It felt like time went extremely slow for a number of people at this moment.

David might have winked at Erin, but he still wasn’t all that confident. He hoped that he could walk, swim and do anything but he still only felt a slight feeling in his legs and so…He really was in trouble! He wasn’t surprised either, he’d only just recently taken the antidote, and it would be magic if it healed him so quickly!

“Don’t worry, my man! As soon as we get on my boat and get away from these fiends, I’ll give you what you need!”

David looked at the merchant captain with disgust, “Oh? And what could that be?”

The antidote…Right?

“Haha, of course it’ll be the thing that will give you a better life and I’ll be the one you will thank for that!”

David slightly shook his head as he looked down, this man, the reason why he couldn’t feel his legs in the first place wants to now look good for giving him the antidote?

Did he really think that he’d be thankful?

 

Yes, it was true, the merchant captain thought of that story beforehand as well. He was going to play the ‘good man’. He was going to make up a whole story of ‘finding the long lost David’ so that he could not only help him bring him back to the King, but having ‘heard’ about his legs, had found the antidote. He would be a hero!

And if David didn’t want to accept this as the ‘real’ story, he now had another trick to play!

Looking at the pirate ship, as it was turning to face their small boat slowly, the merchant captain smiled slyly. That little missy could now be an even bigger pawn! If this David didn’t do what he wanted, he’d just use his wife to taunt him. How many ways could he punish her in front of him? Ha, so easy!

The luck!

Everything could only fall into place, he was sure of it!

 

It had been an interesting turn of events actually, because the merchant ship was slower and had less man, the merchant captain had gone out onto a smaller boat with only one other person, and a white flag.

The pirates normally don’t care about something like this, even though it was the first time that they’d seen this directly. So, the pirate ship just slowly kept going, to keep that small amount of space between them and the main merchant ship. The problem was, they had been going around in circles continuously this entire time and that was used against them. They predicted that the pirate ship would continue to just go round, thinking that they were good enough never to be boarded…

 

With Erin not at her post, the first mate got confused, as his last orders were to keep a distance from the merchant ship, but…The smaller one was using that against them and had gotten closer to theirs, even though it was just two people…They had indeed gone the opposite way around this invisible circle, quickly meeting up at the front of the pirate ship in such a quick instant that by the time they found this small boat with two people in it, they could already hear them slowing down to being hooked up to the pirate ship!

Upon seeing this, the first mate quickly went to the captain, hoping that they’d have enough time before the two man just boarded their ship!

While the first mate was away from his post, the ship just slowed down, making it even easier for the merchant captain to climb aboard…

 

It was all done so easily as the merchant captain walked onto the ship like he owned it, well that’s how he felt anyway, it was his wife’s, so it was his!

At least one pirate went to stop him, but he was killed straight away, with absolutely no remorse.

They stopped attacking him when they saw his face…

He called them all dogs and that their leader was his wife and so therefore they were his men!

It was hard having a female leader and having such a dominant male coming onto the boat, declaring them as his, as it made them remember what it was like to have a man as their leader and so they did nothing.

 

It was pretty safe to say that in a few people opinions at that time, when the merchant captain climbed aboard the pirate ship, the real pirate had indeed been him. He had no line that he wouldn’t cross, and he was also very self-absorbed, pretty much thinking of himself most of the time…And David was pretty much loot right now, a treasure that the merchant captain wanted to obtain!

This was all seen by the crew on the pirate ship and yes, they did nothing, which was another reason why the pirate ship came to a stop on the sea…

They let the man walk into the captain’s quarters, then watched as he came out with someone and throw them overboard.

…The problem with pirates is that they won’t get into trouble for not bothering with what just happened. They might get yelled out, but they didn’t do much wrong and the uninvited guest didn’t stay, so…What would be the point of punishing them?

They choose to do nothing, and Erin can only get upset for caring that David got taken but it didn’t really have much to do with the rest of them…

They should know better though, because this was…Erin’s boat…It was Erin’s kingdom…

 

Nonetheless, the overbearing male that came onto the boat, declaring them all as his, was why three of them had turned against Erin. They took that opportunity to basically state that her ‘husband’ was their leader instead…But…That didn’t work!

Erin wasn’t blind, she saw that things had changed slightly, but now wasn’t the time to play around!

She would have to give them all a beating later!

So, now that they were now turned towards the small boat, they finally understood their little ploy…Because the bigger ship was heading for the smaller boat too, having just down a bigger circle, that’s all.

Before their eyes, they watched as the smaller boat met up with the bigger boat, and David was slowly hauled up to the deck of the boat.

 

The smaller boat had been abandoned as the bigger boat continued on, infuriating Erin.

Before she could come up with anything good, except to just catch up to them slowly, another ship suddenly came into view, changing everything!

It would have been harder to do anything if all the ships were going fast but the pirate ship was going slow and the merchant ship was already slowing down to seeing the other ship in front of them…Was this just going to be another deadlock?

