Chapter 3: Politeness Gets Girls Killed

Evie Stanton

It felt like I was in the pathway of a snake, about to get bitten. My heart raced, and my voice stuck in my throat. Adrenaline flared within me. Somehow this scared me more than those three men did earlier. I was at a loss for words, thrown by how fast the atmosphere changed.

"P-please don't hurt me." My words were barely above a whisper. Utterly pathetic. I was so pathetic. I didn't know what to do. Captain Thane's brawny arms caged my only exit, pressing me against the wall.

Thane's eyes were impossibly dark like he wanted to strangle me but was fighting against the notion. The conflicting sight before me made my pulse thud hard against my throat.

Fear crept within me as I tried to figure out what I could do.

Politeness gets girls killed. If you find yourself in danger, act hysterical. Men think you're hysterical, anyway. Make a big enough fuss and you're not worth the struggle.

And she was right. I was done being polite.

"Get off me, you brute!" I shouted, both hands coming up to shove his chest away from mine.

That seemed to take him off guard, and he took a step back from me. Then, Thane's hand snapped to my throat, not hard enough to choke me, but enough to startle me.

I gasped, hand coming up over his. I pulled at his fingers, trying to get him to release me. His hand tightened again, only slightly.

A warning.

An unspoken command to behave.

A command that for some reason turned me on. My thighs pressed together as a sensation bubbled within my lower abdomen. "Let me go."

"You can do better than that, Stanton rat," he replied, baring his teeth. Rage came off him in waves, suffocating me with its darkness.

Rat? What the hell had I done to make him hate me so much? I didn't have a clue what he was talking about nor did I understand what I had done to upset him. It was like one moment he was fine, and the next he had become someone entirely different.

I struggled against his grip, realizing I had done absolutely nothing to him. His attitude was his own damn problem!

Fuck him. I was done behaving.

My eyes narrowed in defiance as I threw my head back.

I surprised myself when I smirked, uttering, "Then how's this? Get off me, motherfucker."

Slamming my foot down, I stomped on his. In a surprise, his grip loosened. I dropped down, breaking the hold he had on my throat. Ducking around his massive arm, I thought I was free. I could run as fast as my heeled feet would take me.

He caught me by my cape, yanking me backward. I yelped, tripping over my own feet, back into his chest. "That's better."

"Let go of me!" I grappled with him, fighting with every pent-up frustration I had left.

It was an open tap, swear words and insults spewing from my mouth in every single language I knew. Relentlessly, I slammed my fists against him, shoving and shouting.

"Fuck you."

"Fuck this."

"Get fucked by a fish."

Suddenly, I was slammed against the wall again, one of his massive hands cupping my mouth. I screamed ragefully and bit down. He grunted and grabbed my face even harder, squeezing my cheeks together so I couldn't scream or bite.

"Let me go!" I hissed between pursed lips.

His stupid, big fucking hands.

With the other hand, faster than I could comprehend, he pulled the belt from his pants. His free hand eclipsed both of mine as he restrained my wrists. He removed his hand from my face, my cheeks aching. He wrapped one arm around me.

I shrieked, throwing my body weight around like it would do anything. But I was too small under Captain Thane's towering frame.

Then my entire world turned upside down.

Thane grabbed me by my waist and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. Where the fuck was he taking me? The Neanderthal couldn't knock me out with his club and drag me back to his cave.

I wouldn't have it!

I kicked, screaming, "My father will have your head!"

But he wasn't listening. He just kept walking as if I didnt exist, my words falling on deaf ears.

"Did you hear me? Don't you know who I am?" I wailed. I wriggled, pounding on his back with bound fists. "What are you, fucking stupid?"

Suddenly, a sharp fizzle of pain radiated from my buttcheek, accompanied by a loud smack. An undignified squeak left my lips. Did… did he just… Mortification blazed my face. "Did…" I couldn't even finish my sentence.

"And I'll do it again if you don't shut up."

My fists clenched. "Go fuck yourself!"

He barked a laugh.

Oh. He thought that was funny?

I kept fighting, twisting and turning, shouting profanities in multiple languages as Thane stepped onto the gangway of a ship. The pier was a ghost town. No one was close enough to hear my cries for help. Dark water sloshed on either side of the ship's hull, waves lapping to the posts on the pier.

My voice got caught in my throat again as I realized I was being taken to his sailing vessel. A cold sweat washed over me, my shoulders quaking violently. The dark water of the harbor seemed ethereal. A gateway to the unknown. I had never been this close to the water before.

That begged another question.

Where was he taking me? How far?

A spark of excitement warmed by blood in tandem with the chill of not knowing what was going to happen.

No! I wanted to go home!

I didn't want to be here with this strange man against my will.

"Put me down!" I shouted again, my voice warbling as I came to the verge of tears. My vision blurred, and I barely noticed the two people on the deck sharing a drink. "Help me!"

