his ship. If they truly touched her before him without his permission he would make sure they could not touch a woman like that again.
He adjusted his hat a bit and looked down on her again. 'Yeah.. I came here to invite you to eat with me and some of my crew.' He looked at her. 'I think you should get to know them since you share a room with Marley and will be here for some time of course. Cyran you clearly know already and I do know that you probably have formed an opinion on Roland and Eldrin, but let them destroy their good images on their own.'
He looked at her for a moment and after that Alistair turned.
'Oh yeah and I said invite but you've probably guessed by now that it's not really a choice. It just sounded nicer.'
Alistair opened the door and waited a moment to see how she would cuss him out this time. He quite enjoyed it, her showing him some slurs of her own.

It was actually quite annoying that he had a catching laugh. The kind of laugh that would make people want to laugh with him, not stay mad for kidnapping and almost-going-to-torture them. He wasn’t supposed to have a laugh like that. Just like her father, his laugh should be evil and terrifying with a very particular hint of the person being crazy.
‘Do I look like the kind of person that cries a lot?’ She raised an eyebrow at him. She might, they both knew it fully depended on how much he would hurt her, but she would still try not to show him any type of emotion like she usually did. She was good at not showing emotion, but she also wasn’t too used to being raped or tortured. While her father was a monster - at least there was something Zori and Alistair could agree on - and he had done a lot of things she didn’t particularly like, physically he hadn’t done her much harm. Especially not something the outside world might notice. Wouldn’t want anybody seeing the princess with a black eye now.
Her eyes narrowed when she heard what he wanted from her. Alistair made it sound like she had a choice, but quickly explained that it wasn’t so much a choice as an order he was giving her. Jerk. Why would he even want her to have dinner with him and his crew? What was in it for him? Except to make her life miserable and uncomfortable and annoy her into snapping at every single one of those pirates around her. That she could do, but he likely already figured she would.
‘You do realize I honestly couldn’t care less about them?’ She spoke while she got up from the ground and cocked her head at Alistair. No need to yell at him, insult him or wish him dead, he knew she thought all those things already and she wasn’t too keen on repeating herself.
‘And I’m also not very forthcoming about myself, so that’ll just be lovely.’ The fact that she told Alistair one thing about her past was already tremendous compared to what she usually told other people. The fact of the matter was that she likely wouldn’t tell him anything in the next few months - if she’d live that long.

'No you don't but that does not mean that you will not cry Zori.' He rolled his eyes and shook his head. She might not cry a lot but that did not guarantee him she would not cry at all. Neither of them would know her reaction before hand because he was not a woman and she was still a virgin.'So who knows what will happen. Perhaps you will cry or perhaps you will moan..' Alistair shrugged and looked at her without any interest. 'I do hope for the latter and I suppose you do too since you're so opposed to crying.' He was curious to see what would happen but they had the time.
For this evening Alistair knew he had just given her an order instead of an invite but he was glad to see her getting up. 'I know you don't care about them yet. But they are the bunch that will keep you rather safe on this ship and on any shores we might set out feet on.' He looked at her and smiled a bit. 'And there will be alcohol. perhaps it will help you forget about those last few days.' He laughed again and looked at her. 'Or are you also here to tell me that you've never gotten drunk in your life before?' Alistair grinned and walked ahead of her towards his chambers where the table would be set up for them to sit at it, eat and drink.
'I know you are not, but don't worry. We have more than enough stories to tell. I think you'll be fine just listening and giving snarky comments. Is that not what you do best after all?'
Alistair fished his key from his pockets and opened the door. They were alone for now, the rest would come barging down in a few moments. 'What do you drink Zori? Wine or rum?' He smiled at her while walking to his cabinet. He pored some wine for himself and waited on her answer before pouring her something. 'Also please take a seat, you can pick now we're still alone.' He smiled and looked over his shoulder. Not long after there was a knock on the door and before he could answer Roland and Eldrin barged in, talking about what they would do first when they would arrive.

Moan? He thought she would moan when he decided to rape her? Also-fucking-lutely not. Never going to happen. If she had to cut out her own tongue to refrain from doing so, she would. No matter what her body wanted from her, or what it expected or how it reacted - she didn’t care, she wouldn’t let allow herself or her body to even in the slightest enjoy what Alistair would do to her.
She doubted Alistair’s crew would ever be remotely interested in keeping her safe, but she went with him anyway. There wasn’t much she could do and since this technically wasn’t an invitation, rather an order, she got the strong sense he would drag her with him if she wouldn’t come of her own free will.
‘Great, want to make a bet how long it takes before one of them actually hits me? Since it was such a miracle already I made Cyran want to punch me in the face, it really shouldn’t be too hard with the rest of them.’ She followed him into his own quarters. They were the first ones there, but she didn’t care if they were alone or with others. Apparently she had to sit through having food with them and that meant Alistair wouldn’t be raping her for at least an hour, although it did depend on how drunk he got. If he got so drunk he wouldn’t be able to stand anymore - and hopefully neither could his crew - than she didn’t have to be afraid of getting touched against her will this evening. If he got so drunk, however, that his limitations were altered, he might try and take her where everybody was watching. There was a fine line and she wasn’t sure where it would be with Alistair. He was a pirate, after all, he should be able to drink a pretty decent amount of alcohol before he would lose all limitations.
Zori went to take a seat, not caring at all which one it was, when she looked at him.
‘Wine,’ was her answer to his question, because at least she was familiar with the beverage. Rum wasn’t a princess’ drink and it was likely a much stronger type of alcohol than wine was, so it was best not to drink that. She had been a bit tipsy a couple of times in her life, but never full out drunk and she wasn’t planning on becoming drunk now. It could literally only ruin everything for her.
She looked up when two of the other pirates came in, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her body. She was annoyed and she didn’t mind if they could see it by the way she was looking at them.