Chapter 3: Locked Away

It’s been 2 months since the ex princess was forced to work for the pirates. Conditions are still very rough for her as she is not allowed to leave her cell unless it’s to go on a mission for the captain. She has grown stronger however. She found that working out in the cell helps keep her mind focused from the abuse she deals with on the daily.

Currently she is doing push-ups in her cell as she hears the footsteps above her. She grunts softly before standing up. She jumps up, grabbing the bars above her head and starts doing pull ups until she hears the door to the room open. She jumps down and looks over at the new first mate.

“Jonghyun.” She says crossing her arms.

“Kiyeon.” He says and opens the cell and hands her a bowl of food.

She takes it and leans against the far wall and eats the soup slowly, savoring each bite. “Do I have a mission?” She asks, not looking over at him.

“We just arrived at Southern Kingdoms. We will be going out tonight to rob a store for money and food.” He replies as he watches her.

She only nods and finishes the food and hands the bowl back to him.

“Come on. You can clean up and get dressed.” He says and leads her out of the cell.

She follows silently keeping her eyes low as he heads her to the storage room. He grabs her clothes and weapons and hands them to her before leading her to another room so she can change.

She puts on the cleaned clothes and puts her hair up. She grabs a face mask and puts it on. She holsters her weapons and walks out of the room to meet Jonghyun.

He leads her up to the deck and she shields her eyes with her hand as the sun hits her eyes. It’s almost sunset yet she’s not used to the light very often. She takes a deep breath and walks to the edge and looks out at the water feeling a sense of ease as she watches the waves.

Jonghyun keeps an eye on her as crew members walk past whispering about her. Since she’s been aboard she has been on many missions. Each one she’s ended up ordered to kill someone. She has never failed a mission yet. That’s one reason this crew has become so feared is because of their new assassin.

“Captain. Ship in the distance. It’s the TREASURE!” A crew man says pointing in the distance. Everyone looks and sees a long boat moving away from the ship as the ship moves towards the cliffs to rest. “Who’s on the long boat?” The new first mate asks.

“Looks like the pirate king and one other. Let’s move.” The captain says looking through the spyglass and steers the ship towards the main docks. He stops the ship and tethers it to the docks as the riggers put them sails up.

“Kiyeon, you're with me.” The captain says looking over at her. She nods and follows him off the ship and they walk into town. At a store they stop when the captain sees that pirate king he was talking about before.

“Your mission. Capture him alive.” He whispers to Kiyeon. The girl only nods before watching her captain walk away.

She has a chance now to escape but knowing that if they find her that she’ll be severely punished. Plus, she can't disobey orders even if she wanted to. She walks into the store after the enemy and browses the shelves, keeping an eye on her enemy listening to their conversation.

“We are gonna head into town to restock. Mingi keep the ship here docked near the cliffs. We should be back tomorrow evening.” Hongjoong says as he and Yunho are preparing to leave in a long boat.

“Hyung. Isn’t that the ship 3Winds?” Seonghwa says as he sees a ship in the distance.

“You’re right. We’ll have to be careful.” Hongjoong says. “Hyung, keep an eye on Yeosang. Ever since his necklace started pulsing he’s barely been sleeping.” He says, worried about the navigator.

The surgeon nods with a smile as he watches the captain and rigger set out in the long boat.

After some time the two men arrive at the docks. They tether their boat and head into the town, not noticing that the 3Winds have docked as well.

They arrive in a spice shop to restock for San. “What else does San need?” Yunho asks.

“Here’s the list.” Hongjoong says handing it to him and the rigger nods. Yunho walks off around the store as Hongjoong waits near the counter to pay. He notices a girl with dirty red hair in the store watching him. He locks eyes with her and she doesn’t break his gaze.

Confused he looks away from her eyes and studies her. Shes beautiful, even with her rough exterior. She looks strong, near his age, and she is carrying many weapons on her. He notices a red symbol on her jacket and his eyes widen. She’s the assassin that’s joined the 3Winds.

Yunho walks over and Hongjoong quickly pays. “Let’s go get everything on the list.” Hongjoong says as the two walk out. They walk through many stores and Hongjoong continues to see the girl nearby, never taking her eyes off the two men.

“Captain. Who is that girl?” Yunho asks softly to Hongjoong.

“I don’t know her name, but within a couple months she’s become famous to pirates. She’s the 3Winds new assassin.” He explains softly as well.

“She’s following us.” Yunho says nervous as he glances over to where the girl appears to be browsing the shelves.

“I know. Let’s hurry up, buy everything and get to the inn.” Hongjoong says and the two quickly finish their shopping. They arrive at the inn and rent a room for the night. “Will she follow us here?” Yunho asks as they shut the door to the room.

“I don’t know. Will she?” A voice asks and the two quickly turn to look at the window.

The girl is standing there, a gun pointed at them. “If you don’t want to die, I suggest you both wait here until my crew arrives.” She says darkly, a look of pain behind her stormy grey eyes.

The two pirates look at each other unsure and nervous.