Chapter Ten: Hostages

The crew murmured among themselves, shocked that their little insignificant cabin boy had been a girl in disguise all along. Throp never saw how she had gotten away with it in the first place, but it was clear now to everyone that this was a young woman facing Captain Dregg.

“You’re the princess?” Captain Dregg repeated.

“Yes,” she said. “Nicolette of Larowyn. On my way to be married to the prince of Berabeth and willing to go with you quietly and aid in negotiating my release on the condition that you let the rest of the Trident’s crew and passengers go free and without harm.”

Captain Dregg nodded thoughtfully and tapped his mouth with his hook.

“So if you’re the princess,” he said. “Who’s she then?” He pointed to Agnes.

“She is my handmaiden,” the princess said. “Standing in my place, in case anything untoward should happen.” Captain Dregg leaned in close to the princess.

“Kinda defeats the purpose, then doesn’t it, if you reveal yourself so quickly.”

The princess faltered but quickly regained her composure.

“I realized I can not allow someone to suffer in my place,” she said.

“If only we all could have servants as loyal as this, eh?” Captain Dregg said to Agnes. He turned back to the princess. “Nice try, love. But don’t worry. As long as her prince is willing to pay, no harm should come to either of you.” He jerked his head at one of the pirates, who seized the princess, locking her arms behind her. She struggled and without thinking Throp grabbed the pirate by the shoulders. Another pirate punched him, the blow landing just below his ribs and knocking the wind out of him. A few of the pirates laughed as he fell to his knees.

“Captain, a moment!” he heard. He looked up to see a tall pirate approach the captain. Throp tried to listen to what they were saying but couldn’t hear over the sound of his own wheezing as he struggled to catch his breath. After a moment the captain addressed the other pirates.

“Change of plans, lads,” he said. “We’ll be occupying this heap of logs for the time being. Crew to the brig. You lot back to the Herring. The rest of you stay with Tobiah. Well, get on with ya!”

“Get on with ya!” the parrot repeated.

“Tie them to the mast,” he heard someone say. It was the tall pirate who had spoken with the captain. He was broad-shouldered and muscular. His face was handsomely chiseled and long, black hair spilled out from a red bandanna tied around his head. His white shirt hung open, revealing an impressively hairy and well-defined chest. He must be Tobiah, as he was clearly the one in charge.

“This man is our bodyguard,” the princess said to him. “Milady and I would feel much more at ease if he were with us.” The way she spoke made it sound like a threat, but the pirate was unimpressed.

“Bodyguard, huh?” Tobiah said. He looked down at Throp and gave him a smile that was almost friendly. “I have to say you're doing an excellent job.” He winked at Throp and stepped away, saying, “Him, too. May as well put him where I can keep an eye on him.”

The three of them, Throp, Agnes and the princess, were made to sit with their backs to the mast. Their hands were tied in front of them and another rope was lashed around them, pinning them to the mast. The princess was on Throp’s left and Agnes was to his right. If he craned his head he could see them in his peripheral vision.

They watched the rest of the crew as they were ushered below deck. Throp had seen the brig. It was built to hold maybe half a dozen people comfortably, not a crew of twenty. After they were secure, all but a handful of the pirates went back to their own ship, leaving Tobiah and his men to handle the Trident. Soon they were changing course.

“What’s going to happen to us?” he heard Agnes whisper.

“I heard Tobiah talking to his captain,” the princess whispered back. “It looks like they’re splitting up while the captain makes his demands. I’m not sure why, though. Why did you tell them you were a princess?”

“I thought it was a test,” Agnes said contritely. “Some kind of princess test.”

“Well, it wasn’t,” the princess said. “How did they even find you?”

“I sneezed,” Agnes admitted. “It was dusty under there.” After a moment she craned her head toward Throp. “Are you all right?”

“I’m tied to a pole,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I do appreciate what you did,” the princess said to him. “Attempting to protect me, I mean.”

“Well, I’m glad,” Throp said. “If I ever see my mother again I’ll be sure to thank her for giving me the sense of duty that so far has been nothing but trouble.”

“Are you angry with me?” the princess asked. “It’s not my fault we got kidnapped by pirates.”

“Are you sure?” Throp spat. “I think at this point, anything is possible.”

“I thought we were past this!” the princess said back. “I said I was sorry and you accepted.”

“I take it back!”

“You can’t take back accepting an apology!”

“Watch me,” Throp said.

“Excuse me,” Agnes hissed. “Could the two of you stop being selfish for one moment and consider the fact that I am being held for ransom?”

“Hey! Quiet there!” yelled the scrawny pirate who was guarding over them. He gave them the side-eye but after a moment he went back to picking his remaining teeth with a short, dirty knife. Throp tried to watch the moon. The blow to his stomach hadn’t helped his queasiness.

“I’ll think of something,” the princess said.

“Yes, your ideas are always fantastic,” Throp said.

“Hey!” the princess snapped. “If you had just gone along with my initial plan, we wouldn’t even be here right now! It was supposed to be foolproof! I guess I just didn’t plan on how big a fool I would be getting!”

“My apologies,” Throp said. “For not wanting to throw my entire life away for a damn tiara!”

“You three don’t listen too well, do you?” the scrawny pirate barked. “I said quiet.”

“Problem Jameson?” Tobiah said.

“They won’t stop gibberin’,” Jameson said. Tobiah jerked his head and told Jameson to take a break. Then he came around the mast and knelt in front of Agnes. Throp craned his head to listen.

“What do you think your prince will do,” asked Tobiah. “When you discovers you’ve been kidnapped? Hmm? Do you think he’ll hand over the ransom without another thought?”

“I… I do not know.” Agnes stammered.

“Mmmm,” Tobiah said. “And what about you, handmaid? What do you think will happen?”

“I don’t know anything of the Prince’s disposition,” she said. “But I imagine he wouldn’t want to risk the hand of his future bride by refusing your terms.”

“And what if I don’t want to take that risk,” Tobiah said. “What if I were to just kill the princess right now?”

Throp heard a whimper from Agnes and he wriggled his hands, trying to find some release from his bonds.

“Then I-” the princess started but corrected herself. “Then the princess would live forever as a martyr. And every man on the water would be after your head.”

Tobiah laughed, a deep, hearty sound, and stood up.

“You’re smart,” he said. “For a hand maiden.”