Chance Encounter

The cubby door flew open and I froze, meeting astonishingly warm chocolate eyes. These eyes were attached to a straight nose, a strong jaw, sandy brown hair and an overall oddly pleasant looking face.

Almost as stunned to see me, rather than illicit cargo, he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "Does she even know you're down here?"

If I hadn't been trapped in a narrow cubby and pressed against the wall I probably would've fallen over. This badge on his shoulder indicated he was one of the sea guards that was to protect the large merchant city but he didn't even recognize me, the princess.

"Don't tell her you saw me please? I'll reveal my presence on board after it's too late to send me home to my mother, I'm escaping from a vile man who's trying to force me into marriage." I quietly pled, playing the damsel in distress with a story that was only a few degrees away from the truth.

He quirked his head slightly, "How exciting, and how did you come into this ill-fated match?"

I paused, "He showed up in front of my mother one day, to flaunt his power and demand my hand. She tried to refuse but then he wouldn't stop and now I've been left with no other choice but to run." Again, all technically true.

"Hmm.. What a sad tale, I don't mind keeping your secret." He smiles at me gently before clipping my wrists with handcuffs.

I gape at him, "W-what are you doing?!" I shout looking from him to the cuffs to him.

He shrugs, "It's not up to me, the Salva Royal Family decreed that smugglers be punished."

Desperate I respond, "Then I withdraw that decree."

He laughs and it's a beautiful full sound, "Only the royal family can do that."

"I'm a member of the royal family, we were attacked and I'm running for my life!" I hiss without admitting to be the princess.

He raises an eyebrow and then gives me a long look, "Prove it then."

I grumble and hand him the package with my dress that was also stuffed into the cubby. I can almost see the dollar signs in his eyes.

"Thank you for your gift." He smiles charmingly and then starts to drag me from the hold. Again, I gape, "That's a royal ceremonial outfit."

He shrugs again, "That doesn't make you important, it makes you a talented thief."

Less than a month on the run from the usurper and I'm caught by a border guard that recognized a cubby hole. How can this be the thing that kills me?

As I'm pulled up the last few stairs, my mother's shadow slams a fist down on the back of his neck and he drops like a stone in a puddle. The force of his fall reverberates through the floorboards and I exhale with some small relief.

"The other man?" I ask her and she shakes her, she killed him, but this one was still breathing. She reaches over to snap his spine and I stand in front of him.

"This isn't his fault. He's young, we can drop him in the ocean and then let him swim back once we're far enough out that he can't raise the alarms. Please." I plead, too much death already on my conscience.

"Child you must understand the risk he poses to you. One account of you being here and the usurper will know you've gone South, is his life worth more than yours? Your mothers?" She growls at me, displeased.

"Isn't it logical we'd go South though? The Usurper is from the North and we'd need to stop in for supplies since we fled on the run, this is the next closest and busiest hub where we'd be difficult to trace. With or without his first hand account we'd be hunted here anyway." I stand my ground, trying to apply logic to the situation. I had studied strategy for many years now in preparation for ruling a country.

I may not be any use in a physical fight, but I was proud of my mind.

The shadow's shoulders sagged and she stalked off. I'd won this round. Searching his pockets I retrieve his keys and unlock my cuffs before dragging him to the nearby bannister. I cuff both of his hands, with his own handcuffs, around the base of the railing that looks the sturdiest.

I suppose, for now anyway, you're on this journey with me. I'm sorry I couldn't do more.

Ripping a piece of nearby fabric, I gag the man, retrieve my dress from where he dropped it on the floor to deposit back into the cubby and then head back upstairs. Not yet brave enough, I only peak my eyeline over the lip of the entrance to the inside of the ship and watch us draw closer to the most ingenious of Salva's cities.