The ropes dug into her skin and held her tight to the mast. Stripped of her equipment, and even her short yellow dress and boots, Meryn was tied up and gagged wearing only a tight, leather shirt with a low cut collar that showed her midriff and black cotton panties. She wanted to wonder how this could have happened but she knew exactly what had happened; she had been careless.

The coarse ropes dug into her arms in thick coils that framed her breasts and were tied into a tight harness. She was seated on the deck of the ship with her legs out in front of her. More thick ropes bound her arms and torso to the mast. She rested against her crossed and bound wrists, each one packed into tight leather mittens with small padlocks to rob her of the use of her hands. Her legs were also tied at the ankles, calves, above and below the knees, and three places up her strong and shapely thighs.

Meryn had also been thoroughly gagged with so many cloths she couldn’t possibly have guessed how many. At least two were shoved into her mouth and stuffed it full, bulging her cheeks. Another coarse, white cloth had been pulled between her teeth in a tight cleave gag. Another had been wrapped around her chin and tied on near the top of her head, still pulling tight from the back. This cloth clenched her jaw tightly shut and made her bite down hard on the cloths in her mouth. Then yet another cloth had been tied on over her mouth, covering the cleave gag, and one final cloth had been used to tightly cover her mouth and nose, which made getting breaths difficult. She could breathe but any struggles tired her out quickly. It was clear these pirates knew what they were doing and Meryn knew that she wouldn’t be escaping these ropes. She could only wait and see what they had in store for her.

She glared when Fa’rah walked past and knelt down in front of her. “How you doing, goldie?”

“Mmmmpphh...” Meryn said, not even bothering to struggle anymore. She shook her head to get the red bangs of her bobbed hair out of her fiery, golden eyes.

“That’s what I thought. How those ropes treating you? Feel tight?”

The muscular, blonde warrior smirked at her captive, pleased with herself for having finally pulled something off. If anything, it proved that she could still at least get the drop on Meryn, like usual.

“Payback, goldie,” Fa’rah said. “I told you I’d get you. You shouldn’t have left me tied up in that iron monster. Or... maybe you should have. Didn’t you ever wonder who put that bounty on you, Ms. Holy Sunlight?”

“Mmmph!?” Meryn pulled hard against her tight bonds but she only moved forward a few millimetres.

“Both bounties, actually. Figured I’d make my mark in this world and make the Princess of the Seven Islands and the heroine Holy Sunlight fall. I always knew it was you. But I would, wouldn’t I? I know all your moves... and now Nara’s got you. You remember Nara the Blade, right? Best pirate these waters have ever seen. And she’s going to cut me in on that fat bounty.”

Meryn rolled her eyes. She had let her guard down. She had made a mistake when a young girl approached her on the street and said her parents were being robbed. The kid’s was behaving strangely. But her need to fulfill her duty outweighed her instincts and she followed the girl... right into the trap. Knocked out by some smoke bomb full of sleeping potion. Fa’rah had gotten the drop on her and taken her to these pirates. It seemed they had some kind of agreement. But if it had been Fa’rah who had put the bounty on her, then who was paying it out? Fa’rah didn’t have that kind of money. The bounty was ten thousand for Princess Meryn and twenty thousand for the Holy Sunlight. There always was one thing Fa’rah never counted on. She didn’t look into who would put up the money for the bounty to ‘buy’ Meryn. And that should have worried Fa’rah.

Instead, she knelt in front of Meryn and taunted her, slapping her thighs and poking and prodding her bound and gagged captive. Meryn knew Fa’rah would be in for a rude awakening. She just hoped it would be soon.

Fa’rah finally stood up to leave Meryn for the time being. But she stopped when the captain of the ship, Nara the Blade, approached from her left.

“Having fun?” Nara asked, with a gruff, deep voice. She was quite a large woman, though not as big as Fa’rah, and had impressive and muscular arms. They were once again not quite as large as Fa’rah as Nara was a bit leaner but she looked like she could wield her cutlass better than anyone on that ship.

