Making a deal with the lunatic was the worst part. After which he left her alone and took care of his stab wound.
Eloise silently sat next to the window and glanced at the darkening sky. Farthest into the horizon, yet she was not able to see the ship she was familiar with.
'I hope my mom doesn't get sick. And what about Odette, I bet that girl sobbed a river.' she closed her eyes painfully.
"Lass?"
"What?" she glanced back with her eyes narrowed.
"Its dinnertime," he coldly said and tossed a bag at her. "Dress well to impress."
Eloise picked up the red dress with a glare. It was the type of dress she hated. Its collar was high and his sleeves were extremely poufy. Like it makes her arm look at least ten times bigger than it was. The skirt was not to be underestimated, either. It was bigger than what she usually wore and heavier, too.
Without a word, she tossed it down.
"I am good with what I'm wearing,"
"Come out with that and I'm assuring you, those rowdy guys will grope you," he grunted at her, glancing at her butt.
"Fucking hell." she plucked the dress off the floor and ran into the wardrobe.
"Hey, feed my king when you are there."
"Shut it!" she slammed the door close and leaned against it tiredly. Dealing with this lunatic was easy, but going out and meeting those scary pirates was what I feared her most.
She swiftly changed into the dress. Thankfully, it was the type of dress she could wear on her own. The stings were in the front which she tightened and tied it in a bow.
The snake hissed loudly at her.
"Little thing, how did you even come aboard this hell ship huh?" she picked him up. The snake slithered onto her shoulder on its own. "Your owner is fucked up and obsessed with you. I hope you can be my protecting medallion."
The snake gently licked her chin.
"Good boy," chuckling, she left the wardrobe.
"You took your sweet time," the pirate captain glanced back with a small smile. He was dressed up in a black shirt and black pant, completely looking like a predator to the core.
She stepped back, a little intimidated by his visuals.
"Aw, don't tell me the feisty lass is fearing me now."
"I fear nothing," Eloise confidently walked out the door.
At least that's what she convinced herself to be.
Just a few steps out the door, she could already feel multiple eyes watching her from all directions. All of their attention felt like leach on her skin, sucking into her blood.
Her legs trembled slightly, but thankfully her full skirt hid it.
She raised her head and looked straight.
"That is my king's girl," a voice whispered from behind.
"I am no ones," she mumbled and followed his lead. He took her over to the deck where everyone was getting food on a plate. There was a huge cauldron full of porridge and it was portioned out to each pirate.
"I thought you would be eating meat and wine," she whispered to him.
"Lass we are pirates we sell everything we plunder," he whispered back to her and handed her a bowl of brown looking porridge. "You are in luck, today we are having fish porridge."
Eloise held her breath with a grimaced. The porridge reeked of fishy smell, and it almost made her nauseous. She held it away from her a bit and took a spoon full.
Holding her breath, she swallowed it.
Surprisingly it tasted decent.
She gobbled it down without any complaint.
"Here I thought you would be putting up a fit asking for caviar and pasta..." he chuckled at her.
Eloise glared back and continued eating. 'I need my strength to escape for here, bastard,'
The pirates most of the time ogled at her without any reserve. Eloise tried her best to avoid their gaze, but occasionally her eyes met some of the pirates'. The blatant lust in them scared her a lot.
'I have to escape this place soon...'
Her grip on the bowl tightened until her knuckled turned white.
"Hey, chill," the man calmly whispered, and continued eating his meal.
Eloise glanced up at him. 'This is the only decent person I could find on this ship. At least he doesn't have any kind of bad intentions towards me but....'
"I need you to keep up your end of the deal."
His smile melted away slightly. "And what would that be?"
"You promised you would release all of us if I could provide you the method to breed your white snake." She gently touched the snake on her neck.
"I never made any promise like that."
"What!! But you said..."
"I would release you, not the others. How would we earn money if we release everyone," he said with a charming smile.
"You!!" she glared at him intently.
"No use glaring at me lass, if I release everyone, my men would become apprehensive of my lead. Then I would probably be chased off of the ship myself," he said fiddling with one of his gold teeth.
Eloise bit her lips anxiously. "So you won't?"
"I won't,"
Eloise gripped the snake's neck. "Then king dies with me. What about that?"
His eyes changed subtly. "Don't even think about it?"
"Think about what? Killing this midget will be very easy," she pretested, to tighten her grip. The snake almost became uncomfortable and started moving around anxiously. "Release all or I will kill it."
The pirate captain took his dagger and held it close to her neck. "What do you think will be faster, my dagger or your grip?"
"I wish to bet my life with it," Eloise laughed manically. 'What will you do now, bastard?'