There was a man, dressed similarly to Thane, but considerably narrower in the shoulders. He jumped to his feet. "Um… Captain?" he asked tentatively, gesturing to me, tears helplessly running down my cheeks.

"Pull the anchor," was the only thing Thane said, rolling me off his shoulder so I collided with the hard wooden planks.

I grunted, both of my palms tied together, aching under the thick strip of leather. I lay there for a moment, trying to catch my breath, but it was pointless. Adrenaline fired all over my body. My skin tingled and my body shook like a leaf.

I couldn't stop.

I wouldn't stop.

Getting up onto my knees, panting and scrambling like prey, I looked at every possible exit. I could run back toward the gangway, but Thane would catch me. The sound of water hitting the side of the ship drew my attention.

My parents had never taught me how to swim, but it couldn't be too difficult, could it?

Bad idea. No. There had to be another option.

A woman's voice cut through the silence. "Who is she?" The woman wore a red bandana, her hair black. Kohl lined her eyes, and a cutlass on her hip. She was still holding a bottle of rum, that she was clearly sharing with the man stargazing with her.

"A Stanton rat," Thane answered, venom practically dripping from his lips. The lips that seemed so eager to kiss me earlier. "Pull the anchor, Rio. Now."

The woman, Rio, nodded once. "Aye."

She wasn't even going to argue with him a little bit?

Scoundrels. All of them.

My upper lip furled, fire burning in my bloodshot eyes. I struggled to get to my feet. My knees wobbled, shaking violently under my skirt. My chest was heaving under this stupid, fucking corset, cutting each ragged breath shorter than it was supposed to be. "I'm not a Stanton rat. My name is Princess Evelyn Stanton and I'm going to have you hung for treason!"

Rio's eyes widened and she looked back and forth from Thane to me.

"You've got to be kidding me," the other man, looking oddly identical to Rio, muttered, pressing his palm to his forehead.

By the look on Thane's face, he had no idea that he just captured the heir, the only heir, to the Stanton throne. That alone made me throw my head back and laugh wildly.

I stepped backward several feet until my back hit the side of the boat. "Yeah. That's right." I jabbed my finger in the man's direction. "Fuck you." My finger drifted to Rio. "Fuck you." And finally, I pointed at Thane. "And fuck you, you piece of shit! Espèce de salope!"

Thane tilted his head to the side in an expression that was either amusement or agitation. I couldn't tell which one with how his wide-brimmed hat shadowed his eyes.

"Colorful language for a princess," Rio commented.

Thane gestured toward me with one of his large hands. "Restrain her, then I will explain."

The other man only huffed, pressing his fingers into the bridge of his nose. "Fine."

All three of them began to close in on me and my eyes darted to the sweet salvation on the other side of the gangway. I'd never make it.

Without thinking, I gripped the side of the boat, swinging my leg over the half wall and plummeting into the black ice-cold water below.

Shock stilled my entire body, the tide pushing and pulling me under and above. My wrists, still bound, splashed against the water. I gasped once, inhaling a mouthful of salty seawater.

I tried to sputter, expel it from my lungs, but I was too far under. Every sputter introduced more water to my exhausted lungs. Liquid fire forced its way down my throat and I wanted to scream.

But no matter how hard I fought the current, drowning was silent.

I clawed upward, trying to reach the surface, but I didn't know what was up and what was down. I couldn't see anything, immersed in dark water. Everything spun and tumbled around me as the waves pulled me under.

The tide shoved me against the side of the boat, over and over again. The weight of water soaked into my garments and sank me even further, burying me in water so cold that it felt like it was burning me.

My heart hammered against my ribcage, swelling in my chest so hard that I felt it might burst. Black dots danced across my vision, my entire body lurching and contracting as every ounce of air was squeezed from my lungs by the pressure of the sea.

All at once, the panic became fleeting, and the pain ebbed away as comfort embraced me.

Flickering in front of my vision, I saw shadows dancing in the waves. Memories of everything that made me who I was.

There was a time when my mother smiled. When my father seemed to love her. Love me. At some point, it all went to shit. My handmaiden was my only friend.

I hoped that my parents wouldn't make her suffer for my disappearance. Mary only ever looked after me. She snuck me racy books that my parents would never let me have. Gave me advice and told me stories to widen my worldview.

My only regret, floating in this harbor, moments away from the Reaper, was that I never rebelled. Never sought out adventure. Never had been kissed. To think that I wanted Captain Thane to kiss me. An experienced man teaching me how to use my tongue.

It was all pointless now.

Just before darkness could claim me, a shadow with blue eyes came from the darkness. Encased by firm arms, my eyes lolled to the back of my head. No longer able to fight my inevitable fate. No longer able to stay within the present.

I let the void of darkness take me.