Chapter 183 - Sea Rats

Captain Dubois suggested,

"Let's look at the cargo hold first. The princess will probably not like what she is going to see in the officer and berth quarters, so she can stay out here while we look around, right, Your Highness? So we guarantee to discover if your goods are intact, before dealing with… ugly things to see, "the Captain was taking care of what he said, being in front of a lady of the nobility, as the Prince demanded.

Alexa however had no way to share her suspicions with the Prince right now.

"Hm, yes," Magnus agreed, and headed for the middle of the main deck, near the hatch to the bas.e.m.e.nt. The Captain brought the light and illuminated the trapdoor, locked with several chains.

"Your Highness was not kidding when you said they would have taken very good care of what was yours," exclaimed the Dutchman. 

Alexa was used to pragmatic decisions, but this time, perhaps due to the peculiar situation, she worried that the Prince had misjudged her new friend. It was clear that the Dutch captain knew that the Prince had valuables on the ship, and that was probably why he had agreed to help.

She didn't know what conditions they had found themselves in, but it didn't look like a man like Dubois was so desperate for money. Or he was the kind of swindler ready to try something against someone like Prince Magnus. 

But Alexa had never been very lucky when judging people by appearance. 

Captain Dubois, instead, looked like that kind of person with a patience and composure that could rival Balbo Cerdán's. And maybe that was why she had sympathized with him. 

But that alone didn't mean that he couldn't betray them because of the gold of a Prince in strange land and with no friends around. 

"They knew me," the Prince tested the chains, confirming that they were all very well attached. Alexa felt a shiver. The captain also crouched down to check.

Why were Shades and Princes of Holstein so attached to gold? She could feel the supernatural presence eagerly guarding some of the money Magnus had brought with him to make the trip with his men. One part had sunk with Lagos, and the other part was there.

"If you didn't keep threatening your men and making them swear stupid things, they wouldn't be stuck in a pile of metal," she mumbled for him to hear.

"You are forgiven for talking nonsense tonight, but don't abuse it," he winked in return, leaving Alexa dumbfounded.

"Well, if the keys didn't stay with the captain, then they should be with the First Mate or the Quartermaster. But in the end, it can be with anyone who has survived any longer, "said the red-haired man, finally getting up.

"So there is no point in wasting time here. Let's go in. The princess stays up here," he exchanged a look with Alexa, about what they had planned beforehand, and she nodded.

The two men entered through the door of the lower deck, and Alexa was alone for a moment. After looking at the full moon and distant stars for a moment, she decided to approach Captain's Shade at the quarter deck, to send it on to the Path.

Putting her hands together and rubbing them lightly, while feeling the typical tingling in her palms, she moved forward. This was nothing compared to the pain and wounds that Alexander's hands suffered from the attack of the Wraiths at Ashgraufelsen.

When getting close to the steps of the forecastle, Alexa felt another shiver, but this time quite different from the instinct towards the supernatural. She spun on her heels, trying to return, but it was useless.

A disgustingly dirty and stinky hand, with brown nails and salt-ridden skin, clutched her face awkwardly, while a similar dirty-looking arm wrapped around her body, forcing her close to him. 

Although her captor managed to arrest her, he was not quick enough to prevent Alexa from screaming. Only on the second attempt, already crushing the Princess's body against his, did the man manage to cover her mouth,

"SHHHHHH! What a beautiful and delicate young lady! You don't want your neck broken, do you?"

Alexa shook her head vehemently.

"Well well ..."

He turned the maiden's body to the other side, and she saw, hidden behind the quarterdeck, at least four more men looking as disgusting as he, armed with machetes. They smiled frighteningly, making clear all the cruel intentions they had for this chance encounter.

Pirates!

She heard the sound of Magnus' footsteps and Captain Dubois rushing back, just as the ship's invaders did too. Their horrible, rotten-toothed smiles showed the anticipation of what was to come.

The man dragged Alexa forward, revealing himself to the two men who returned to the deck, just as his companions also came out of the shadows.

Alexa felt about to vomit because of the rotten smell coming from the man's hands covering her nostrils and mouth, as running away was not possible. The man was not tall, but he was muscular and she had no chance against his strength.

Magnus stopped, hand on the sword, as did the captain. The Prince assessed the situation with an annoyed grimace, but he didn't seem at all intimidated by the ragged pirates who surrounded them like wolves around the prey.