She was blind in one eye and it had long gone milky white. A deep scar ran across her right eye and helped form her face into a permanent scowl. Her good eye was intense and deep dark blue, like the waters she called home. She wore a tricorn hat on her head that covered quite pretty and long, silvery locks. Her hair almost made her look old, were it not for her otherwise youthful face.

She folded her arms, though that accentuated her rather ample chest, where she wore a low cut, white cotton shirt with frilled cuffs on the sleeves. On top of that she wore a long, blue coat with gold trim. Meryn recognized it from her own Royal Navy, meaning she had clearly stolen it. On the back, she had embroidered it with a skull and crossbones where the Seven Islands’ wolf sigil used to be. Nara completed her outfit with very tight, black trousers and brown leather boots with short heels.

In her mind, Meryn supposed Nara was not an ugly woman by all appearances. But her actions, and her demeanour, made Meryn think her very ugly indeed.

“Oh yeah,” Fa’rah said, answering Nara’s question. “It’s always fun to see this one trussed up like a proper captive.”

Nara grunted and her finger twitched around the trigger of the small, flintlock pistol she concealed in her folded arms. “She’ll fetch a good price to our bidder. Could retire on that kind of coin... but who would want to do that?”

“Don’t forget, I’m owed something for bringing her to you in the first place,” Fa’rah said.

Nara smirked and Meryn realized then that she had a plan of her own. Fa’rah, thick as she was, didn’t seem to see it. “Oh, you’ll get what you’re owed.”

Nara nodded behind her and two burly pirates, one man and one woman, stepped forward and grabbed hold of Fa’rah’s arms. She was a strong woman, though, and started fighting back. That was until a flintlock pistol was pointed in her face and the hammer was drawn back.

“You fight, you die,” Nara said. “Simple as that.”

“What are you doing!?”

“I never look a gift horse in the mouth. Same bidder that wants her, put another five thousand square up for you. Idiot.”

“What!? Who would put a bounty on me!?”

Nara chuckled. “If you think about it, I’m sure even you could figure it out.”

Fa’rah’s eyes widened. “No! You don’t mean....”

“Could be. Could be I’m just yankin’ your chain. Either way, you’re mine now. Take her armour and equipment and tie her up. Make sure she’s gagged like this one, too,” Nara said, waving one hand toward Meryn.

“No! You can’t do this!” Fa’rah said, beginning to fight again. “I won’t let you!”

Nara stepped closer, pointing the pistol in Fa’rah’s face again. This time, however, she pulled the trigger. But the thing stayed silent and deep red powder came out in a one puff into Fa’rah’s face. She remained conscious but her muscles went limp.

The two pirates let Fa’rah collapse to the deck beside Meryn. They began removing her equipment while a few other pirates fetched rope and cloth.

Nara flashed Meryn a wry smile. “Looks like you two are in this together now...”

...

“Mmmmph! Hllmmmmp mmm! Plmmmph mmtmmm mmm! MMMMPPPHHHH!!”

Meryn had always hated Fa’rah’s voice but her tiny, mewling cries when she was gagged were the most pathetic thing she had ever heard.

Fa’rah was tied nearly identically to Meryn. Ropes encircled her arms and breasts in a tight chest harness and her legs were tied at the ankles, calves, above and below her knees and then in two more places up her thighs.

Unlike Meryn, they had left her knee high sandals on deciding she couldn’t have hidden any tools or weapons in them. But her armour and weapons had been confiscated and it was really the first time Meryn had ever seen every impressive muscle on Fa’rah’s body.

Wearing just a small, leather bra and matching panties along with her sandals, Fa’rah really was quite the physical specimen. Meryn didn’t like where her mind was headed but she admitted to herself that Fa’rah had great abs, even better than her own toned abs. Her chest was... pronounced and accentuated by the chest harness. And seeing her strong and shapely thighs was equally as pleasing a sight.

