A Scholar, a Pirate, and The Bastard Son of The King Walk into A Tavern...

Chapter 2

Marie groaned as she sat up, a headache already making itself known. She glanced around at her surroundings, trying to figure out what unfamiliar place she had ended up in.

Eh, whatever. If the person who brought me here had bad intentions, I can just kill 'em, easy.

No, wait. The captain told me murder is bad when you're not out at sea. Well, not an issue, can just stab them, then. Stabbing usually incapacitates most people.

Marie nodded and crossed her arms, satisfied with her sure-fire plan. As she did, the door swung open, revealing a person with dark black hair that was tied into a short, messy ponytail and innocent green eyes. Freckles dotted their face as they peered in. It was hard to tell whether they were male or female. Perhaps they merely transcended gender.

...Stabbing them will be an issue if they decide to use puppy eyes. They seem to have good intentions, though, so I doubt I'll need to shed blood today.

"Oh! You're awake!" The person said. "You got really drunk at the Violet Embers, so Viktor and I decided to make sure nothing bad happened and brought you here."

The memories came back to Marie, although hazily. She recalled yelling something to a man-I swear to God that if I catcalled a random stranger, I will stab myself-and being awkwardly helped out of the tavern.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, kid. I'm Marie, nice to meetcha," She held out her hand.

The person accepted and shook Marie's hand before handing her a cup they had been holding in their other hand.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Jean. Viktor made some tea, he says it helps with hangovers," They said.

"Thanks, Jean. Who's this Viktor guy you've been talkin' about?" Marie asked, accepting the tea.

"You don't know? He's the infamous bastard son of King Pavel," Jean explained, startled at her lack of knowledge.

"I travel a lot. I don't get much time to catch up on recent news," Marie shrugged.

Jean coughed, "He's sixteen. How do you miss out on the news that much?"

"Well, I've been living out on the seas since I was like...two. I've only come ashore a couple of times, and this is my first time visiting Iri."

Another person entered the room, "I heard my name being spoken?"

Marie choked on her tea. That was the guy she was pretty sure he had catcalled. Oh dear lord in heaven, she catcalled the son of the king-okay, illegitimate son, but son of the king nonetheless.

"I appreciated your words to me last night...Marie, I believe it was?" Viktor said.

...Oh my God, I totally, definitely, absolutely catcalled this random guy. Well, screw me sideways with a cutlass.

Jean sighed, "Don't word it like that, Viktor."

Turning to Marie, he explained, "You didn't really catcall him."

Marie exhaled in relief, "That's good to hear."

"Well, you did call him a pretty boy, but that's beyond the point-"

Marie banged her head against the wall.

"I doubt that your words assure her, Jean," Viktor said wryly.

"...Yeah, you're probably right. If you're done with that tea, Marie, would you like to join us for lunch?" Jean quickly changed the subject, much to the pirate's relief.

"Yeah, sure. That tea...Feels like it's some kind of miracle drink," Marie added.

"Oh, I suppose it could be. I stole the recipe from my father's treasury. Apparently it's an extremely potent healing potion," Viktor commented offhandedly.

Marie dropped her cup, "It's a what?"

Jean shrugged when she gave them a baffled look, admitting, "I don't understand him either."

Sighing, Marie tossed the blankets aside and stood up, "I'd like that lunch, now. I'm starving."

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Once lunch had concluded, Marie stood up and stretched.

"Normally, I'd have returned to the Emerald Hind and went back to sailing with the others, but the captain wants me to take a break...hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

There were exactly five seconds of silence before it hit her. Marie probably shouldn't be talking about being a member of the most wanted pirate crew in all the kingdoms.

Jean looked shocked, but they looked at her with less fear and more anxiety and worry. Alternatively, Viktor looked extremely unimpressed and continued to sip from his cup of tea. Knowing him, Marie bet that he was drinking some other crazy miracle brew he had stolen.

"Well, okay, I'm a crew member of the Emerald Hind, probably should've established that earlier, but I'm not a bad guy, I can promise you that! I mean, I haven't killed you, you haven't killed me, everything's fine so far, right?"

Somehow, that seemed to work, and Jean seemed to relax a bit more. Although still doubtful, they didn't seem like they were going to report her or turn her in. Hopefully. Maybe.

Meanwhile, Viktor still looked just as unimpressed as he was before.

"...Is he not capable of shock?" Marie asked in full seriousness.

"Like I said earlier, I don't understand Viktor either."