Treasure

Chapter 4

On the Jolly Roger...

Emma had not moved since she boarded her captor's ship, she did her best to ignore the hungry glares from the Captain's crew members as he steered them further away from her ship. Emma still held her bag filled with just some clothing and her journal, not wanting to let go of her only possessions.

    "Mr. Smee, take over..." The captain addressed a short man in a red knitted hat.

    "Aye aye, Captain!" The man responded, quickly heading to the ship's steering wheel.

Captain Jones approached the princess without a word and grabbed her arm, gently tugging her with him. She didn't object. He pulled her to the center of the ship, still without any force, and released her arm. She stayed there, her head down, unsure of what was about to happen and slightly surprised of how gentle she was just treated by the fearsome Killian Jones.

    "For those of you who don't know, this is Princess Emma of Misthaven. She will be aboard the Jolly Roger for a while, none of you are to lay a hand on her. Is that clear?" Captain Jones said, instilling his authority figure.

    "Aye, sir" His crew members responded without hesitation.

Emma could tell his crew knew what would happen if any of them were to disobey him, they'd be gone quicker than they could think. She wondered why they would work for such a horrible man. Was it out of fear? Or did they actually have some respect for this dreadful man?

    Her thoughts were interrupted once more by the Captain... "Follow me, love." He said calmly.

She obeyed, assuming it was now time for her to go to her holding cell until she got home, whenever that would be. She kept her hopes high hoping she would be safe there, no one to bother her. She'd be alone, but safe. 

She barely looked up to observe her surroundings as she walked with the Captain below deck, she didn't feel the need to, all she was going to see was pitch black darkness. One thing she did notice was how clean the ship's floor, considering it was owned by pirates. The dark wood looked freshly polished and the thin carpet in the center looked freshly cleaned, not one speck of dirt to be seen. 

Captain Jones stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a big wooden door. He opened it and gestured to Emma to enter. She finally looked up to see a decent sized room with a small bed in the corner, a desk at the other filled with books and a table in the center of the room, and a huge window lining the sidewall. Emma was unsure of why she was here. The Captain took off his heavy jacket placing it in a wooden closet near the bed. She then realized this was his room... And he had just taken off a piece of clothing...  

Panic rose within Emma, she should have known a pirate, especially Killian Jones, was going to take advantage of her the first chance he got. To ruin her before she returned home, making her undesirable to any future suitor...

    "Don't worry... the jacket just gets heavy at times." Killian said, obviously seeing the princess's wide eyes full of panic.

Emma let out a breath of relief as she watched Captain Jones go to his desk where another door was placed on the side. He opened it and it revealed a smaller room with just a bed in the corner and a small dresser with a mirror and window.

    "This is where you will stay." He said calmly.

Emma entered the room cautiously, placing her bag on the fresh bed.

    "You don't have carrying cells?" Emma asked, almost stupidly.

    "Aye, I do. But I thought you would prefer something a bit nicer unless you prefer a dark dingy cell." Killian responded with a chuckle.

    "No, this is lovely." Emma said quickly. 

    "Good, cause you won't see much outside of these walls." He stated.

    "You're just gonna trust me to stay in here?" Emma asked, without thinking.

    "Well the door will be locked, and if you want to jump out that window and die, be my guest." Killian answered with a smirk.

Emma ignored the last remark and emptied her bag on the bed, Killian watched as she dumped a small pile of dresses onto the bed and a journal landed on top.

    "Where are your jewels?" Captain Jones asked curiously.

    "I've never been a fan of much jewelry... It gets heavy, like your coat." She responded while folding her dresses, preparing to put them in the nearby dresser.

    "What about that one around your neck?" He asked, observing the diamond swan necklace... "It must be of some value..." He continued, his pirateness finally showing.

    "It only has value to me, Captain." Emma responded defensively.

    "A Swan?" The Captain responded with an attitude.

    "Yes, my parents gave it to me before I left. It's a reminder of who I am, and that they love me..." Emma said more to herself than to Killian.

    "Aye... It suits you... The swan." Killian said, his voice lowering.

He stared at her a bit longer, taking in her beauty for the first time as she continued to fold her clothing. Her face flushed from crying, her lips bright red which matched her rosy cheeks. Her eyes a bit red but still greener than the forest themselves. Her pale skin glowed against her rose gold necklace. Her dress was a little disheveled but still showed her slim body. Her hair was the messiest, the top was frizzy from the wind and slight curls had formed from her subconsciously playing with it, but she made it work. He had to admit, she was a beauty...

    "I'll have my first mate bring you dinner when it's time." He said before he shut her door and locked it.

Emma finished placing her few pieces of clothing in the dresser and laid on the bed. She thought to herself... What was she doing? She was on a pirate ship and had yet to write her ransom letter. Even if August had ignored her order to continue on it would be days before he reached Misthaven and if he did obey her order it would months before they arrived at Arendelle to get any sort of help.

She had to admit, Captain Jones was a fearful man, he'd proven that just by how quick his crew was to obey. However, he had been more than nice to her, despite his reputation. He had given her a room instead of the holding cells even though the door was locked. He could've had his way with her but he didn't, going against all the tales she heard of him forcing women to his bed. He could have taken the last thing her parents gave her, her swan necklace which she was sure was worth a good amount of money, but he didn't. She had heard tales from other kingdoms of him being the most feared and dreadful man around, but in that moment he wasn't. Maybe there was more to his story than she had been told...

Please leave comments, suggestions, anything!! :)