Duty...

The word circles around your head as you are passed out on the ground. The distant screaming of your maid had faded into the background, you listened to your surroundings.

The sound of chatter among people and waves crashing, the ground was moving.

You were on a ship.

Your eyes fluttered open, feet shuffled around you and you heard what sounded like your servants screaming in the distance.

The noises were drowned out as your eyes grew heavy again. You felt a hand shaking you although you had lost consciousness already. You wanted to desperately know what was going on.

Your body ached.

It was only this morning that you were travelling by carriage with your trusty maid and soldiers to be transported to the Kingdom of Alferasia.

It was your parents intention to marry you off to their young king and unite your Kingdoms. They had resources your Kingdoms did not, it was a great opportunity to provide a better life for your people.

You had no say in the matter of course, but you knew it was your duty as the princess to bring peace to your two Kingdoms

It was all for the people of Edena, Your people.

They were all counting on you.

However, that plan was interrupted the moment your carriage had been attacked.

The people that attacked you...

Your eyes shot open and you quickly tried to adjust to your surroundings to see what danger you were in.

But the room was very dark.

A metallic smell assaulted your nose almost immediately. You had to wait a moment for the room to stop spinning before your eyes settled on the scrapes of red pigment on the wall ahead of you.

You were quick to realise that the red pigment was in actuality dried blood.

You felt your heart start pounding as you once again realised the severity of your situation.

You needed to leave right now.

The weak light through the barred window made it difficult for you to tell the size of the room you were in.

You squinted hard at the wall, before turning to another and coming to the deductive conclusion that these directions wouldn't offer a way out.

You continued searching, scanning the rest of the room before feeling your heart drop. You had only now noticed the tall man who had been watching you without a word about a foot away.

He was sat on a chair whilst staring at you with an unreadable expression.

Just how long had he been staring at you?

You quickly pushed your back against the wall and drew your knees to your chest despite your aching limbs, attempting to create as much distance between you and him as possible.

You managed to muster the courage and spat out.

"Who are you?"

"Why am I here?"

...

He continued staring.

You couldn't see his features clearly in the poor lighting, although his piercing, golden eyes difficult to miss. You found it difficult but you held his gaze.

He let out a sigh.

"You should know your situation by now. You've been captured by the 'Raiders'. You'll be in our company for the next month, at least until you're taken to the one who hired us."

There was a moment of silence before he decided to add, 'My name is Shayato."

Now it was your turn to stare silently.

The Raiders...

Deadly...Raiders...?

Great.

The most renowned pirates across the seas, whose name brought death upon all those who dare to speak it. No one had dared to oppose them and all those who did had met a pitiful demise.

They had a vast stream of connections and the fighting capability that made capturing them nearly impossible. It was simply a waste of resources and time.

The vast majority of the public had chose to write them off as a tale to stop children from stealing from ships docked at the harbour.

The main groups that knew about them were high-ranking individuals, or those involved with the underground...not that these people couldn't be both.

As a princess, you had heard them. Royal families would often leave them to their own devices as long as they didn't interfere with royal affairs, or step foot on their land.

It's unlikely that that laissez-faire attitude would persist after this.

You knew they would only interfere if there was a large sum involved.

A very large sum.

"Who's the man who hired you?"

Nothing.

You felt anger rise up as his constant silence. "Do have any understanding of what you have done now?"

The corner of his mouth raised in what seemed to be amusement.

He began spinning his silver dagger skilfully around his calloused fingers and you decided it was best not to say anything until he spoke.

"Money is a powerful thing, and men will prioritise their desires than live for peace. Us Raiders couldn't care less if the Kingdoms fall apart."

His eyes flickered between you and the blade.

"We're just doing our job."

He had avoided the question, but you didn't want to press the armed male.

Your wrists throbbed in pain and you had only just realised that were bound tightly with rope.

Your head was also throbbing, but you were certain it was from passing out multiple times.

You gently bit your lip to stifle the sound of pain that almost escaped your lips when you moved your hands.

Shayato eyes flickered to you and then to the rope.

He suddenly leaned forward with the dagger, and you froze and shut your eyes tightly.

You slowly opened your eyes, feeling the freedom of your wrists and the cut pieces of rope that had fallen onto your lap. You leaned against the wall behind you with a sigh of relief, rubbing your sore wrists.

"You should eat, you won't be getting more food than this."

He kicked forward a dusty plate.

You just observed it. An apple accompanied by a small loaf of bread. The apple had almost rolled off the plate with his careless kick. The wide plate only made the contents look more pitiful.

You formally didn't plan on accepting anything from these pirates, but you weren't sure how long you'd been out, and by the way your stomach rumbled you knew you had to get something in your system.

You reluctantly began eating the food and tried your best to ignore his bored staring, as well as the off taste.

You would have thrown the loaf past his head if you knew it would relieve you of his intense stare for only a moment.

He didn't display any concern for whether you ate or not but there did seem to be a threat awaiting if you hadn't. You shuffled away to the corner of the room as Shayato made his way over to you, his muscular physic loomed over yours as he bent down.

"Stay still."

He pulled out a cloth and dabbed your bloodied temple, you winced in pain and realised he dabbed at it again with slightly less pressure.

He stood up and walked towards the door, and you hated to find yourself suddenly fearing the isolation of the uncomfortably dark room. But he opened the door and light flooded inside.

You took the opportunity to get a better look at his features.

He seemingly suited a much warmer climate. 

The warmth of his tanned skin resembled expensive honey, and his dark hair fell near his golden eyes with a stark contrast. The colour of his hair stuck out particularly...it wasn't like the usual dark hair of common people, it brought a nostalgic feeling inside of you with its uncanny similarity to the dark sand your father had brought you in a jar during a royal exchange across seas. 

His parents must be from that place...

He folded his arms and leaned against the door.

"Get some rest princess, you'll be meeting the captain tomorrow." You quickly frowned as he turned to shut the door, there was no way that you could sleep under these circumstances.

Which you were sure he already knew.

"The captain?"

"Do I need to repeat myself? Yes, the captain, so I suggest you play nice. After all, your behaviour will tell us how nicely we'll treat you on this little trip."

You stared at the ground, feeling like you were disassociating. Tomorrow you will meet the captain of the Deadly Raiders. The captain was apparently on a whole other level.

Shayoto glanced back with a pause. "...It's only natural to be afraid, he's scarier in person."

Why thank you for confirming.

Your eyes travelled behind his figure by the door at the other crew shuffling around. They looked gruff and threatening, you could only hope you wouldn't bump into them as well. You doubted they were part of the Raiders too as they didn't carry the strong presence of this 'Shayato'.

He followed your gaze.

"The crew...are lowly things we've spared in return for them joining the crew." You were surprised to know they spared anyone, but looking at their tattered clothes and worn expressions it was hardly sparing.

"I'll be keeping watch over you tonight. I'm here to make sure you don't escape, and I'll make sure the crew don't bother you. They're quite a desperate lot."

You shivered at the thought. Your eyes trailed up him and fell on the signature 'Deadly Raiders' tattoo on his neck when he turned. The sign was a dark black star with a red circle in the centre.

Your eyes lifted and you two exchanged a glance. Then, without another word, he turned away and slammed the door shut.

You were frozen. How were you supposed to come to terms with this situation?

You were their prisoner on this ship.

All that was left for you to do was to meet the other Raiders and the dreaded captain. As well as that you had to make a good impression, you didn't want to receive harsher conditions if this was their version of nice.

You laid down on the ground and listened to the faint sounds of the crew from outside.

You had to gain as their trust, that way you could then find a way to escape their grasp.

You just hoped for tomorrows events to play out well...