Authors: Lydia Clark
There was only one way...
She spoke his name.
"Dale, are you enjoying yourself?" She tried to sound like one of the tavern wenches she had seen about the crew when they had visited the last port. All the men had disappeared upstairs with one except for her Pop. He said he had to keep an eye on her. She tried to reassure him that she could take care of herself, but he would not hear otherwise. Hurley waited as long as he could until he finally gave up and left with one of the wenches.
"Umm... that is what I am supposed to ask you, my queen bee."
She leaned close to his face and whispered in his ear. "So you are Dale Montey?"
"Yes, the very one. Who else could serve your needs better? Certainly not Hector the Red. I am the best gigolo in this here town."
Her questions were not affecting him in the right way. It was evident by the way he went limp. Treea had enough fun for now anyways. She left him sitting naked there in the chair while she dressed. Eyeing his body while she did so. His physic was very pleasing to a woman's eye. Biceps that rippled when they flexed. He was just well built all over.
"Are we done here so soon?"
Treea did not answer. She continued to re-lace her cord across the top of her dress pulling her breasts taut underneath it.
Dale stood and almost lost his balance knocking the chair off to the side by his stumble. "Do you mind removing my blindfold and undoing my wrists? I'd like to put my pants back on if you don't mind."
Treea uprighted the chair putting it back in place and directed him to sit. "Sit and I will help you dress."
"Is this still part of some game we are playing?"
She smiled a thought. "Yes, we are still playing the game. A bondage game and I will be your master. You must do as I say or I will be forced to whip you."
Dale smiled and licked his lips in anticipation.
Then she helped him put his pants and boots on. To him this was a sign that the game should be over. "What kind of game is this anyways?"
Treea stroked the side of his cheek softly and kissed his lips. "I'm taking you home."
"That is not part of the bargain. I do not go home with any of my clients."
"Well now, there is a first for everything. You're coming home with me and that's that. You are my prisoner and I am your captor. Now up on your feet and let's go."
Dale hesitated until he felt the blade at his back. He didn't remember seeing her carrying a knife of any kind. How did she do that?
When Hurley told her she couldn't take her sword, he never said she couldn't take the blade. She had strapped it under her dress on her ankle well out of sight. She had poked him one more time before he moved forward and out the door.
Hurley was waiting out behind the tavern just as he said he would. "What took you so long?"
Treea smiled. "A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, especially since you didn't say what I had to do."
Hurley eyed her. He could barely make out her features in the dark. Her response was not to his liking. He would have to deal with her when they got back to the ship. She might be the captain's daughter, but her tone did not sit well with him. She wouldn't be in charge much longer anyways. Not with what he had in mind.
The two of them led Dale back to the ship and shoved him down below in a holding hole. A ball and shackle were used to keep him from escaping. Bread and water would be provided come morning.
In the captain's quarters, the two began to argue over what they were going to do with their new found prisoner.
"I say we ask for my father and nothing more."
"What is wrong with you woman. We stand to get a lot of money for this man. We could buy your Pop's freedom ten times over. You even said so yourself."
Treea crossed her arms and turned her back on Hurley. She knew he was right, but it wasn't her idea so she didn't like it.
"Think about it Treea. You know I'm right. We're right. He is our only chance."
The room went silent. Only the sound of the waves hitting the side of the boat was heard in the room. Treea turned around to find that Hurley was gone. He knew how to win an argument.
Hurley leaned against the side of the boat looking out over the pier. It was only a matter of time before his plan worked out. Everything was going as it should. The captain had been arrested and thrown in the dungeon. All he had left to do was get rid of the girl. Then the boat would be his.
So why bother trying to free the Captain if it meant giving back the command of the ship?
He had mixed feelings about the girl. Over the past few months, she started growing under his skin. She was more than just a mere plaything, which was all she was at first. That is, as long as her Pop didn't find out about the two of them.
It wasn't because her Pop didn't like Hurley. In fact, Captain Pellesi was like a second father to him. Taking him under his wing over twenty years ago, back when he was only twenty-four years old. That was the age Treea was now. Age would most likely be a major factor in how her Pop would feel about them if he knew their relationship.
So far, Hurley had managed to take care and not be caught. But now that her Pop, Captain Pellesi was out of the picture while he was sitting in the dungeon, it gave him not only free range of the ship but also that of Treea. The plan about Treea was the only part of the plan that was not coming together properly.
He had to find a way to make certain that Captain Pellesi was never going to be released without Treea becoming suspicious. Win her over and then the Captain position would be his. Just as he planned.
Sugar coating for Treea might go far.
"Hurley, I've come to say I'm sorry. You are right. We need to ask for the ransom and the release of my Pop."
Her voice caught him completely off guard. It was so unlike her to agree with him so readily. Hurley whipped around to make sure it was Treea's voice he had heard.
"What made you change your mind?"
"I don't know, it just sounds like the thing to do." Treea held out a large piece of rough paper with writing on it. "I wrote the ransom note. You just need to find someone to deliver it."
Hurley put his fingers to his mouth and let out a loud shrill whistle. A young boy came running. He couldn't have been more than fourteen years of age. "Marvin, you are to run this letter to the King. Make sure he gets it and return as quick as you can."
"Aye, Sir."
Marvin took the letter never looking to see what it said. He tucked it safely in his belt at his waist and ran off at a sprint for the castle. Quickly disappearing out of sight.