Meryn gave her head a shake. There was no way she could be finding Fa’rah attractive... but she really was. She still hated the woman’s guts but... perhaps she was at least nice to look at. She did have a pretty face and nice looking hair...

“Hmmph!” Meryn huffed, shaking her head again and prying her eyes away from her usual adversary. She did not want to be having these thoughts! Perhaps it was lucky she was gagged or else she might have said something stupid.

Fa’rah struggled hard, sweat glistening against her muscular body, and pulled her outstretched legs up into a fetal position. She realized there was absolutely nothing she could do with her hands. They were tightly bound together, in front of her, and her elbows had been tied together as well with a strong rope wrapped and cinched just below her biceps. Her wrists had also been tied to her upper thighs.

Her hands had also been tightly tucked into padlocked leather mittens that kept her hands balled into fists and made them useless for picked knots. Even worse was the fact that her hands were away from Meryn, who was bound and gagged right beside her. The pirates had special wooden poles on deck of their ship especially for captives and this one was right next to the mast Meryn was tied to. They tied her hands strategically to keep both captives’ hands as far from each other as possible. Even though their hands were useless, neither woman had any chance of reaching the other’s bindings.

With an identical, stifling gag, Fa’rah realized that these pirates really did know what they were doing when it came to keeping captives. She and Meryn were completely helpless and they stood no chance of escape.

Stretching her bound legs out again, Fa’rah bucked and thrashed, mewling and screeching into her gag. Though she was muffled, Meryn had grown tired of her whiny voice.

“Smmpt mmmp!” Meryn spat, struggling against her own bonds.

“HHHHLLLLMMMMPPP!” Fa’rah cried. “MMMTMMM MMM, PLLMMMMPPHH!!”

Heavy boots against wooden planks drew both of their attention as a tall woman with one eye loomed above them, glaring at Fa’rah. Nara drew her cutlass and knelt down close to Fa’rah’s face, holding the tip of it only inches from Fa’rah’s eyes.

“I keep my captives gagged so I don’t have to hear them,” Nara said. “And I shouldn’t be able to hear you...”

“Plmmph! Mmtmm mm! Mmll gmmf ymm mmnythnmmng!”

Nara held the cutlass closer. “Shut. Up. If I hear one more sound out of you, then you are really not going to like what happens next. You understand?”

Fa’rah nodded. “Mm hmm...” she mewled.

Nara smirked. “What did I just say? One more sound...” Nara stood up and shouted toward the stern of the ship. “Bring me the bridle... and that blindfold.”

“Hmmph!? Nmmm! Mmll bmm qmmmt! Pllmmph, nmmm!”

The pirates arrived with an object that was a mess of straps, rings, and a wide wooden stick. It looked like a horse’s bridle, as Nara had said. They handed her the bridle and a thick, padded leather object that could only have been the blindfold.

“Try not to piss me off with your stupid voice,” Nara said as she knelt down and started untying the cloths gagging the muscular warrior. She helped Fa’rah spit the cloths out and she immediately began pleading with the pirate captain.

“You don’t have to do this! Look, you can even gag me again! The cloths were enough, you know they were! Please, don’t humiliate me like this!”

Several pirates chuckled at the pleading captive. Nara ignored her and reached forward with the web of straps and the wooden bit.

“No! Please! Don’t gag me with thaggghhh!” Nara shoved the wooden bit into Fa’rah’s mouth and began pulling the straps tight. The first strap was attached to a steel ring on either side and went on behind her head, holding the wooden bit in place. Next, Nara tightened a strap that went under Fa’rah’s chin and clenched her jaw tight around the wooden bit. More straps went up around either side of her nose and came together into one to wrap on over her head and tighten on to the strap already holding the bit in her mouth. One final strap was tightened around Fa’rah’s neck in a thick sort of collar.

“Nnnngggh!” Fa’rah said, shaking her head violently.

“Hold her,” Nara said. The same two pirates who had grabbed her and tied her up held her head steady as Nara tightened a padded, brown leather blindfold over Fa’rah’s eyes, pulling the strap as tight as it would go at the back of her head. Finally, all three pirates stepped back and admired the struggling captive.

