Saved By The Pirate (Book One)

7. Be A Man!

Fish and I both turned our heads to find none other than Christopher himself with not even a drop of sweat on his forehead. How that's possible? You got me.

Not ashamed about asking about this mysterious figure he built himself to be, I raise a brow. "What happened to the men you were fighting?"

A proud smirk rose the corners of his lips. "Unconcious."

"I don't understand. How in God's name were you able to knock them unconscious? You had a bloody sword in your hands!"

"I am aware of the weapon in my hands. It's hard for it to go unnoticed," was all the bloody pirate said - nothing else.

"Are you going to tell me how you knocked them unconscious?" I said after about five seconds of awkward silence.

He put a hand on his hip. "How about I leave you to figure that out for yourself. Make it a little game," he said, his brown eyes twinkling in the sunlight. "How did the pirate do it?"

I sighed. "Wouldn't it just be easier if you told me? I'm not exactly up for a game. I have other problems to worry about right now. For example, you."

"Very sweet of you to consider me a problem. I'm touched," Christopher said, the smirk still well on his face. If only I could smack it off.

He turned to Fish. "Go help the men load the men onto the other ship. Oh, and don't forget the captain up there," he said, gesturing to the unconscious enemy pirate captain at the helm.

"Aye, aye," said Fish, and then he was gone, leaving me alone with the man who held me hostage. I glanced behind him to look at the layout of the ship, and there, I found bodies lying on the floor. They weren't dead, but boy, were they going to hurt when they woke up.

That was a fact.

I turned back to Christopher. "Why not kill them? You could raid their ship, and you wouldn't have to worry about them anymore," I asked. Look at me being the brains of this operation.

Christopher chuckled like my question, was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. "What fun would that be? If I kill them, then I wouldn't have anything to play with for the future. Sooner or later, piracy will disappear. I think I'm doing society a favor by keeping the occupation alive. You never know what lost soul the sea could attract next."

How philosophical. A brilliant thing to say indeed. What pirate could come up with that reason? I wasn't even sure if pirates could count their money, let alone argue a reason for not killing a fellow thief out on the sea that could (and let us pray) rob them blind.

Giving one last glance behind him, I took note of the few bodies that had a small puddle of blood next to them. "Are you sure you didn't kill anybody?" I said.

"Not dead, I can assure you, but I can't promise near death. We have to have some fun—no harm in that. But don't worry, we'll stitch them up. We do have to pick up our toys after playing after all."

How thoughtful of him.

"But in the meantime," Christopher said. "How about we get you back to that mast, darling? It's been missing you."

"Uh, no, no, and no again. I am not going to be tied up. Don't you have an extra room or something?"

Christopher smiled. "You could always stay in the crew's quarters. I'm sure they won't mind having a woman bunking with them," he said with a wink.

I thinned my lips. Christopher noticed. He sighed. "Apologies. Bad joke. There is a spare room, but," he said, his smirk returning. "You're going to have to work for it. Pretend to be a man onboard. Women are bad luck on ships."