Not just one of them was infuriated, King Elton was too!

Now standing at the front of the ship, with several people to protect him, he was overseeing the other two ships with his own eyes. He waited until they were getting closer before he yelled out, “In the name of this countries King, you will stop now!”

It wasn’t just a yell, it was a very angry yell!

 

“In a hurry?” Alison asked, coming out of nowhere.

Elton turned to her abruptly, “What are you doing here!?”

Alison shrugged and turned to the boats, “I was just going for a walk.”

Unable to say anything at all, Elton just stared at her…

Alison looked at Elton for a quick moment and slightly hesitated…He was extremely angry!

“Get under the boat!” He pointed, nearly yelling but it was obvious that he wanted to yell!

“No.” Was all she said, as she then turned back to the boats. “If David is there, I’m helping.”

Elton cursed and went to take her, wanting to put her down below deck but she quickly got away. “We are getting closer, pay attention!”

 

Elton stopped and turned, seeing it is so.

“Don’t think I won’t put you over my knee!” Elton stated as he then turned his attention towards the two boats.

“Who are you to state such a thing!?” The merchant captain yelled back arrogantly.

“Elton!?” David said, moving his neck forward to try and see if he was right.

“You know him?” The merchant captain asked him.

David absently nodded to the merchant captain, “Yeah.”

Unable to help from smiling, David stared at the merchant captain and almost laughed, he was going to be in so much trouble!

“Then if he knows you…”

In the next moment, the merchant captain walked forward and yelled, “I have just freed a person known as David from the pirates!”

“He’s mine!” A woman’s voice yelled out possessively.

Elton looked from one boat to the next and sighed. What was going on? David seemed to be the loot here…

But at least now, he knew that David was at the very least still alive!

 

David looked down at his legs and still only felt a very small amount of feeling in them, hardly able to lift them beyond just a few centimetres…

He can’t run, so he still had to be careful about his predicament.

“He stole him from me!”

In an instant, the pirates laid down a board towards the merchant ship and took things into their own hands.

David didn’t know if Erin should be doing this in front of the King but…It was already done!

With pirates running onto the merchant boat, they tried to quickly bring people to their knees, holding them at sword point, but did nothing much else. There were some fights going on, but those fights were forgotten where David was…The merchant captain frowned, going inside and holding David up in front of him. He assumed that as long as he kept David safe, the other ship would probably just kill those pirates for him.

Elton just waited until they too could board the merchant ship but was getting slightly edgy to the safety of his friend’s life.

 

Before Elton could say or do anything more, Alison rushed out on a rope and slid through a window of the merchant’s boat and landed right next to David.

“There you are.”

“Alison!” A yell came towards Alison, and she slightly cringed to it.

David heard the King’s angry voice and cringed as well. “He’s mad as hell right now!”

Alison looked at the merchant captain and shrugged, “I’ll make it up to him later.”

“Who are you!?” The merchant captain asked, standing behind David and putting a knife to his neck.

The close by area went quiet, including that of Erin who was now at the door, seeing David like this.

“Alison!”

With that, Erin was then pushed aside as Elton came in, then he saw the knife to David’s neck and immediately said, “Put it down!”

“Who are you!?” The merchant captain yelled, knowing full well that he may be in big trouble…All he had was ‘David’s’ life in his hands…

“David…” Elton said.

“Ulrich, let him go!” Erin said through clenched teeth. She hated that name! Hated it! Hated it! Hated it!

“Or what?” The merchant captain stated. His eyes skittered from one person to the next. He didn’t see much of an exit! They were in a room that was somewhat opened on two ends, but those two ends were completely blocked!

 

David had tried to talk but this ‘Ulrich’ just grabbed him tighter…It was obvious now that David was his only piece to keep him safe. Everyone knew this…

Elton took a deep breath and eyed the person holding onto his friend’s neck, “I don’t think there’s anything you can do for a pardon.”

They looked at him in stunned faces, they were all thinking of a way to bargain to help get David out of harm’s way, but Elton just gave him no way out!

“I agree!” Erin stated.

“Who are you?” Elton said, turning to Erin.

“Good question.” Erin said, only quickly looking at Elton before looking back at David.

“I’m the king…” Elton said, feeling a bit deflated…This was probably the worst time he’d ever had to tell someone of his status…

“Hi, I’m the queen…” Alison said, while smiling at Erin.

Ulrich widened his eyes and felt like his life was over…How was he to get out of this!

It wasn’t Ulrich that brought them back from making conversation, it was Erin stating, “David’s mine.”

 

Elton wasn’t someone that laughed often but he had trouble from holding a straight face at this moment.

David went to talk but was held even harder, making him start to go red in the face and make noises as his throat was being held.

They could not hold out anymore, David might die at this rate…But what are they to do?

“Let him go.” Elton stated.