“NNNGGHHHH! GGHHMMMMT TTHHGGGHMMPH THNNNG FFFF MGGHHHH!”

Fa’rah’s squealing voice was no longer as muffled but the pirates laughed when they heard her pathetic pleas and watched her struggle away, still completely helpless.

With pirates still laughing and taunting Fa’rah, struggling away, Nara knelt down in front of Meryn and looked her in the eye. “Let that be a lesson. You’ll behave for me, won’t you?”

Meryn said nothing, glaring at the person who was now her captor, but she made no sound.

“Good. Stay quiet, princess. I’ll give you one of those if you piss me off, got it?”

Meryn still didn’t respond.

“Got it!?” Nara repeated.

“Mmf,” Meryn said, still glaring.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Now be a good girl for the rest of the trip. And prepare yourself. It gets cold up north and, well, you’re not wearing much.”

Meryn growled beneath her gag and Nara simply smirked as she stood up and left her captives to struggle.

“GHHHMMMPH! RRRGGHHHHH! MMMMNNNGGGHHHFFF!” Fa’rah’s whining voice elicited more laughter from the pirates but they were interrupted by a voice from above.

“Captain!” a young man called from above. Nara stepped close to the captives once more and scowled, her one eye glaring toward the crow’s nest.

“What is it, Ben?”

“A ship! Coming out of the fog! It’s following us!”

Nara looked around and hadn’t yet noticed the thick fog that surrounded them. “Must be passing through Shrouded Bay...” she said to herself. It was a notoriously foggy area in the seas surrounding the Seven Islands. But they were still a few days away from the northernmost island, where they were headed.

“How large?”

“Not very! Just one mast! Flying a... red sail with a... is that a Griffin?”

Nara chuckled.

“A Griffin?” Nara knelt down into Meryn’s face. “Somebody remembers you. Oh yes, I heard all about that Knight, saving your pretty little Dosette friend. And this one here,” Nara said, nodding toward Fa’rah.

“MMMGGHHH! RRRRRGGHHHH!! TGGHHK THHGGGMMMF THHHMMNNG MMFFFFF! PLGGGHHMMMFFFFF!” Fa’rah squealed when she felt her own saliva drip down from the bit gag in her mouth and drip down onto her chest. “GGGHHHHRRRRFFFFF!”

Nara sighed. “Anyway, seems your Knight friend is keen on mounting a rescue. Let me show you why the call me the Pirate Queen around these parts... and make it clear that there is no escape. Not today.”

Nara stood tall. “Man the port guns!” she called. “Hard turn to port for a full broadside! Move!”

The big ship, called The Blade after its Captain’s nickname, made a startlingly agile turn and very quickly had the small ship lined up for a broadside. Nara waited until it drifted closer, making sure Meryn could peek through the railing and see the ship heading straight toward them.

“There it is, princess. Your only chance at freedom. Your daring rescuer... FIRE!”

Nine cannons thundered at the moment, and hellfire fell down about the small ship, smashing its mast to splinters and piercing the hull below the waterline. The little ship rocked once, listing to one side and then staying there as it started to slip beneath the waves.

The pirates all gave a cheer and drowned out a voice from above. “Quiet, you morons!” Nara said. “What was that, Ben?”

“Captain! There’s no one on board! The ship is empty!”

“What!? Are you going blind!?”

“I tells what I sees, Captain! Ain’t no one on board!”

What none of the pirates had seen was a much larger ship that had snuck up well aft in the thick fog with three masts, each flying the same red sails with golden griffins adorning them.

It was now just close enough, still out of sight and moving in while the pirates were distracted and staring at the decoy.

Starling climbed out onto the very tip of the prow of her ship with a crossbow in hand. A four pronged hook was loaded into the weapon, attached to a long rope. She aimed high and fired the crossbow straight on toward the mizzen mast on the stern of the ship. The hook wrapped around a wooden support for the sail and stuck there fast.