"Let go of the girl," Magnus smirked dangerously, completely ignoring the fact that Alexa was hostage to them. He had a bunch of keys in his other hand, which he spun provocatively, "And you won't be hurt ... too much."

She opened her eyes wide,

'But… Is he challenging them? Does he think I deserve to be stabbed since I let Alexander's body be stabbed ?!' 

The men laughed at the Saxon's mocking challenge, while she heard a whisper near her, asking,

"How did he get the damn key?" 

"It doesn't matter! We couldn't even break the chains, no matter what we tried! It's cursed, I told you!" the whispered answer gave Alexa the certainty that the ship was still protected by the Shades who remained there.

"Oh, of course. You stay with the girl, and we keep the key ..." growled a man behind Alexa, but she couldn't turn her head to see him.

"No. We keep everything," Magnus replied, menacing, taking a step forward with the same expression Alexa saw on the cliff that time. She shivered.

"Hey, bastard! Your threats don't scare us! We got here first!"

This time, who answered was Dubois, with his deep voice and an eyebrow raised in mockery,

"AND…?"

The pirates were confused, but that was all it took for the Prince and his new friend to launch themselves fiercely at the men. Magnus was so quick to jump over a barrel, and his boot got dangerously close to Alexa's face, hitting the sailor's face that kept her stuck, however. Alexa saw saliva and blood shower before her eyes, and the pirate's grabbing around her limbs loosened as the man and she spun together, due to the impact. 

Magnus grabbed her arm, and pulled her back.

It was fast and she was dizzy with the pull, just hearing the familiar whoosh of metal passing over her head and the horrible wet crushing sound of flesh and bones being broken with the sword stroke.

Magnus'body was cold as ice, wrapping his arms around her with only one arm. She had her face against the Prince's chest, and he took a step back, taking her with him.

The lifeless body of the pirate who had captured it fell behind him with a thud, like a bag of rotten beets.

She flinched, wanting not to see what was going on around her, but the Prince put her behind him, while he and the red-haired giant dealt with the opportunists who saw the ship as an opportunity for wealth, even ignoring the plague.

Moving away to the other side of the deck, Alexa saw Captain Dubois and Magnus fight against the group without the slightest hesitation, and a clear superiority. The giant Dutchman had tremendous strength, and Magnus just seemed… unstoppable.

She saw some of them throw themselves over the rail, cowardly, as soon as they saw that even their numerical superiority would not be enough against those two men. Her heart was pounding, and at the same time that the princess wanted Magnus to remain the moving war machine she was seeing, crushing their enemies, a part of herself was wondering why she was so excited that his 'beast within' was unrestrained again. Just because he had defended her?

After all, did he defend her... or his gold and his brother, through her?

Romeo hooted under her clothes, and Alexa rescued it, seeing if the poor bird was injured. The nightingale was just scared, however.

Finally, the two men looked at each other, realizing that there were no more opponents left on the deck. They smiled contentedly, and Alexa felt a jealousy of that instant camaraderie that arose for fighting side by side.

'Hmp! How cute, they beat malnourished pirates and think they won the Trojan war! Ulysses and Achilles, side by side!' 

Magnus came to Alexa, ignorant of the princess's tantrous rancor. He was slightly breathless, and bleeding a little, but he seemed to ignore the fact entirely.

"Are you alright? What's up with Romeo? "

"How do you ask me if I'm okay when you almost hit my face with your boot? I'd be mushed right now! You could have killed Romeo! They could have stabbed me!" she whined.

"You only get stabbed when I'm not around, don't forget that," he turned away, looking annoyed, in turn,

"There were no survivors, Alexa. I'm going to go down to the bas.e.m.e.nt, will you go down too?"

A little confused by his cold reaction, she replied, "No. I will stay here ... Calming Romeo. " In fact Alexa would use her light to send the spirits on their way to rebirth, instead of haunting a ship.

But when Magnus took the first step away from her, Alexa grabbed his hand. Cold as a dead man. The Prince turned, over his shoulder, looking at her,

"Illness. What is this disease you talked about? " she asked, although she tried to hide her distress. "What disease could kill you before the plague itself?"

Magnus looked at both their hands, and their eyes became thoughtful, and sad,

"Ask me later, Alexa."

"Are you going to answer me? Really?"

"Hm," he took a deep breath, not looking her in the eye, and withdrew his hand, leaving the anguished princess without a direct answer.

"Magnus?!" she insisted.

"I will answer, with one condition," he walked away without looking back, and Alexa's eyes widened, not knowing what to do next, 'What condition?'