"Now we wait." Hurley turned back to look past the railing while the sleepy town woke while the sun began to rise behind them. A new day and the plan of his action was going as it should.
Treea slipped away without Hurley noticing she was gone. It didn't matter. He would be captain of the ship soon. His ship, his crew and Treea would be his wretched woman. Let her have her so called freedom while she could. It did not matter. She wouldn't go far.
Treea did not like the way Hurley was acting, he seemed off and too quiet. Something was not quite right. Did he feel jealous for her being with the gigolo? He was the one who had set it up, so why was he acting this way. It didn't matter. He would be himself once again, soon, she was sure of it. Hurley was Hurley, he was also a man.
There was a captive down in the hold that needed tending to also. Since no one else was going to do it, this left Treea to the task of bringing food and water below to the prisoner.
"Hello – are you awake?" Treea called before setting foot on the floor. She held onto the ladder with one hand while balancing a platter of bread and cheese. A flask of water was tied to her waist.
The prisoner sat on a pile of burlap that was used for a makeshift bed. "Aye – I'm awake." He tugged at the chain attached to his leg. "Why am I being held? If you think, you can make me perform more services for you for free by holding me here captive then you have another thing coming. I won't do it."
Treea laughed. "You think I'm holding you for my own enjoyment? If it was only as easy as that." She pushed a piece of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail out of the way of her eyes and smiled a tender smile at her prisoner. She liked his way of thinking. A sex slave had never crossed her mind.
Morning light filtering down inside the hole allowing Treea to see her prisoner much better. He was bare-chested and muscular. Just the sight of his naked body sent a quiver of want across her body making it hard to forget how he had made her feel not too long ago.
"I brought you food and water." Treea stood just out of the prisoner's reach. She was afraid that if she were to allow him to touch her she wouldn't want him to stop, even if it were a life or death matter. So she set the tray of food along with a flask on the floor and gently pushed with her foot so that it was within his reach.
"If you're not keeping me as a sex slave then why am I a prisoner? It can't be for money, I have none. I'm just a poor bloke who is trying to pay his own way through college. Do you know how hard that is when you have to take care of your haggard mother?"
"Your name is Dale Montey, correct?"
"Aye, that's my name."
"You are the heir to the throne. We have kidnapped you. In exchange for your release, the king, your father, is to release my father from his dungeon."
Dale burst out laughing. He clutched at his sides from laughing so hard. "My father the king – I have never heard such a thing. "My mother told me how my father was a tailor who died before I was born. I had no father and had I had one he would never have been king. You have the wrong man."
"No, I don’t have the wrong man."
"What makes you so sure?"
"The birthmark on your inside right thigh, I saw it last night as soon as you dropped your pants."
Dale's eyes narrowed. "What proof do you have, that I would be the heir?"
"I have your mother's diary from when she was a young woman. She described the birthmark you were born with."
"How would my mother have known the King? Why has she been living as a poor seamstress since I was born?"
"Because she had to flee the castle before you were born. She was afraid for yours and her life should the new queen discover the truth."
"Such an unbelievable tale. They will never believe you."
"Aye, but I have a book of truth and once the king sees it he will believe."
Treea hated it when other didn't believe a word she was saying. She snatched up the plate and left the food on the floor along with the water skin. "Eat up. Wasted food can be the death of you." With one hand holding the plate, she climbed the ladder leaving Dale alone in the hole to ponder over his new found lineage.
"Your majesty, we have received a message for you. It is from the daughter of Captain Pelesii who is being held in the prison." The messenger paused waiting for the king to respond.
"Well read it!" The duke order when the King said nothing in response.
"Your majesty, you have taken my father into custody for no reason. He has done nothing to give cause for this action. I have requested once already that you release him, but since you have given me no choice, I have taken the liberty to hold your son. The only known heir to the throne, prisoner until you comply and release my father along with a sum of one hundred gold bars to pay for his wrongful arrest."
"What is this? I have no son. Give that to me!" The king stood and took the scroll from the messenger, sending him off on his way with a quick wave of his hand.
"How can she claim to have my son when the queen never gave birth to one single child before she died."
"I'm sure it must be a hoax, Your Majesty," replied the Duke.
The king tried to think back in time. It had been so long ago. Back before he had married. There had been a young woman. How he had loved her and suddenly she had disappeared as though she had never existed. He had come close to telling his parents a declaration of love for this woman when he was told he were to marry a woman he did not know. But he had feared his father's reaction after he told him it was already arranged to keep the bordering country allied.
He had never known her name, this young woman, she had never said it and he had never asked. Had this been wrong of him? Even though he had not known her name, he still remembered her smell and smile and the way she made him feel when they were together.
She had disappeared just before the woman he was to marry arrived at the castle. It had been so mysterious, her leaving in the middle of the night.
"I'm sure you are right. But I do want you to look into this matter anyways. If there were an heir to the crown, then my people would be happier to know that they would have sound leadership to continue overseeing their kingdom."
"As you wish, your majesty." The Duke bowed and left the king's side allowing him to continue to think back in time, wondering what ever happened to the young woman he had loved so many years ago.
This would put a crux into a plan he already had in place for the kingdom. Should he still go through with it, or cancel the deal he had already arranged. He was surprised that Ellington was happy to go along with his arrangement as of so far since he had wanted the throne for many years.