“Bring her to half sail!” Starling called, signalling her crew to slow the ship down. Her ship had no guns and so couldn’t engage in combat. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t board the pirate ship...

When her ship slowed, the force of the separating ships launched her forward and pulled the rope taught.

“Captain, look!” The lookout had finally spotted The Griffin Knight, swinging fast toward them from a large ship disappearing into the fog.

Nara chuckled to herself. “A decoy... clever... and bold.”

With her forward momentum, Starling let go of the rope once she was over the main deck of the ship, bracing herself for the fall and tucking herself into a roll. She hit the ground, rolled once and stood up, drawing her sword all in one motion. But knight in maroon armour was immediately surrounded by pirates on all sides.

“Release the captives!” Starling said. “I will not ask again!”

Nara said nothing, simply waving her hand and more of the pirates surrounded The Griffin Knight.

“All right. That’s the way you want it...”

Her reputation preceded her and the pirates, with cutlasses drawn, hesitated to attack her. One burly man was bold enough to try and attack her, aiming straight for her head.

She took one hand off her longsword and caught the man’s sword arm in her left hand, twisting it once and forcing him to drop his blade. The man cried out in pain as Starling turned him around and kicking him in the lower back, sending him sprawling to the deck.

“Don’t go one at a time, idiots!” Nara called. “All at once!”

With the order from their captain, ten different pirates charged toward The Griffin Knight. Nara smirked at the sight, knowing no one could overcome those odds... but the smirk disappeared when she saw the Knight’s sword light up near the hilt. Carved, orange runes glowed in the fog and flickered to life like the embers of a fire. The same runes on her helmet glowed at the same time.

The first two pirates to reach her were cast aside with two heavy swings of the longsword, knocking them both clean off their feet even as they tried to block. Seven more attacked, surrounding her, but none of them could land a hit.

The Griffin Knight moved with impossible speed, blocking and lashing out quicker than any of them could react. She nearly ran a few of them through, clearly tempted to end their lives but she stopped herself and simply threw punches, kicks, and elbows to lay the pirates low.

Stopping short of killing them, Starling instead settled on beating the absolute tar out of them. Several of them lay unconscious on the deck while others were writhing in pain beside them.

But Nara’s pirates were many and kept coming. It didn’t seem to matter, however, as The Griffin Knight remained untouchable. The runes glowed bright on the helmet and sword and a plan began to form in Nara’s head.

She looked down at her captives, catching Meryn’s eye. “Don’t count on rescue just yet, princess.”

She drew a knife at her side and placed it between her teeth. She started climbing up toward the crow’s nest on the mast Meryn was tied to. Meryn could no longer see what she was doing, unable to crane her neck at the right angle.

Nara, meanwhile, shimmied out onto a wooden beam and grabbed hold of one of the rigging ropes, taking the knife from her teeth. She cut the rope and let herself drop, swinging hard straight toward the Griffin Knight.

Down below, Starling didn’t see the threat coming in from above as she dealt with the throng of pirates that she continued to outclass. Something collided with her chest and she felt the impact against her cuirass. She was knocked back, away from the group of the attacking pirates, and fell onto her back. Before she could get up, someone was on top of her and wrenched her helmet free, tossing it aside.

“Well hello,” Nara said, meeting Starling’s intense green eyes. “Good to finally meet you.”

Starling grunted hard and shoved the pirate captain, sending her flying backward into the mizzen mast. She fell to the deck and climbed back to one knee, drawing her cutlass. “Strong one...” she said.

There was no time to retrieve her helmet as the pirates surrounded her again and attacked. She felt slower but the pirates still could not touch her. Without her helmet, her strength was still incredible thanks to her strong muscles and, of course, her incredible sword. But the helmet helped her to see her opponent’s moved much slower and now they were coming in at a much faster speed to her eye.

Starling took a few lumps but she still countered well enough to keep beating the pirates back. But now Nara was back in the fray, throwing all of her weight into a heavy strike of her cutlass. It forced Starling back, stumbling, and separated her from the pirates yet again. Now one on one, Nara drew her pistol as well, her smirk widening into a smile.

