Iwas dragged on board the unknown personals ship and I had later foundout that I was on the Spanish Armenian ship they tied me to the mastthen they had cast off I did scream my protest but I presumed thatthey were taking no chances because I bared the uniform of theiradversaries they had tied me down not like I could jump off the shipand run away I can't swim anywhere they occasionally came down toshut me up with a smack to the head at one point they gagged me Ihung my head unhappily not only was I stuck on a foreign ship I wasthirsty and hungry. a shadow loomed over me

"whata sorry state you are in" said a voice

thatI remembered but could not place I looked up to see the man I waspretty sure his name was Jowl if I was remembering right he was theman who attempted to kill me I grumbled under the gage kicking myfeet in unhappiness

"nownow now" he said as he drew his sword holding it to my throat"that's not how a princess should behave" my eyes widened and Ibit my tongue

"howdid he know" I thought

heapplied pressure to the sword it dug into the soft flesh of my throatbut not enough to cut it open I shivered staring down at thedanGerouspiece of metal as he continued to talk

"ohwont your patents be so happy to have their dearest little girl back"

histoes just came into range of my heels and with all my might bangedthem down on his poor unsuspecting toes he cried out in agonystaggering back he sheathed his sword and pulled out his dagger andslashed the bridge of my nose I yelped and bit my tongue as I feltthe warm blood cascade down my face

"thatshould teach you" he said

turninghis back on me he made his way to the front of the ship and nodded tothe captain who looked back at me showing his teeth in a psychoticgrin I tried swallowing the lump that had just formed in my throatbut my mouth was dry. Night fell fast and soon I sat on the deck inthe open air my teeth were chattering from the cold and therelentless wind I closed my eyes and just hoped it was all a dreamuntil I heard someone walk across the deck I opened my eyes mymuscles were shaking with the cold he had something in hishands........ a blanket he threw it over my head I snorted as Iwriggled around working my legs into a cross legged position and thenslowly drifted off to sleep in the generousness warmth from theblanket that smelt strAngelyof vinegar.

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Iwoke up stiff and sore I silenced a yawn I wriggled around a littletrying to work off the blanket but then I felt the bonds begin toslack than fall away I pulled my hands out in front of me and pulledthe blanket off of me I rubbed my wrists seeing the red marks and thepain I felt from them

"wellI'll be" I mumbled "rope burn"

Islowly got to my feet wincing a the pain in my joints because theyhave not been moved for a long time I stretched my limbs for a fewmoments I guess they only wanted to keep me tied up until they gotaway from port because after that they did not bother to tie me upagain leaving me free to roam the decks the crew looked at me as Iwalked nimbly across the deck and up the stairs than over the railingthe captain came out of his quarters and told me off as I landed hardon the deck

"staystill" he barked I narrowed my eyes

"soyou capture me and expect me to stay still" I asked as sweetly as Icould

"yes"he growled he was no more intimidating than a kitten

"hellwould freeze over before I listen to you" I seethed

hisface turned red with rage he brought his hand back and brought itacross my face so fast I had no time to brace myself and I staggeredback losing my balance and falling over the crew had stopped work andlooked at the scene I tasted blood in my mouth and the wound on mynose had opened up and blood was streaming down my face

"letthat be a lesson to all who question my command" he saidyelling over the deck

heside glanced me fury burnt in his eyes.

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Ileaned over the railing of the s.pandor the name of the Spanish shipI had been dragged aboard against my will I watched the waves lapagainst the side of the boat I saw a few rocks that were just visiblein the water I looked up to see land. I smiled to myself there Icould make my escape and finally be rid of the stupid pirate shipsand alacue ships but my joy was short lived once the land was within50 meters my collar was grabbed and I was pulled back from therailing and thrown to the ground I yelled out in pain as I landed onmy bad side I quickly scrambled to my feet

"don'ttry anything funny kid" jowl sneered "or else"

"youwill kill me" I said completing his sentence "were you not goingto do that anyway" jowl let out a sharp hah

"whatwould we get from the king and queen if we ransomed a corpse"

"ahmm I don't know something less valuable then dirt because that'sall I'm worth at the moment" I said

heback handed my faster then my eye could see hitting my other cheek Ibit my tongue and tears of pain blurred my vision is this what Rikardfelt when I hit him?

"don'tget sarcastic with me" he growled venom in his voice "your lifehangs in the balance and your lucky that we are taking you back toyour loving parents alive and not killing you now" the wordsent shivers down my spine

"great"I thought "just what I needed."

Theship anchored near the docks and crew men sent out mooring ropes andpulled the ship in Jowl went to the side of the ship he was about tojump off when he stopped

"ohand don't try running away these men are much more faster and agilethan you are or will ever be"

Ilooked behind me the bulky men were lifting empty barrels and createsand handling them like they were cushions I would have been surprisedto see them race after me but I was prepared to take that chance