“Without a pardon, I think not.” Ulrich stated. If it hadn’t been for the pirates, this would have gone down a lot smoother!

Elton narrowed his eyes, “You want a pardon?”

“I want a pardon and the reward for finding David.” The merchant captain stated without holding back. “I did save him from the pirates after all.”

He was insulting the King at that very moment! But the merchant captain wanted to remind the other boats people that the pirates were their enemy, not him!

“Fine you have it, now let him go!” Elton stated.

“No, not until I have it, I will then take David and only then leave him on an island or at Melya port as long as no one is around.

Everyone there knew that that wouldn’t happen. David would be killed. Why would this person go out of his way when he got what he wanted…They had to save him now or there might not be another time!

But how do they save him without harming David at the same time?

 

Without any warning, an arrow went straight into Ulrich from the window. It was a site indeed as the arrow hit squarely in the forehead, spraying a bit of blood close by. Then the body started to fall heavily to the floor, along with David.

It stunned everyone so much that all but Erin looked at where the arrow came from.

A site indeed as someone in the crow’s nest from the pirate ship put down her bow…It was Robin…

Erin quickly grabbed David, dragging him to her side and then she got out her sword and put it to Ulrich’s neck. “No pardon!”

Everyone else turned back around to see Erin slice the neck of the merchant captain, seeing him finish sliding down to the floor afterwards.

Erin then looked through the window and nodded, obviously to state to Robin that her job was done well.

David had coughed a few times but now was just breathing slightly heavier. “Your Highness.”

Elton stared at David quietly for a moment, then nodded, “It’s majesty now. You missed my wedding.”

David put his head against the wall and closed his eyes, “Sorry…”

 

Elton went to go before David, who didn’t seem to be getting up from the floor, but Erin stood in front of him with great confidence before saying, “What are you going to do?”

“It’s ok, I know him.” David said, reaching up to take her hand.

Erin shrugged, “So…I knew that one too.” She pointed to the body of Ulrich, without even looking.

Elton let out a small laugh, “You’ve picked up an interesting one, David.”

David, still holding onto Erin’s hand, just smiled.

“When are you going to stand up before your king?” Elton asked, getting irritated. He knew David had just been handled roughly, but he seemed alright…

“Soon.” Is all David said, as Erin bent down in front of him.

David felt a bit embarrassed, but he put his hands around her neck.

“Push him up for me, will ya.” Erin said to Elton.

“Push him?” Was all Elton said.

Alison went up and pushed David onto Erin better, having more of an idea on what was going on.

Elton watched in silence as he saw his friend get carted away like this.

…Broken…

 

Alison looked at Elton and sighed. She knew Elton felt guilty, now he was probably going to feel even more guilty…

Erin didn’t care who those people were, she just slowly got David back onto her ship and put him back onto their bed where he belonged.

“I’m going.” She said, going to walk out. There were still heaps to do at this point, not only where there still men under sword point and punishment to be had but the guests don’t seem to be leaving quickly at all.

“Not yet.” David said, holding her back, “I’ll have to talk to them before we leave.

“I don’t want to.” Erin said, coming back.

David smiled at her, “I’m not going anywhere. Just let me see them for a bit.”

Erin smiled back and nodded. It seemed that is all she needed to hear…

Walking out of her quarters, she saw Robin jump down from where she had shot the arrow from and gave her a good hit on the shoulder, “Good work!”

 

“Yes, agreed, good work!” Elton stated, having finally followed after Erin.

Robin looked at Erin and then back at Elton, “Who?”

“Hi, I’m Alison!” Alison said, happily looking at Robin, “That was a nice shot!”

“Alison.” Robin said, nodding her acknowledgement.

“Your Majesty!” Elton said roughly. “It’s Her Majesty!”

“Don’t be so pedantic!” Alison said back to him.

“You are the queen, it is fact!” Elton stated back firmly.

Robin was stunned but quickly got onto her knees and did whatever she thought was right for that moment.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry if I did something wrong!”

“And now me? I’m the King.” Elton said smugly.

Robin went still for a moment in shock and then said, “I’m sorry, Your Majesties, I’m so sorry. I…I…”

“Enough! Let her go!” Alison said, bending down to help Robin up. “Stand up properly.”

 

Elton felt better now that he was properly introduced. “Very well.”
All this time Erin just stood there, finally saying, “You seem to know David?”

Turning to Erin, both Alison and Elton looked curiously at her. It didn’t seem to matter to her at all that she was in the company of the countries King and Queen.

“Yes, we know David.” Alison said, looking at Elton, why had he gone so quiet?

One can only guess at Elton as he was coming up with yet another idea…Another idea for these pirates and how they could indeed become quite useful to him!

He never really gave much thought to the sea…Well, until now…

Having some help in defending Commorda from the sea sounded fantastic. And he was here, right now, so he could try and start getting the pirates under him!

That was it, Elton was convinced that the pirates had to join him!