“Think you can outrun a bullet, knight?”

Nara raised her pistol and pulled back the hammer. To her surprise, Starling was fast enough to reach her before she could fire, swinging up with her sword and knocking the pistol from her hand. Before she could catch it, Starling stepped into the captain and shouldered her down to the deck, sending her sprawling and forcing her to drop her cutlass.

The sight of their falling captain was enough to give the rest of the pirates pause. None of them had ever dared to even think that their captain could be beaten like this. Of course, if they thought she was beaten, then they didn’t know Nara the Blade.

Starling stepped closer, holding the tip of her blade inches from Nara’s throat. “Yield now and release your captives.”

Nara smirked. “No. Think I’ll pass. Thanks.”

“I will not ask again.”

“Good. Then gut me and be done with it. Go on. Cut open my throat.”

Starling hesitated and the thought crossed her mind. She had sworn not to spill any blood in her time in Esterlin. In all her past lives, she had killed enough. Her station as an honourable knight would be tarnished if she killed anyone. Even a notorious pirate.

“You won’t do it, will you?”

“I will not kill you. But you will be sent to prison and-”

“I’ll be sent to prison either way,” Nara said. “You’re not going to let me go, even if I do release the captives. So why should I unless you kill me?”

Starling growled under her breath and knelt down, picking Nara up by the scruff of the neck and holding her off the ground. “Listen here, you piece of shit,” Starling said, gritting her teeth. She had suddenly dropped her eloquent pattern of speech. “I’ve stepped on bigger worms than you. You’re nothing. You push me... and you won’t like what happens.”

Nara chuckled. “Oh, I know. I just wanted to get you close enough to do this.”

Starling furrowed her brow but she had no time to react to the smaller pistol now pointed in her face. It sprayed a wide puff of red powder into her face. Starling reached up to her face, dropping Nara, and breathed out hard to try and push the powder from her lungs. But she realized it was too late when her legs started to feel weak. It had already reached her lungs and her vision was starting to blur.

Still, she remained standing and held her sword in a tight grip. Nara got to her feet and laughed.

“What’s the matter? Feeling light headed?”

Starling growled again. “It’s... nothing! I can still kick the shit out of you!”

“Well go on then,” Nara said, smiling wide. “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Starling began seeing double and could no longer concentrate on her target. She took a wild swing toward where she thought Nara was and found her sword stopped in mid-air, blocked by Nara’s cutlass.

“Disoriented, Griffin Knight? I would be, too. Maybe you should lie down?”

With a flick of her wrist, Nara disarmed the Griffin Knight and flung her sword to one side. In that moment, all at once, the strength left Starling’s muscles and she collapsed onto the deck at Nara’s feet. The pirate captain chuckled and revelled in the dumbfounded look of her crew. They knew no one had ever defeated The Griffin Knight in single combat. That is, until they saw their own captain outwit her.

“All right then. Take her armour and weapons. Fetch some rope. We’ve got ourselves another captive,” Nara said with a smile. “And bring her to full sail. We’re leaving her flagship in the dust.”

...

In her fuzzy mind, Starling heard muffled voices beside her and someone’s dull, grizzled voice speaking words to her. She couldn’t tell what the words were and her mind still swam with whatever the powder was that Nara had fired at her.

She tried to reach up and rub her head but her arms were both held behind her and wouldn’t respond. Something pulled them tight behind her back and brought her back into reality.

Strong ropes tied her wrists behind her back. Two more coils held her elbows and biceps together. She tried to stretch her hands but tight, leather mittens kept them into balled fists and she could hear padlocks jangling from them as she tried to move. Her legs were also tightly tied at the ankles, calves, below and above the knees, and then three places on her thighs, attached to a tight rope between her legs. A rope harness accentuated her strong chest and also further pinned her arms tightly to her back. A tight, thick coil of rope attached her ankles to her wrists, arms and... her ponytail. Her red hair had been pulled back and tied to the rope as part of the hogtie and she simply could not move any part of her body properly.

Her back arched from the tight position and she rocked herself back and forth, only able to make tiny movements. That was when she realized that she was not wearing much. She had been stripped to her one-piece, leather undergarments and wore nothing else. It showed off all of her strong legs and had no sleeves, looking like a one piece swimsuit. The neckline plunged downward and helped to show off her impressive chest.

Worst of all, Starling looked to her right and saw Meryn, still tied up and gagged, attached to the mast, and noticed her large cloth gag that covered her mouth and nose and stuffed it full. She then realized that she had been gagged in the exact same way and would be unable to speak.

“Mmmph...” she grunted.

“Oh, are you with us? I was wondering when you would realize your situation, Griffin Knight.”

Starling refused to panic, or even give Nara the satisfaction of being angry. She realized struggling was pointless because it was very clear that she wouldn’t be escaping this hogtie. Still, it was a strange sensation. She had been captured before but... not like this. And not very often. Most of the time, Starling was on the opposite end of these situations. She was the rescuer, and even the captor a few times, much to her shame, but now capture she had ever been a part of had been this... thorough.

“Hell of a fight,” Nara said. “I’m impressed. That decoy was a thing of genius. And the way you stormed my ship... bold. Daring. But reckless. Especially coming in alone. And not realizing that my ship is the fastest in these waters. Yours is long behind us.”

“Hmmmph...”

Nara sighed. “You know, I almost like you. You’re tough, easy on the eyes, and just the right kind of stupid. But impressing me isn’t enough, Griffin Knight.”

Nara bent down low and pulled Starling’s head up by the chin, looking her in the eye.

“You attacked my ship. Beat up on my crew. Tried to take my captives. Our ticket to a fortune. And everyone knows you don’t come between a pirate and her treasure. Ever.”

Starling grunted again when Nara released her chin. “And there’s one thing you forgot, landlubber. You’re The Griffin Knight. An able sailor, perhaps, but you rule the land. You came after Nara the Blade. And this, the sea, this is my domain. This is where I rule. And little old you ain’t gonna change that.”

Starling shifted a bit in her bonds, grunting into her gag again.

“So I think you owe us something for the grievous harm you caused us. That bidder for these two, that wizard woman, we’re going to see if she won’t buy you off of us. I’ll bet she’d be interested as hell in having The Griffin Knight in her dungeon. She seems like the type to enjoy holding power over the powerful. And there ain’t none more powerful than you. Of course, if she doesn’t buy you, I’m sure there’s a farm somewhere that could use a working slave. We’ll see what kind of money we can get from that.”

“Mmmf...”

“Oh. I should mention that we’re going to give your armour and weapons to that wizard lady, if she chooses to buy you. We can’t fence one-of-a-kind items like that. Nobody would even know what do with all that armour, anyway. So you’ll see it again. As I hear it, that lady can find all kinds of uses for enchanted armour...”

Nara flashed a smirk toward Fa’rah, who struggled and squealed into her tight bit gag.

“All right then. That settles that.” Nara got to her feet again and addressed her pirates. “Take them to the brig. Separate cells. And hogtie these two. I want no chance of escape, you hear me? Shift changes every two hours and nobody takes their eyes off them. Anything goes wrong, and the person responsible will join them. Is that clear, people?”

The frightened pirates answered her with a cacophony of affirmative responses and quickly got to work removed Meryn and Fa’rah from their poles and tying their feet and hands together. Soon they were dragging their three captives below decks and Nara took her place at the wheel, standing beside the helmsman and watching the distant northern coast as it drew closer and closer. It would be a few hours but soon she would be a very rich woman indeed. She just hoped Jhana paid up for the three captives she had gone to all the trouble of capturing.

With no possibility of escape, the three bound and gagged women in the brig could only wait for whatever fate Jhana had in store for them. And, knowing Jhana, it wouldn’t be good.